Cruise to Volendam then cycle to Amsterdam. Last night on board

We were a bit more prepared this morning for a sharp departure after yesterdays experience. Enjoyed our final breakfast cruise and entering the pretty harbour of Volendam. A highlight this morning was meant to be a guided trip to a cheese factory about 5 km out of town. Well neither of us fancied cycling there as a big group of about 70 other people then queuing to taste cheese, just after breakfast.

After our short explore we returned to the cycle route and soon passed the cheese factory where we could see all the bikes outside. Managed to get ahead of the group and stop for coffee in the small medieval town of Monnickendam  where we watched the cycle group pass and waved to those we recognised / who caught our eye. Only downside I got a wet bum by sitting on my platypus. Hope the next person wasn’t too disconcerted when they sat on the same sofa!

Here we needed to make a decision as to whether we would take the shorter route, a longer route to Marken island or carve our own trail. The wind was still blowing so we decided to miss out Marken, which didn’t hold much appeal except for adding miles to our journey, but instead cycle along the coast with the wind largely to our backs and try and find a route inland through the ponder landscape after we had had enough of the lakeside path.

Interestingly the high dyke path (Ultdammerdijk) was closed as the dyke was having major work done to it to strengthen and raise it in anticipation of future sea level rises with climate change. The ponder scenery to our right over wetlands and lakes was charming and I must admit this was as close to powering it on our bikes as we got to all holiday. The path was good and the wind was pushing us along.  We could have taken this trail all the way to the outskirts of Amsterdam but felt like a change of scenery

Saw a potential way to rejoin the designated trail which we fancied. This would have involved taking a small ferry across the river at Holysloot which would have been fun. Alas when we got there a man working nearby told us it only runs on weekends early in the season. Not to worry the cycle there was lovely and the hamlet nice to ride through. Backtracked slightly and then took minor cycle paths along the edge of a significant channel. The wildflowers were lovely as was the scent from them. We were able to rejoin the Boat & Bike trail at Ransdorp where we stumbled across other members of our group at the trail junction. From here we rejoined the sea trail heading towards Amsterdam. Reflections on the rest of the afternoon

• The trail into Amsterdam was very well designed and for the main took us through  parks and charming streets.
• Stopped for a beer / coffee and some hot veggie snacks. Very welcome. Enjoyed relaxing in the sunshine in a small park with tall meadow grasses where there were some picnic benches among others enjoying the same.
• Guided a couple of ladies from Wales (on our tour) for the final section as they had got a bit disorientated using the paper maps and did not really get on with Ride with GPS. They were nice.
• Gave us the opportunity to sort out sharing a ride to the airport the next morning
• Took the ferry over from the North shore to Central Station and then it was city riding to get to the ship
• Decided to head back into Amsterdam proper (round Central station) for a couple of hours on the bus. Found a walking route on All Trails which took us in a circular loop round many of the major landmarks with photos and short descriptions of them. What a great tool. Alas our photos on an overcast evening were not up to much.
• Enjoyed the walk but it was very busy and I was quiet tired. The buildings and mix of architectural styles was outstanding.
• We ended up in Chinatown and had a lovely late afternoon snack of dim sum and small bites at a Michelin recommended restaurant. A really good end to our holiday. Unfortunately it made us a little late for the official Farewell party. However I don’t think we missed much!

See below for a video of our ride. Note to see the full controls click on the < control on the progress bar. This will allow you to watch the video full screen