Netherlands 22: The route to Zwembad De Breek

With the lovely sunny weather we were lucky enough to have during our stay in The Netherlands, we were keen to get ourselves to a beach, to have a swim and cool off. Our initial thoughts were to go to Castricum aan Zee or Strand Heemskerk, where we’d been in 2014.

It was too far to cycle from our holiday home, so we’d need to get a train part-way there. This would be straightward if we were able to use the popular OV-Fiets bike share bikes. But sadly, you have to be a resident to use them, so not an option for tourists.

So that left us with taking our bikes with us, which is certainly doable, as Dutch trains are well equipped for carrying bikes, unlike our British trains. The only thing is, it costs €7.50 per bike, per journey to take a bike on a train, on top of your rail ticket. With us having four bikes, that amounts to a fair amount on top of the rail fares, for what’s a relatively short train journey.

It’s clear the price is designed to discourage people from taking their bikes on the train and using up space. They’d prefer you to use their OV-Fiets bikes instead, which is understandable, but not very helpful for tourists.

We weren’t really up for paying the significant amount it’d cost to get the train, and I wasn’t very keen on using the car to get there. While we have the car when we go to The Netherlands, to get over from the UK, I’m pretty determined to rely just on walking, cycling and public transport while we’re there.

So we decided to look to see if there were somewhere closer to our holiday home, to go for a swim. The first option we looked at, was to go to the Jagersplas lake, which we could use our boat to get to. This looked like a potential option, until we read that swimming wasn’t recommended, due to pollution.

We then found out about Zwembad De Breek, a public outdoor pool located in the Landsmeer sports park, just over 7 km away from our holiday home. This looked a bit different, plus it’s chlorine-free, heated and only a short ride away, so we decided to go for it.

Riding to Zwembad De Breek

We packed the swimming gear and set off from our holiday home, heading east. The start of the route followed the same way we went to NDSM. After riding on the local roads, we cycled along the S150 and took a right onto Wibautstraat and Noorder IJ- en Zeedijk.

Couple riding side by side on Noorder IJ- en Zeedijk

Riding along Noorder IJ- en Zeedijk, we reached the A8 motorway. At this point, we carried on under the motorway, using a different underpass than we did previously. This one was a much smaller and less welcoming underpass than the one on Coentunnelcircuit. Though it did still have clear lines of sight through to the other side, so it’s not too bad.

Once through to the other side of the A8 motorway, we briefly passed through a trading estate, again with excellent cycling provision. Something you don’t often see in a trading estate in the UK.

As we continued, the surrounding area became more rural as we approached Het Twiske, a nature reserve and recreation area with a lakes and waterways. With a large expanses of water and flat green countryside, it was very typically Dutch.

Cycling along a rural path on De Zuiderlaaik

Cycling through here Het Twiske in the sunshine was really lovely, with the fantastic views and smooth flat cycle paths. This was made even more enjoyable passing the Twiskemolen windmill on the banks of the Zuidwestplas lake.

After passing the windmill, we crossed over the lake and onto Landsmeer. This municipality is apparently one of the most expensive in The Netherlands and has a history connected to the egg trade, with more than three-quarters of the population making a living from eggs at one time!

Lots of bikes parked up at Zwembad De Breek entrance

It wasn’t long before we were close to Zwembad De Breek, as we passed a number of sports facilities, including beach volleyball and tennis courts, and an athletics track. Riding down a tree-lined path, we then arrived at the swimming pool.

On the cycle path next to the S150 — Ready for the pool and setting off

Zwembad De Breek

We were pleased to see plenty of space for cycle parking, as well as lots of cycles parked up. Clearly, the majority of people choose to cycle to Zwembad De Breek, which is fantastic, but unsurprising in The Netherlands.

First impressions were really good, with the staff being really friendly to us tourists, not knowing what we’re doing. Plus they helped us out, when we couldn’t get our cards to work and didn’t have enough cash to get in.

Don’t know if it’s worse post-COVID, with more emphasis on paying by card, but we ran up against the issue that in The Netherlands, UK debit cards are classed as credit cards, which lots of places don’t accept. Something that’s due to change soon I believe.

Zwembad De Breek definitely has that mid-century period charm to it, particularly around the little shop, changing facilities and paved patio area. It was very clean and well-maintained and I suspect, much loved by the local community. There’s a large lawn area, which is great for sunbathing, though not much in the way of shade, which was a bit of an issue, as we didn’t have a parasol.

There’s three pools at Zwembad De Breek. A small toddler pool, a slightly deeper pool for older kids, with a slide in it and a much deeper pool, with diving boards and lanes. While clearly it isn’t much competition for the likes of Duinrell’s Tikibad, it makes for a fantastic local outdoor pool.

As I mentioned, the pools are heated, which is something of a necessity in northern Europe, if you want them to be useful for more than a couple of weeks a year. They’re also chlorine free, which is great, as well as being really clean and well-maintained.

It was pretty quiet when we arrived at Zwembad De Breek around lunchtime, with lots of space on the lawn and quiet pools. It then progressively filled up as the day went on, so by late afternoon, both the lawn and pools were pretty busy.

The pools were really fantastic and very welcome on a hot August day. The boys enjoyed messing around in them, as well as on the slide and diving boards. We really enjoyed our afternoon at Zwembad De Breek.

Lots of bikes parked up at Zwembad De Breek entrance

Riding to Pannenkoek de Appel

We’d promised the boys a visit to a pancake house during our trip, which we hadn’t managed to do yet. So after a bit of Googling, we found there was one nearby that looked pretty good, so we set off to find it.

Doesstrand beach in the Twiske Waterland

We headed out of Landsmeer and back to Het Twiske, passing the Twiskemolen windmill again. We then went past Doesstrand, which a little beach that opens on to a small lake. There were quite a few people there enjoying the late afternoon sun. Judging by the parked bikes under the trees, they all cycled there as well.

We soon arrived at Pannenkoek de Appel, that’s located in the middle of Het Twiske and next to Klimpark Twiske, a large activity park with lots of outdoor activities.

Enjoying some pancakes at Pannenkoek de Appel

We sat outside on the lovely terrace, with the surrounding countryside and sunshine. We placed our order and enjoyed some very tasty pancakes, in beautiful surroundings.

Approaching an old lifting bridge — Cycle path from Zwembad De Breek

Riding back

After enjoying our afternoon treat, we set off back to our holiday home, though taking a different route, as we wanted to stop at the supermarket on the way. This meant heading to the closest town, Oostzaan, to the north west of Pannenkoek de Appel.

Initially, this started with riding along the country paths of Het Twiske, that not only cater for people walking and cycling, but also horses too, with bridleways running parallel, giving a more forgiving surface.

At the edge of Het Twiske, we arrived at Ringvaart, the canal surrounding it. We cycled across a walking and cycling bridge, which took us over to Oostzaan, as we left the countryside behind.

Walking and cycling bridge and road bridge, over Ringvaart

Oostzaan is a typical small Dutch town, but with a slightly unusual layout on its main street, Kerkbuurt. Now, it’s quite common to see 30 km/h streets with large painted lanes and a narrow general traffic lane in the middle, but this had additional traffic calming measures that narrowed the general traffic lane to pretty much nothing.

Painted lanes, traffic calming and pavement parking on Kerkbuurt

These streets are usually designed so drivers have to enter the cycle lane when there’s oncoming traffic. On Kerkbuurt, you have to do that even without oncoming traffic! In addition to this, parking on the footway was permitted down one side of the street.

I’ve never been massively sure about streets like this. Having ridden along quite a few streets like this in The Netherlands, we’ve experience drivers going too fast and a few close passes. Though in this case, it’s possible the narrowness may actually mean it’s a bit more successful, as drivers will have to drive slow.

After stopping off at the supermarket in Oostzaan, we got back on our bikes and continued the ride back to our holiday home. The route took us along Kerkstraat, passing under the A8 motorway, then over the river De Watering. We were now back in Zaandam, where we took the local streets back to our holiday after another fantastic day out on the bikes.