Day 3 - Leiden to Haarlem

Zandvoort and Haarlem

A mid-afternoon stop refreshment break in Zandvoort for coffee and gebakjes in Zandvoort was enjoyed before the tour turned inland for the last 10 kilometers of cycling into Haarlem.  Everyone arrived on a high from fabulous weather, a wonderful lunch with family in Noordwijk and great cycling through the dunes.  While cycling between Leiden and Katwijk we passed a local municipal utilities worker riding his electric (work) bicycle along the route and our guide Andre struck up a conversation with him.  This fellow traveller looked at Andre and laughed good naturedly when he heard that we would be cycling “all the way to Haarlem?”.  (You can see that at 9:45 through 10:10 of the video from that morning). By the end of the day the fietstochters had covered another 50 kilometers bringing the total to just over 110 kilometers in two days.

Following dinner the team went for a walking tour of beautiful Haarlem and, on the recommendation of Neil, we stopped at church for a drink (see picture below).

Zandvoort and Haarlem are two neighbouring towns that lie in the dunes by the Nord Zee (North Sea).

Haarlem dates back to around 1000 and it established itself as important city on the north south trade route along coast line of Holland. Haarlem was quite prosperous until sea trade routes became more important and the city was eclipsed by nearby Amsterdam.

Haarlem today remains home to many beautiful and historic buildings.

Pieter Helburg is the 6th Great Grandfather of HCP.