Cycling route De Ronde Venen and Rondehoep
Cycling through a typical Dutch peat meadow landscape with open polders, reed beds and wide lakes, where narrow canals and peat rivers shape the scenery.
The Landscape
De Ronde Venen is a low lying peat and polder landscape shaped over centuries by peat extraction, water management, and land reclamation. Long, narrow fields, drainage ditches, peat streams, and extensive peat meadows define the landscape. The Rondehoep, one of the best known open polders in the Groene Hart, is one of its most distinctive features.
On the eastern side lie the Vinkeveense Plassen, lakes formed through centuries of peat extraction. Narrow peat ridges, elongated islands, reed fringes, and open water still reflect this history today, clearly illustrating the transition between the polder landscape, the lake district, and surrounding nature areas.
What You’ll Discover Along the Way
Around Abcoude, you cycle past places where water, defence and governance shaped history together, with forts and structures that form part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam. Dikes, locks and embankments run like quiet lines through the green landscape, giving the route a distinctive cultural and historical character.
The Rondehoep is one of the most open peat meadow polders in the Netherlands, with a wide horizon and neatly divided pastures. You literally cycle around it, alongside endless ditches and grasslands where the landscape remains vast and quiet, without buildings interrupting the view.
In areas such as Botshol and Waverhoek, the scenery changes from pastureland to reed beds, wet peat fields and swamp forest. Here, you experience the peat landscape in its most natural form, with water weaving through the greenery and a great chance of spotting meadow and water birds.
The Vinkeveense Plassen give the route a distinctly water rich character, with wide views across open water and small islands that reveal the area’s peat history. Along the shores and waterways, you can see how nature, water recreation and historic land reclamation blend seamlessly together.
Virtual Cycling in De Ronde Venen and the Rondehoep
Experience De Ronde Venen and the Rondehoep with their vast peat meadows, drainage ditches, reed fringes, and quiet polder roads. The route passes through water rich landscapes with views of the Vinkeveense Plassen, showcasing the characteristic mix of peat grasslands, lakes, and open polders in the Groene Hart.
Want to learn more about virtual cycling? THIS IS HOW VIRTUAL CYCLING WORKS
Route map and cycling junctions
Start and finish at cycling junction 71 on the Abcouderstraatweg in Amsterdam-Zuidoost. Because this is a circular route, you can also start at one of the other cycling junctions along the route.
Distance: 53 km
Estimated riding time: 3 hours 35 minutes
Elevation gain: 76 m
Paved roads: 98%
Unpaved / semi-paved: 2%
Ideal for: e-bikes and city bikes
Along the way: several options for a coffee break or lunch.
