5.5 days, 565km, free-form comfort solo tour (Netherlands and Belgium), May 2025

Due to some change of plans, I recently had 6 free days in Amsterdam, so what better thing to do than to hire a touring bike and go for a ride?

I made no plans, no booking, I just left Amsterdam going with the wind direction of the day (south- east) with the idea of finishing up in Amsterdam when I needed to return the bike and board my flight 5 and a bit days later.

The whole ride was honestly a dream. The quality of cycling infrastructure, the driving culture, and the plethora of towns and accommodation options meant that I only checked for accommodation option towards the end of each riding day, depending on how much I felt like riding (and then usually added a few km on top of that…).

While I'm used to riding single 100km++ days, and did a few 2-3 day tours, this was my longest by any means – and it gave me a taste for more. Can't wait to return to Europe and do some more free-form touring…