Scenic rivers, palaces and the starting point for the Tour de France: Why Utrecht is the perfect place for a biking holiday Utrecht is Holland's fourth largest city with 330,000 inhabitants There are more bicycles than people in Holland - fitting for a biking break The city offers a mixture of athletic cycling and sightseeing By Jo Kessel For The Daily Mail Published: 12:42, 20 June 2015 | Updated: 12:42, 20 June 2015
On arriving in the Netherlands, two things soon become apparent. One: the Dutch are very tall. Two: they're born on bicycles. That must be why the man in the cycle shop keeps offering me wheels fit for a giant. I end up hiring a child's bike, which my husband and three children seem to find amusing. There are more bicycles than people in Holland, so it's fitting that the Grand Depart of this year's Tour de France leaves from Utrecht next month.
Freewheeling fun: Jo and family took to the bustling Oudegracht canal for their biking adventure It's the country's fourth largest city and is a mere half an hour south-east of Amsterdam. With just 330,000 inhabitants, it's far more intimate than its celebrated neighbour and is a popular city break destination, packed with museums, restaurants and history. It's also a great base for cycling holidays, where days can be spent pedalling along the River Vecht admiring mansions and palaces built by rich Dutch merchants in the 17th century. We're here for a mixture of athletic cycling and sightseeing; our guide, Edwin, promises to deliver both. As we set off from the Jaarbeursplein, the square where the Grand Depart will start on July 4 and 5 (the first race is an eight-mile time trial), Utrecht reminds me of a mini Amsterdam or Bruges. Canals criss-cross the medieval centre, and when we pass under the city's landmark 13th-century church's Dom Tower, I get a thrill, imagining Chris Froome bumping along this very same cobbled path. Minutes later, we've left the city centre and Edwin stops to point out the road where he expects the top cyclists will break away from the peloton on the second day.
We'll never manage the whole route, a whopping 103 miles from Utrecht to Zeeland (which borders Belgium), but we keep going for more than an hour, swapping townscape for countryside as we cycle past Utrecht's university (the biggest in Holland) and pedal into meadowland. It's bucolic and flat — lush fields full of sheep and cows famous for making Dutch cheese. Legs power on until we reach Theehuis Rhijnauwen, a pancake house on the banks of a brook that used to be part of the River Rhine.
The family in action on their cycling trip to Holland's fourth largest city We devour savoury and sweet pancakes while Edwin works out that we've cycled eight miles. 'That means there's eight miles back,' gasps my ten-year old daughter, Hannah. Her little legs struggle to keep up with the twins, Nathalie and Gabriel, 12, but she makes it, collapsing with relief when we return to our rented three-bedroom Twenties townhouse. Tall and skinny, with narrow stairs and just a couple of rooms on each floor, it overlooks the canal and has a pretty roof terrace. The landlord has left a large pack of Dutch stroopwafels (caramel waffles) on the table for us. Tour de France anticipation is palpable. The Town Hall has a countdown clock and the nearby Brasserie Bresson has a special Grand Depart menu.
A cycle along the River Vecht allows you to admire mansions and palaces built by rich Dutch merchants in the 17th century. The children roll their eyes when we insist on visiting the Railway Museum, set in a disused station. We all hop onboard vintage locomotives, some formerly owned by Dutch royalty. There are rides as well, including one down amineshaft. The museum shuts an hour after we arrive and the brood wish we had longer. On the way back, we're reminded quite how much of a cycling town this is. We pass locals transporting everything on their bikes from the weekly shop to duvets to children seated in front boxes. Author Dick Bruna, who created the popular children's character Miffy, hails from here and to celebrate the little white bunny's 60th anniversary there are life-size models of her all around the town. The Speelklok Museum also proves an unexpected hit. Dedicated to automatic musical instruments, we're wowed by self-playing pianos and 19th-century barrel organs.
An old English locomotive (built by Beyer Peacock, Manchester 1891) at the Railway Museum in Utrecht We operate a couple. One works by grinding a wheel with our arms, the other is powered by pedalling a static bike at 24mph. My too-short legs make the organ sound like a wheezing walrus. All the exercise makes us hungry, and at the restaurant Stegeman we are served sandwiches accompanied by mini cookies. Our waitress warns 'The cookies have bacon in them', but actually it's this that makes them special: sweet combined with savoury creating a most delicious duo. It's all about food pairings at restaurant Buurten, too. It's our favourite place to eat, full of wooden tables and loud chatter, where lamb stew is swimming in beer and packed with flavour, and cheesecake is dreamy, offset by passion fruit yogurt ice-cream. Oh, and Hannah's spaghetti bolognese comes with scissors to help cut the pasta. No trip to Utrecht is complete without attempting the lung-busting 465-step climb to the top of Dom Tower, the Netherlands' tallest at 367 ft high. Once there we can see as far as Rotterdam, 35 miles away. When we later pass the belfry, we wonder what classics Utrecht's bellringers might play that first July weekend — Ravel or Debussy? No, it's going to be Bicycle Race by Queen. Travel facts: Plan your own stay
Return fares on the overnight ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland (08447 707070, stenaline.co.uk) cost from ÂŁ170.50 for a family of five sharing a cabin. Stena's 'rail-and-sail' service (dutchflyer.co.uk) organises return train tickets in the UK and Holland. A three-bedroom house with Airbnb (airbnb.co.uk) sleeping six costs from ÂŁ68 a night. More information at holland.com.
Read more: Welcome | Stena Line dutchflyer.co.uk airbnb.co.uk Tourism in the Netherlands - Holland.com http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-3132462/Scenic-rivers-palaces-starting-point-TourFrance-Utrecht-perfect-place-biking-holiday.html