Terheijden to Hook of Holland - end of the road!

Here we are after 2,900km!

Waiting for the ferry 

We've made it! The route wasn't quite as planned due to the awful and unseasonal weather in Italy and Switzerland. Nevertheless we've cycled from Southern Italy to Holland (apart from a very short train ride at the Gotthard Pass due to the snow), passing through seven countries and seeing the landscapes and culture change day by day. We've experienced temperatures from near freezing to 40 degrees and certainly seen plenty of rain! We've struggled by in Italian - our attempts usually based on stringing together musical terms, German is much better - we know enough to survive reasonably, though Sweizerdeutsch seems almost impossible to understand. French is no problem and as for Dutch....... well they all speak perfect English, so it doesn't matter!

Back to today's ride -
We started off through open countryside before reaching the Rhine Delta with its bridges, tunnels and miles of docklands.

Lots of cyclists enjoying the countryside south of Rotterdam

We took an interesting and complicated route through Rotterdam's miles of docklands - thank goodness for the Garmin!

Wide bike path running between the motorway, road and railway along the Rotterdam docks.

This being Holland there was a wonderful cycle path the whole way with numerous bridges and the impressive Benelux tunnel under the main Rhine/Maas channel. This tunnel which also has separate train and road parts, has a lift for the bikes to descend. You wheel the bikes out and cycle about a kilometre on a well-lit, smooth two-way path - joining lots of other cyclists.  At the other end there's another lift to rejoin the bike network.

Benelux Fietstunnel

Terheijden to Hook of Holland  - 78km, 150m climb