From Oostzaan to Landsmeer
This bike ride goes through pure Dutch countryside with the beautiful historic Zaanstreek and stunning wetlands as highlights. You will continue to enjoy the numerous windmills, picturesque properties and wonderful Dutch views.
This cycle tour takes you through an archetypal Dutch landscape with the historic Zaanstreek and wetlands as highlights. Along the way, you can enjoy the numerous windmills, picturesque buildings and Dutch vistas.
After leaving from the starting point, you cycle through recreation area Het Twiske within a few minutes. As you cycle through Het Twiske, it is hard to believe that this beautiful area was created by digging sand for the first Coentunnel. If you feel like a short stop at this point? Then be sure to make a stop in Het Twiske and enjoy the peace and quiet.
From Het Twiske you cycle on to a ...
This cycle tour takes you through an archetypal Dutch landscape with the historic Zaanstreek and wetlands as highlights. Along the way, you can enjoy the numerous windmills, picturesque buildings and Dutch vistas.
After leaving from the starting point, you cycle through recreation area Het Twiske within a few minutes. As you cycle through Het Twiske, it is hard to believe that this beautiful area was created by digging sand for the first Coentunnel. If you feel like a short stop at this point? Then be sure to make a stop in Het Twiske and enjoy the peace and quiet.
From Het Twiske, you cycle on to another nature reserve, the Oostzanerveld. This is a beautiful peat meadow area and very popular with meadow birds. So keep your eyes open and spot the most beautiful meadow birds! After passing the A7 motorway, you cycle towards the Zaanse Schans. This open-air attraction is world-famous and was set up to preserve its historical heritage. You'll find green Zaanse houses, warehouses and windmills. Do you enjoy visiting the Zaanse Schans? Then use this as a stopover and have a look around! After visiting the Zaanse Schans, it's time to continue your way. Continue your route through the Zaan region and cycle through places like Wormerveer, Westzaan, Assendelft, Zaandam and Oostzaan. Tip: in Oostzaan, you will still find some beautiful Zaanse façades. From here it is just a short cycle past the Twiskemolen windmill and you are already back at the start!
Take a closer look
You are going to see this
The Big House
Did you know that years ago Landsmeer was world-famous for its eggs? Visit Het Grote Huis, the central place for the egg trade, and find out what this house meant to the egg trade,
The Big House
Did you know that years ago Landsmeer was world-famous for its eggs? Visit Het Grote Huis, the central place for the egg trade, and find out what this house meant to the egg trade,
In 1900, Landsmeer was world-famous for its eggs. In these years, as many as five million (!) eggs a year were exported from Landsmeer to London, and at its peak in the 1920s, as many as 50 million eggs a year were transported abroad. Not for nothing too that three quarters of Landsmeer's population worked in poultry farming and egg trading.
There are many relics of this successful period, of which The Big House is one. This was, in fact, the central place for the egg trade from 1900 onwards. Why do we hear you thinking now? Under the house, as many as 1 million eggs could be stored in the egg pits located there. The eggs were stored here until they went to the egg auction, which was located behind the house.
Care farm the Marches
Care farm De Marsen, where development of people and nature is central!
Care farm the Marches
Care farm De Marsen, where development of people and nature is central!
You are welcome to visit Care Farm De Marsen to visit its free-range farmyard, and to have a look at its farm shop.
The care farm offers an inspiring workplace for (young) adults with (mental) disabilities. They help take care of the animals and everything that comes with it. The auxiliary farmers are very involved in the farm. They are aware of everything that happens to the animals and work together on the well-being of the chickens, pigs, cows, sheep and horses. To ensure peace and quiet for both our helpers and the animals, it is therefore not possible for visitors to enter the farm. However, you are welcome to visit the farm shop and the free-range farmyard!
At the front of the farm, there is a farm shop selling all kinds of products, including a steady supply of (seasonal) fruit and vegetables, eggs, dairy products and other local delicacies such as honey and jam! In addition, the auxiliary farmers provide weekly freshly made soup and other homemade delicacies such as artisanal cakes, which, combined with tea or coffee, can be enjoyed on the terrace. Meat from their own animals can also be found in the shop. The selection consists mainly of beef and pork.
The farm shop is open on Saturdays between 10:00 - 13:00 and 13:45 - 16:00.
On the free-range farmyard, visitors are more than welcome! There is a children's play area here where there is more than enough for them to experience. Among other things, there is a sandpit, but there are also all kinds of other games to play and a number of chickens scratch around. Besides the free-range yard, you can also find a toilet hut that is open.
The Oostzanerveld
The Oostzanerveld is a hidden gem in an urban setting.
The Oostzanerveld
The Oostzanerveld is a hidden gem in an urban setting.
This unique peat meadow area consists of hundreds of islets and ditches, and is best admired from the water. In the past, so-called "vaarboeren" (boat farmers) sailed from island to island with their flatboats to milk or move their cows. Some of these boating farmers are still active, such as at De Vaarboerderij in Oostzaan.
From the reed-lined ditches, the curious cows, sheep and horses love to take a look at the waterfront. The area is loved not only by cattle, but also by numerous meadow birds such as the black-tailed godwit, lapwing and redshank. No wonder the Oostzanerveld has been declared a Natura 2000 area - a place where people and nature come together in peace and quiet, just a stone's throw from Amsterdam!
Listen | The Oostzaan Orphanage
This property on Zuideinde was built in 1695 as a country house. Years later, in 1774, the building was converted into an orphanage by the regents of Oostzaan.
Listen | The Oostzaan Orphanage
This property on Zuideinde was built in 1695 as a country house. Years later, in 1774, the building was converted into an orphanage by the regents of Oostzaan.
For almost 170 years, it housed Eastzan orphans. The boys were trained as craftsmen so that they could pursue a trade after leaving, while the girls were prepared for a future as seamstresses or maids.
A well-known resident of the orphanage was David Teer, born in 1867. He entered the orphanage at the age of five and stayed there until he was 23. Teer later became a municipal official and eventually mayor of Oostzaan.
In 1943, the last child left the orphanage, after which the building was converted into a residential house. It is now listed for its rich history. Above the door of the outhouse are two figurines, a boy and a girl, with the Coat of Arms of Oostzaan between them. The sign the girl is holding shows the year 1713, the year the building was rebuilt. The building thus remains an important symbol of Oostzaan's past.
Listen | Twiskemolen
The Twiskemolen has stood on the border between the municipalities of Landsmeer and Oostzaan since 1974. Looking at the dates on the mill, it is immediately obvious that the mill is much older.
Listen | Twiskemolen
The Twiskemolen has stood on the border between the municipalities of Landsmeer and Oostzaan since 1974. Looking at the dates on the mill, it is immediately obvious that the mill is much older.
The Twiskemolen was originally built in 1541. Only then it was not in Het Twiske, but about 40 km away in Barsingerhorn. When people were looking for a mill for Het Twiske, this mill - then stored in Nieuw-Vennep - was bought in the late 1960s.
The Twiskemolen is one of the few polder mills in the Netherlands that is still actually in operation and is managed by a volunteer miller. For decades, the monumental mill combined with an electric drive has been pumping the approximately 650-hectare Twiske polder. Did you know that in one minute the mill can grind 20 to 60 cubic metres of water one and a half metres up to the other side of the dike?
Next to the windmill, on the dike, is an information panel where you can read more about the Twiskemolen.
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