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New Dutch Waterline & the Green Heart Tour
New Dutch Waterline & the Green Heart Tour
Type :
Hybrid :
E-Bike :
Duration :
6 days
Cycling days :
 4
Comfort :
period:
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
Code:
6-34
History Cities Nature Culture
price from € 630
New Dutch Waterline & the Green Heart Tour
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New Dutch Waterline & the Green Heart Tour

Bike Tour: New Dutch Waterline & the Green Heart Tour - 6 days

A fascinating, wonderful cycling trip along this special part of UNESCO World Heritage (2021): the New Dutch Waterline. Unique in the world and a defence belt with ancient fortresses with the strangest names, special locks, waterways and bunkers. If you want to see more, then you won't be dissappointed! You will also get more than a glimpse of Holland's 'Green Heart' with old fortified towns, mills, castles and lots of beautiful landscapes.

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Route
Day 1: Arrival in Utrecht
Day 2: Utrecht - Wijk bij Duurstede
Day 3: Wijk bij Duurstede - Gorinchem
Day 4: Gorinchem - Oudewater
Day 5: Oudewater - Utrecht
Day 6: Return Home

Day 1:    Arrival in Utrecht

Arrival in Utrecht, in the very center of the Netherlands, near woodland and small River Kromme Rijn. The centre of Utrecht is not far away and has shops galore, museums and a friendly night life.

Day 2:    Utrecht - Wijk bij Duurstede
54 km

From Utrecht, cycle past Fort Rijnauwen to Fort Vechten in Bunnik. Here, visit the Waterliniemuseum, where you can learn all about the 'New Dutch Waterline', using VR goggles, you can parachute over this fascinating, historic defence belt of the country, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021. Then on to the Plofsluis lock: a lock - unique in the world! - which could be detonated to dam the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal to stop the enemy.

The tour continues via Fort Jutphaas through historic Vreeswijk. Here, admire the Oude Sluis, the Rijkshulpschutsluis and the Koninginnensluis. Over the Eiland van Schalkwijk you cycle through a true cultural and natural history open air museum: Fort Werk aan de Korte Uitweg (with a fantastic tea garden), the Gedekte Gemeenschapsweg, the imposing Fort Honswijk and the trenches of Werk aan de Groeneweg. The cycle tour ends in Wijk bij Duurstede, a small town with a big history, known in the Middle Ages as Dorestad. Here, the Kromme Rijn and the Grote Sluis played an important role within the Waterline; they enabled the flooding of the area around Utrecht.

Day 3:    Wijk bij Duurstede - Gorinchem
67 km

From Wijk bij Duurstede, you cycle through the river countryside of the Lek to historic Culemborg. You pass Werk aan het Spoel, with its attractive catering facilities and sun terrace. The tour continues past Fort Everdingen, the sturdy home of beer brewery Duits & Lauret, blessed with a tasting room. Then along the Diefdijklinie with its bunkers and Fort Asperen, a cultural island on the river Linge. You take a side trip to the Betuwe on a tour along the beautiful, meandering river Linge.

Between the orchards lie pretty villages, such as Acquoy with its tower as leaning as Pisa's. Take a look at the Geofort with its interactive Science centre. The Bommelerwaard near Brakel and Poederoijen, between the Waal and Afgedamde Maas rivers, forms the south-eastern capstone of the New Dutch Waterline. One of the highlights during this drive must be Slot Loevestein, beautifully located on the river in the middle of nature. The castle has an important history as a medieval toll castle, fortress and prison.

Then cycle through the sturdy fortified town of Woudrichem and finish in Gorinchem, one of the best-preserved fortresses in the Netherlands with its city walls, imposing cannons and windmills. Then head for a nice terrace on the cosy Oude Markt in the historic centre.

Day 4:    Gorinchem - Oudewater
56 km

Today you will cycle a beautiful route through part of Holland's famous 'Green Heart'. You will pass through Nieuwpoort, one of the smallest fortified towns in the Netherlands, which was already founded around 1200. Together with fortified Schoonhoven, they formed part of the Old Dutch Waterline, which thus guarded the Lek river. Schoonhoven, also called the Silver City, was already known for its talented silversmiths in the 17th century.

Along the 10 km 'short' river De Vlist, you cycle to the charming town of Haastrecht, where the Vlist flows into the Hollandsche IJssel. You reach the cheese town of Gouda, a cosy, old Dutch town with an almost entirely intact, historic city centre. So you will find not only cheese and syrup waffles, but also beautiful stained-glass windows, a fairy-tale town hall and particularly atmospheric canals. Your final destination is equally historic Oudewater, famous for its Witches Weighing House (Heksenwaag) . Here, women suspected of witchcraft - from all over Europe! - tried to prove their innocence by being weighed. Oudewater is also known as a stork village, so keep your eyes peeled for these beautiful birds along the way.

Day 5:    Oudewater - Utrecht
50 km

It's time to get back on your bike for the final ride. En route to the fortified town of Woerden - known to some for its Saturday-morning cheese market (Apr-Aug) - you round the pedals through a typically Dutch landscape: low-lying meadows with grazing cows, vast ponds and ancient waterways. Once you arrive in Woerden, it's fun walking over the old fortress walls, and along the picturesque canals.

The route continues towards Haarzuilens, with a visit to the Netherlands' largest castle, Kasteel de Haar, a must-do along the way. Rebuilt in 1892, it is architecturally beautiful in neo-Gothic style. You'll feast your eyes there: fully equipped kitchens, modest service rooms and breathtaking showrooms. Also take time to stroll through the beautifully landscaped gardens. The last part of the route takes you right along the water, via Breukelen, to your final destination Utrecht, the city that owes its lively character mainly to its beautiful canals, with its wharfcellars with terraces right on the water.

Day 6:    Return Home

Today you will end your cycling trip after breakfast.

Prices

Starting dates: 
Daily from April 1st to September 24th


Price pp
Double room, breakfast 625.00
Single room, breakfast 900.00
Extra night double room, breakfast only 80.00
Upgrades pp/night
Hotel Mitland, Utrecht 40.00
Rental bike
Child bike 55.00
Hybrid 65.00
E-bike 140.00
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 € 10.00 x 5 50.00
Child trailer € 18.00 x 5 90.00
Bike helmet per piece 10.00
SGR per piece 5.00

Starting point:
Utrecht

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 Mitland **** (Utrecht)
www.mitland.nl

Hotel 1851 (Wijk bij Duurstede)
www.hotel1851.nl

Hotel Gorinchem *** (Gorinchem)
www.hotelgorinchem.nl

Hotel Broeck (Oudewater)
www.broeckoudewater.nl

 

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.  


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 (only available for children over 5 years). 


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

Utrecht / Maarssen

Parking possibilities at the hotel

GPS-tracks availible

Any ferry crossings are not included

Arrival info

Nearest Airport is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)

The train from Schiphol to Utrecht departs 4 times per hour. Travel time is about 30 minutes. A single ticket costs approx €10- 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.

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