Imagine a whole countryside of farmers’ fields planted with tulip bulbs and all the colors. We saw acres and acres of tulips in full bloom as we biked along the northern two provinces of the Netherlands.

Besides the pretty tulip blooms, we enjoyed spending time with four other couples we had met on other bike rides. Thank you, Cecilia, for getting us all together. It was a lot of fun.

We were in the Netherlands as part of a bike and barge tour organized by VBT. We say to our friends and family who ask, the weather was cool and rainy, and it was windy from the North Sea. And, we enjoyed biking and exploring this beautiful country.  

We wanted to be acclimated when the bike and barge tour began, so we went early. Our trip began in Den Haag (The Hague); we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city on bike, foot, and tram. We also got out to see a little of the area around Den Haag.

One of my running buddies asked about the trip; when I told him we were starting at The Hague, he asked “Who plans to go there?” Den Haag was a perfect introduction to the Netherlands, and this was a good place to begin our visit. That is part of the beauty of the arranged travel. We would not have set out to see The Hague, but we are glad we visited and explored this place. We were joined with our friends Bonnie and Adam in biking and walking in The Hague and learned a little more about the Netherlands.  

The national legislature and the Prime Minister work out of a giant complex in The Hague called the Binnenhof. The Binnenhof is under re-construction so we toured The Hague’s Historic Museum and learned the history and saw great pictures and models of the legislature in action.

This picture typifies our visit to the Netherlands. We were at the beach, so sandals were appropriate.  Next to the sandals for sale you will notice wool hats and scarves. The temperature changes often, and it is windy and cold near the North Sea.

We made a side trip to Delft.  Delft is known for the blue pottery, and we did see it quite a lot. Delft is a quaint town, and to an American tourist it looked perfect. This was one of the places that we had ice cream.

Other fun in The Hague:

All over The Hague we saw the iconic image of the “Girl with the Pearl.” We spent several hours touring the Mauritshuis art museum and saw the actual painting of the “Girl with the Pearl Earring.” The museum has a lot to offer, including the building itself as well as the Rembrandts and Vermeers. My tip: bring your ear buds to hear the narration from the app—I wish I had brought mine.  One of the paintings was actively being restored.

We were sad to leave The Hague, with more to experience, yet excited to begin our biking and barge tour from Amsterdam.  Once on board we were given a quick tour of our boat, assigned a room and got settled in for a ride to our first stop. We did a warm up short ride to ensure the bikes were all working and we understood the rules of the road, keeping in mind that there are more bikes than people in the Netherlands.  

Thinking of Holland (we were in the provinces of North and South Holland, in the country of the Netherlands) I thought about tulips, windmills, and wooden shoes. One of our memorable stops was biking into Zaanse Schans, a living history museum with working windmills. We experienced a guide making a pair of wooden shoes and explaining why they are still in use today (and not just sold to tourists). We spent the night moored outside a windmill, and at the beginning of our next day’s ride we explored a working windmill that saws lumber.

For the tour, our group of 10 friends met up with our traveling companions, 14 more riders who were in country to celebrate Sue’s 85^th birthday. We also had two wonderful guides. We did have a great time with the group, and it was good to meet our fellow riders. The weather was cold, rainy, and sometimes very windy. Greg, one of our friends, told us that 100 bad days make for 100 good stories. Regardless of the weather, we had a fun time biking in the Netherlands.

I did see a windmill daily and I am pretty sure we also saw tulips blooming every day as well. However, we did not see too many people walking in wooden shoes.  

Tulip fields and bulb growing was everywhere. Imagine driving through Nebraska, Illinois, or Indiana, and instead of corn and wheat fields there are fields of red, pink, purple, and yellow flowers. As far as the eye could see, sometimes on both sides of the road, were fields of blooming tulips. What a site! We learned that the farmers were bulb farmers and cut off the flowers to help the bulbs grow. Still, these fields were part of the reason to come, and they did not disappoint.

One of the bike ride tours was to the Hortus Bulborum, a historic garden with thousands of varieties. We learned that the lovely two-color tulips have a virus. The growers now know how to eliminate that virus. But the multi-colored varieties were once highly prized in the tulip mania.

A highlight for us was biking to the Keukenhof gardens and seeing the annual two-month exhibit with more than 7 million bulbs on display. It was a terrific presentation; this was a showcase event for growers and distribution companies. It was not a museum. We were at the Keukenhof about 4 hours; it rained off and on. The crowd did not diminish. We heard they average about 10,000 visitors a day, rain, or shine, and we believe it. It was a spectacular view all of the colors.

Other Experiences:         

Our barge tour ended in Amsterdam and we spent a few days after the barge tour walking around Old Amsterdam. We saw the highlights, and missed some as well. We had a fun time and enjoyed the beer at the Heineken experience.

We were fortunate to experience the Anne Frank house. It was a very moving tour, not to be missed. It can happen anywhere. Thank goodness that good people helped hide these families for as long as they could.

We did a cruise on the Amsterdam canals. We enjoyed them as a scenic backdrop on our walks though the old city. Amsterdam apparently has more canals than Venice.

We saw several museums, and could have visited several more. Each one was well done. You can find any interest and it likely has a museum somewhere in the Netherlands.

Lessons learned:

• I can ride at less than 55 degrees F, provided I have the proper clothing. We had packed appropriately for the biking experience.
• Traveling on a barge with a small group of dedicated bikers is fun. Riding in a hailstorm and a strong wind is not fun, and I do not have to continue riding after reaching a natural resting point.
• A biking tour and a walking tour after arriving off the plane is a good way to be acclimated to the new city.
• Ferry crossings are a good way to cross the water. The Netherlands is full of water. It is amazing the amount of land reclaimed from the water. We began several bike rides at less than sea level.
• We took more than one ferry across a canal or river, always, it seemed, bringing us back to tulip fields.

A country with a tradition of biking everywhere is a good place to share the road.  Land is at a premium. The bike lanes were sometimes marked. We rode on some bike paths. There are more bikes than people in the Netherlands, so the country knows about biking. This is an example of a typical two-way road. Some have canals on both sides. As you can see, there is not a lot of room.

We were sad to leave the Netherlands. All good things eventually have an end. Seeing Amsterdam at the end of our travel was a good way for us to say goodbye to the Netherlands.

See you on the road.