Valkenburg-De Woerd | South and Van Nellefabriek

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Valkenburg-De Woerd | South

   For a few hundred years, the mouth of the Rhine was the edge of the world. West of Leiden, the river that once spilled into the North Sea along the Old Rhine channel marked the frontier of the Roman Empire, and the legions kept a line of forts along its banks. Valkenburg, a small village near the coast north of The Hague, was one of them, and the site of a fort known by the name Praetorium Agrippinae, which is the Roman name that archaeologists give to the Valkenburg fort. It sat on the south bank of the river, with a harbour, a bridge or two, and a settlement of traders and soldiers around it, and the finds from the area include timbers, shoes, and tools preserved in the damp clay.

   Read the complete Valkenburg-De Woerd | South write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Valkenburg-De Woerd | South is where the day begins. Next is Voorburg-Arentsburg.

2. 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 22 km into the recorded legs. Next is Van Nellefabriek.

3. 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 42 km into the recorded legs you reach Van Nellefabriek. Next is back through Voorburg-Arentsburg.

4. 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 Valkenburg-De Woerd | South.

5. 5. Valkenburg-De Woerd | South

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Valkenburg-De Woerd | South write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Valkenburg-De Woerd | South. That is the ride.