Why this ride
242 km from Bunnik to Bunnik, about 3 h 26 of riding. It goes by way of Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan, Dutch Water Defence Lines and back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg and Dutch Water Defence Lines
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 242 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 26
- 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
Dutch Flower Route
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 66 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 66 km
- Named road
- Dutch Flower Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg
A modern fort and a Roman one stand within a couple of kilometres of each other here, and both exist because of the same river. Vechten, on the Kromme Rijn just east of Utrecht, was the Roman fort of Fectio, one of the best-known sites on the Lower Germanic frontier. It lay at a point where the Rhine split, with the branch that became the Vecht heading north, and that made it a perfect depot. Soldiers, grain, and building stone all went through here, and archaeologists have pulled a remarkable amount out of the ground, including altars, bronze statuettes and the debris of a busy harbour.
Read the complete Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg is where the day begins. Next is Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan.
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. 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. 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 | Provincialeweg.
5. Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg 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 | Provincialeweg. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg to Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan
Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg → Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan to Dutch Water Defence Lines
Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan → Dutch Water Defence Lines is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Dutch Water Defence Lines to back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan
Dutch Water Defence Lines → back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan is 66 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan to Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg
back through Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan → Bunnik-Vechten | Provincialeweg is 55 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.