The Amstel to Ouderkerk

Twenty kilometres out and back along the river the city is named after. It starts among houseboats in the centre and ends at a village terrace on the water, with almost no traffic lights after the first two kilometres.

The route, step by step

1. Magere Brug (0 km). Start at the wooden drawbridge over the Amstel and ride south along Weesperzijde, on the east bank.
2. Past the Amstel station (2.5 km). The city thins out here. Stay on the riverside path; it becomes Amsteldijk and leaves the traffic behind.
3. Ouderkerkerdijk (5 km). A narrow raised dyke with rowing crews on the water beside you, the De Riekermolen windmill and a small Rembrandt statue at the spot where he sketched.
4. Ouderkerk aan de Amstel (10 km). A village of terraces on the water, a seventeenth-century Portuguese Jewish cemetery (Beth Haim) and a church square. This is the turnaround point.
5. Return along the west bank (10 km). Cross the bridge in the village and ride back north on the other side for a different view, through the Amstelpark if you want a green finish.

Worth stopping for

Beth Haim cemetery, in use since 1614 and open to visitors on weekdays. The terraces on the Ouderkerk waterfront. The Amstelpark on the west bank, with a rose garden and a small maze. De Riekermolen, a working drainage mill on the dyke.

Practical notes

The dyke path is narrow, two-way and popular with racing cyclists and rowing coaches on bikes — hold your line and look before overtaking. There is little shade and no shelter: in open polder a headwind on the way back is common, so plan for the return leg to be slower. Cafés cluster in Ouderkerk; between the city and the village there is almost nothing, so carry water. The surface is paved throughout and fine on a rental bike.

Extending the ride

From Ouderkerk it is another 8 km south along the Amstel to Nes aan de Amstel, or 6 km west to the Amsterdamse Bos to loop back into the city from the other side.