On the coast between Leiden and Katwijk, Valkenburg is a village of fewer than four thousand people with a Roman past it rarely mentions. The Oude Rijn, the old Rhine, flows through here on its last stretch toward the North Sea, and for several centuries this river was the northern edge of the Roman Empire. A fort called Praetorium Agrippinae stood on the bank at Valkenburg, one of a string of forts that now form part of the Lower German Limes, which joined the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2021.
De Woerd, to the north of the village, takes its name from the Dutch word for a raised patch of ground, and that tells you something about the landscape: low, wet pasture and drained polder where a bit of height once mattered. Keep that in mind when you ride out here. The roads are flat and narrow, with water on either side, and the wind comes directly in from the sea. On a motorcycle you lean into it on exposed stretches and let the cyclists, who are ready for it, pass you on the bends.
Valkenburg is also known for its former naval air station, which closed in the mid-2000s and has since been turned over to housing and nature, and you can still read its outline on the map as a large flat open area. The village has quiet streets, a few small shops and a chance to see the countryside before the dunes begin. Rijnsburg, about two kilometres off, is a bigger neighbour with a flower-growing tradition and a place in philosophical history, since Baruch Spinoza lived there in the early 1660s and a small museum remembers him.
For fuel, the nearest larger town is Rijnsburg, and Katwijk with Leiden are close enough for anything else. For coffee, Katwijk's beachfront has terraces and fried fish, and cyclists will tell you the dune paths behind Katwijk are worth a walk. If your timing allows, aim for a calm morning in May, when tulip and hyacinth fields light up the horizon, and leave before the afternoon day-trippers arrive.