6-day Hansaeatic Towns Cycling Holiday

Your cycling holiday starts in Arnhem, capital of Gelderland province and City of Fashion & Design. Working-class neighbourhood Klarendal has become the place-to-be for designers, artists and artisans, clustered together in Modekwartier (the Fashion District) full of hip stores and studios. Arnhem is also loved for its city parks and green surroundings. In fact, it is known as the Gateway to Veluwe Forest. 

Today you have two options. If you choose to linger in Arnhem in the morning, you may want to take the shorter route. The most famous museum in Arnhem is Openluchtmuseum, a national open-air museum of cultural history focused on the everyday lives of ordinary people and the actual buildings they lived and worked in. Another popular attraction is the fabulous Burgers Zoo. When you are ready to go, leave the city of Arnhem through lovely Sonsbeek Park. 

The long route (56 km) makes a loop northward, through desolate heathland with Highland cattle. The route continues through the rolling hills of Veluwezoom National Park. Although never really steap, the road is almost never flat either. This area is celebrated for its fragrant 
pinewoods, beautiful deciduous forest and Europe’s largest sand drifts. Most spectacular are the fields of heather which light up in vibrant varieties of mauve in August. Next, watch the scenery change as you proceed from the forest toward a wide-open river landscape, the valley of the River IJssel. The long tour passes through less known and therefore more quiet heath and woodlands as well as villages in the transition landscape between the forest and the meadows along the IJssel River. 

Challenge: 40 or 56 km / 25 or 35 mi

We have three hanseatic towns lined up for you today, so lots of history. The towns each have a beautiful historical town center, surrounded by (remainders of) town walls and town gates. As for the enchanting scenery, the washlands of the River IJssel, adorned with wild flowers in summer, lead on to typical Dutch farmland, cropfields, homely farmsteads and windmills  reaching for the skies. To the west, Veluwe Forest can be seen on the horizon. You will pass the pretty town of Doesburg. It is particularly well-preserved and well worth the extra kilometers.

Have a break at the lovely old inn with the red shutters. It dates to 1478 when it was a weighing hall doubling as an alehouse and has since continuously received hungry and thirsty guests looking for some company. In Zutphen, see if you can squeeze in one of the sixteen walking tours on offer. The tiny town of Bronkhorst is very picturesque. It developed 1000 years ago as a fortified farmers’ settlement.

At the end of the day, a stroll through the center of Deventer is recommended and don't miss the historic Bergkwartier neighborhood. 

Challenge: 51 km / 32 mi

Get up early to continue your sightseeing in Deventer, a lovely town known for its bookshops, art shops and special festivals. The local delicacy (from 1595) is honey and spice cake, often eaten for breakfast. The place to savour it is coffee house Bussink on beautiful Brink square. 

Follow the river IJssel further downstream and find out all about modern Dutch water management in the washlands. Due to climate change, it is expected that water levels in our rivers will rise and rise. Raising the river dikes even higher is one option to prevent floods, but another is moving them back, to give the river more room. During winter high flows, the washlands are flooded and temporarily store excess water thus slowing the flow downstream and protecting the dwellings behind the dikes from floods. In contrast, in a few strategic places 
where it is necessary to move excess water downstream more rapidly, ground and vegetation levels in the washlands are kept low to allow the water to pass unhindered. 

After visiting the small hansa town of Hattem, cross the river to Zwolle. Surrounded by four waterways, the city has always been a busy hub welcoming travelers and traders from all corners. You will find remains of a medieval town wall and listed buildings from the time the town was affiliated with the Hanseatic League. 

Challenge: 48 km / 30 mi

Leave the hustle and bustle of Zwolle behind you and follow the river Het Zwarte Water into the marshlands. The wide views of the marshy washlands are a world away from our every-day preoccupations. When you reach Hasselt, take your time to sightsee this charming place of pilgrimage (since 1355), boasting seventy listed buildings of national importance, silent witnesses to the time when contacts within the Hanseatic League brought prosperity.

The cycling route continues to Zwartsluis, a popular port for boaters and yachters to come ashore and explore the surroundings. Proceed through the wetlands of Weerribben-Wieden National Park. It may look like natural wilderness, but it was shaped by man and is, in effect, an abandoned and overgrown peat extraction site. Dried peat was sold as turf: fuel for household heating and cooking, in towns to the west, where firewood was scarce. As the channels got wider, the water started to make waves: narrow peat banks got washed away in storms; and lakes developed. 

Your journey ends in Giethoorn. Nicknamed Venice of the Netherlands, this centuries-old farming village has waterways instead of roads. Tourists rent silent electric boats to cruise down the main canal looking at the farmhouses with thatched roofs and the lovely gardens. 

Challenge: 43 km / 27 mi

All good things come to an end. End of program after breakfast.