Amsterdam Countryside Bike Tour

Villages with a rich history

During this bicycle tour, which will last five hours, your guide will take you to a few unique villages, right on the northern edge of Amsterdam. You won’t come across a landscape more Dutch than this. Whether you look to your left, straight ahead, or to your right, you’ll see water everywhere, as far as the eye can see. So it’s no surprise that this area is called Waterland.

Almost half of the total surface of Waterland consists of water. Due to the many bridges and ferries, you can reach everywhere with your bike. One of the villages you’ll visit during the Countryside Tour is Broek in Waterland. In the 17th and 18th century, this was one of the richest villages in the area, thanks to the captains and prosperous seamen who had their houses built there. And you can tell from the monumental, fancy houses with the decorative woodcarvings and the soft pastel coloured walls. The other villages in the area, Durgerdam and Holysloot, each have their own unique character and are just as beautiful.

Up-and-coming Amsterdam-North

Before you reach the green Waterland, you will cycle through Amsterdam-North. Thanks to the affordable housing, cultural hotspots – such as the NDSM-warf and the Eye Filmmuseum – and the soon-to-be-finished North-South metro line, this part of the city is becoming more popular than ever with the locals. But tourists are also starting to find their way to this still partially undiscovered part of town.

The Dutch bicycle experience

While the charm of the fishing village Volendam is suffering from the millions of visitors that it attracts every year, the villages Broek in Waterland, Holysloot and Durgerdam are still extremely authentic. The relatively small percentage of tourism makes every visit feel unique. The Amsterdam Countryside Tour takes five hours in total. We depart each Friday and Saturday from the A-Bike store on the Dam.