North Sea to Adriatic Cycle Tour: Ep 1 EV 15 Rhine Cycle Route Netherlands (Amsterdam to Millingen)

This is the first stage of our 2022 ride from Amsterdam in the Netherlands to Grado, Italy on a route that includes a short section of EuroVelo 12, EuroVelo 15 (the Rhine route), EuroVelo 6 along the Danube, part of the Tauern Radweg and finally the Cyclovia Alpe Adria Radweg (Alps to Adriatic). Our ride began on May 6th and we reached the Adriatic Sea on June 30th having clocked up over 2800 km.
This first episode takes us from the Netherlands coast to the German border, with lots of drama on Day 2! As you will see, not everything went to plan, but it's all part of the adventure.
All music in this episode is from Epidemic Sound.
Useful Resources:
For EuroVelo 15 we used the Cicerone book "The Rhine Cycle Route" by Mike Wells and found it very useful. It has detailed maps and interesting background information too. The maps were particularly useful when the trail signage wasn't enough. I have used some of these maps in this video series.
The official EuroVelo website is another handy resource of course, and for those using GPS navigation, it provides gpx files for the various routes. en.eurovelo.com/#routes-and-c...
For navigation, we did not use any high-tech GPS systems, relying instead on route signage, the book "The Rhine Cycle Route" (Kindle version) and a useful free overview map of EV 15 that I picked up in a tourist office. For other route-finding to campgrounds, grocery shops, etc, we used the Maps.Me phone application which you can use offline.
We did not have local phone sim cards so our use of Google maps and other online resources was limited to when we had wifi access at campgrounds, grocery shops and restaurants.
0:00 Intro and Route overview
2:30 Journey begins in Amsterdam
4:20 Day 1 Amsterdam to the coast via Haarlem
8:20 Day 2 Hague to Hook of Holland, broken bike drama!
14:40 Hanging out at the Hook during bike repair
16:07 Ride resumes, Day 3 - Rotterdam, windmills, the River Lek and farm camping
22:17 Day 4 Schoonhoven to Wijk bij Duurstede
26:07 Day 5 Wijk bij D to Wageningen, bike repaired, some WW2 history
30:04 Wageningen to Millingen, reach German border

[@dongxue3909]

I enjoy watching your videos. Your style of editing and telling stories is fascinating. Thank you very much for sharing your journeys

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you so much for your nice comment - great to hear that you enjoy the videos. You just made my day!

[@onyva3256]

Fabulous video. I’m doing a bit of research before trying EV15 this summer and your video is by far the most engaging. Lovely stuff.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thanks for that lovely comment! Hopefully it helps you with your ride planning for the summer!

[@ExploringHabit]

I love watching your adventures by bicycle , it's definitely the best way to see the world.

[@tonypaddler]

Great video, I’ll watch the series in order. Cheers 👍

[@JirkaVor1]

That's beautiful, amazingly professional. Thank you very much and I look forward to the next parts.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you for that lovely compliment! Glad you enjoyed this one and hopefully the next episodes will live up to your expectations too!

[@TheEssexSpurs]

Well I was watching when you replied. I am about to watch episode 8. I am so inspired. Thank you

[@duncanmclean5232]

Brilliant video and loved your narrative. Very informative. Bob was very obliging. A few of us cycle in the Netherlands every June for 5 days. In 2023 we stayed in Woerden and cycled along the River Lek. Thank you for this exceptional travel video. Best wishes, Duncan McLean.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thanks for the comment Duncan and glad you enjoyed the video! Yes Bob was certainly a great help to us - we still keep in touch with him and his wife. Sounds like you're quite familiar with some of these areas yourself. Cheers!

[@Hensepens64]

Fun part.. usually we have foreigners with their vlogs to show us Dutch how beautiful our own country can be ... I loved your video

[@daphnebehindbars]

I'm really glad you liked the video - as you can tell, we really enjoyed your country!

[@TheEssexSpurs]

You started your trip on my 60th Birthday {May 3rd 2022} so that was a good start to watchng this series. i am waiting till everyone has gone up to bed to watch part 4.I love these films.I am intrigued to know your ages if not too rude a question.if your friend onyour travels,the 80 year old man,doesn;t inspire then nothing will. I am now hooked on the idea of doing a similar trip but maybe not until next year.Thank you so much for taking the time to edit the film and give me so far two hours ish of pure entertainment. Greetings from Eastern England.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Delighted to hear you're getting so much enjoyment from taking this virtual journey with us! Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip too, and that you do plan your own version soon. We just love this method of travel and can't wait to do another bike trip, hopefully this year. Frank was 72 and I was 61 when we did this ride.

[@TheEssexSpurs]

Well that's the whole 10 films done now. I have loads of questions because of it but work beckons so just to say what a great few hours spent watching these glorious films.

[@ohjajohh]

What a great bike trip, but such bad luck with the bike derailleur

[@CityWalks]

Wonderful video and I look forward to watching the rest and exploring your channel. I'm dreaming of a trip along the first half of the EV6 but as a newbie I was wondering if you had a blog or a separate video talking about your gear, apps, and camera setups. Etc. Thanks again, watching this is incredibly energizing! - H

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the video. EV6 would be a great first route to ride because it's so well signed with all kinds of amenities along the way. No I don't have a video specifically talking about gear, apps etc. However we keep things pretty basic in terms of navigation. The following blurb is a copy of a reply I posted on another comment on our EV 6 video that you might find useful. re EV6 Nantes to Basel video kzbin.info/www/bejne/epLOfWxrhstkjKssi=U9nfqwNEfsPbJlTM "We found that this route all the way across France was very well signposted - you could probably do it all without a map. We also did not rely on our phone or other electronic device for navigation. But we did have a good set of maps with us which helped, especially when we wanted to visit something a little off the route - like some of the chateaux along the Loire (some are a little ways off the track). We used the set of maps "EuroVelo6 Maps1-6" by Huber. You can get this set of 6 maps through Amazon or direct from Huber - links below. These maps cover from the Atlantic to Basel. www.amazon.ca/gp/product/3943752003/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sout?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sout_ca-20&linkCode=as2&camp=15121&creative=330641 cartography-huber.com/p10/p13/shop/products/eurovelo-6---set-1-atlantic---basel We found these maps great because they show all the campgrounds and also mark the km from point to point. The maps are quite compact so not too bulky to carry. These maps have three languages on the map key - french, english and german. We sometimes got extra info from the app Maps.me which is a free app and does not require data. You just have to download the various map sections ahead of time on your phone. Great for finding grocery stores, campgrounds or anything." In terms of packing, we did have a basic repair/tool kit with us, tent, sleeping bags, air mattress, stove and pots, solar light, bike lights, strong bike locks, battery pack/charging cables for phones/tablet, basic first aid kit, European plug adaptors. For clothes - rain gear and warm layers, 2 cycling outfits, something "smarter" to wear off the bike (had to be very lightweight/multipurpose), a few underwear pieces (you launder as you go), camp towel, minimal cosmetics/hygiene stuff. That's not everything but gives you an idea.

[@CityWalks]

@@daphnebehindbars so kind of you to type all that out (or copy and paste) and reply. Very much appreciated and I'm enjoying Ep2 of this series as I type. Cheers! -H

[@vanderquast]

Great Vlog 👍😊 Maeslantkering is the official name of the stormsurgebarrier in the port of Rotterdam, though the Dutch translation for stormsurgebarrier is stormvloedkering 😌 After visiting Hotel De Wereld you will understand that the Dutch will love the Canadians for ever being our liberators 😉

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you! And thanks for clarifying that Dutch word translation - good to know.

[@keithboxall7667]

Welcome back. Always a delight to follow you on your travel adventures (no envy here ! ) Many thanks Keith B. Wiltshire UK

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thanks Keith! Glad you liked it - more to come very soon

[@paisano85]

I really enjoyed watching this. Thanks for sharing!

[@daphnebehindbars]

So glad you liked it!

[@Keepcalmandpedalon]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Glad you like our cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands!

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you! Yes, we really appreciated all the pathways in the Netherlands for sure

[@cheapcigs9772]

What a great route, love your vids. Makes me want to buy another touring bicycle, heh.

[@easterlake]

Awesome! I live in the U.S. and am flying to Amsterdam on April 20, where I'll spend 5 days in the Netherlands, hopefully hitting the tulips at their peek. I'll then ride down to the Hook of Holland. After maybe going through the northernmost tip of Belgium, I'll head back up to E15 and follow it to Andermatt, Switzerland. I'll be solo as this is a bit out of my wife's comfort zone. Thanks for the inspiration!!

[@daphnebehindbars]

That's terrific if our videos helped to inspire you! I hope you have a fantastic trip.

[@pauljones5066]

That was absolutely superb, and very inspiring!, thanks. I can't wait for the next episode.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you so much! More to come very soon!

[@bertski60]

good stuff. much enjoyed.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you!

[@BretSchnitzer]

Fantastic!

[@daphnebehindbars]

Many thanks!

[@elcorijns9708]

very nice video, thank you, great to watch, great dutch by the way, very entertaining...........and a good lesson for other travelers, take your derailleur off and zipp it to your frame, so it is not the lowest point in the box after you take your wheel out ;-).........there are dozens of derailleur hangers all different so nobody ever has the one you need in stock, so specially on a long trip like yours it is good to bring the one for your bike, they are not big heavy or expensive, and they are easy to install.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Good advice, and yes we'll definitely be travelling with spare derailleurs from now on! Thanks for watching!

[@elcorijns9708]

@@daphnebehindbars the mount between derailleur and hanger is very standard, so they can be switched out with almost anything a decent bikeshop has on the shelf, that is why i would not bring a complete derailleur unless i was going to outer mongolia or something ;-) ........there are a hole range of different connections between the hanger and the frame for some stupide reason thou ........so all you need imo is the hanger that maches your frame, and stick that in your patchkit

[@daphnebehindbars]

@@elcorijns9708 Correct! And I actually meant to say hangar - got it in my kit already 🙂

[@Snowshowslow]

Such bad luck to get bike trouble within the first few days! But it seems like you made the best of it and met some helpful people. I hope the rest of the trip ran smoothly and I am going to look at some of it now :)

[@daphnebehindbars]

It's true it wasn't great luck, but we were lucky in that we weren't on a really tight time schedule, and we made two really great friends there, who we keep in touch with!

[@monicapolistchuk4109]

I am really enjoying 🙏thanks

[@daphnebehindbars]

Glad to hear, thanks for watching!

[@iamjoestafford]

I really enjoyed this video! I've done a lot of riding in The Netherlands - I live just over the North Sea in England, so I'm lucky to be able to pop my bike onto the Stena overnight ferry and be in Hoek van Holland the next morning 😃 I'm looking forward to watching the rest of your trip - I really like your style of video editing 👍 PS The Dutch have a unique sixth vowel 'ij' which sounds like the English 'i', so Kinderdijk is 'Kinderdike', Rijn is 'Rhine' and Wijk Bij Duurstede is 'Vike By Duurstede' - once you know, Dutch suddenly becomes a lot easier to read and pronounce 😉

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thanks a lot for your comment and glad you enjoyed the video. You're fortunate to be able to hop over to that part of the world so easily for some nice cycling options. That's interesting about the "ij" thing in dutch - makes it much easier to figure out those pronunciations! Cheers!

[@TheEssexSpurs]

Harwich is up the A12 from me so no excuses but always something gets in the way

[@steveclark6257]

Nice video, will follow your travels when i have time. I lived in Canmore/Calgary years ago now in Fernie BC. I will be doing EV15 next year, not sure which direction.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Hope you pick up a few useful bits of info from the videos for your own trip next year!

[@MatHall]

Hi Frank and Daphne. I just watched the intro and have to say its the best intro to a cycle tour video series i have seen, congrats on that! We are going to binge your trip for sure on lunch breaks. Really enjoying this episode so far. I love watching others adventures on similar rides to our own eurovelo cycles. Always makes us want to get back to mainland euro again. Best wishes. Mat and Harriet

[@daphnebehindbars]

Wow! Thank you Mat and Harriet! We are big fans of your videos. For sure our trip will be very familiar to you - at least up to Passau. If you watch a few more episodes, you'll surely be fast-forwarding through that long intro though!! 😆 Hope you enjoy reliving some memories of your journey to Istanbul! Best wishes to you both

[@MrJx4000]

Great video, I'm so jealous. I often wondered what it'd be like to tour the Netherlands on a bike after having visited there many years ago. BTW: if you haven't done so already, you absolutely have to get a spare derailleur hanger and keep it with your bike. Mine cost about C$40.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Glad you liked the video William! And yes, I now have a spare hanger - lesson learned. Funny, I used to always carry one for my mountain bike, but didn't get around to it for this bike.

[@michaelhammond4788]

I cycled in the other direction about a month after you. Started in Chur in Switzerland. Went to many of the same places you did. Wouldnt it be funny to see myself in one of your videos.

[@daphnebehindbars]

That would be funny!

[@michaelhammond4788]

@@daphnebehindbars No its not going to happen. I have seen the video where we are just about to go, onto EV6, so a day or two ahead of me. I stayed at the same camping ground in Schauffhausen, it was my favourite of the whole trip. That would have been june 10/11 because I was in Waldshut on June 12th which is June 13th in NZ my daughters birthday. It was very hot at the campground there. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip videos.

[@daphnebehindbars]

@@michaelhammond4788 so we just missed each other by a couple of days! Hope you're enjoying revisiting some familiar places in the videos...thanks for watching and commenting!

[@user-zl4zf4xy3y]

Daphne, how do get such beautiful video movies? When I ride my fully loaded touring bike with one hand and hold my IPhone in my right hand (!) I get some pretty jerky videos. I have completely circled the US by bicycle and now am eager to ride Eurovelo 15. As opposed to starting in Switzerland which is high, and then traveling NW to Holland which is low, you and Frank headed southeast. Did you find the winds were from the west predominantly?

[@daphnebehindbars]

I owe it all to GoPro!! The image stabilisation feature in the newer GoPro cameras is a game-changer. I too have tried holding a phone or regular camera while cycling and got terrible results. As for wind on EV15, We didn't find wind was a big factor overall - we had periods of both head winds and tail winds, sometimes both in one day. And as we didn't ride the section from Lake Constance to Andermatt, our whole ride was pretty flat, so elevation gain wasn't a consideration. Best of luck to you with your future riding plans in Europe! I'm sure you'll love all the pathways there. And thanks for your comment.

[@paulhart3935]

Hi We are doing the 15 in a mid may. Just wanted to ask how you located the camp sites ? Was there a app or just google ? Great video. Cheers

[@daphnebehindbars]

We didn't use an app specific to camping - maybe there is one that we don't know about. But we did use Maps.Me which is a free app and does show campgrounds. However, as we discovered, you have to be careful as some of the places it shows are not true public campgrounds but mobile home/permanent caravan type places that may not offer overnight camping at all. Google Maps is great, so we would use that, just doing a search for campgrounds in a particular area on the map. For us, that wasn't always possible to use as we didn't have phone data for Europe, but we would always check it when we had wifi access. There are various guidebooks as well that do list campgrounds along the route. "Bikeline" covers the Rhine route in 3 sections/books but unfortunately I think it's available only in german. Nevertheless, their maps are very detailed and do show the campgrounds. So even without knowing german, you get a lot of information from the maps. The EuroVelo website promotes these and other guidebooks, under the "Maps and Guides" tab en.eurovelo.com/ev15 We didn't have a Bikeline guide for EV 15, but we did use one for the Alps Adriatic Route and found it great for locating campgrounds, in spite of not knowing a word of german. In some of the upcoming episodes you will laugh when you see how poorly we did sometimes at finding proper campgrounds! So hopefully you will learn from our mistakes! Best of luck with you upcoming trip!

[@geezers10]

Some of the nicest people you might meet are on two wheels.

[@galaxyhunter309]

The ACSI app can also be Camping Card and both offer discounted stays in off season. These have over 3000 camping places in Europe with the largest number in the Netherlands. We travel several months of the year in an old camper from the top of Norway to Spain, Netherlands to Moldova. A great bicycle app for The Netherlands is Fietsknoop which I use to bike everywhere

[@galaxyhunter309]

Daphne, we are from Medicine Hat. We are almost neighbours. And we share a love of travel however my wife is handicapped so exploring with my bike there is somewhat limited. The bike infrastructure in the Netherlands is spectacular.

[@anjowiegerinck6539]

Nice route, I have noticed that Netherlands was more easy to ride than the Germany part, Correct?

[@daphnebehindbars]

Hi Anjo, if you mean in terms of flat terrain, yes the Netherlands is easy riding. However, the rest of the Rhine route in Germany/Switzerland as far as Lake Constance is also pretty flat, since it's generally along or close to the river. It's more hilly between Lake Constance (Bodensee) and the Danube, but then quite flat along the Danube to Passau. We got into more hills in Austria. In terms of route-finding, the Netherlands section was straight-forward as other than Rotterdam, it doesn't go through any big cities. Some sections in Germany were more confusing through the bigger cities. Of course cyclists using gpx devices wouldn'y find that a problem. In terms of finding campgrounds, it was quite easy in the Netherlands, not so easy in the industrial part of the Rhine in Germany (Wesel to Cologne), easy in France and Austria, and they weren't as plentiful in Italy. Pathways and road surfaces were good throughout our route for the most part. That's a long answer to a short question! But I wasn't exactly sure what you meant

[@Tarmaccyclocross]

I thought you sounded Irish 👍

[@alandoolan1892]

Hi,just came across this series ,brilliant so far ,just a quick question! Do I detect a hint of an Irish accent Daphne ?!!

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thanks for joining our ride! And yes you're correct - I come from the west of Ireland although Canada has been home for many years.

[@alandoolan1892]

@@daphnebehindbars ah I was thinking ! From outside Killarney Co.Kerry myself ! Absolutely brilliant so far,watched 3 episodes today,I want to spread them out so as not to finish it too soon ! That Dutch couple were very helpful! Looking forward to the rest and yev certainly got me thinking of doing some cycle tours of Netherlands (30km a day would do me !!)

[@daphnebehindbars]

@@alandoolan1892 Ah nice to hear from a fellow Irishman! Yes that couple were brilliant - we became great friends over that. The Netherlands is a great place to ride - great pathways and not too many hills. Hope you enjoy the rest of the episodes. Maybe by the end you will have found other sections you'd like to ride! Let me know!

[@alandoolan1892]

@@daphnebehindbars I ve made it 😄🥳 Only joking ! I'm wrecked from just watching and visualising it !! Ye are two tough cookies 💪🤝👏👏 Absolutely brilliant watching and loved yer nuggets of history related to different places Many thanks for putting this series together! Slan tamaill !

[@gam3rkid954]

My wife is very curious now having watched your travels through Europe, how much does a journey like yours cost per day per person? TY for bringing us along.

[@daphnebehindbars]

We haven't done a detailed cost analysis of any of our trips, but we can tell you a few things. Campgrounds ranged from 13 euro to 36, with the cheapest being in France and most expensive in Switzerland and some in Germany. Average around 25 euro. Our hotels on the last tour ranged from 80 to 130 euro, some of those included breakfast. Food - well that can be very variable depending on how much you cook yourself. You can often get a really good 2 or 3 course lunch special in many of these countries for 17-20 euro, look for the "plat du Jour" in France - great value. Additional expenses are trains, castle/museum visits, etc. In France, the typical cost for a chateau visit was 18euro in 2019. We found fruit and veg and cheese to be no more expensive in Europe than at home in Canada, but some groceries are more expensive. Pre-prepared meals in the larger supermarkets are very convenient and not very expensive. Hope that helps you a little bit!

[@grahamtaylor7624]

Hi Daphne & Frank For May-June 2024 we had almost booked Chur > Basel > Strasbourg with a company we have used several times before, then came across your trip. Have watched all episodes, most several times, and thought, "hey, we could do that" and have decided to do it all ourselves (hotels though, can't get my wife to camp) Bookings all done. Treating ourselves to new lighter bikes. What do you both ride on these trips? What weight all up are your bikes & gear? Thanks Graham & Mary Perth, Australia

[@daphnebehindbars]

Greetings to you both! We're delighted that our videos have inspired you to try something different and do your ride independently. We also got our first taste of touring by doing a supported ride using a company that transported our luggage each day, but then we progressed to doing our own thing. The planning can be quite a lot of fun when you have plenty of time to do it. My bike is a Kona Sutra, and Frank is riding a similar bike by MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop which is a Canadian Sports Shop). Both are designed for touring, so they are heavy, rugged, steel-framed bikes with the necessary attachment points for racks and panniers, etc. My bike weighs 14.5 kg (almost 32 lbs) without any load, so that's not light! We've never really weighed our bikes with the panniers loaded, but Frank estimates at least another 15kg or more. Since you won't be camping, you'll be able to travel a whole lot lighter. It is always tempting to overpack, but really, you can get by with very little clothes , and you'll thank yourselves for travelling light, especially if you're not used to cycling with a load. One extra cycling outfit is enough, and you can hand-wash items at your hotel as you go. Then pack something to wear in the evenings off the bike. It's a personal choice if you want to get lighter bikes, but of course you'll have to make sure they're suitable for attaching some kind of rack system, and can handle the extra weight. Doing a test run at home will be very helpful - watch for things like making sure your heel doesn't strike your pannier when you pedal, and that the bike doesn't feel wobbly when you pick up speed on a downhill. That might just mean the weight isn't distributed well over your rear axle - it could be too far back. Some people swear by dividing your weight between front and back panniers to get that balance, but in your case since you shouldn't need that much stuff, you should be fine with just rear bags. I would say that the most important thing about your bike is that it's comfortable for you - good geometry for the position you like to cycle in, and a comfy saddle. Weight might be less important, especially if, like us, speed and big daily distances are not the priority but more just enjoying the surroundings! Best of luck with your trip - I'm sure you will have a great time! We'd love to hear how you get on.