Amsterdam Cycle Route 1:
airport, forts, urban fringe and Haarlem

Non-tourist cycle routes around Amsterdam. This route goes through the neoliberal landscape around Schiphol airport, with relicts of 19th century land reclamation and fortifications. It continues through older settlements on higher ground, including the mediaeval core of Haarlem. 62 km, 6-7 hours. Revised January 2008.

---

• the ring dike and pumping stations of the Haarlemmermeer, a fresh-water lake lake until 1845.
• the drained lake floor, the Haarlemmermeer polder, dry since 1852.
• the regular pattern of drainage canals, roads and farms laid out after the polder was drained: unlike the surrounding region it was largely cropland (arable land).
• the forts and inundation dike of the late 19th-century defences of Amsterdam, De Stelling van Amsterdam
• the small rail network built in 1912-1915, to serve the agricultural villages in the area
• Schiphol Airport, a small military airfield beside one of the forts, which became the national airport of the Netherlands. Its growth since the 1950's has transformed not just the polder, but the whole Amsterdam region.
• the rail line and motorway built through the airport zone, toward Leiden, Den Haag and Rotterdam - a new high-speed line to Paris will open in 2009.
• the urban expansion of the agricultural villages in the 1970's and 1980's, and the growth of employment zones near the airport.
• a separate-track bus route called the Zuidtangent (south tangent), opened in 2002. It links the airport with growing urban areas, but bypasses Amsterdam entirely.
• continuing erosion of agricultural land by suburban housing, and associated new parks.
  

start at the west entrance of the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal nr 357. This city museum is a former orphanage at the south end of the mediaeval city: the enclosed Begijnhof (behind the museum) is a remnant of the mediaeval urban plan. See the animated map of the growth of the city at the Museum website.

cross the tram line into the narrow street opposite, Rosmarijn steeg. Go straight on, through Raam steeg, and cross the Singel. (This canal was originally the moat of the mediaeval city).

cross the three main canals, Heren gracht, Keizers gracht, and Prinsen gracht.

after the bridge over the Prinsen gracht, go slightly left into the Elands gracht. The real street name sign is on the café at the corner, ignore the sign for 'Johnny Jordaanplein'. As its name suggests, Elands gracht was originally a canal. Many canals were filled in, at the end of the 19th century: there are plans to re-excavate this one.

at the end of Elands gracht, go straight on, over the Singelgracht - the former moat of the 17th-century city walls. The office building on the corner is Police headquarters.

go straight on along Kinker straat, the route of tram line 7 and 17. This is a long shopping street through 19th-century and early 20th-century housing. In the 1980's the street was 'renewed' but that did not prevent economic decline. Now the whole area is gentrifying, and the borough council plans a 'revitalisation' of the street.

at the end of the Kinker straat, cross the inland shipping canal, Kostverlorenvaart. This canal is one of the oldest landscape elements in the city, along with the Amstel river, the dam, and the sea dike.

the tram line splits after the bridge: go straight on along the Postjes weg, the route of line 17. Cross the wide Admiralen gracht. This borough (De Baarsjes) is 'deprived' - in the Netherlands that is not a statistical indicator, but a euphemism for immigrant areas. It is the most densely populated borough - 23 000 inhabitants per km² land, 5 times the Amsterdam average.

cross the Hoofd weg and continue along the Postjes weg. After two more side streets, the pre-Second World War city ends. The park, and the buildings beyond it, date from the 1950's and 1960's.

go straight on, don't turn off right into the park. Pass between the 2 puppies.

at the roundabout go straight on, under the viaduct of the ring motorway A10. You are now in the westelijke tuinsteden, or 'western garden cities'.

These early post-war suburbs were built for an ethnically homogeneous, working-class population (with schools and hospitals separated by religion and political party). They are the architecture of an idealised 1950's Netherlands, where the family was the unquestioned basic social unit. The family housing is once again inhabited by families, but now they are largely Moroccan. However, in the last few years a mass demolition programme has started - cynically named Parkstad, park city. Unlike previous urban clearance policies, there is no structural or housing management reason: the housing is not empty or abandoned. The openly stated goal - apparently a new trend in European urban planning - is to force most low-income families out of the area, by replacing existing housing with expensive private-sector apartments. In effect, social cleansing. And ethnic cleansing - as in the United States, gentrification 'whitens' an area. In 2004 the Balkenende government introduced legislation, specifically excluding the poor from designated urban areas.

go straight on, and pass metro station Postjesweg (on the ring metro line).

after the metro station, pass different architecture on each side of the road. On the left, classic 1950's blocks, 5 storeys, no lift. On the right is a 1990's infill project, once a sewage plant.

at the traffic lights (before the park), turn left along the Johan Huizinga laan - classic early-1960's urban development.

Note the many clusters of local shops in these areas: while husband was at work, the housewife walked to the local shops, to do the family shopping. The car, the supermarket, and changed lifestyles, made the retail infrastructure redundant. Most of the butchers, bakers, and greengrocers disappeared. The ones that survived are now Turkish or Moroccan.

ahead is a road/tram viaduct: just before this viaduct, turn right along the footpath, alongside the road embankment. Mind the ducks here. Continue past the block built on pilotis (columns) over the water.

at the end of the footpath, go straight on, up toward the main road (cycle lane, then cycle path).

the cycle path then drops into a park: continue parallel to the main road. On the right is an artificial lake, Sloterplas, with apartment buildings clustered around the shopping centre of Osdorp borough.

at the traffic lights, turn left. Go past the petrol station, then turn right along Pieter Caland laan. Tram line 1 runs in the centre of this road, on reserved track.

further on, the effects of the Parkstad plan are visible. The blocks along the road are new, clearance is continuing behind them - 100% clearance is back in fashion.

cross the Baden Powell weg - until about 1990, this was the edge of the built-up area. Cycle straight on into De Aker, the newest urban-edge extension of Amsterdam - built on land formerly used for greenhouse horticulture.

at the shops, the road curves in a circle around an 18-storey tower. The tram line turns off right here. Follow the cycle path around the curve, on along the main road of the development, De Alpen.

cycle past apartment blocks and low-rise housing: tram line 1 runs parallel to the road, behind the blocks.

De Aker is an example of recent urban-edge housing, the VINEX locations. VINEX is an abbreviation for the revised 4th national spatial plan. This 1990's policy attempted to "limit urban dispersal" by concentrating hundreds of thousands of people, in large new developments at the edge of existing cities. Instead they made low-rise, low-density suburban housing the norm, and the later abandonment of national spatial planning has accelerated that trend.

at the end of De Alpen pass an apartment tower, with a circular car park in a pseudo-moat: behind it is the terminus of tram line 1.

The open land ahead is the late 19th-century Lutkemeer polder: no housing because the airport noise contour starts here. So far, airport noise stopped Haarlem and Amsterdam from growing into a single urban area. However, the norms do not apply to commercial, office and industrial use, and here Airport Business Park Osdorp is planned.

just before the crossing, turn left, follow the cycle sign for Badhoevedorp. Cycle up to the new lifting bridge into the Haarlemmermeer polder. Until the bridge, the view right is blocked by an 'ecological' noise barrier: earth-packed metal frames, for climbing plants.

cross the bridge over the Ringvaart, the ring canal of the Haarlemmermeer polder. Visible right is the brick chimney of the Lijnden steam pumping station.

Until 1845 a large fresh-water lake began at this point, extending toward Leiden. From the Middle Ages the lake grew, as storms eroded its banks: in 1836 it flooded land up to the city walls of Amsterdam, and parts of Leiden itself. The government decided to drain it, and sell the lake floor as agricultural land. Smaller lakes had been reclaimed in the 17th century, but only large steam pumps made this project feasible - it was probably at the limits of available technology. Charles Juergens describes the project in De Haarlemmermeer: een Studie in Planning en Beleid, 1836-1858 (Amsterdam: NEHA. 1991).

go straight on down from the bridge, then turn right, through the cycle underpass. Pass five almost identical buildings with grey metal facades, this is Airport Business Park Lijnden.

at the last grey building, continue along the cycle path. It turns left (cycle sign 'Doorgaand verkeer' meaning through traffic), past a few houses. Continue to the canal bank, 150 m further.

before you cycle on, go 50 m to the right, to a concrete footbridge. Walk onto the footbridge, to look at the neo-gothic Lijnden pumping station.

The pump, which gave its name to the settlement here, is named after Baron van Lynden van Hemmen - in 1821 he proposed reclamation of the lake. It is one of the three original steam-driven pumping stations which drained the former lake in 1852. A new pumping station has been built beside it: the water is pumped about 6 m upwards, into the ring canal. The view along the canal gives an impression of the polder structure and its scale - 18 000 hectares in area. This is the main longitudinal canal, Hoofdvaart, extending 20 km to the south-west. The canalside roads here are the original main road (hoofdweg) of the polder.

leave the footbridge, stay on this side of the canal, and cycle away from the pumping station, along the canal (Hoofdweg Oost Zijde). After you pass under the A9 motorway viaduct, the roads are lined with working farms.

at the traffic lights, continue along the left side of the canal, follow the cycle sign for Den Haag. The open fields were typical of the entire polder, until the 1950's.

The land is about 5 m under mean sea level, reclaimed specifically as arable land. Most of the former marshes of the western Netherlands are grassland. The crops are still primarily wheat, potatoes and sugar-beet. Until about 1955, the polder remained agrarian, with one-third of its present population. However, development pressure was inevitable, as population grew in the surrounding urban areas. Beyond the farmland the telecom tower of Haarlem is visible, the 1960's slab blocks of Schalkwijk, and the cathedral of St. Bavo, the centrepiece of mediaeval Haarlem. (In good weather, the horizon is formed by the wooded edge of the coastal dunes: here you are 15 km from the sea). Not only Haarlem is expanding: since the 1950's, the airport has eaten up the farm land. A fifth runway and the A5 by-pass motorway opened recently. By 1998, only 1500 people worked in the agricultural sector, but 40 000 in the transport / communications sector.

after 500 m the whole airport complex is visible left, the 'motor of the regional economy'.

Schiphol is the fifth largest airport in Europe: it began as a military airfield in 1916, and civil air services to London began in 1920. A single-terminal 4-runway airport was built in the 1960's. The incessant growth of Schiphol determines the future of this area, an artificial airport island in the North Sea is no longer considered feasible or relevant. The airport wants to build two more runways and a second terminal, to double capacity.

pass a line of landing lights (fourth runway) and continue straight on, alongside the canal. Pass under the viaduct of the A5 motorway.

1 km further, pass under the taxiway viaduct, that carries planes to the 5th runway. It usually smells of kerosene here (jet fuel, same as domestic parafin).

150 m after the taxiway, at the traffic lights, turn left into the Vijfhuizer weg. This is one of the original transverse roads of the polder, part of a grid with blocks of 2 km wide and 3 km long.

continue beside the taxiway: then this road bends right, to run alongside the A5 motorway. The terminal complex is now 2 km away, across the motorway and runway. The office blocks form the World Trade Center Schiphol Airport, the most expensive office space in the Netherlands. Airports are no longer just terminals, but major employment zones in their own right.

after another 2 km, the road turns away from the A5. This section is the Rijnlander weg, an original polder road with working farms, although this zone might later be developed for airport uses.

pass under the four-track Schiphol rail line, which emerges here from the tunnel under the airport. So does the new Zuidtangent busway, on your left. You are now in Hoofddorp.

go on to the traffic lights, use the cycle path. Cross the main N201 road. It is the main east-west road in the Haarlemmermeer polder -an axis of development from Hilversum to Haarlem.

go straight on along Rijnlander weg - do not turn right into Polaris Avenue. Follow the cycle sign for Nieuw-Vennep.

stop at the new viaduct with station, part of the Zuidtangent busway. This is Beukenhorst station, serving the office zone of the same name. Go up to the platform to look at it: more like a metro than a bus-stop. The busway is being extended south-eastwards to Aalsmeer, Uithoorn, and possibly on to Hilversum.

go down and continue along the Rijnlander weg. Ahead is a raised dike across the landscape: just before the dike, turn right, across a cattle grid, onto the cycle path. There are often sheep grazing on the dike.

50 m on, there is an old bunker in the dike: stop and walk up to the circular bench (steps on the right-hand side of the bunker).

The dike is not a defence against water, but an extremely specialised form of military architecture. This is the Geniedijk, a rear line dike of an inundation defence system - the Stelling van Amsterdam. This cycle route follows some of its diagonal line across the whole polder. The defence system was left to rot since the Second World War. In the last 20 years it was not only 'rediscovered', but officially declared a World Heritage Site. The bunker is the 1906 Batterij aan de Sloterweg, an intermediate battery between fort Hoofddorp and fort Aalsmeer. To the south is open land (like most of the polder in 1906): the dike was built for shallow flooding of this land. Around Amsterdam, a 135-km ring of forts would be surrounded by inundated areas, up to 10 km wide. Enemy troops would have to wade across these, under fire from the forts. (Shallow flooding meant large boats could not be used). The system was never tested and never used, yet until the First World War it was considered a reliable defence of Amsterdam.

visible to the right from the bunker is the rail works/terminal of Hoofddorp. From here, the high-speed line (HSL) to Paris runs beside the existing line, diverging toward Rotterdam 10 km further on. A multi-modal terminal is planned, and in the long term, an underground freight transport system, to the airport and the flower auction at Aalsmeer.

leave the battery, and cycle on alongside the dike, toward the office tower. Cross the cycle bridge - then turn left, past the red sculpture, along the cycle path toward the station.

pass under the station viaducts (Zuidtangent and rail). The station is only 25 years old, but it was entirely rebuilt in the last few years.

This is hot-spot planning, typical for this area: many rural stations in Europe have had no major repairs since the First World War. Although EU population is almost static, the Netherlands continues to grow, especially in the west. The Haarlemmermeer population grew from 60 000 in 1970, to 139 000 in 2008, and is projected to reach 170 000 in 2025.

just after the station, turn left: after 100 m go through a cycle underpass tunnel. After this tunnel the tree-lined Geniedijk is once again beside the path.

don't turn right here (through the gap in the dike). Instead go along the cycle path beside the canal, which is itself parallel to the Geniedijk. (If the canal and the grassed dike are not on your right, you took the wrong turn).

pass typical 1970's and 1980's suburban housing, further on there are some 'gallery flats', slab blocks in the British terminology. Hoofddorp is architecturally a new town: 95% of the housing was built after 1960.

go straight on past the Total petrol station, to the crossing with Hoofdweg Oostzijde. Here you cross the main longitudinal canal again (Hoofdvaart), the one which drains into the pumping station at Lijnden. Opposite is a strange narrow windmill set on raised ground.

A Windmill! A Windmill!

In the canal is a brick structure, with gates which can be lowered into the water. This is part of the inundation system: it is built in the line of the Geniedijk, to flood land, not to protect against flooding. The windmill is open Thursday afternoon from 13.00, and on Friday and Saturday from 10.00 to 17.00. This is not its original site: it was relocated here in 1977.

past the windmill, turn first left past nr 737, to look at Fort Hoofddorp - now used by a gun club. Pass the fort entrance, go over the cattle grid, and go around to the front of the fort, via the cycle path.

From this side, only the grassed-over earth cover is visible, but there is an intact caponnière (a gun emplacement at the foot of a higher wall). From the grassed dike, you can see that the fort moat has a higher water level, than the water in the surrounding polder. The dike is higher than both, in fact it is as high as the ring dike of the polder. That was in case the enemy tried to flood the forts, by flooding the entire polder. (At the time, "the enemy" might have been England or Germany, perhaps France).

from the grassed fort dike, turn back - you can not walk past the windmill from here. Go back, past the cattle grid, past the fort entrance, past nr 737, to the canalside road. Turn left along the canal, to continue toward the centre of Hoofddorp.

turn right across the next (wooden) cycle bridge, and go on into the broad avenue ahead. Use the cycle path on the left-hand side of the avenue. This area, south of the older centre of Hoofddorp, is being redeveloped (for the increased population).

at the Dirk van den Broek supermarket, turn left and walk along the new shopping street. Part of the street is older, with incongruous small shops in converted houses.

go straight on to the ABN-AMRO bank visible at the end of the street, and turn left. (Don't go under this building).

stop at nr 47, just before the roundabout.

This is the former Polderhuis - built in 1913, for the office that controls the dikes and drainage. In the Netherlands, these agencies (waterschap, heemraadschap) form a parallel system of mono-functional local government units. Often they had different boundaries, but until recently, the Waterschap and Gemeente of Haarlemmermeer coincided. The Polderhuis is here, because this point is the centre of the drainage system, the effective centre of the polder. Here the two main canals crossed, where the fountain now stands. In front of the Polderhuis was the market square, note the restaurant Marktzicht ('market view'). The four buildings around the fountain are typical of a small market village: the Polderhuis, a church, the old Town Hall, and the former corn exchange, now Hotel De Beurs. Even in 1970, Hoofddorp still had only 9 816 inhabitants, now 68 000. There are proposals to expand it south to Nieuw Vennep, creating a single city of about 175 000 people.

If you are exhausted, or ran out of time, you can return to Amsterdam from here: simply go left of the Polderhuis and cycle straight on along the Hoofdvaart canal, back to the pumping station at Lijnden, and back into Amsterdam.

from the Polderhuis, go past the roundabout/fountain, toward Hotel de Beurs. Cycle past the hotel, along Kruis weg.

after 100 m turn first right into Stations weg, to look at the old station of Hoofddorp, very different from the new one. It is at the end of the street on the left, at nr 7-13, now used as housing. It is raised above ground level, originally the rail line ran on an embankment, the platform side with the tiled station name is at the rear.

Rail lines were first planned when the polder was reclaimed, a simple network was completed during the First World War. The line came from Amsterdam and split just beyond this station. One line ran to Haarlem along the Geniedijk, another south to Nieuw-Vennep and Leiden. The Zuidtangent uses some of the old route into Haarlem. Today, such a network would need massive central government subsidies, but before the Second World War it was economic, for a much smaller and poorer population. Not the rail technology failed - the car, the suburb, and the suburban lifestyle competed it out of existence. If all three disappeared, then such a railway would be economic again.

turn back along Stations weg, and then right, to continue along Kruis weg. 700 m further, at the crossing with the Burgemeester Pabst laan, the Geniedijk crosses Kruisvaart diagonally. The gap in the dike, with concrete walls, is for the rail line.

go straight on at the traffic lights here, then turn next right, onto the cycle path, alongside the dike (cycle sign for Vijfhuizen). You now follow the line of the Geniedijk for several kilometres.

300 m on, the path cuts through the dike to the other side, continue alongside the dike. After another 200 m, the path crosses under the ring road of Hoofddorp, in a tunnel. On the other side you are back in open farm landscape, although the view at ground level is blocked by two grassed mounds. On clear days you can see the power station in the port zone, about 15 km away: behind the grass mounds is the new 5th runway.

continue along the cycle path. The old rail line to Haarlem ran on the opposite bank of the canal here.

after the crossing with the IJ weg, the dike is again on your right. Continue alongside the small canal: the Geniedijk originally had front and rear canals, along its entire length.

further on, the path rises to cross a new suspension bridge.

This quadrant of the Haarlemmermeer polder is being filled with new suburban housing and parks. The urban expansion, although designed and planned by local government, is market-driven. Whatever the planning rhetoric used, the reality is that the Haarlem conurbation will expand eastward into the polder, until it meets the airport noise contour.

cross the new bridge: it carries the cycle path over the Zuidtangent line and a new link road (N205). After the bridge, the dike passes through the former Floriade garden exhibition (2002).

The west side is now a centrepiece park for the new suburbs, with a prominent earthen pyramid. The use of such parks as development catalysts is typical of recent urban planning. The Bundesgartenschau, and its regional equivalents (Landesgartenschau), have a similar function in Germany.

200 m further cross a smaller bridge, the path then goes down from the dike: make a U-turn here. Go under this smaller bridge, into the park, toward the pyramid.

in the park, go right, in a semicircle, to the pyramid. Pass the steps. At the corner of the pyramid there is a cycle path: you can cycle up to the top. There is a good view of Amsterdam and Haarlem. For orientation: the Haarlem telecom tower is due north, 6 km away. On clear days you can see Leiden to the south, but you can't see the sea - the dunes hide it. The line of villages parallel to the dunes is indicated by their church spires. (There was a large sculpture on the pyramid, but it was unsafe in high wind, and it was removed).

go back down. Beside the end of the pyramid cycle path, another cycle path begins (5 m to the right). Make a U-turn, and go along this path, to the south-west. (You cycle away from the the suspension bridge, but parallel to the main road).

after 350 m, at the picnic bench, turn right, onto a long straight cycle path. Cross a road, go straight on - follow the cycle sign for Doorgaand Verkeer, on past the car park (golf course). This is a public cycle path.

cycle on through the golf course, past concrete bunkers - real military bunkers, part of the forward defences of Fort Vijfhuizen. Turn toward the club house, then left, again follow 'Doorgaand Verkeer'.

as you leave the golf course - mind the traffic! - you are back at the ring canal of the Haarlemmermeer polder (Ringvaart). On the opposite bank is a small windmill, De Hommel, and open land on the edge of the Haarlem agglomeration.

turn left, cycle on past the new (2004) cycle bridge. After another 600 m, you pass a green-and-white wooden tea-house, Theehuis Cruquius.

stop after the tea-house, at the original Cruquius steam pumping station, built 1846-1849 and now a museum. Even if you do not visit the building, go through the white gate beside it (right), to look at its structure.

The multiple beam engines, the piston cylinders of the pumps, and the difference in water level, are all clearly visible. The Cruquius museum itself is open from March to October, Mon-Fri 10.00-17.00 and Sat-Sun 11.00-17.00, entry € 5. After a visit you can have have coffee or tea at Theehuis Cruquius.

Coffee!

go toward the two lifting bridges across the Ringvaart. First cross the N201 road, to the cycle path, then turn right across the second (newer) bridge. After the bridge, you should be on the left-hand side of the main road!

turn left into the first street, Ir. Lely laan. 250 m further, on the left, is the gate of Het Oude Slot, the remnants of 13th-century Heemstede castle. If the gate is closed, you can see the ornamental garden and stone bridge, from the grassed play space, just right of the gate.

The bridge and moat are all that survive: the castle itself was demolished in 1810. Its location indicates the historical importance of the narrow strip behind the coastal dunes. In the early middle ages, this strip housed almost all the population of 'Holland'. Beyond the castle was uninhabited marsh and lakes, as far as Utrecht. Both Heemstede and Haarlem are built on a 'ridge' of sand, eroded dunes formed about 5000 years ago: in Heemstede it is at most 12 m high. See the structure maps of the dune edge/Haarlem region in 1850 and 2000, on page 5 of Projectenboek Kennemerzoom: Landschap en Cultuurhistorie.

from the castle gate go into Slot laan, at the boulder sculpture (opposite the gate). Continue straight along Slot laan. Cross Java laan, on into Timor straat.

at the end of Timor straat, turn left, and then immediately right, into Achter weg: the houses are now older. At the church (1625) turn right into Wilhelmina plein. This is the small village 'square' of Heemstede, a settlement dating to the early Middle Ages.

Like several others in the Haarlem agglomeration, it is surrounded by later housing: the villages suburbanised in the late 19th century. Most of Heemstede has a classic 'suburban' character, defined by interwar expansion south of Haarlem (1920-1940).

leave the square, at Banketbakkerij Kniese turn left into Camp laan. Cross the main road, Heemsteedse Dreef, and continue along Camp laan.

at Raadhuis plein, turn right, past the Raadhuis or town hall - a 1906 pastiche of 18th-century Dutch town halls.

continue along Raadhuis straat: this is an old road linking the villages south of Haarlem, and there are some older cottages, as at nr 83/85.

This was the route of the steam tram from Haarlem to Leiden (1881 to 1948). Like the streets in central Haarlem, it is aligned with the relict coastal dunes, SSW - NNE.

cross a bridge over a small canal, Zand vaart.

A zandvaart is a canal built purely for the excavation and transport of sand. There are several in the Haarlem area, most built in the 17th century. Each was cut from an existing canal or river, until it reached higher sand ridges. From then on, the sand was loaded onto barges as it was cut away. It is a form of economic miracle: cutting the canal produced the freight to finance its construction.

continue along what is now Binnen weg, this section is primarily a 1930's suburban shopping street. Note the absence of ethnic minorities, in these prosperous suburbs.

after the last shops go straight on. Continue along Bronstee weg, past substantial suburban houses, passing a roundabout.

at the older white houses (nr 100), go to the right, then turn left along the main road. Here you cross the city boundary of Haarlem.

go straight on: it looks as if you are leaving the built-up area, but this is a wooded park.

pass a fenced area on the right. This is a Hertenkamp, an open space near a town, with a herd of deer. It was a predecessor of the 19th-century zoo. The animals were not entirely for show: citizens of Haarlem were allowed to hunt them, on the third Monday in August.

continue toward the city centre, this is a late 19th-century 'villa district', typical for medium-sized cities in the Netherlands. The former houses of the bourgeoisie are now used as offices for legal, medical, and financial services.

at the traffic lights go straight on along Dreef, sign for Centrum. On the right here is a white-fronted neoclassical villa, with a raised centre section (under renovation). This 1789 villa, for a few years the residence of King Louis Napoleon of the Netherlands, is now the seat of the Province of Noord-Holland. (See the image gallery at the provincial website).

pass (right) the main entrance to the administration buildings of the province.

The provinces are the middle tier of Dutch government: they have few powers, and there were often suggestions to abolish them, or split them. The increasing scale of urban economic regions, and the development around Schiphol, may make a large regional administration more appropriate.

continue through Hout plein, the edge of central Haarlem. Before the bridge, turn right, onto Gasthuis singel. As in Amsterdam, the name 'singel' indicates that this canal was originally a moat, outside the city walls.

at the next bridge, turn left across the bridge, and then left along Gasthuisvest.

at the next corner, turn right into Groot Heiligland: the name indicates a mediaeval religious foundation here, rather than the Holy Land.

You are now in the area of the mediaeval city. In this street some of the pre-industrial urban landscape has been preserved, even if many buildings have been renovated (before they became 'heritage'). The first part of the street is lined with 17th-century gables, although few have anything authentically 17th-century behind them. In a 1610 alms house on the left is the Frans Hals Museum, one of the main tourist attractions of Haarlem. Pass at nr 47 the Haarlem Architecture Centre, the regional historical museum and the Spaarnestad Fotoarchief with 3 million images.

stop at nr 24, Omvalspoort: a narrow alleyway leads to a row of small houses inaccessible by car.

continue along Groot Heiligland: despite the heritage status, there is also some recent urban-renewal infill.

cross the Oude Gracht, another filled-in canal. In most Dutch cites, 19th-century 'improvement' included filling canals: remember they were also sewers. (Roadworks, early 2008).

go straight on, along the Schagchel straat, leading to the central square of mediaeval Haarlem.

Like several others, this street follows the line of the dune ridge on which Haarlem was built, SSW to NNE. The differences in level are small, the ridge was about 2 m above sea level, enough to make it safe from flooding. The streets leading from the square on the south side are now shopping streets, and largely pedestrianised.

continue into the Warmoes straat, with brick-and-stone paving. Although the houses may be more recent, the urban form here is mediaeval: the street is dominated by the bulk of the late-gothic St. Bavo cathedral (built 1370-1520).

go on through the short Lepel straat, between the cathedral and the Vleeshal (a guildhall), into Grote Markt, the main square of Haarlem.

Although much of the square is surrounded by 19th century building, the form is still intact. With town hall, guildhalls, and St. Bavo cathedral it represents the unity of mediaeval culture and society - a lost unity which 19th-century nationalism attempted to recreate. There is a 19th-century nationalist monument in the square: the statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster. True Haarlemmers continue to believe, against all evidence, that Coster (and not Gutenberg) invented printing with movable type. The square's present functions are shopping, culture, and heritage. The Vleeshal (1603) is a museum/gallery, there is an archaeological museum in the cellar, the low Vishal (1769) beside the cathedral is also a gallery. The size of the mediaeval city and its sacral building, reflect its historical status. Haarlem, not Amsterdam, was the prime city of the County of Holland, the historical core area of the Netherlands state. But, like Orleans in France (which had a similar advantage as capital of the Duchy of Orleans), it had lost that position by the end of the middle ages.

to return toward Amsterdam go past the Vishal from this point, along the side of the cathedral. Then follow the cycle sign for Alkmaar: turn left into the Jans straat. (Haarlem's red-light-district is in the side streets on the right here).

cross the east-west canal Nieuwe Gracht into Jans weg, and go on towards the station area. If you have time stop to look at Haarlem station - a classic 19th century railway station, although it was completed in 1908.

pass under the rail bridge with its iron pillars, and turn right, following the cycle sign for Amsterdam.

The grassed mounds across the road are remnants of the city walls. Further along this road (Prinsen Bolwerk) the moat and at least the outline of the bastions are visible - but the structure is best visible on a map.

cross the Spaarne, the river of Haarlem. Left of the bridge is the old harbour and industrial area. On the right, behind the rail bridge, is the dome of Haarlem prison. It was built on the panopticon model of Jeremy Bentham, so familiar to Foucaultian postmodernists (and their students).

at the second traffic lights after the bridge, go straight on, following the sign for Spaarndam. This is only slightly longer than the direct route back - and much more pleasant than cycling beside a motorway.

cycle on along Oude weg, through the main industrial zone of Haarlem (Waarderpolder). As it curves to the left, the telecom tower is visible ahead.

Haarlem's traditional industries include printing: pass (right) the Enschedé plant. For generations this firm, and not the government, has printed Dutch banknotes.

pass the telecom tower, and turn left across the road, following the cycle sign Spaarndam. On the other side of the road, turn left and then right, toward the car park of the recreation area Spaarnwoude.

just after the map of the recreation zone, before the car park, turn right along the cycle path.

at the rail line, turn left. You now cycle alongside the rail line for several kilometres, on cycle path or farm access road, to Halfweg.

cross a narrow wooden cycle bridge over the Liede, an arm of the Spaarne - which in turn was an arm of the IJ estuary. The 'grassed mound' is another fort of the Stelling van Amsterdam, the Fort bij de Liebrug. There was a defensive position here in Napoleonic times, but this small fort dates from 1900. It formed a pair with another fort, about 800 m further south.

go straight on from the wooden bridge, following the cycle sign for Vinkebrug. Use the cycle path in the field, follow the LF20a sign.

after passing under the A9 motorway viaduct, use the farm access road, and not the cycle path - again follow the LF20a sign. Pass left open grazing land, early-mediaeval reclamation. You may see a ship passing in the North Sea Canal, 5 km to the north: the orange cranes are at the Ceres container terminal.

pass grassed mounds on the left, the site of a 1927 anti-aircraft battery (now nature reserve Spaarnwouderveen en Batterij). The road turns left, away from the rail line, to join the old dike road from Spaarndam to Halfweg.

Just before the higher dike road, the steelworks complex of Hoogovens/Corus, on the coast at IJmuiden, is visible left (in clear weather).

the road rises to the dike: this is the old southern sea dike of the IJ estuary from Velsen to Amsterdam. Continue toward Halfweg.

The land on the left, now a park, was reclaimed in the 1870's, when the North Sea Canal was built. Note the multiple-level drainage system: dike-canal-dike-ditch-land. Visible ahead are the old CSM sugar factory silos: it closed in 2000, and the twin silos are under conversion to offices.

after the first houses of Halfweg, turn right across the railway level crossing, and then left along the access road beside the motorway, following the cycle sign for Amsterdam.

after 300 m pass over several narrow bridges. The old brickwork channels are the drainage locks, for the former Haarlemmermeer lake. (The small iron bridge is for the former tram line Amsterdam-Haarlem). The houses visible right, across the water, are on the northern tip of the Haarlemmermeer polder.

continue along the Oude Haarlemmer straat weg, the 'old high road to Haarlem'. At the traffic lights, cross the main road, and turn left toward Amsterdam (the cycle traffic lights are offset, just before the road crossing).

after the last house of Halfweg (nr. 68), continue on the cycle path alongside the main road, in a straight line for another 9 km, into Amsterdam.

pass the office buildings around Sloterdijk station, and the Westergasfabriek - a cultural centre in a former gas-works.

continue along the Haarlemmerweg to the Singelgracht, the boundary of the historic centre of Amsterdam. Cross the bridge to the Haarlemmerplein, the end point of this route.