Cycle trip to the Netherlands: Day 1 - Hook, The Hague, Delft, Rotterdam

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Disembarking was fairly painless, and I cleared passport control around 8.00am. I made my way west along the sea front to the Hook itself: a rather desolate set of shops and cafes beside the beach, deserted at that early hour and late season. Skies were grey, and there was a strong northerly wind, but at least it was mild. It seemed the LF1 itself followed a rather urban route, so I decided to follow the local cycle path nearer the coast as shown on the ANWB map.

View Cycle trip to Netherlands in four days in a larger map

I picked this up, a good tarmacked cycle track behind the dunes. I got lost a couple of times but was soon progressing well northwards, passing the beach resorts of Ter Heijde and Kirkduin (where I had a snack in the Restaurant De Haagsche Beek, situated in the car park on the way into the town) and onwards through the Dunes to Duindorp.(Between Ter Heijde and Kirkduin, I stayed on the 'inland' path: I discovered on the way back on Day 4 that there is an excellent alternative right beside the sea.)

At the Hook of Holland

Cycle path through Dunes

Just beyond Duindorp you come by the harbour at Vissershaven: here I turned inland on the LF4, which takes you through quiet roads and parks pretty much to the Binnenhof in the centre of the Hague (Den Haag).

Entering Den Haag

I didn't linger in The Hague for long, but pressed on along the LF11 'Princes Route' to Delft.

Cycle party on the Princes Route

In Delft, the grey skies lifted, defying the weather forecast to give a brilliant afternoon. I looked around the centre of this impressive town, grabbing lunch in a cafe on the square in the shadow of the towering Nieuwe Kerk.

Nieuwe Kerk, Delft

Given the improving weather, I decided to take a slightly indirect route to Rotterdam via the LF11 along the Vlaardinger vaart. Once clear of the suburbs of Delft I was in what I imagine is fairly typical Dutch countryside: verdant pasture grazed by contented cows, viewed from the embankment of a picturesque canal.

On the LF11 between Delft and Vlaardingen

I followed the LF11 from Vlaardingen to Schiedam where I stopped to admire the windmills, which are apparently the 5 tallest in the world. They were used in the production of gin. 

Next stop was quaint Delfshaven, the old port for Delft.

Having booked in to my hotel in Rotterdam, I went down to the Erasmus bridge to catch a Spido boat tour of Rotterdam harbour.

On  board the Spido boat in Rotterdam harbour