Shelter and Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Shelter

   Pull up near the shelter and you are in the southeastern part of Utrecht, a stone's throw from the university campus of De Uithof and a short ride from the city's canals. The label does not say which shelter, and in this district there are several, so treat it as an introduction to the countryside along the Kromme Rijn, the old Rhine course that once carried the river's main flow past Utrecht before it silted up and moved south.

   Read the complete Shelter write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Shelter is where the day begins. Next is Woerden-Centrum.

2. 2. Woerden-Centrum

   Woerden is a small Dutch town on the Oude Rijn, the old Rhine, halfway between Utrecht and Leiden, in the middle of the Green Heart of Holland, a landscape of polders, meadows, ditches and cows. Its centre is a compact old town ringed by canals, with a castle, a big church and a windmill on the old ramparts. The Romans were here too: Woerden lies on the line of the Lower German Limes, and the remains of a Roman fort lie beneath the town centre.

   Read the complete Woerden-Centrum write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Woerden-Centrum comes up about 24 km into the recorded legs. Next is Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan.

3. 3. 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

   about 58 km into the recorded legs you reach Leiden-Roomburg | Besjeslaan. Next is back through Woerden-Centrum.

4. 4. back through Woerden-Centrum

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Woerden-Centrum write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Woerden-Centrum, late in the day. Next is Shelter.

5. 5. Shelter

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Shelter write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Shelter. That is the ride.