Leiden-Roomburg | Park Matilo and Elst-Grote Kerk

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Leiden-Roomburg | Park Matilo

   Leiden gave the world a university, a painter and a puzzle about a Roman fort. The fort was called Matilo, and it stood on the south bank of the Oude Rijn, the old arm of the Rhine, in what is now the Roomburg district west of the old town, between about AD 40 and 270. It guarded the frontier that ran along the river from Germany to the sea, with a garrison of auxiliary troops and a civilian settlement beside it, and its name survives on the Roman road maps. Today the site is a green park, Park Matilo, where the outlines of the fort are marked out, and information panels tell the story. The Lower German Limes was inscribed by UNESCO in 2021.

   Read the complete Leiden-Roomburg | Park Matilo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

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

2. 2. 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 comes up about 56 km into the recorded legs. Next is Elst-Grote Kerk.

3. 3. Elst-Grote Kerk

   Elst is a commuter town in the Betuwe, the flat river island between the Rhine and the Waal, halfway between Arnhem and Nijmegen. At first glance there is nothing remarkable about its big brick church on the market square. The surprise lies underneath it. Excavations in the twentieth century found the remains of two Roman temples beneath the floor, built one after another on the same spot, dedicated to a local god adopted into the Roman world. The site belongs to the Frontiers of the Roman Empire, Lower German Limes, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021, and the foundations can be seen in the church cellar when it is open.

   Read the complete Elst-Grote Kerk write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 116 km into the recorded legs you reach Elst-Grote Kerk. Next is back through Bunnik-Vechten | Marsdijk.

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

5. 5. Leiden-Roomburg | Park Matilo

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Leiden-Roomburg | Park Matilo 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 | Park Matilo. That is the ride.