Beyond Amsterdam: Waterland and a Whole New World
Waking up on my third day in Amsterdam I decided it was time to move beyond the countless coffee shops and red light district to explore the nearby Dutch countryside. In places like the US or Australia leaving a city usually takes you past endless suburbia but in Europe you’re more likely to find a world of castles, medieval villages and age-old traditions. And there’s no better country to experience these wonders than in Holland with its myriad network of bike paths.
Inquiring at the reception at Winstons I was recommended to Mac Bikes where I could hire a bike for my adventure. I could choose between two locations, one at Visserplein (near Waterlooplein) and the other at Leidseplein. Entering the Visserplein shop I was greeted by rows and rows of red rental bikes. I was given one and took a brochure of bike trails. This was not complimentary as I had thought and the woman at the counter exclaimed, “You must pay for that!” So I handed over a few Euros for a map that would guide me to the small towns to the north in an area known as Waterland.
I was given the biggest and heaviest bike lock I had ever seen. Bike theft is unfortunately all too common in Holland, but there was no way anyone was going to steal my bike with that lock on it. Heading out on the streets of Amsterdam I suddenly realized there were no brakes on my bike. “Oh great”, I thought, “What am I supposed to use, my feet?!” Returning to the shop I back-pedalled by accident and my bike ground to a halt. “Aha! So that’s how bikes work in this country!”
Finally I headed out to the countryside through the suburbs of Amsterdam along the red bike paths sandwiched between the sidewalks and the streets. A very small city indeed, it took me only 20 minutes to hit the outskirts. Reaching the towns to the north required me to ride over a gigantic bridge that spanned the Isjelmeer. Holland is extremely flat and therefore most bikes have only one speed. This included mine so it did take a bit of effort to reach the top!
Reaching the countryside I was presented with an entirely different landscape. An idyllic view of perfectly flat Dutch farms dotted by the random cow or sheep stretched on as far as the eye could see. What was so strange about these farms is that they were all below sea level. The bike path was perched on a series of “dykes”, basically dirt walls that kept the waters of the harbour from flooding the fields. On one side the water was only about a foot down but on the other side there was a drop of at least five feet to the farms.
The first town I reached was Durgerdam, which was merely a row of traditional Dutch houses on one side of the bike path. On the other side were twenty sailboats positioned in front of the houses like parked cars. Continuing on I passed some massive white wind-farm style windmills (not the quaint traditional ones) and reached a small beach. It was unusually hot day so I took a quick dip in the icy yet refreshing waters of the Isjelmeer.
I continued down the winding dykes until I arrived at the town of Monnickendamm and took some time to pedal slowly along its bumpy cobbled streets. Due to its muddy foundations all of its buildings stood in crooked rows and some of their fronts looked like they might fall over into the street. I stopped in a local Dutch pub for lunch before heading further north to the towns of Edam and Volendam. They attracted a lot of tour-bus crowds so there were parts that were a bit tacky and filled with people. Cycling through the backstreets proved a pleasurable experience however, as there were numerous little canals everywhere.
Deciding it was time to head back to Amsterdam I turned my bike back to Monnickendamm. Nearby and connected to the mainland by roadway was by far the most interesting and picturesque of the towns I visited that day. Occupying a small island all to itself, Marken was surrounded by the calm waters of the harbour upon which dozens of swans glided peacefully across. In this town it was as if time had stopped a few hundred years back as men were actually wearing wooden clogs and elderly women were dressed in full traditional outfits.
I decided to take a more inland route back to Amsterdam and fortunately getting lost would have been difficult as the bike paths were all very well signposted. In the last town I visited, Broek van Waterland, I climbed up the bell tower of the church and was able to get a great view of the surrounding countryside. Tall buildings are rare in Holland so this was definitely a unique perspective. Eventually I reached North Amsterdam and in a split second I left the farms and fields and was suddenly back in the nation’s largest city. Ending up on the north side of the harbour across from Central Station, I jumped on a ferry to take me across and then made my back to Winstons.
If you’re interested in experiencing any of these sights you can either do it independently like me or take a Mac Bike tour. These tours probably won’t take you as far north as I made it but nonetheless will provide you with a good view of the countryside. My whole journey was quite an undertaking so you might just want to ride as far as Monickendamm and then head back. The one-speeders rentable from Mac Bike are great for cruising along at an enjoyable pace but don’t expect to hit top speeds on them or cover any major distances in a short time. It‘s also possible to reach Monnickendamm, Marken, Volendam and Edam in about twenty minutes by public bus from Central Station.
A world away from the cosmopolitan melting pot that is Amsterdam, this part of the countryside is steeped in local tradition and for the most part has remained relatively unchanged for the past few-hundred years. Luckily for you, it’s right on the cities doorstep and is easily accessible by numerous bike paths. So if you’re sick of wandering stoned around the streets of Amsterdam put down the spliff down for a day and head north!
