Why this ride
From Voorschoten it runs 125 km to Voorschoten; allow about 2 h 17 of riding. On the way it passes Van Nellefabriek, Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout and back through Van Nellefabriek.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk and Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout starting at Voorschoten
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 125 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 17
- 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
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 37 km this is Zeeland Delta Works Route, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 37 km
- Named road
- Zeeland Delta Works Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk
The Vliet, a calm green waterway running between Leiden and The Hague, looks like any other Dutch canal, lined with reeds, cyclists and the occasional houseboat. But it follows, more or less, the route of one of the oldest canals in Western Europe. In about AD 47, the Roman general Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo ordered his soldiers to dig a canal linking the Rhine and the Meuse estuaries, so that boats could move supplies along the coast without risking the North Sea. The historian Tacitus says Corbulo did it partly to keep his troops busy. Traces of the Fossa Corbulonis have been found here at Vlietwijk, near Voorschoten, and the site is part of the Lower German Limes World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2021.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk is where the day begins. Next is Van Nellefabriek.
2. Van Nellefabriek
The Van Nelle factory, on the edge of Rotterdam, is one of the most beautiful industrial buildings ever made. Built between 1925 and 1931 for a company that processed coffee, tea and tobacco, it is a long, light building of glass and steel, with curtain walls that let daylight flood into the workspaces. The designers, Johannes Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt, created what became an icon of modernist architecture, a factory of light and air for its workers. It was added to the UNESCO list in 2014.
Read the complete Van Nellefabriek write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Van Nellefabriek comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout.
3. Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout
Nineteen windmills stand in two rows along the canals at Kinderdijk, their sails turning slowly against the wide Dutch sky, and it is one of the most iconic sights in the Netherlands. They were built in the eighteenth century to pump water out of the Alblasserwaard, a low-lying polder between the rivers Lek and Noord, which would otherwise be flooded. Each mill lifted water from a lower canal to a higher one, and from there it was let out into the river. Over time steam, diesel and electric pumping stations took over the job, and the most recent ones still keep the polder dry today. The mill network was listed by UNESCO in 1997.
Read the complete Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout. Next is back through Van Nellefabriek.
4. back through Van Nellefabriek
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Van Nellefabriek write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Van Nellefabriek, late in the day. Next is Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk.
5. Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk to Van Nellefabriek
Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk → Van Nellefabriek is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Van Nellefabriek to Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout
Van Nellefabriek → Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout to back through Van Nellefabriek
Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout → back through Van Nellefabriek is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Van Nellefabriek to Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk
back through Van Nellefabriek → Corbulo's canal | Vlietwijk is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.