Europe 2026 – Day 10 – Alkmaar Loop

This morning we had our seven BikeBrampton people plus Melanie and Brooke. We stayed together about half of the ride. We set off about 9:15.

The Dutch tradition of not using curtains, or leaving them wide open, is a multifaceted cultural habit rooted in history, religion, and a preference for openness and light.

Alkmaar is a town of about 100,000 people, much like many other towns we’ve seen, it is full of old homes and cobbled streets.

I continue to be amazed by how they fit cycling infrastructure in, even on many of the small streets. And when they can’t fit it how they use a “cars as guest” concept so cyclists and pedestrians are not intimidated by cars.

Here are a few of the pretty scenes we saw as we left Alkmaar.

This beautiful old hospital building was reflecting in the canal as we passed by.

The triangular shape in the centre can be raised and lowered, so that cars can be prevented from using the road at certain times.

Roads like this in rural areas have very few cars and feel very comfortable to cycle on.

We passed some daffodil fields on our way to Egmond aan den Hoef. The ruins of Castle Egmond were next to the church. The church grounds were peaceful and blooming with daffodils.

I saw this Dutch clog cargo bike on the way into Edmond  aan Zee.

Our next stop was Edmond aan Zee. We parked our bicycles at the beach, and went to a local café for coffee.

Then we walked down to the beautiful wide beach. 

Alina collected some shells, and dipped her feet into the cold North Sea. She said the temperature was similar to Lake Ontario in the spring as the ice is melting.

This beautiful building at the top of one of the Sand dunes, caught my eye, but I don’t know what it is.

We encountered the most hills that we’ve seen on this entire trip riding into through the Noord Hollands Duinreservaat, the Dune Reserve National Park. We required a ticket to be in the park, which was provided to us last night. We were told to date it and make sure we had it with us in case we were asked for proof of payment.

David and Dayle made the decision, as we left the park, to take the short route directly back to the boat, because Dayle’s Achilles tendon was acting up, as it did at the end of our trip in Quebec last year. The rest of the group split in two, with some eating at a picnic table in the park, and some continuing on the next town.

We rode through several forests over the day. They were so peaceful and the paths were smoothly surfaced.

We found Wayne, Melanie, and Brooke almost immediately upon arriving in Bergen. Then we set off in search of ice cream, and this time we were successful.

While we were eating ice cream, this couple pulled up in their tandem tricycle, which is specifically designed for a couple when one of them has mobility issues. I was interested in speaking to her about the bike, and she was interested in speaking to me about the mirror that I wear on my glasses when I ride. I’ve had over a dozen people ask me about it in the last few days. No one I’ve spoken to about it has encountered one like it here.

I’ve also seen many older people on tricycles. This one has a place that holds a cane when the rider is on the bike. It’s wonderful to see so many active older people, even ones with disabilities. One of the things we often face when we are advocating for cycling infrastructure is people claiming that it will negatively impact disabled people. I’ve never believed that to be so, and that has been reinforced since I got here.

This church is known as the Ruïnkerk, and dates back to the early 12th century. There were many beautiful buildings in Bergen, old and new.

In Schoorl there was a climbing dune which looks like a popular attraction. It is the highest tune in the Netherlands at 55 m high. I was starting to get a headache and had gotten ahead of the others so I messaged Cindy that I was continuing on alone to the boat.

Most of the homes here differ from one another, but there was a large group of cookie cutter homes just past Schoorl.

I encountered this mosaic bench in a pastoral setting.

Here are a few of the things I saw as I returned to Alkmaar.

The boat was parked in a busy canal along a main street with retail on both sides. It’s not moving tonight, so the bikes were not reloaded, but instead, we locked them with the frame lock, and the crew put along an extremely long cable lock through all of them.

I noticed there was a Decathlon store when I looked out the cabin window. I have found myself missing a water bottle holder on the frame of the bikes we are riding. So I walked over to Decathlon after dinner, and bought one which I could Velcro to the bars of the bike. I’m looking forward to being less thirsty while I ride tomorrow.

At 8 PM, we met Richard, a local tour guide, who took us on a walking tour of the city.

He started in the main square where the cheese market is held on Fridays. Wayne, David and Dayle took the train there last Friday so they could experience the auction. The auction is held in the square in front of the church.

The left side of the church,  built as the Holy Spirit Hospital, where the poor and pilgrims found shelter, took on a new purpose in the 16th century as the Weigh House. De Waag is an iconic building in Alkmaar that dates back to the 16th century. This building played a crucial role in the cheese industry, where cheese was weighed before being sold.

In the calm evening, the canal homes were reflecting beautifully in the canals.

There were many pretty storefronts.

Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer, known as the mother of 10,000 children, organized ‘child transports’ after Kristallnacht on November 9/10, 1938, until the beginning of the war. She was given permission from Adolf Eichmann and saved 10,000 children from Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic, arranging for them to be sent to England, and then onto other safe countries.

This is Alkmaar City Hall built about 1520.

This was an Almshouse, one of 16 that used to exist in the city.

This was a monastery. There is now a restaurant in the top of the tower.

I was so tired when I got back to the boat that I wasn’t able to write the blog for the day. Here’s a map of our route that we covered today.