Waterland and Marken by Bike

Cycling into Waterland is the best way to understand how close the Dutch countryside is to Amsterdam, and for active visitors it is one of the highlights of a trip. Waterland is the low-lying landscape of meadows, peat bogs, ditches, lakes and old villages that begins just north of the city, across the IJ. Rent a bike near Amsterdam Centraal, take the free ferry from behind the station to Noord, and in twenty or thirty minutes of easy riding along the North Holland Canal or through quiet residential streets you leave the city behind. The classic routes follow the dykes: east to Durgerdam, a tiny village of wooden houses lining the old sea dyke on the IJmeer, then north to Uitdam and along the water to Monnickendam, an old fishing and trading town with a harbour and smokehouses. From there a causeway leads to Marken, a former island in the old Zuiderzee that was connected to the mainland by a dyke in the 1950s; its green-and-black wooden houses on mounds, its small harbour and the white lighthouse known as the Paard van Marken are wonderfully atmospheric. In season, a ferry links Marken to Volendam, the busiest of the old fishing villages. Inland, Broek in Waterland is a pristine village of painted wooden houses, small bridges and a lake, often described as one of the prettiest villages in the country. The landscape is completely flat, the cycle paths are excellent and well signposted, and cafés serve apple pie and pancakes along the way. The free ferries are the only transport you need beyond your bike.

Choosing a route: a short loop to Durgerdam and back takes a couple of hours and suits anyone who can ride a bike. A longer ride through Broek in Waterland, Monnickendam and Marken and back is roughly forty to fifty kilometres, a comfortable day with stops, and you can shorten it by taking a bus back from Marken or Monnickendam if your legs tire. The Dutch cycle network uses numbered junctions, called knooppunten, which make navigation easy: write down the sequence of numbers before you set off, or follow an app. Guided countryside bike tours from Amsterdam cover similar ground and are a good choice for nervous cyclists, because the guide handles the city traffic at the start.

What to know: wind matters more than hills here. A headwind across open polder can be tiring, so check the forecast and plan to ride into the wind on the way out, when you are fresh. Rain arrives quickly; pack a light waterproof. Rent a bike with gears and a lock, and keep to the right on cycle paths, where local riders are fast. Marken and Volendam can be busy with coach tours in the middle of the day, while Broek in Waterland and Durgerdam remain peaceful. The Marken to Volendam ferry runs only in the main season, roughly spring to autumn, so check before relying on it. The Amsterdam and Region Travel Ticket covers the buses if you want to ride one way only.

Why it is worth it: in a single day you see dykes, polders, drawbridges, wooden villages, grazing cows and herons, the Holland of old paintings, without the crowds or costs of organised tours. It also shows how the country has managed water for centuries, with land lying below the level of the nearby lake. Combine it with a morning at the Zaanse Schans on another day for the windmills, or end the ride back in Noord at the A'DAM Lookout or a waterside terrace for sunset. Spring, when lambs are in the fields and the light is clear, is the most beautiful season.