The Ugliest City in the Netherlands? | Bike Tour, Day 2

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0:00 The Ugliest City in the Netherlands
0:49 Almere, A History
2:12 What the Dutch say
2:54 The Bad
3:57 The Good
4:37 Busbaan
4:58 Car centric?
5:34 Parks and nature
6:00 Smooth bike paths
6:49 A Dutch perspective
8:07 Leaving Almere
8:56 Naarden
10:40 Hilversum Alexia Tunnel
12:05 Utrecht

I am on day two of my bike trip around 
the Netherlands. And after a short ride on the first day from Amsterdam, I made 
it to Almere, a city that is to some the ugliest in the country. [Music] Imagine 
someone hit reset on the idea of a city, then built it from scratch on land reclaimed 
from the sea. That’s Almere. Just 25 minutes from Amsterdam, it is one of the youngest cities 
in the Netherlands. Born in the late 1970s, designed for modern life on a flat, blank 
canvas. No medieval streets, no ancient history, just bold urban planning, clean lines, a 
whole lot of bike paths, and um a lot of bland buildings make up what some consider 
to be the ugliest city in the Netherlands. Naturally, the infamous reputation convinced me 
to visit because I had to see for myself if it does indeed live up to it. Right up front, I have 
to say I was surprised by how much I liked this place. But before we explore Almere today, we 
should see its history. While it isn’t ancient, it’s worth exploring because I believe it gives 
us an insight on the city’s reputation. After the Second World War, the Dutch government was 
looking for ways to relieve overcrowding in its major cities. With brand new land reclaimed from 
the sea, the area that would become the province of Flevoland was the perfect place to start. One 
of the most ambitious projects was a new town planned in Zuidelijk Flavourland. Early sketches 
referred to it as Zuidweststad or Southwest City, but by the late 1970s, the name had changed to 
Almere, inspired by the medieval name for the Zuiderzee, Lake Almere. It’s hard to believe, but 
the very first house in Almere wasn’t built until 1976, less than 50 years ago. Since then, 
Almere has grown rapidly. Over the decades, six distinct neighborhoods have been developed, 
each with its own character. And together, they make up the Almere we know today. What was 
once Seabed is now one of the fastest growing urban areas in the Netherlands with an expectation 
to grow by 50% in the next 25 years. But for a city that is an integral part of the country’s 
growth strategy, it has picked up a reputation of being ugly, boring, and void of culture. And 
the best way to illustrate how it got there is simple. Ask the Dutch why. So, here are a select 
few comments that I think paint the picture pretty succinctly. Almere hasn’t gotten old soul like 
older cities. It’s a large modern suburb for Amsterdam because it’s an artificially built 
and designed town without any cultural history, making it ugly. Just see it on a map and you 
see how everything is designed on the drawing board. The buildings are ugly. So is the city 
center. Also, poor people being associated with Tokkies out of Amsterdam who couldn’t afford 
housing there moved to Almere in the ’90s. But I kept seeing the same things over and over. 
It’s new, has no soul, the buildings are ugly, and some associate it with lower class folks. But 
what did I see? First of all, let me get the bad news out of the way. I did immediately find it 
ugly. It is quite sprawling and I was not only cat-called on my way to Almere stad. I was told 
by the concierge of the hotel that it was probably a bad idea to lock my bike to a well-lit bike 
rack in the city square. Not a great start. Now, is it the ugliest city in the Netherlands? I can’t 
answer that. I don’t know if anyone really can. But is it ugly? Absolutely in places. Riding 
around reminds me of Houten or many of the new neighborhoods surrounding the older cities. But 
instead of a few outlying neighborhoods, much of the city lacks character. It’s like an unseasoned 
frikandel. Basically just a plain meat sausage. It has nutrients. It’ll sustain you, but it’s missing 
some spice. It also has a large footprint for its population. For example, it is larger than the 
Hague, but has a population density that is about a fourth. But when we compare that to a similarly 
populous Canadian city like Regina, yeah, I’d take Almere. And not just for a simple stat, 
because holy crap, bus bonds, train stations, walkable city centers with amenities close 
by, bike paths galore, beautiful parks, and it’s even friendly to drivers. I have to say, 
I was genuinely surprised by this city. What I said about Rotterdam in the past also applies to 
Almere. Transplant this city to North America, and yet again, you have a top urbanist city with 
no competition, even in the same lane. It makes me think of forgetting Sarah Marshall when Jonah Hill 
comes up and asks Russell Brand how his vegetable medley is and he says, “It’s mundane.” And Jonah 
Hill responds with, “It is mundane. It’s great. I know” that’s how I feel. But before I get ahead of 
myself, let’s talk about a couple of those points. The first one, bus bonds or bus streets. These 
are an integral part of Almere’s transit system, and they are brilliant. It’s simply bus rapid 
transit lanes without lanes for anything else. The crossings give the bus signal priority. And 
since they only come around every few minutes, it’s really not a problem for cross traffic, 
which is of course often only for walking and wheeling. And I say this because everything is 
so well disentangled. It means car friendly, not car-centric. You can easily take your car to other 
parts of the city, but within neighborhoods, it’s discouraged like you’d expect from the best Dutch 
cities. I might even say Almere is people centric, but it really just feels like a well balanced 
city. And while we’re here, let me pose a question to the Duchies watching. Where is the car centric 
hell hole? I have seen plenty of comments like this. And spoiler alert, I have found nothing that 
came close to that description along my entire trip. So, if you know, please tell me. I loved the 
parks I visited. The sounds, the beautiful trees, and the water side rest stops make for great 
places to go for a stroll or hang out. And even this, a bike path lined with cherry blossom 
trees. Obviously not in bloom here, but an example of adding some unique character to neighborhoods 
like the cool houses nearby. It’s not just filled with brick boxes. Though I was surprised not 
to find anything that hearken back to the older styles like what you see in Houten, but there is 
a a real freshness to it and you really notice it, especially along some of the bike paths like 
this one I’m on here. Brand spanking new. Brand new. It’s so smooth. It’s really nice. This is the 
SpoorbaanPad, dedicated cycling expressway running straight through the heart of the city. It’s just 
one example of the exceptional infrastructure that forms a well-connected network thoughtfully 
designed from the ground up. So, I’ve been riding around Almere for I don’t know maybe two.
Unfortunately, the wind ruined this audio and I did get distracted by this guy on a Bach 
feats hitting this apex like Max Verstappen. But what I was going to say is that Almere is just a 
town with a name I don’t know how to pronounce, but has everything you need and is a fantastic 
example of a livable city. Don’t just take it from me. This comment from a local sums it up 
pretty good. I used to live in old towns in the Netherlands. Uh the H Rotterdam Utrecht. 
I had a good time. Then you found love, got kids. Hate the idea of raising children where 
there’s no space. We searched the countryside in the Randstad. All old houses too expensive and 
high in energy consumption. Being disillusioned, we went for a coffee at our friends in Almere. 
Then my wife said, “What a nice architecture.” I was surprised because I didn’t even think of 
Flevoland. One day, we received a newsletter with some nice houses and we decide to buy it. That 
was 8 years ago. I was totally surprised about Almere. Everything is clean and well organized 
and great nature, too. Our neighborhood is totally new. Hundreds of kids the same age as my kid. My 
wife has a lot of social activities. And well, they’re both very happy. And when they are happy, 
I’m happy, too. It’s a place for people to settle down, raise a family, and even grow old. While 
it still carries a bad reputation, to many, I think it’s kind of like Nickelback. And hear 
me out, it’s something people love to hate. But, you know, if they went to the concert, they’d be 
having a good time with the rest of the crowd. The city’s reputation’s on the up. and I am a fan. And 
while I still wanted to explore more of the city, my final destination for the day, Utrecht, was 
asking me to get a move on. It’s a city I visited last year, but still has some neat things I’ve 
yet to see. A direct route should be about 45 km, but that’s certainly never the case for me 
because there’s always a good detour along the way. But before leaving Almere, I tried again for 
a Frikandelbroodje without success. So, I went on with an empty stomach to retrace my tracks where I 
was reminded that the detection loops don’t always work before crossing back over the Hollandic 
Bridge, leaving Almere and Flevoland behind me. So, I made it back to North Holland. That’s the 
province in which Amsterdam resides. Came from Flavoland. And I’m going to be entering my third 
province of this trip, which is one I’ve already been to, Utrecht, which uh I’m not mad about. I’m 
not going to lie. I’m really excited to go back to Utrecht because it might be my favorite city I’ve 
been to in the Netherlands. Maybe Rotterdam’s up there. Anyway, about to hit something different up 
ahead. This is Naarden. Naarden is a beautifully preserved fortified town in the Netherlands. Known 
for its unique star- shaped layout surrounded by moats and green bastions, it’s one of the best 
examples of a 17th century star fort in Europe. Rolling down the cobbled streets is a real trip 
with its timeworn facades and the stunning church at its center. It’s a peaceful picturesque place 
that is packed with history. That’s a lot of peas. During the Second World War, it became well known 
to Allied pilots for its distinctive shape which helped them find their way back to England. And 
going back to the 16th century, it was the site of a massacre during the 80 years war when Spanish 
troops slaughtered nearly the entire population of the Dutch town. After falsely agreeing to 
peaceful terms, the Spanish entered Naarden, assembled the town’s people in the church in 
Guild Hall, and set the buildings ablaze before sacking the rest of the city. Only about 60 of 
the town’s 3,000 residents survived. This atrocity shocked the region and helped galvanize Dutch 
resistance in their fight for independence from Spanish rule. It’s hard to imagine such violence 
happening in the quaint town of Naarden today, but this history is well preserved at the Vesting 
Museum, hosted within one of the bastions. Now, I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting something 
really great. Maybe just because of the appearance from the outside. It just looks like a a grass 
hill, but that was that was fantastic. Uh, highly recommend if you’re in this area, check 
out Naarden and check out the Vesting Museum. Really good. I could have stayed for several 
more hours, but as always, I had to keep moving. [Music] So, I’m passing through the town of Hilversum. Not 
because it’s a quaint town on the way to Utrecht, but because of this tunnel. This is the Alexia 
tunnel in Hilversum. And it’s pretty cool because it’s not just one tunnel. It’s two tunnels stacked 
on top of each other. Now, this one obviously is for bikes and pedestrians, but below me is a 
tunnel for cars. The Alexia tunnel was built to replace a level railway crossing. And instead 
of demolishing people’s homes to make room for an underpass wide enough to accommodate traffic, 
they got creative and decided to construct the country’s first stacked tunnel. And another really 
cool thing about this, you can really see this across the country. The Dutch take opportunities 
to lay down some art. And here there’s artworks on the walls of the bike tunnel, and it’s composed 
of over a million holes. 1.75 million holes to be precise. Designed by Louise Hessel, it is meant 
to evoke the feeling of dappled light filtering through trees, creating a calming and natural 
atmosphere for cyclists and pedestrians passing through. And conveniently, at one end, there was 
an Albert Heijn. And since it had been nearly 24 hours in the country without a Frikandelbroodje, 
absolute blasphemy, I figured the third time was the charm. This was the perfect fuel to get 
me the rest of the way to Utrecht. Success. [Music] anytime I think it’s not windy, I just stop 
or go the other direction and I’m like, “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It’s really windy.” I’ve just 
got lucky. It’s mostly at my back or coming from the side today. It’s been great. All right, 
about to enter. That bird is loud. Oh my god. about to enter the third province of the trip. 
Bit anticlimactic, but uh yeah, it happened. While this is not a new province to me, I did 
say my goal was to see all other provinces, my actual main goal was to see new 
things. Some I have yet to see here, but those new things are for tomorrow. Tonight 
was to traverse something familiar. I love this street. I think this was the first street 
with a grassy tram that I saw on my trip. No, that’s not true. Definitely not. But uh I 
believe this intersection up here is where I saw the flashing yellows at night with 
the traffic signals. Anyway, the place I’m staying is right nearby. And this was it. A lovely 
little backyard cabin right on the Kromme Rhine.