Netherlands blog …

Ok, so in this Netherlands blog, what do we say about the mighty Netherlands that hasn’t already been said! No we didn’t go to Amsterdam! That’s like the first thing that anyone ever says about the Netherlands! It’s like there isn’t anywhere else apart from the capital, lol!

This time around we went to the East of the country. I was hoping to see one of my very long time friends that I used to travel the Middle East and North Africa with, who lives over that way. However she too is on her travels, so I’ll see her on the way back round!

We love the East of the country, as the houses are very traditional and many of them were farmsteads or smallholdings, so they still have a bit of land with some animals.

The mighty bicycle

I was really surprised just how much more radical an approach to cycling and the environment that the Netherlands has taken over and above what the UK has done! I mean, they’ve practically marginalised the car! Whilst I kinda agree with this, another side of me is a definite petrol head and I want to explore the world by vehicle. So I guess that so long as they don’t ban the car completely, I’m ok with it. It does however make driving pretty awkward and slow … which I guess is the point!

The country has vastly expanded its cycling routes. Bicycles are king in the Netherlands – people of all ages ride them everywhere. In fact, more than a quarter of all journeys are made by cycling. Many roads now have as much as a third of each side of the road dedicated to the bike, leaving on third in the central area to drive on. Clearly, with oncoming traffic, you move to the side and sit behind cyclists. However in the countryside, we found that quite often older cyclists do not move from the centre of the road, as clearly they felt that they have right of way, and the car is an annoyance! 😉

Also, many roads in the East of the country are very narrow, and thus you share the road with oncoming traffic. This is fine until you find yourself up against a massive lorry coming the other way, and there are dykes on either side of the road!!

Accommodation

We stayed in an amazing B&B on the 500km Pieterpad hiking route – if you’re in the Laren area, we highly rate it. The owners are incredibly friendly and really helpful. the accommodation is superb, and the scenery is excellent. They even bake bread for your breakfast!