Why this ride
An 80 km round trip from Leiderdorp - roughly 1 h 17 in the saddle. The stops in between: Voorburg-Arentsburg, Van Nellefabriek and back through Voorburg-Arentsburg. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan and Van Nellefabriek
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 80 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 1 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
Dutch Flower Route
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 20 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 19 km
- Named road
- Dutch Flower Route
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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 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 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Van Nellefabriek.
3. 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
about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Van Nellefabriek. Next is back through Voorburg-Arentsburg.
4. 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 Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan.
5. 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 at Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan to Voorburg-Arentsburg
Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan → Voorburg-Arentsburg is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Voorburg-Arentsburg to Van Nellefabriek
Voorburg-Arentsburg → Van Nellefabriek is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Van Nellefabriek to back through Voorburg-Arentsburg
Van Nellefabriek → back through Voorburg-Arentsburg is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Voorburg-Arentsburg to Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan
back through Voorburg-Arentsburg → Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan is 23 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.