After riding to Vlietland earlier in the day, we decided to make the most of the good weather and head to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag. Now, I’ve covered this route previously, in 2017 and 2018, so this will be a relatively brief post.
The beach at Wassenaarse Slag is a very popular spot for locals and holiday makers alike. It’s particularly popular with people staying at Duinrell, and you see a steady stream of Duinrell branded hire bikes going to and from there. For a lot of people staying at Duinrell, it’s potentially their first taste of cycling in The Netherlands, riding a Dutch bike, on Dutch cycling infrastructure.
Leaving Duinrell, the route to Wassenaarse Slag starts with sections of paved cycle path, which carries on as you turn left onto Katwijkseweg. Once you reach the roundabout though, it changes to asphalt as starts to diverge from the road.
At this point, there’s a bit of a hill, which comes as a surprise, given how flat the surrounding area is. For those on their newly rented Duinrell hire bikes, it can sometimes be a challenge getting up without walking, but it’s relatively short.
Once over the top, the footway and cycle cycleway continue as a single path, with painted lanes. One for walking and two for cycling, in either direction. This is generally pretty good, but it does get a little congested at times. The path continues to undulate as you ride through the Dunes. Overall, it’s a really pleasant ride, which we all enjoy.
As you approach the beach, you start to pass the overspill cycle parking, with temporary metal fencing for people to lock their cycles to. It’s easy to see why this has been added, as the main cycle parking tends to get pretty busy.
Passing the overspill cycle parking, you arrive at the main cycle parking, next to the car parking. The cycle stands have been replaced since our last visit in 2019, with something a bit more substantial and stylish. While this is an improvement, they could have done with providing additional permanent cycle parking, to meet the demand.
While it’s clearly popular to cycle to the beach, substantially more space is given over to car parking, than cycle parking. It just goes to show that even here in The Netherlands, the needs of people in motor vehicles can still be put before the needs of people cycling.
Wassenaarse Slag sits on the Dutch North Sea coastline, which features many kilometres of dunes and beaches. The beaches along the coastline vary from really quiet, with few facilities to busy seaside resorts with piers, hotels and tourist attractions, such as ever unpronounceable Scheveningen.
Wassenaarse Slag is on the quieter end of the spectrum, which suits us fine. There’s a small selection of shops, bars and restaurants there, but it doesn’t feel overdeveloped. While you do get a lot of people there on sunny days, there’s a lot of beach to share, so it’s easy to get away from everybody.
After a fun afternoon eating, drinking and messing around on the beach, we headed back to Duinrell. There’s few things better than riding through the dunes in the early evening with sun setting behind you.
Dom Cycling 