Why this ride
From Rotterdam it runs 68 km to Rotterdam; allow about 1 h 22 of riding. The stops in between: Voorburg-Arentsburg, Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad, Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust and Corbulo's canal | Vlietvoorde.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Rotterdam afternoon · Corbulo's canal | Vlietvoorde
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 68 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 h 22
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Zeeland Delta Works Route
24 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it — speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 20 km
- Named road
- Zeeland Delta Works Route
Dutch Flower Route
For about 2 km this is Dutch Flower Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it. Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 2 km
- Named road
- Dutch Flower Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Rotterdam
Rotterdam is a young city by Dutch standards, and that is because the old one was destroyed. German bombers flattened the centre in May 1940, and rather than rebuild a historic town the Dutch built a modern one, bold and experimental, with towers, bridges and cubic houses that tilt on their corners. Nothing here is quiet or pretty in the postcard sense, and that is its appeal. The Erasmus Bridge, a white swan-necked span over the Maas, is the city's symbol, and the Markthal, a vast arched market hall with a ceiling painted in giant fruit and flowers, is the best place to eat. Cheap, quick, varied food is sold from stalls there, and Dutch herring, eaten raw with onion, is available at every street corner.
Read the complete Rotterdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Rotterdam is where the day begins. Next is Voorburg-Arentsburg.
2. Voorburg-Arentsburg
Under the suburbs between The Hague and Delft lie the remains of Forum Hadriani, the northernmost Roman town on the continent, founded in the early second century AD and named after the emperor Hadrian. At Arentsburg, a country estate in Voorburg, excavations revealed streets, houses, a harbour and a canal, the Fossa Corbulonis, dug by Roman soldiers to link the Rhine and the Meuse. The site is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes World Heritage Site, listed in 2021, which follows the Rhine frontier through the Netherlands and Germany.
Read the complete Voorburg-Arentsburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Voorburg-Arentsburg comes up about 20 km into the recorded legs. Next is Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad.
3. Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad
Some two thousand years ago, in the year 47, the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo had a canal dug between the Old Rhine and the Maas to give his ships a safe route behind the dunes and avoid the dangerous coastal sea. Tacitus mentions it, and later sources say that Corbulo, recalled by the emperor Claudius from further conquests in Germania, kept his soldiers busy with the digging rather than let them grow idle. The channel is known as the Fossa Corbulonis, and in today's landscape it is usually identified with the Vliet, the old waterway that runs between Leiden and Delft through Voorburg.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least about 33 km into the recorded legs you reach Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad. Next is Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust.
4. Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust
In the year 47, a Roman general with time on his hands and a restless army decided to dig a canal. The Roman historian Tacitus records that Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, the commander on the Rhine frontier, kept his legions busy by having them cut a waterway of about twenty-three miles between the Rhine and the Meuse, so that ships could avoid the dangerous open sea. The Fossa Corbulonis, as it is known, probably linked the Old Rhine near Leiden with the Maas estuary, and its line seems to follow the later course of the Vliet, a waterway that still runs between Leiden and Delft. Scholars debate the exact route, but this area, between Voorburg and the Rozenrust district, is a natural candidate.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust, about halfway. Next is Corbulo's canal | Vlietvoorde.
5. Corbulo's canal | Vlietvoorde
A straight line on a Dutch map is nearly always a canal, and this one is two thousand years old. The Fossa Corbulonis, or Corbulo's canal, was dug in AD 47 by Roman soldiers under the general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, to link the Rhine with the Meuse and give supply ships a safe route that avoided the open sea. It ran through the dunes and marsh of what is now South Holland, and today the line of the Vliet, the canal between Leiden and Delft, follows part of it. Corbulo, so the story goes, dug it to keep his idle legions busy, and the emperor Claudius called his troops back from beyond the Rhine soon afterwards. Vlietvoorde, near Voorschoten, is one of the places where the route can be traced, and the site is part of the Lower German Limes, which won World Heritage status in 2021.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Vlietvoorde write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Corbulo's canal | Vlietvoorde sits at 34 km, about halfway. Next is back through Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust.
6. back through Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Corbulo's canal | Rozenrust comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad.
7. back through Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 40 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad. Next is back through Voorburg-Arentsburg.
8. back through Voorburg-Arentsburg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Voorburg-Arentsburg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Voorburg-Arentsburg, late in the day. Next is Rotterdam.
9. Rotterdam
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Rotterdam write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 68 km.
Leg by leg
Rotterdam to Voorburg-Arentsburg
Rotterdam → Voorburg-Arentsburg is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voorburg-Arentsburg to Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad
Voorburg-Arentsburg → Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad is 13 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad to back through Voorburg-Arentsburg
back through Corbulo's canal | Romeinsepad → back through Voorburg-Arentsburg is 9 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voorburg-Arentsburg to Rotterdam
back through Voorburg-Arentsburg → Rotterdam is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.