This “Mills & Meadows” bike route explores the countryside near Leiden, a city south of Amsterdam. It’s a charming ride, with lots of windmills, waterways lined with flowers and trees, and cute villages.
We did this ride as part of our spring break cycling holiday, doing day trips around the Holland region of the Netherlands.
| Location: | Leiden, Netherlands |
| Car: | Parking: Haagweg 8, Leiden From Amsterdam 40 mins |
| Train: | Train station: Leiden train station From Amsterdam 40mins |
| Trail: | 46.2 km loop, about 3hr30 on bikes |
| Condition: | paved and gravel paths |
| Skill: | easy |
| Services: | restaurants in villages along route |
| Cost: | bike rental €12/city bike, €27.50/e-Bike |
| More info: | www.visitleiden.nl |
Location
This bike tour is located in Leiden, a city south of Amsterdam.
Bike route map
We mostly followed the Mills & Meadows route from a brochure the bike shop gave us. But made some adjustments which resulted in the map below. Loved it!
The numbers for our route: 86 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 85 – 44 – 78 – 81 – 5 – 40 – 28 – 9 – 10 – 21 – 14 – 29 – 32 (ferry) – 33 – 45 – 46 – 47 – 48 – 38 – 54 – 66 – 47 – 44 – 01 – 21 – 14 – 75 – 16 – 86
Here is the map we received from the bike shop.
Once you get out of the city, most of the route is on quiet country roads and through little villages. We took one small ferry as part of this route at about the 23km mark (see on map). The ferry cost €1.50/bike. It runs 7:30 – 16:00 on weekdays, 10:00 – 17:00 on weekends. It doesn’t run 1 Oct – 1 April.
The only tricky part was the last bit through the center of Leiden, which was very busy with car and bike traffic. With small children, you may want to avoid that part or walk it.
See more cycling routes in Leiden.
Bike rental
We rented e-Bikes from EasyFiets.nl. They have a large fleet of bikes, including city bikes, e-Bikes, cargo bikes, parent-child tandems, children’s bikes and bikes with child seats.
The shop is convenient located near the center of town at Haagweg 8, Leiden. There is a large parking lot next to the rental shop. We paid €15 for 5 hours (see parking rates). You can reserve a parking spot for busy days. It’s a 1 km walk from the Leiden train station.
Best to reserve bikes online to make sure you get the bike you want. You pay the full amount when you make the reservation. But you can cancel the reservation up to 48 hours beforehand. You also get your money back if it rains.
We particularly liked that they have a key-drop so you don’t have to return your bike before the shop closes. Just lock your bike outside the shop and drop the key in their box.
Where to eat
There are lots of restaurants in Leiden, but most are near the start/end of your route. We ate Restaurant Tussen Kaag & Braassem at about the 16 km mark (see on map). They had simple meals of panini sandwiches and salads, not particularly special but good. I’d suggest ordering your food and sitting at the picnic tables they have outside next to the river.
I might have preferred to eat in Woubrugse, which was a cute little village at about the . The restaurant ‘T Oude Raadhuys looked nice (see on map).
Photos of the bike route
