In The Netherlands: Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe

Last Saturday, we drove up to Holland’s largest nature preserve: Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe. It is located about two hours from Den Haag and is one of those places we’ll need to visit more than once in order to see it all.

This visit, we only had time to do a bicycle tour of the park, which is roughly the size of 5,000 soccer fields (or so one of the ticket agents said). In other words, it is huge! On other visits, I hope to see the Kroller-Muller Museum, the Sculpture Garden and Sculpture Park, as well as the Museonder and the Jachthuis St. Hubertus.

There is an entrance fee for the park (separate fees for the museums)—I think it was something like €7 per person + €6 for the car. But once you’re in the park, you can borrow one of the 1,700 “White Bicycles” for free! They are gearless (one speed) and to stop you have to backpedal. It takes a little getting used to, but let me tell you, these were FUN bikes. Mr. DJ and I felt like kids again!

Despite the busy day, there were plenty of bikes to borrow. We got there at 1:00 pm and the bikes at the entrance gate were all gone, but there are bikes available at every parking lot in the park. We picked our bikes up at the Centrum. This is pretty much what the traffic looked like on the bike trails. For the most part, we had whole stretches to ourselves.

The pathways are very clearly marked with these cute little mushrooms.

And every once in a while there are bicycle pumps available for your use. Distance markers are in the middle of the path every .10 of a kilometre. An emergency number is listed on there too! This is a very comfortable and safe way to explore the countryside of the Netherlands, I think. However, just so you know, toilets and food and water are only available at the visitor’s centre and a few other places (not so easy to get to…). So be prepared! And carry lots of water and a few extra granola bars and apples.

There are three bike routes you can take: 10, 18 and 26 km (or 6, 11 and 16 miles for those who prefer those measurements). We took the 16 mile route. It was pretty easy riding. With a multi-speed bike it would have been a snap, but with a single speed bike, well, I felt every incline. And there are some really windy places—along the longest stretches of course. Ha! I’d love to go back and do this ride with our own bikes. :-)

We loved that the terrain was so varied. From heaths full of heather,

to woodlands,

to marshlands,

and dunes, the park is a beautiful day out.

And I grew quite attached to my little white bike :-)

I think you know me well enough by now to predict correctly that we ended our day with food. Here are two thatched buildings—the restaurant and cafe, I think. Surprisingly, thatch still seems to a popular roofing material in this country. You can see homes in the really nice (expensive) neighbourhoods near Den Haag with thatched roofs. Charming!

Yes, I know it’s not the healthiest snack, but Roxi and I split this. Bitterballen and frites. I figure après-exercise is the best time to indulge in such artery clogging foods, right?

These last two photos are really for my dad. I thought he’d be interested in the architecture. This is the park shop and visitor’s centre.

And this is the bike maintenance shed!