Last year we made from Leeds to Liverpool along the Leeds Liverpool canal on our bikes. Really enjoyed ourselves, so decided that this year’s challenge should be from Leeds to Amsterdam!

Leeds to Hull

Set off at 10am on Friday from Leeds city centre. Weather looks promising and we made it to Selby in good time and spirits (25 miles). After lunch we join the Trans-Pennine trail eastwards to Hull. Nice route, well signed and over a lovely sunny afternoon we couldn’t ask for anything more.

Unfortunately, as we arrived at the outskirts of Hull it turned out that the route was going to be a bit longer than we expected and worst, the heavens opened. The last hour of the ride through Hull to the port was wet and not very pretty.

Leeds to Hull – 72 miles

Rotterdam to Amsterdam

Day two brought us a morning of rain, and setting off on the wrong foot found us a bit lost cycling through Europort. It’s around 25 miles to get to Rotterdam city from the port, which took us the morning in the rain. Pretty miserable by time we got there, but decided to press on and luckily it brightened up after lunch.

It’s no surprise that the cycle routes in Holland are just amazing – well signed, big and well kept. Some of the cycle paths in Holland are in better nick than some of the roads in Leeds! The route out of Rotterdam takes you North past canals and windmills, through pretty villages and fields. The wind can be a bit rough over the flat open fields, but the good news is there are no hills to contend with! The slightly longer route can take you through Gouda but at that stage we didn’t want to make things more difficult for ourselves.

My rough measurements on Google Maps had placed the route at around 60 miles. The final count came out nearer 84, which was a bit of a shock. It was hard work and we arrived in Amsterdam around 7pm. A long day, but so rewarding when we made it there.

We stayed at the Hotel Hestia which I can’t recommend highly enough – very reasonable and great homely quality.

Amsterdam to Rotterdam

The next day was forecast to be rainier still so we decided to have a good night out then get the train back to Rotterdam. We still had the ride to Europort to deal with, which was a pretty wet affair. Found the cycle route to the port though, which certainly was better that the route through in the industrial estates on the way out.

Hull to Leeds

We were all worn out by this point, but the last leg was straight forward enough. Dry, but an awful wind which made for hard riding.

Overall, I’d really recommend the ride – it would have been loads better if we’d had sun all the way but you can make the best of it either way. The next question is… where next?