Plassentocht

From the cafe-restaurant, the Plassentocht heads straight up the dike and onto the banks of the Hollandsche IJssel, then slips into open polder country at Nesse Tiendweg. It has the feel of a steady Dutch touring day: water, wind, grassland, narrow plots, and those lakes made by “peat extraction of the former polders.” Expect easy riding over paved bike paths, dikes, and long flat stretches “along one or more large bodies of water,” including the Reeuwijkse, Nieuwkoopse, Loosdrechtse, and Vinkeveense Plassen. Families fit naturally here, especially with the shorter marked routes, free coffee or tea at the start, and a runner-friendly stop: Italian ice cream at Opa Antonio in the middle of the Reeuwijkse Plassen.