Zaanstad's water
This cycle route through the Zaan region gives you a great insight into the water management and history of the Zaan polders. It is a round trip of 33 km that can be extended to 44 km.
This extra loop takes you past the forts between Beverwijk and Krommenie-Assendelft.
On this cycling tour, you will discover all that the Zaan region has to offer. You ride through urban areas as well as nature, but the landscape always remains typically Dutch. History can be found here in many ways. The windmills on the Zaanse Schans are centuries old, there are many monumental buildings in the area and the Nauernasche Vaart and the Zaan have a rich history.
Water and meadows dominate this peat meadow landscape. This is ideal for meadow birds, such as the black-tailed godwit. Among the reeds, you can hear many species of reed birds. Above them, various birds of prey fly. They mainly prey on the small mammals that live here, such as mice, hares and mustelids.
You can decide where...
This extra loop takes you past the forts between Beverwijk and Krommenie-Assendelft.
On this cycling tour, you will discover all that the Zaan region has to offer. You ride through urban areas as well as nature, but the landscape always remains typically Dutch. History can be found here in many ways. The windmills on the Zaanse Schans are centuries old, there are many monumental buildings in the area and the Nauernasche Vaart and the Zaan have a rich history.
Water and meadows dominate this peat meadow landscape. This is ideal for meadow birds, such as the black-tailed godwit. Among the reeds, you can hear many species of reed birds. Above them, various birds of prey fly. They mainly prey on the small mammals that live here, such as mice, hares and mustelids.
You can decide where to start and end the round trip. For this itinerary, Zaandam Station is the start. From here, you cycle to Zaanse Schans, the famous tourist attraction with its traditional green wooden houses. You cycle along the Zaan and then arrive in Wormer, one of the oldest towns in the Zaan region. The rusk bakers of Wormer supplied many VOC ships in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As you cycle further, you see the old Water Tower of the longest ribbon village in the province looming up. Through excavations, we know that the first habitation in Assendelft occurred around five hundred years before our era. After this journey through the history of the Zaan, Station Zaandam gradually comes into view again.
Do you opt for the extended route, past the forts between Beverwijk and Krommenie Assendelft? Then don't turn left at the church in Wormerveer, but go straight ahead. At the Molletjesveer you cross the water with a ferry you have to operate yourself. At Nauerna, you can rejoin the thirty-three-kilometre route.
Important information:
- Download the PDF file for the cycle route.
- The route is not signposted.
- This is a route of recreation authority Alkmaarder- and Uitgeestermeer.