Discovering Terschelling by bike is a must!
I mean, I know we dutchies love to bike. We cycle everywhere: to bring the kids to school or daycare. To go to work. To do grocery shopping. We cycle to fancy dinners – even when it’s raining cats and dogs.
One of the best things to do on Terschelling is….riding your bike. The routes are amazing, with paths going through dune fields, along beautiful ponds, flower filled fields and cool, dark forests. You’re allowed to take your car on the ferry, but if you don’t really need it, I would advice you to rent a bike in the village (there are lots of rental companies close to where you disembark) and cycle straight to your hotel. Lots of hotels offer luggage pick-ups so you don’t even have to hail your own bags on your back or the back of the bike.
The bicycle is great for families too. You can rent one with little toddler seats, or if your family has two or more kids, rent the (in)famous Dutch bakfiets. A bike with a wooden carrier at the front where you can easily sit two or three kids and stash all your picnic or beach stuff. We live in Amsterdam where this carrier cycle is loved by families, so there are many of those, much to the annoyance of other cyclists who are in a hurry and unable to overtake them on narrow cycling routes.
Great routes all over
It doesn’t really matter where you go when cycling as long as you choose the bicycle paths off the main roads. This way you’ll only need to share with other cyclists and maybe a lost hiker or jogger. There are great paths for mountain bikes all over the island as well.
We love the route that goes from West aan Zee to ‘t Groene Strand (the green beach). I will tell you more about this beach next time; it houses the famous beach bar de Walvis (meaning: the Whale), that’s perfect for afternoon drinks.
Another amazing route is from this same beach, back to West aan Zee to de Bessenschuur, an old barn where you can drink and eat everything with the famous Terschellinger cranberry in it: from delicious cranberry juice to yummie cranberry cakes. You’ll not only cycle through beautiful soft green and yellow dune landscapes but woodland as well.
We also love cycling from West aan Zee to Midsland. The scenery along this route is maybe my favourite. You’ll see fields filled with yellow and purple flowers and a pond where birds gather when the sun is about to set. One evening we came back from a cute Mexican restaurant in Midsland when the light was perfectly golden. Check out the pictures and you’ll know what I’m talking about….
More about this beautiful island next time!
Old houses in Midsland.
[…] visited Terschelling many times as you can read here, here and here. Biking around on the island, hiking or even driving on an empty beach never gets boring. Read all about it […]