Cycling in Alkmaar
Alkmaar sits between two kinds of landscape. West lie the dunes and the coast: Bergen aan Zee, Egmond aan Zee, the Schoorl dunes. East lie the polders and waterways of North Holland. Both are half an hour from the city.
Seven routes run through Alkmaar. Some head into the dunes and return along the beach. Others take the open polder with its dykes and canals. The Schoorl dunes are the widest in the Netherlands, and the route shows it: this is where you go to be blown clean. Prefer shelter? Stay inland and follow the villages.
Along the way you pass Bergen, Heiloo, Koedijk, Schoorl, Aagtdorp, Wimmenum and the three Egmonds: Egmond aan Zee, Egmond aan den Hoef and Egmond-Binnen. The routes run from 28 to 44 kilometres.
Starting points are junctions 01, 02, 03, 06, 50, 51 and 71 to 74. For a break there is IJssalon de mient.
Further out there are more routes: around the Alkmaardermeer, along the West Frisian Ring Dyke and along the Hondsbossche sea defence. To combine them, or to put together something shorter of your own, use the route planner from any junction around the city.