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Cycling days
Distance
Heather and Rivers Tour
Heather and Rivers Tour
Type :
Hybrid :
E-Bike :
Duration :
6 days
Cycling days :
 4
Comfort :
period:
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Code:
6-28
Culture Nature Cities History
price from € 595
Heather and Rivers Tour
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Heather and Rivers Tour

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Bike Tour: Heather and Rivers Tour - 6 days

Enjoy rolling heather fields, deep forest and panoramic views; as well as the attractive wide-open riverscapes of the rivers Rhine, IJssel and Eem; and alluvial floodplains, flooded in winter and often full of wild flowers in July and August. The diverse route leads you through two National Parks: Utrechtse Heuvelrug and Veluwezoom. Nowhere in the Netherlands will you find quite as many different species of fauna and flora as here. No less than four castles provide diversion for history lovers. Along the way you will visit age-old towns such as Vaassen, Elspeet and Putten as well as traditional Dutch windmills. The hanseatic towns of Deventer and Zutphen are also in the line-up.

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Route
Day 1: Arrival Bunnik
Day 2: Bunnik - Arnhem (72 km)
Day 3: Arnhem - Deventer (61 km)
Day 4: Deventer - Putten (61 km)
Day 5: Putten - Bunnik (50 km)
Day 6: Return home

Day 1:    Arrival Bunnik

The starting point of your cycling holiday is Bunnik. The village is located 6 km from the city of Utrecht, the fourth largest city in the country. If you arrive early, take a trip to Utrecht and explore the scenic Old Town, which is still surrounded, for the most part, by a city moat. After Amsterdam and Maastricht, Utrecht is the city with the most listed buildings of national interest – of which the cathedral tower is the most conspicuous.

Day 2:    Bunnik - Arnhem (72 km)

Hit the trail and set off for Arnhem, capital city of Gelderland province. Your décor in the morning: a typical Dutch pasture landscape with woodlets here and there and a farmhouse on the horizon. The route takes you along Langbroekerwetering, a drainage canal from the 12th century.   This area used to be popular with gentlemen farmers and noblemen: The many large country houses hark back to those times. In quick succession, you will pass country houses Beverweerd, Lunenburg and Sandenburg. When you reach Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park, the open countryside will make way for woods. After seeing Amerongen Castle, cross the Rhine and enter the Betuwe region, known for its fruit production (gorgeous flowering orchards in spring!). On the banks of the Rhine river, pedal to Groot Warnsborn, a hilly, woody country estate with a lovely house and majestic formal gardens. Near the end of the route you will pass the Airborne Museum. A visit to this museum commemorating the Battle of Arnhem (WWII) could be a great conclusion to an inspiring cycling day.

Day 3:    Arnhem - Deventer (61 km)

We have another diverse route lined up for you today. Cycle through Veluwezoom National Park with large, rolling heather fields, beautiful woods, and a few remaining areas of shifting sands. This is the Netherland’s oldest national park, a paradise for cyclists. You may have to bear down when it’s time to climb the Posbank, but the view from the top is worth your efforts. A point of interest on the route is Carolinaberg: 13 lanes come together at the top of a 50 meter-high hill in the woods. Carolina was the daughter of one of the princes of Orange, Dutch royal family. This was their country estate, Hof te Dieren. At the village of Dieren, cross the River IJssel by ferry. All of a sudden, the wide-open river valley seems a world away from Veluwe Forest.  The washlands boast wildflowers in the summer months. Pedal down stream to the Hansa town of Zutphen, an ideal place to stop for a break in the historical town center full of welcoming cafes with outside seating. Today’s cycle route ends in Deventer. In this once mighty hanseatic town many vestiges of a rich and eventful history remain visible.

Day 4:    Deventer - Putten (61 km)

Meadowland, woods, heather fields and windmills; they are all on the programme for today. Soon after leaving your hotel you will be treated to wide-open countryside dotted with pleasant villages. A total change of scenery ensues with Gortelsche Bos, a 21-km-long forest harbouring many different species of trees and animals as well as a prehistoric burial mound.  Next up is the village of Vaassen where an eight-sided gallery mill, used for grinding grain, towers over the houses. Subsequently, a woody route takes you to the Veluwe village of Elspeet where another mill graces the horizon. The route continues through fields of heather: From mid-August, for a couple of weeks, they are alive with colour - a breath-taking spectacle! At this point, cyclists with a passion for history and a love of nostalgia could deviate from the route to visit Staverden Castle, where white peacocks have strutted through the gardens for centuries. If you still can’t get enough of traditional Dutch windmills, cycle into the age-old village of Putten to have a look at grain mill “Het Hert”. After a last ride beneath the shady canopy of Veluwe Forest, you will arrive at your comfortable hotel, beautifully located on a lake (Nuldernauw). 

Day 5:    Putten - Bunnik (50 km)

On your last cycling day, the route starts off on the banks of the River Eem, beautiful pastureland, where you can spot all sorts of grassland birds. Continue to the small town of Baarn and then proceed to Soestdijk Palace, former residence and offices of the Dutch royal family, surrounded by magnificent forests. The route then guides you through Soesterduinen nature reserve consisting of inland dunes with shifting sands, surrounded by woods. After passing the town of Zeist, you will reach Bunnik, your final destination.The longer 62 km route takes you through the medieval center of Amersfoort. Upon leaving this city, you can visit Camp Amersfoort which was used as a concentration camp in WW2. Then it continues with an alternation of moors and forests through the estates of Den Treek and Heidestein. Herein is the Pyramid of Austerlitz, an artificial hill built as a monument by Napoleon's soldiers.

Day 6:    Return home

After a last delicious hotel breakfast, it is time to go home.

Prices

Starting dates:
Daily from April 1 till September 25


Price pp
Double room, breakfast 590.00
Single room, breakfast 840.00
Extra night double room, breakfast only 80.00
Rental bike
Child bike 55.00
Hybrid 65.00
E-bike 135.00
Extra services
Bike Breakdown pass € 4.00 x 5 20.00
Child seat € 5.00 x 5 25.00
Bike theft insurance € 3.00 x 5 15.00
E-bike theft insurance € 6.00 x 5 30.00
Extra luggage € 5.00 x 5 25.00
Tag-along bike € 6.00 x 5 30.00
Child trailer € 17.50 x 5 87.50
Bike helmet per piece 10.00
SGR per piece 5.00

Starting point:
Bunnik

Accommodation

The hotels and the B&B on this trip have been carefully selected for their location, atmosphere and/or unique services. All rooms are en-suite. A list of the accomodation we work with appears below. If a certain accomodation is unable to confirm due to lack of availability, we will try to request a comparable alternative if possible. 

When selecting the accomodation, we try to take into account as much as possible a safe and closed bicycle shed. However, we cannot do this with all of them guarantee and this partly depends on the number of bicycles of other guests.

Hotel Haarhuis **** (Arnhem)
Postillion Hotel Amersfoort Veluwemeer
Postillion Hotel Amersfoort Veluwemeer **** (Putten)
Postillion Hotel Bunnik *** (Bunnik)
Postillion Hotel Deventer
Postillion Hotel Deventer **** (Deventer)
Bikes

If you don’t bring your own bike, you can rent one from us. Our touring bikes are 24-speed gear. You can find all the information regarding our rental bikes below.

You will find your rental bike waiting for you at your first hotel. The hotel reception staff will give you the keys for your bikes and direct you to the bicycle shed. All bikes are provided with chain locks. 

Why the Dutch don't wear helmets! 

Instruction video hybrid bike and e-bike

 

 

Our hybrid bikes have 24-gears with hand brakes. 
The hybrid bikes are circa 16,5 KG.

Rental bike

The e-bikes have a small electric engine and battery, which can be charged at the hotels. You still have to pedal: it just makes pedaling much easier. Some experience with e-bikes is recommended, as the bikes accelerate faster and are heavier than regular bikes because of the electric engine. The weight of the e-bike is ca. 25 KG. We recommend a minimum height of 160 cm for the e-bike.

E-bike

For children who are at least 120 cm, we can also arrange bikes (these are 24”or 26” for children that are bigger than 140 cm). 
The child bikes come with at least 7-gears and hand brakes. 
The maximum body height for a child’s bike is 155 cm. 

24" child bike:

26" child bike:
Child bike 26 inch

Bell

All our rental bikes come with a bell.


Brakes

All our adult bikes come with hand brakes. 


Childseat

For children up to 30 months old (max. 15 KG) it is possible to rent a front child seat. This is not possible with e-bikes, due to the display.

For children older than 30 months (max. 22KG) it is possible to rent a rear child seat. This is also possible with e-bikes.

Both front- and rear child seats are €5,- per day.  


GPS

It is possible to rent a GPS device when you start your tour in Amsterdam, Bruges, Utrecht, Huizen or Bunnik for €20,-. 


Helmet

Helmets are not mandatory in the Netherlands, but can be rented for €10,- per piece.
Available sizes: Adult: 54-61 cm, Child: 50-55 cm. 


Lights

All our bikes come with both front- and rear lights. You need to push the button on the lamp and it will flash three times. This means that the lights will automatically start working when it gets dark. 

When you push again, the lamp will flash one time and the lights will be turned off.


Locks

Our bikes come with a defender lock with plug in chain (cable lock that is attached to the regular lock, see picture).

You need to turn the key a bit, take out the pin from the cable lock and attach it to a pole/other bike/fence etc.

When you push the pin back into the regular lock, you need to lock the regular lock as you always do, and both locks will be secured.


Pannier

1 pannier is included at the 'standard' bikes and the e-bikes.

Height: 42 cm
Depth front to the side: 17 cm
Wide top: 32 cm
Wide down: 23 cm
Volume: 20 liters
It has an easy click-on/click-off system. The panniers are water resistant, so everything will stay dry.


Pedals

The rental bikes come with regular pedals, so no click-in/SPD pedals. 


Quickrelease

All our bikes come with a quick release system, which makes it very easy to adjust the height of the saddle and the handle bars. 


Repairkit

There is one small puncture kit included, which can be found in the pannier. In case a rental bike has another problem, we always advise you to go to a bike repair shop or call the bike breakdown emergency number which is provided in the travel documents when you book this extra service.


Saddle

Saddles can be adjusted in height without using any tools, see ‘Quick Release’.
Our saddles don’t come with a gel cover. 


Waterbottles

Dutch Biketours does not provide water bottles. We can also not guarantee that there are bottle holders on the bikes. You will always receive 1x pannier, so you can always store your water bottle in your pannier.


We have a limited amount of tandem bikes available on request.
Tandem bikes are suitable for two adults only.
The tandem bikes have a frame size of 48 cm.
We mostly use the Victoria Spezial 8.7.
This tandem bike comes with 24-derailleur gears or nuvinci gears.
The height of the handle bars on a tandem bike cannot be adjusted.

We have limited family tandem bikes available on request.
The family tandems have 7-gears and can be used for one adult and one child with a minimum body height of 125 cm.

 

A tag-along bike is a good option for children between approx. 100 cm and 125 cm, as they can pedal themselves and on their own pace but don’t have to worry about other traffic.

 

Child trailers can be rented for a maximum of two children who are up to 100 cm (max. 35 KG in total).
We mostly use the XLC Duo 2 child trailer.
Child trailers are not possible in combination with e-bikes.  

Mile after wonderful mile of untroubled cycling is what we would wish our clients. However there is a minimal chance of breakdown along the way. If this thought is a nagging worry to you, a Bicycle Breakdown Assistance insurance policy may ease your mind. If you buy this insurance from our partner ANWB pechhulp in advance, their service is as follows. The costs are €4,- per bicycle per day. If your bike breaks down by the roadside an ANWB bicycle repair man will drive to you in his repair van and fix your bike so you can continue your tour. You won’t have to pay him repair costs. If you are cycling on your own bicycle you will be charged for any new spare parts your bike may require. If you are renting a bicycle through Dutch Bike Tours any new parts are at our expense. If it turns out the bicycle cannot be repaired on the spot, or if you can't continue cycling, the repairman can drop you off somewhere in his van. One companion plus bikes may join you in the van.

Do you wish to insure your bike against theft? The cost is € 3,- per day per standard hybrid bicycle.
For an electric bicycle, premium bike or racing bike: € 6,00 per day per bicycle.
Please see the General Terms and Conditions for Bicycle Hire and Insurance. 

If a rental bike gets stolen or damaged, we will hold the client responsible.
If your insurance does not cover this event, you will have to pay the costs yourself.

Article 1 Bike Rental Price

The bike rental price is determined by the rates mentioned on the Dutch Bike Tours website at the time of the booking; or as subsequently agreed.

Article 2 Payment

a. The rental price and any other due sums regarding the rental agreement must be paid before the bike is handed over to you.

b. If, for whatever reason, you cannot make use of the bike(s) you have rented, Dutch Bike Tours will not be held responsible for any resulting expenses or damage.

c. In the case of the article 2b, the client remains obliged to pay the full rental price and any other amounts mentioned in the invoice, in accordance with our General Terms and Conditions of Booking, unless the client can prove that his not being able to use the bike was the consequence of a defect that was already present at the beginning of the rental period.

Article 3 Rental Period

a. The rental period runs from the morning of the first cycling day (day 2) to the end of the holiday (the departure day), as stated in the booking confirmation.

b. Extension of the rental period is possible only after approval by us and according to the (extension) rates as mentioned in article 1.

c. No refunds are possible after the rental period begins. If you return the bike(s) to us before the end of your holiday, the rental agreement will automatically be terminated and you will not get any of your money back.

d. At the end of the last cycling day of your holiday, the bike(s) must be returned to the hotel from where it was/they were issued, no later than the time stated in the booking confirmation.
If you book a one way tour tour you can leave the bike at the last hotel of the trip. 

e. If the bike(s) is /are not returned by the return time stated in the booking confirmation, we will continue to charge you rent until such time as the bike(s) is/are returned to us or is/are received by us. In the event of late return, the rates as mentioned in article 1 will continue to apply, plus a fine of €25 per day. We also reserve the right to demand payment for any costs and/or damages suffered by us due to late return of our rental bike(s).

f. Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph, in the event of late return of our rental bikes, we reserve the right to dissolve the rental agreement without judicial intervention and immediately claim back our bicycles where ever they may be and from whomever has them. Dutch Bike Tours also holds this right in the event that the client does not comply with any of the other conditions stated in this rental agreement.

Article 4 Improper Use

a. The bicycle(s) may only be used for its/their intended purpose and only by the cyclists listed in the rental agreement.

b. The bike(s) must be returned to us in the same (clean!) state in which you received it/them.

c. You must take excellent care of the bicycle(s), as if it/they were your own. You must take every precaution against damage, loss or theft.

d. The bicycle may not be used on the beach; or on sandy paths in the dunes unless a paved path is unavailable.

Article 5 Damage, Loss and Theft

The renter will be held responsible for damages to or loss of the bicycle(s) or parts of it, as well as bicycle keys and chains and locks, for such an amount as is determined by us according to standard market prices. You must understand that you are not insured for damage to the bicycle(s) or for any damages to third parties.

Article 6 Theft Insurance

It is possible to purchase Bicycle Theft Insurance. Covered are: damages arising out of the theft of the bicycle; and damages to the bicycle as a consequence of the theft. Not covered are: theft of bicycle parts; and damages arising out of attempted theft.

Article 7 Theft Insurance Premium

a. The premium for Bicycle Theft Insurance is € 3,00 per day per standard hybrid bicycle. For an electric bicycle € 6,00 per day as well for a Premium bike and racing bike.

The number of insurance days is the same as the number of cycling days as stated in our booking confirmation.

Article 8 Liability in the Event of Theft

a. If you did not purchase Bicycle Theft Insurance from us before the start of the holiday, you will be held fully accountable for the sum determined by us according to standard prices.

b. If you did purchase Bicycle Theft Insurance from us, but you failed to lock the wheel lock and failed to produce the original wheel lock key and failed to produce an official theft report drawn up by the police, you will still be held fully accountable for the sum determined by us according to standard prices.

Article 9 Costs During the Rental Period

Any charges and taxes regarding the rental bicycle(s), such as fines and ferry tickets, are to be paid by you. You will also be required to pay all costs ensuing from the use of the bicycle(s) such as parking fees, maintenance and repairs.

 

Practical info

5 Nights included

3/4 Star Hotels

Tourist tax included

Breakfast included

Detailed roadbooks with maps and tourist information

The possibility of renting our bikes

7-days a week service-hotline

Luggage transport to your next hotel

Bunnik

Parking possibilities at the hotel

GPS-tracks available

Any ferry crossings are not included

Arrival info

Nearest Airport is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)

The train from Schiphol to Bunnik departs 2 times per hour. Travel time is about 45 minutes. A single ticket costs approx €11- per person excl. bicycle.

For timetables and tickets, go to www.ns.nl/en. For bus details, how to reach the hotel, check: www.9292.nl/en.

Reviews

21-07-2019

...Cycling on the forest paths was beautiful. Cycling directly past the war cemetery in Arnhem meant that we could visit at the end of the 1st day - really quiet... 

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