EuroVelo-4 Bike Tour, August 2026
Our Trip Summary - Amsterdam - Bruges - Utrecht
Summary:Kim and I did a week long bike tour from Amsterdam to Bruges folling the EuroVelo 12 bike path. I brought my bike and stored my bike box at the Amsterdam Airport (Schipol). Kim rented an E-bike, and there were plenty of stops along the way to oppertunity charge, though it wasn't necessary. It seemed like the bike could easily do 60 miles per charge. We had a tail wind almost every day, and the terrain was flat. The bike paths were perfectly paved the entire way, we covered roughly 250 miles in 7 days.Our favorite city was Utrecht, it's like a small college town version of Amsterdam. It had a nice chill vibe. Delft was also a highlight, a small town with lots of architecutre and cafes. Another highlight was the wooden escalator that took us under the Scheldt River (St. Anna's Tunnel). |
Amsterdam - Day 0Kim and I landed in Amsterdam around 11am. We got through customs by 12:30p and by 1:05 I had my bike built up and box stored at the airport. Storing my box at the airport was $12/day, and they were very confused why I would store my box for 7 days rather than just buy a new box. I made caster wheels and foam inserts to exactly fit my bike to the box, so I'm paying $100 to keep it. The caster wheels worked out great.Kim and I are biking together for a week, from Amsterdam to Bruges; I'll be biking a total of 3 weeks in Europe. Kim picked up a rental e-bike while I was assembling my bike, and by the time we met, we were both ready to roll. We each got about an hour of sleep on the flight and decided to just stay up and ride. We biked through so much of Amsterdam that I hadn't seen before, the whole city is so beautiful, and the weather perfect! We are the only two bikers in Amsterdam wearing helmets! Finding a hotel that had secure bike parking was a bit tough, there is underground parking but it's still not secure. We parked our bikes in the hotel's 'secure' underground parking garage that is closed off from 11p-7a, so hopefully our bikes are there in the morning! They are locked together with 4 bike locks! There's a Formula 1 race this weekend which is driving up hotel prices. ...more |
Amsterdam - Day 1Our first full day of biking. We had a nice canal side breakfast before heading out on the Eurovelo 12. We biked across Amsterdam a bit before seeing some of the country side, some of the coast, some of the sand dunes and some of the forests.Had a really nice lunch at Brasserie Hoeve Duin en Kruidberg and the even had free e-bike charging. |
Amsterdam - Day 2We got going around 9:30a, the Eurovelo 12 took us along the coast, and through the dunes. We had a slight tail wind all day long, and by evening it was really pushing us along, we were doing 22 mph without much effort.At the beach there's a machine that displays the UV index, and dispenses free SPF30 sunblock. We stopped at a cafe 'under the watertower' that had free e-bike charging. The bike trails have all been perfectly paved and wonderful. We cycled through the Hague, Delft, Rotterdam. Mike and Tanya who I biked Vancouver-Victoria with last month happened to be in the are and met up with us in Delft. Delft is beautiful, we got to spend a couple hours there having lunch and exploring the old (year 1246) and new (year 1496) churches. Funny that the "new" church is still 530 years old. The old church is the one leaning. In Rotterdam we had a unique river crossing. There are two buildings at either side of the river, and inside there's a wooden escalator that takes you down to a tunnel that goes under the river. It was build in 1942, and is one of the few wooden escalators in the world. We also crossed a cool draw bridge, where the entire roadway is suspended by cables and can be lifted up. We bought stuff to make a charcuterie board for dinner, and splurged on dessert. 52 miles today, 3300 calories. Our hotel (Carlton Oasis) has a secure bike storage area outside with free e-bike charging; though Kim's ebike battery comes off the bike, so she can take just the battery up to her room for charging. |
Amsterdam to Bruges- Day 3The bike lanes continue to impress us. Everywhere we've gone there has been exceptional bike infrastructure to get us there. We biked across the Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier which was cool to see. And the windmills here are huge, mini van for scale in one of the photos. We enjoyed a 8mph tailwind most of the day which made for a fun easy ride. We planned to get to Bruges in 3 days, but it's looking like we'll get there a day early. |
Amsterdam - Bruges, Day 4We made it to Bruges!!!188 miles so far in 4.5 days. We actually got to Bruges a day early. I was feeling under the weather, and it was drizzling in the morning, so we took a more direct (shorter) path instead of following the coast. The bike route we took did not disappoint however, we had tree line canal trails for several miles, several old windmills, and a ferry crossing. The food on trail was great, I had salmon-avocado eggs Benedict. The city of Bruges is beautiful, and I was excited to explore a city I've not seen before. Everything is so massive and so grand, photos just don't do it justice. We did a canal boat tour and that gave us a good sense of where we wanted to go. Hotel AC has been a roll of the dice, we're staying in an upscale hotel, and I had to try 3 rooms before getting one with working AC. Took 3 attempts to get my key card working as well |
Amsterdam - Bruges, Day 5Utrecht!We're in the final stretch of our week long bike tour. We took the train from Bruges (our farthest point), back north near our starting point to a city called Utrecht. I think Utrecht is our favorite city of the tour! It's as beautiful as Amsterdam, but with a relaxed college town vibe. There are lot's of locals just drifting around the canals, having dinner, like they're on a lazy river. We had a Belgian waffle for breakfast, and there's much more to it than just the shape. Our waffle started life as a ball of dough, and came out with a caramelized crunch. Way better than any "Belgian" waffle I've had before. I got a Belgium sticker for my bike, to add to the list of country stickers I've collected. We had a nice dinner on the canal, watching people cruise by. There seems to be a lot more females than males in this city. Again, the AC in my room wasn't working. I told the desk I had it set to 5 deg C and he looked at me like I was crazy. So took a picture to show him; apparently it's fubar'd, and you can't set it below 19 deg C. So had to switch rooms again. Utrecht is a hidden gem! |
Amsterdam - Day 6Biked from Utrecht back to Amsterdam.Amazing bike trails again! Passed so many beautiful castles and Chateaus in our final stretch of biking. Checked into the hotel just before thunderstorms hit. Enjoyed some chicken soup with mister mittens (the cat that lives at the hotel). Tomorrow Kim flies to Poland, and I fly to Vienna |
Amsterdam - Day 7Just riding the canals a few miles before heading to the airport. I got my first flat tire of the trip. It happened right in front of the central train station; I ran over a broken glass bottle. Oddly, none of the bike shops have 700c tires, only 28 inch. I would have thought they'd be using metric sizing.It began to rain, so I quit riding in circles, and took the metro to the airport. I boarded my flight, and I could see my bike box sitting out in the rain. The airline crew had to search and remove a passengers bag since they did not board the flight. The box seems ok, but might be the last trip for this box after getting wet. I flew to Vienna to start my second bike trip. Tentatively it's 'Passau to Budapest', 400 miles in 12 days, but nothing is prebooked, so we are still completely flexible on itinerary. My cousin Jen's flight landed within 25 minutes of my flight. This is around midnight; we brought our bike boxes to the Moxy airport hotel and crashed out. The hotel is holding our bike boxes for the 2 weeks while we bike. |
