Amsterdam – everything we’d heard about (or were warned about). Large, dense, complicated. The most heavily used bike infrastructure on our trip.
Day 1 – off the boat, which docked near the main bus station. Found a direct tram to within a block of our airbnb. Typical approach to this unit, up a super steep, winding staircase with tiny step. We walked a nearby park that day and that’s about it.
Day 2 – got out and about, trained down to the thick of down town, walked around. Killed time before our afternoon bike tour. Bike tour was semi-nuts. Learned a lot, had a good guide. Bikes were “pure”, not electric. Maybe 15 people along, including a family with two younger kids. Not a great idea for them, they were way over their heads. We pedaled thru the thick of bicycle rush hour madness, crossed busy streets. Our group often got separated. I rode “sweep”, tried to keep everyone together.
The bike paths are for sure amazing. They’re everywhere, well marked, mostly separated from both cars and pedestrians. Painted red, there’s no mistaking them for a sidewalk. Americans are used to multi-use bike paths, bikes, walkers, skaters, anything goes. Not here. The bike paths are for two wheeled vehicles. The sheer number of miles pedaled in a day in this big city is incalculable. People seem to get along, but exposure and practice would make this easier. My main complaint is that electric motorcycles, and even gas powered scooters, commonly plow along these paths, often at high speeds. They probably aren’t supposed to, but who’s going to stop them. It was breathtaking to see Vespas burning thru heavy bike/people crowds at speeds faster than anyone else.
Day 3 – We had half a day before taking the train to Brugges. Hit the Rijksmuseim, lots of Dutch Masters paintings. Very crowded there.
Click here for photos of all three days