Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk and Dutch Water Defence Lines

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk

   Two layers of Dutch defence history sit on top of each other just south-east of Utrecht. Around two thousand years ago, the Romans built a fort here called Fectio, at the point where a branch of the Rhine met the Vecht, with a harbour for the fleet that patrolled the river frontier. Its remains lie buried in the fields near Vechten and are part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, a World Heritage site since 2021. Close by stands Fort bij Vechten, a nineteenth-century fortress of the New Dutch Waterline, a defensive system that could flood large areas of land to stop an invading army. That system is itself part of the UNESCO site of the Dutch Water Defence Lines. The fort now houses a museum explaining how the waterline worked, and how a country below sea level turned water into a weapon.

   Read the complete Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk is where the day begins. Next is Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan.

2. 2. Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan

   The Rhine ends in a whimper rather than a bang. After its long journey from the Alps, its old main branch, the Oude Rijn, winds quietly through the flat polders of South Holland past Leiden toward the North Sea, and for the Romans this sluggish waterway was the northern frontier of the empire. At Roomburg, on the edge of Leiden and Leiderdorp, stood the fort of Matilo, guarding the river and the canal that linked it with the Meuse, and today its site is part of the Roomburgerpark, a green space with information points and outlines marking where the fort stood. It belongs to the Lower Germanic Limes, listed by UNESCO in 2021.

   Read the complete Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan comes up about 55 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dutch Water Defence Lines.

3. 3. Dutch Water Defence Lines

   Forget mountains and passes: the Dutch defended Amsterdam with water. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, the army built a ring of forts around the capital at a distance of roughly fifteen to twenty kilometres, the Stelling van Amsterdam, designed to flood the surrounding polders to a depth too shallow for boats but too deep to wade through. Forty-odd forts, along with dykes, sluices and batteries, formed the ring, and the area north of the city near De Rijp and the Beemster was part of it. The Defence Line of Amsterdam gained World Heritage status in 1996, and in 2021 it was extended to include the older New Dutch Waterline further south, the whole now known as the Dutch Water Defence Lines.

   Read the complete Dutch Water Defence Lines write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 121 km into the recorded legs you reach Dutch Water Defence Lines. Next is back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan.

4. 4. back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan, late in the day. Next is Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk.

5. 5. Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk. That is the ride.