Watch the full-length video Riding from Center Parcs Woburn Forest to Bletchley Park

In planning the route, I relied on the Cranfield Cycling blog, which was useful for the area near to Center Parcs. For the later sections of the ride, I relied on Komoot to provide a route, which was mostly successful.

Leaving Center Parcs, I set off on the route covered in the Woburn Backroads ride. This started on the gravel path surrounding the Center Parcs perimeter fence that I covered in my last ride.

On the path next to Center Parcs

Continuing onto Rectory Road as I did on my last ride, I carried on straight and made my way to the M1 motorway. After passing under the motorway, I turned off onto the path across Wakes End Farm.

Approaching M1 motorway bridge

The path across the farm was pretty bumpy, but was at least dry thanks to the recent weather. I was particularly bad near the paddocks, where the ground was covered in hoof prints, from when it was muddy.

Bumpy path with dried mud through a field

Leaving the farm, I turned right onto the C100 and made my way to Woburn Abbey Deer Park. Crossing the cattle grid, I made my way through the deer park, with a steady stream of cars passing me.

Road through Woburn Abbey Deer Park

Stopping briefly for photos of the deer and surroundings, I carried on through the deer park then exited through the gates. I then arrived in Woburn itself, a historic Georgian village in Bedfordshire with some fantastic old buildings.

Zoohause building, Woburn

I turned right onto Newport Road and made my way out of the village, stopping to admire Staunton House. This includes a series of almshouses built for poor families in the nineteenth century.

Staunton House, Woburn

Once I’d made my way out of Woburn, I turned left onto another path next to a farmer’s field. This to a series of old ruined buildings, that looked like they used to be old farm buildings.

Old ruins

Turning right after the ruins, the path made its way up a fairly steep hill, with trees either side. At the top, the path flattened out as it made its may towards Aspley Woods. On the right was a small reservoir, with fencing around it. It not listed on any maps, so I’m not sure what it’s for.

Riding up the hill to the trees near Aspley Woods

I was now riding through the trees of Aspley Woods, where I eventually made my way onto Longslade Lane, where the woods continued on either side.

Aspley Woods

Longslade Lane turned into Church Road as I continued through the Aspley Woods. Leaving the woods, I found myself at the top of the hill, with views looking out from Bow Brickhill all the way to Milton Keynes ahead.

Looking out towards Milton Keynes from Church Road

I made my way down the hill through Bow Brickhill, which was very enjoyable, as I continued onto Station Road. Turning right, I then passed Bow Brickhill station and over a level crossing, I now arrived on the outskirts of Milton Keynes, on V10 Brickhill Street.

Level crossing in Caldecotte

Turning off V10 Brickhill Street, I passed through some residential streets to arrive at Caldecotte Lake. Passing some Santander branded hire bikes, I made my way round the lake, on the path in front of a modern crescent, with a loose approximation of a Georgian style.

Caldecotte Lake

The path round the lake eventually led up to the H10 Bletcham Way, where it ran next to the traffic lanes. Riding along, I passed round the far side of the lake, then over the River Ouzel.

Bletcham Way, next to Caldecotte Lake

Continuing next to the H10 Bletcham Way, I now felt like I was back on one of Milton Keyne’s Redways. The Redway took me under the A5 on some very typical underpasses.

Under the A5

Crossing over the Grand Union Canal, there was a large space on the bridge between the path and the main carriageway, I’m guessing for a planned road that was nevery built. After crossing a couple of roundabouts, I arrived on the outskirts of Bletchley.

Grand Union Canal

I continued on the Redways as I made my way through Bletchley, riding parallel to the railway, then passing under a railway bridge. From there, it was a short ride along a few quiet streets, before arriving at Bletchley Park.

Approaching railway bridge

I wasn’t planning to go into Bletchley Park, though my other half and our youngest were already there, having driven over. I met up with them to collect our packed lunch, before heading back into Bletchley, to meet up with our eldest.

Bletchley Park

Map

That’s unusual, what’s happened? Stopping to do some research, I soon found out it had just closed for the weekend for its annual maintenance inspection.

Watch the full-length video Riding along the Mancunian Way

Being something of a fortunate find, I thought I’d make the most of the closure and take a short ride along the Mancunian Way. Riding my bike, it’d give me chance to get a new perspective of this iconic structure of the city and see things I wouldn’t normally see in a car.

The past

Originally opened by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1967, the UK’s first elevated highway outside London cost £5m to build. That’s about about £120m today, which doesn’t sound a lot. It also saw many streets and houses destroyed to make way.

Forming part of the SELNEC Highway Plan, it was originally conceived as a connection between the M602 in the west, to the M67 in the east. It also connected the industrial eastern side of Manchester with Manchester Docks in the west.

Opening of the Mancunian Way by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1967

If built as originally planned, it would have provided a seamless connection between the M602 and M67, enabling you drive across Manchester, without needing to negotiate any pesky junctions. But as anyone who’s been along the Mancunian Way will know, that isn’t what was built.

SELNEC Central Manchester and Salford road proposals

Like with many schemes across the country, large parts of the SELNEC plan thankfully never saw the light of day. With the economic decline and oil crisis of the 1970s, there just wasn’t the money to build all these massive roads. Huge areas of Manchester were reserved for many of these schemes and remained empty for years.

So what ended up being constructed was a short dual carriageway, terminating in junctions at the Deansgate Interchange in the west and London Road / Downing Street in the east. The Mancunian Way was later upgraded to motorway status in the 1970s, becoming A57(M).

Bee Here Now’s The Mancunian Way - more than just a road?

In the 1990s, work was then undertaken at either end to bypass problematic junctions. This resulted in a new underpass under the Deansgate Interchange and a flyover across the London Road / Downing Street junction. The underpass at Deansgate Interchange replaced what was a temporary flyover that used to carry the A56 over the roundabout.

The former Chester Road Flyover, looking towards Deansgate

Like with so many road building schemes, neither of these junction improvements made a material difference and have just moved the problem slightly further along. The walking and cycling improvements at the Princess Road and Medlock Street junction have been far more successful in my opinion.

Rising up over the Princess Road junction

Riding along the Mancunian Way

Setting off from the western end, I made my way under the Horseshoe Bridge that I’d just crossed. I then started riding up to the viaduct that spans the section between the Princess Road and Cambridge Street junctions. From the viaduct, I took in the views along Medlock Street towards the city centre.

View towards Medlock Street from over the Princess Road junction

Making my way along, I was now riding between the various Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) buildings that span either side of the Mancunian Way.

Bike check in front of MMU’s Faculty of Business and Law

The MMU buildings continue to Oxford Road, which I passed next. Being a Saturday, Oxford Road was full of life with lots of people walking and cycling along, making the most of the summer evening.

View along Oxford Road, towards St Peter’s Square

After Oxford Road is the new Circle Square development, replacing what used to be BBC’s New Broadcasting House. This is a mixed-use development with offices, residential towers, bars and restaurants. While not the worst development I’ve seen, it feels a bit windswept and soulless to me.

View of Circle Square

Next to Circle Square is one remaining old building of note, Manchester Technology Centre. Now owned by Bruntwood and occupied by MMU, it was originally called Oxford House and housed the National Computing Centre for many years.

Back of Manchester Technology Centre and Circle Square buildings

Oxford House was designed by Cruickshank and Seward, who were behind a few of the UMIST buildings, further along the Mancunian Way. But before reaching those, there’s a large multistorey car park with a Premier Inn rather incongruously perched on top.

There’s also the much talked about unfinished slip road, that thousands of people must have passed daily, wondering what it was for. The slip road was originally intended to link to Princess Street, which was due to be widened into a dual carriageway, but was never built.

What remains of the unfinished slip road

Looking at these plans for the university district, you can see how the widened Princess Street would have linked to the four lane Upper Brook Street. This makes more sense than the current arrangement where Upper Brook Street meets Brook Street and a narrow Princess Street. Though it would have been truly disastrous for for the city centre.

Plan of the university district from 1974

These plans also show how the various university buildings along Oxford Road were intended to be connected via pedestrian walkways in the sky. In the end, only a few around the student precinct and RNCM were completed.

The slip road used to be longer with a curve in it, but it was shortened in 2018, to make space for the Circle Square development. Below the slip road and the adjacent section of the Mancunian Way used to be Hatch.

Auto Shenanigans - Secrets of The Motorway - A57(M)

This was a pop-up retail and leisure space made of shipping containers, featuring many different food and drink vendors. Originally opened by Bruntwood in 2017, it sadly closed when it was sold to Stack Leisure who had plans to redevelop it, but have since done nothing.

This is such a shame as Hatch was a fantastic place to go, with some really great vendors. Being outdoors, it proved to be invaluable during the pandemic, when social distancing was the norm. I do hope it reopens some day.

Closed Hatch under the Mancunian Way on Oxford Road

After Circle Square, the Mancunian Way passes over Brook Street that sits between Princess Street and Upper Brook Street, then it’s the start of what used to be the UMIST campus. The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university specialising in technical and scientific subjects, until it became part of the University of Manchester in 2004.

Originally known as the Manchester School of Technology, UMIST was initially located in the purpose-built Sackville Street Building, which opened in 1895. This building was further extended along Whitworth Street, between 1927 and 1957 as the college grew and received university status.

Looking across the old UMIST campus

Having outgrown its original building, in the 1950s, Manchester City Council allocated UMIST a plot of land to the south of the Sackville Street Building, between Granby Row and the Mancunian Way. With the River Medlock running through it, this site had been very industrial and was heavily polluted.

The Faraday Tower, once part of UMIST

A masterplan was drawn up by architects Thomas Worthington and Sons, who also designed one of the buildings, Staff House. The masterplan saw the polluted Medlock culverted and the site filled with green spaces and modernist buildings.

On the left, the Maths and Social Sciences Building, once part of UMIST

While Thomas Worthington and Sons were responsible for the masterplan, many of the buildings on the campus were the work of architecture practices Cruickshank and Seward, and Harry S Fairhurst and Son. Both of these firms have also design many buildings of note across Manchester and beyond.

You can read more about the development of the modernist campus on the University of Manchester’s website, and see some fantastic photos by Modern Mooch of the UMIST campus, the Roscoe Building, Renold House,

University of Manchester’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre

In more recent years, the campus buildings have been augmented with the much less inspiring Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. There’s also plans to redevelop the campus into a vibrant neighbourhood and innovation district called Sister, as part of a joint venture between the University of Manchester and Bruntwood Sci-Tech.

The UMIST campus continues until London Road, where the Mancunian Way originally ended and where the flyover was added in the 1990s. The view as you cross London Road is largely of the modern former BT building (now a hotel) that snakes along the road.

Bridge over Downing Street Junction, edge of former BT build on left

I still remember as a child riding along here in the back of my dad’s car, thinking how wonderfully modern this building looked, as well as how unusual the tidal flow lanes along London Road were.

Below the eastern side flyover is the fantastic Projekts Skatepark, a not for profit Community Benefit Society that originally opened in 2004. The origins of the skatepark link to a controversial 2001 Manchester City Council bylaw that banned all street skateboarding in the city centre. This led to an initial somewhat makeshift skatepark which has been significantly upgraded over time.

Inside Projekts Skatepark, underneath the Mancunian Way

Behind the BT building are more student towers, which then lead onto Mayfield Park, a new city park on the banks of the River Medlock that opened in 2022. Behind the park is the old Mayfield Depot, which was once a relief railway station for Manchester Piccadilly Station (London Road Station at the time) and is now home to Freight Island.

Construction in front of Mayfield Park and Freight Island

In front of the park is a construction site, where the first building to be delivered as part of the Mayfield regeneration scheme. Called The Republic, this will be an office building, with views across the park (as well as the Mancunian Way). Long term, the development here will shield the park from the Mancunian Way, hopefully reducing noise and pollution.

Bike check on the central reservation

Reaching the Mayfield area, I decided to cross over the central reservation and ride back along the westbound side, stopping for a moment on the barriers of that central reservation, to take in the view and take some photos.

Riding back along the other side gave me opportunity to look south along those key roads spanning out from the city, starting with Upper Brook Street, another road that once had tidal lanes. Largely home to Manchester’s hospital district, the road is now seeing a lot of non-hospital development on its eastern side.

View along Upper Brook Street

I was next able to look outwards along Oxford Road, past All Saints and towards the University of Manchester campus. I’m so used to how relatively calm Oxford Road is nowadays, it’s easy to forget how unpleasant it used to be before it gained good quality protected cycling infrastructure.

View along Oxford Road

Talking of All Saints, I now arrived the location of the former MMU All Saints Library, which is in the process of being demolished and replaced with a new modern library building.

All Saints Library demolition

The design of the new library has been scaled back from the initial plans, which were originally described by the university as “visionary”. This was apparently due to cost.

I have to say, I find both the original and revised designs pretty awful. The original looked gimmicky and the revised drab. Both look dated before they’ve even been built, mirroring many of the cheap looking student towers nearby.

I now passed the multitude of MMU buildings I had previously, before reaching the Princess Road junction again. At this point, I had views down onto The Redbricks, otherwise known as the Bentley House estate. Made of six rows of art deco flats, the estate dates back to the 1940s, and predate the Mancunian Way.

Redbricks Estate

There’s an interesting history to this estate on the edge of the Mancunian Way, which has housed a vibrant community. There’s a video about the estate from 2017, to mark its 70th anniversary that’s worth watching.

I was now back at the Horseshoe Bridge where I started, with views of the New Jackson towers, that contrast significantly with the older estates on the other side of the Mancunian Way.

Horseshoe Bridge in front of New Jackson towers

Early in the development of the New Jackson neighbourhood, proposals included a green bridge that would have covered a sizeable section of the Mancunian Way and linked the Hulme Park area to the new development.

This would have been a fantastic addition and have gone some way to addressing the severance caused by the Mancunian Way. Sadly, like so many green initiatives included in proposals, these were subsequently quietly dropped. I now can’t find any reference to the green bridge whatsoever.

Continuing past the Horseshoe Bridge, I made my way towards the underpass, passing by many of the towers of the New Jackson development, as well as the new Crown Street Primary School, that sits between them.

Elizabeth Tower, Crown Street Primary School and The Blade

While it’s great seeing a new school being built in the city centre, I’m really not sure about its location, overlooking the Mancunian Way cutting. I’d hate to think of what the air pollution is like at the school. Though actually, it’s not that unusual to see schools located on busy roads with poor air quality.

Riding through the underpass under the Deansgate Interchange was quite an unusual experience being down so low on the empty road. It certainly felt very different to driving through there.

The underpass under Deansgate Interchange

Rising up on the other side of the underpass, I came to the end of road closure, where traffic was able to join from the Deansgate Interchange and make its way along Egerton Road. At this point, I turned around and made my way back to where I started.

The future

The Mancunian Way will be celebrating 60 years in 2027 and it’s be fair to say it is showing its age. Speed limits have been reduced to 30 mph, due to safety concerns (though no one pays attention to them). With the road originally designed as a dual carriageway, in an era when safety standards were very different, many sections of the Mancunian Way feel incredibly dangerous.

This is particularly true around some of those entry and exit slip roads, which are too close together and often too short with challenging angles. In addition to this, the concrete of the viaduct sections is heading towards the end of its life, with regular safety inspections necessary.

So what is the future of the Mancunian Way, in a world where we now know that filling our cities with urban motorways isn’t the answer? At some point, it won’t be possible to just keep repairing what’s there.

So what happens then, does Manchester get its own version of Boston’s Big Dig, when it rerouted the central section of Interstate 93 to under the city, or Seattle’s State Route 99 tunnel that replaced the grim Alaskan Way Viaduct?

Both of these schemes cost huge sums of money, went significantly over budget and took way longer than expected. And neither have actually eliminated traffic from the surface, as both have at least four lanes of traffic above the tunnels.

I visited Boston back in 2013 and found what had replaced Interstate 93 to be pretty underwhelming. While there was green space, it felt very much like dead space in between four or more lanes of traffic. It was pretty uninspiring.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway on top of Boston’s Interstate 93 tunnel

I also had opportunity to go to Seattle in the same year, before the tunnel was complete. I have to say the Alaskan Way Viaduct was truly one of the worst roads I’ve seen and absolutely destroyed that whole waterfront section of the city.

Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct

So what would I like to see happen then? Maybe the complete elimination of the Mancunian Way, without any tunnel being built. Or we could replace it with a canal like in Utrecht where they reinstated the original city moat? Or maybe we could keep it and turn it into a version of New York’s High Line or Paris’ Coulée verte René-Dumont, but with space for active travel? Now there’s a thought.

What do you think? Answers on a postcard.

Whatever happens in the future, it was great to ride along an empty Mancunian Way, while it was closed for its annual inspection. Fancy joining me, same time next year? Maybe we could do a special Critical Mass?

What I’d really like to see are the return of traffic-free city rides that include the Mancunian Way. Remember Sky Ride? Though every month, not just once a year. I can dream I guess…

With a bit of time to spare on afternoon, I decided head out on a short ride, to get an idea of what the local area was like. This Center Parcs short ride looked like a good place to start, at just 11km and largely along off-road trails and quiet roads, though with a few busy roads to cross.

Watch the full-length video Short ride outside Center Parcs Woburn Forest

The ride started on Katherine’s Walk, which conveniently passes the entrance road to Center Parcs. This means you can start the route without needing to negotiate any busy A roads, which is a significant bonus if you’re riding as a family.

On Katherine’s Walk, just outside Center Parcs

Turning right onto Katherine’s Walk, the route initially follows the perimeter fence of Center Parcs, in amongst the trees. The path at this point is mostly smoothish gravel, with a few rougher sections where there’s tree roots. It was pretty dry during our trip, so I don’t know what it would be like in wet weather.

After following round the bottom of Center Parcs’ perimeter fence, the route then heads south between farmer’s fields, then turns onto Rectory Road. This then leads to the quiet village of Steppingley, which looked very pleasant.

Next to a farmer’s field on Katherine’s Walk

Passing through the village, the route continues next to more farmer’s fields, before coming out onto Flitwick Road. There was then a short ride on Flitwick Road, which was fairly busy, before turning off to ride through more fields.

Path next to a farmer’s field

At the bottom of the farmer’s fields, the route turns left through a wooded area with a gravel path. This led to Steppingley Road, a fairly busy road on the outskirts of Flitwick. At the time of riding, there were roadworks along here, making it a little more challenging.

On the path to Flitwick

Turning off onto Ryder Way, the route made its way through a new housing estate, with very generic looking houses. There was at least a decent looking kid’s play area in the centre of the estate.

Ryder Way Play Area

Exiting the estate onto Froghall Road, the route continued towards the railway bridge, before turning left onto a gravel path that runs parallel to the railway, heading towards Froghall Wood.

Path at the top of Froghall Wood

The path continued parallel to the railway, before turning left at the top of Froghall Wood, skirting the edge of the woods. It then led onto Fordfield Road, which was busy with fast traffic, though at least had a section of shared-use path I was able to use.

Crossing on Fordfield Road

Turning off Froghall Road, I continued onto a path leading back to Katherine’s Walk. This section had what looked like a newly laid Flexipave surface, which was really smooth.

Flexipave path

At the end of the Flexipave path, I was back on the path around Center Parcs. From there, it was a short ride back to the entrance for Center Parcs, where I made my way back onto site.

On Katherine’s Walk next to the Center Parcs perimeter fence

This was a pleasant little ride and a good taster for a much longer ride I’d end up doing to Bletchley. More on that in my next post.

Route

Wanting to try a different location to the ones we’d already been to, Center Parcs Woburn Forest made sense as it was on the way to Kent, where we were planning to visit family. It’s also in an area of the country we haven’t been to that much, so there was potential for some exploring.

Opening in 2014, Woburn Forest is the latest Center Parcs site to open in the UK. It’s located near the towns of Flitwick and Ampthill and close to Milton Keynes and the M1 motorway.

With Milton Keynes being so close, we decided to do similar to what we did when we stayed at Elveden Forest and arrange to spend a night in the city the day before, so we could get on site early in the morning and make the most of the first day.

This also gave me opportunity to explore the city’s Redways, a network of walking and cycling routes. Something I’ve been wanting to do for some time. You can read all about that in my last post, Riding the Redways of Milton Keynes.

Arriving at Center Parcs

Once through check-in by about 11am, we parked up and unloaded the bikes. We then set off to the Subtropical Swimming Paradise to check it out, before grabbing a late lunch at the Sports Café. Following a wander after lunch, it was 3pm and time to get into our lodge.

First ride at Center Parcs, after parking the car

Initial impressions of the Woburn Forest site is that it felt quite fresh and new, being just over ten years old. It also felt a fair bit smaller than the other sites we’ve stayed at, as well as being quite hilly.

The main central area around the Village, Sports Plaza and boating lake are fairly flat and located at the bottom of the site. The lodges are then located on the hills around there, progressively rising the further away you get. This is something to consider if you’re not great with hills or have accessibility issues.

Steps up to our lodge, with a ramp for bikes

Our lodge was Maple 941, which is one of the ones furthest away and highest up, at the top of a fairly steep hill, then up some steps. While I don’t mind riding up the odd hill, the rest of the family were less keen! They ended up walking rather than riding quite a few times, given they’d often be walking up the hill anyway.

Prices for staying at Woburn Forest were a bit cheaper than the other sites we’ve stayed at, which meant we could upgrade to a slightly better lodge, which came with three bedrooms and a sauna, a nice luxury to have.

The sauna at our lodge

I only actually got to use the sauna once myself during our trip. The rest of the family were in the far more than me. This wasn’t a big surprise, given how popular the sauna was when we stayed in Helsinki in 2023.

Activities

This time, we were well prepared in terms of booking all of the activities we wanted ahead of the trip and able to arrange our itinerary as we wanted. Previously, during our first stay at Sherwood Forest, we struggled to book any activities, as we’d left it too late.

Subtropical Swimming Paradise

At Center Parcs, the Subtropical Swimming Paradise acts a centrepiece to the activities, especially with it being the only free activity on site. With a range of things to do for all ages, any stay usually involves multiple trips there.

Inside every Subtropical Swimming Paradise is a range of water slides, wild water rapids, lazy river and wave pool, as well pools and play areas for smaller kids.

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise at Woburn Forest feels very modern and new, unsurprising given the site opened just 12 years ago. While it’s more modern than the other sites we’ve stayed at, it feels a fair amount smaller, with fewer facilities.

The wave pool

The main things we noticed were the smaller wave pool and outdoor pools and the lack of whirlpools and flumes. Two of our group were particularly disappointed by the lack of whirlpools, as they’d usually spend quite a while in them.

The exclusive cabanas

What’s there is good and we enjoyed the various slides, as well as the outdoor wild water rapids. It never felt too busy and the temperature inside was about right. I can’t say the same about outside, but you can’t blame Center Parcs for the weather.

Aerial Adventure

As you might guess from the name, the Aerial Adventure is an activity where you make your way up through the trees, attached to a guide rope with a harness. Moving between trees requires you to tackle different methods of getting across, some more difficult than others. Once you reach the top, you’re rewarded with a zip wire ride across the boating lake.

Selfie after completing the Aerial Adventure

My partner and our youngest had a go at the Aerial Adventure when we stayed at Elveden Forest. I’m not particularly great with heights, so I went for a bike ride instead. This time, in an attempt to not let my fear of heights hold me back, I decided to give it a go.

The whole family were actually due to take part, but our eldest had to pull out, following a skateboarding related accident that left him with an injured wrist and wouldn’t have been able to do it.

I was a little apprehensive building up to the day, but I was putting it to the back of my mind. Though going through getting fitted up with the harness and receiving the safety briefing, I was largely fine. It was only when I had to step out the first time, crossing over to the first tree that I had a little wobble, both literally and metaphorically.

Making our way up, some of the crossings were a little challenging, but manageable. I had hoped to take some pictures or get some video footage as we made our way up, but that was strictly forbidden. Having gone round, I can understand why.

Once we reached the top, our youngest and I stepped out on the zip wire, where I needed to force myself a little to take the leap. But once I was off and flying through the air, it was lots of fun. It’s good to scare yourself every now and again.

Pool

Who doesn’t like a game of pool? My kids when they’re losing it would seem! I always enjoy a game, especially if it’s accompanied by a beer, which is definitely an option in the Sports Café.

Playing American pool

We ended up there a couple of times playing pool. Firstly American Pool, which has a slightly bigger table and pockets. Then English/British pool, with smaller tables that are like what you’d typically see in a pub (though I’ve not seen many pool tables in pubs recently).

Playing pool

While pool is fairly popular there, they do have quite a few tables, so we didn’t have any trouble booking one. Pool playing is definitely a life skill and one that I’ve attempted to pass on!

Badminton

Badminton is another popular activity at Center Parcs and there’s a bunch of courts in the Sports Hall you can book. Rackets and shuttles are included in bookings, which was useful as we didn’t have any with us.

Like with pool, I played many a game of badminton in formative years, so of course I was keen to share my knowledge and skills, however badly it’d be received!

Playing Badminton in The Sports Hall

We ended up playing twice, initially with all four of us, and then returning later in the week with just our eldest and myself, while our youngest did climbing, which our eldest wasn’t able to do, due to the skateboarding injury.

Interactive Darts

It’s been quite a while since I last played darts. Outside of my school days, I remember it being a popular activity in our campus bar at university many years ago. I can’t claim to ever being very good at it and probably have an aversion after receiving a dart in my head as a child, sitting too close to the dartboard when my brothers were playing.

Playing Interactive Darts

Interactive Darts was new to us, but I know it’s quite popular in those activity type bars that have appeared across Manchester, particularly popular for work nights out.

Playing Interactive Darts

Initially starting with traditional darts, we then worked through some of the other games on offer. Some were definitely better than others, and it was clear some were aimed at younger kids, who were maybe lucky to hit the board.

We came away with everyone having enjoyed it, which doesn’t happen that often. Plus there was opportunity to enjoy a beer, brought to you with table service. But with this being Center Parcs, it ain’t particularly cheap!

Ten pin bowling

Ten pin bowling is something we’ve done each time we’ve stayed at Center Parcs. I have to say my proficiency varies massively each time I play and this was definitely one of my less than great days.

Ten Pin Bowling

I’m sure everyone’s familiar with ten pin bowling, so there’s not much to say about it. The only thing of note is that when we turned up for our game, there was no staff around, which ended up eating into our time, which we weren’t best pleased about.

Cycling

If you were to ask anyone about Center Parcs, one of the things they’re likely to know about is that everyone cycles there. With it being a traffic-free environment, where everything is in walking or cycling distance, I’ve previously joked that it’s a fantastic example of a 15-minute city.

While that’s definitely true of Center Parcs as a whole, I would say the hills at Woburn Forest and the relative smallness of the site make cycling a little less attractive an option. There were still plenty of people riding, though it felt less than what we’d seen at the other sites we’ve been to. There were still lots of kids cycling, but I’d say not so many adults.

Riding round the site

As you’d expect, I spent a lot of time riding around the site and I quite enjoyed the hills, but as I said, the others not so much.

While it can be fun riding around the site, I’m always keen to explore further. This worked out particularly well at Sherwood Forest, where it’s possible to access the forest nearby via a very quiet road. It was less successful at Elveden Forest, with a busy A road and no trails nearby.

I’m pleased to say Woburn Forest has access to some decent trails directly from the access road into the site, making them straightforward and safe to access. While I accessed the trails by myself, it would have been doable with the family, and probably for families with older kids.

Riding the trails outside of Center Parcs Woburn Forest

I ended up doing a couple of rides offsite while we were there. One was a short ride in the area just outside Center Parcs Woburn Forest, the other was a longer ride to Bletchley, south west of Milton Keynes.

Running

While at Woburn Forest, I was five weeks into Couch to 5K, which meant I would be doing some running there during our trip. Center Parcs turned out to be quite a good environment to run, in the same way it’s good for walking and cycling. I saw lots of other people running there too.

The smooth paths and lack of motor vehicles mean there’s lots of available space to run. The only issue was the hills, which were more of challenge for someone running for the first time. The central areas were flatter and a bit easier to run, but also tended to be busier, which brought its own challenges.

Forest trail

Outside of the main roads and paths, there’s forest trails, following the perimeter of the site. While these can be used for walking and cycling, I found them pretty good for running along.

Food and Drink

Having stayed at Center Parcs previously and knowing what to expect from the food and drink options on offer, we were prepared to cook a few meals during our stay, with a few selective meals out.

While there are quite a few different places to eat, they tend to be a little bland and chainy, like you’re in a shopping mall, as well as not being particularly cheap. Though there are some exceptions to this.

On the first day, we ate at the Sports Café for lunch, largely because we didn’t have access to our lodge yet. The food there is typical for what you’d expect in a sports bar type place. We opted for sandwiches that were fine, if a little expensive.

In the evening, we ate at Huck’s largely because we couldn’t be bothered cooking, after having unloaded everything into the lodge and done our shopping. The food in Huck’s is reasonable, but not particularly amazing. We had the issue that they’d ran out of a few things on the menu, which limited our options.

First night at Huck’s

Our favourite place to eat on site is definitely the pancake house, which we ended up going to a couple of times. They have a really good selection of sweet and savoury pancakes, which the option of getting them on waffles or omelettes, if you’d prefer. The location overlooking the boating lake is quite pleasant, if you’re fortunate with the weather.

Enjoying pancakes

During our stay, we also grabbed a few coffees at Starbucks, which wouldn’t have been our first choice given other options. But again, they have quite a good location with seating outside the Sports Plaza, near the boating lake.

The main thing if you are planning to eat and drink out at Center Parcs is be prepared for it to cost you. Another useful tip, if you’re planning to toast marshmallows on the fire in your lodge, consider picking up the wood and marshmallows from outside, as they’re significantly cheaper.

Toasting marshmallows

While on the subject of money saving, if you’re a coffee drinker and want to use the Tassimo machine in the lodge, pick up the pods before you arrive too. These are expensive in the shop on site and they don’t stock any other kind of coffee, except instant.

Changeover day

I find changeover day interesting at Center Parcs (that makes me sound incredibly dull, I know). First of all, after having enjoyed living traffic-free during the trip, the site suddenly becomes a sea of SUVs (yes, it seems nearly every car there is a big SUV).

Cars queuing on changeover day

Also, despite all these drivers spending the previous days walking or cycling, they immediately revert to type, driving too fast, blocking the path by parking wherever they like and generally acting entitled. This is while there’s still lots of kids playing out and riding bikes.

Cleaning staff cycling

Another interesting feature of changeover day are all the staff that appear on custom Center Parcs bikes to clean and prepare the lodges. Many of the bikes have baskets attached to carry equipment, while some are towing trailers to do the same.

Cleaning staff bike outside a lodge

It’s great seeing all the red bikes appear from nowhere, showing just how well suited they are for work purposes, getting around the site. Makes you think how many other jobs could be done on bike, given the right infrastructure to make it safe and convenient.

As with our previous trips, we enjoyed our stay at Center Parcs Woburn Forest. It’s always great spending time in a relaxed, traffic-free environment and we really enjoyed the activities. I also liked the cycling outside of Center Parcs, but more on that to come.

More Center Parcs posts

Further posts from our trips to Center Parcs

• Center Parcs Sherwood Forest
• Center Parcs Elveden Forest

Like when we visited Center Parcs Elveden Forest in 2025 and stayed in Cambridge the night before, we wanted to stay somewhere near to Woburn Forest, so we could get on site early in the day and make the most of our trip. With Milton Keynes being really close and seemingly an abundance of cheap Premier Inns to stay in, the plan was perfect!

Originally starting as the largest of a number of proposed new towns in the 1960s, Milton Keynes has now developed into a city with a population of around 250,000. Made up of a number of existing towns and villages, with a design concept of the “forest city”, Milton Keynes is now one of the UK’s greenest cities.

In addition to the amount of fantastic green spaces, the city has some unique features you don’t typically see in the UK. It’s organised around a grid system and has extensive grade separation between motor traffic and active travel.

While I’ve read and watched plenty about Milton Keynes in the past, I still ended up going down a YouTube rabbit hole before our trip. If you too would like to know more about the history of Milton Keynes, I recommend watching this informative video, telling the story by the people who were part of the Development Corporation.

Milton Keynes Centre

For our night in Milton Keynes, we’d arranged to stay at the Premier Inn in the Theatre District. This is centrally located, unsurprisingly near Milton Keynes Theatre, which sits between central shopping area centre:mk and Xscape Milton Keynes, a huge leisure complex.

After checking in, we went for a wander in the central shopping district, which is made up of centre:mk and Midsummer Place shopping centres. Originally known as the Shopping Building, centre:mk is the original shopping centre in Milton Keynes, opening in 1979.

Influenced by the architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the steel framed and glazed shopping centre is quite different to many indoor shopping malls of the same era. Comparing it to the two Arndale Centres in Manchester, which can feel quite dark and oppressive, centre:mk is light and airy.

Midsummer Arcade, centre:mk

This is particularly true of Midsummer Arcade, with its contrasting glazed and tiled walls and large clock tower. In this section, there’s a blue plaque confirming it as the location used in Cliff Richard’s Wired For Sound video. If you go and watch the video, you’ll spot some of the details in my photos.

Blue plaque in Midsummer Arcade saying “In 1981 Cliff Richard filmed his pop video for ‘Wired For Sound’ here (in roller skates!)”

In addition to the overall feel of lightness, the centre has some interesting features, such as service access to the shops at the first floor level, with an access road sitting on top of the shops. It also has large amounts of planting and trees, which is temperate in the northerly arcade and semi-tropical in the southerly one.

Blossom on the trees in Queen’s Court

In 1993, the centre was extended at the western end on what used to be City Square. While the style is somewhat in keeping with the original building, the extension is dark with low ceilings and a substantially less pleasant place to be.

Midsummer Place opened in 2000 and sits adjacent to centre:mk on the south side, on Midsummer Boulevard. This also incorporates Oak Court, which used to contain an oak tree which stood here originally, until it died after the building of the shopping centre.

Inside Midsummer Place shopping centre

The design of Midsummer Place is very much of its time and could easily be mistaken for a number of shopping centres around the world. At times, you could be mistaken for thinking you’re in an airport departure lounge.

While it was interesting looking round the central shopping area of Milton Keynes, I was keen to get on my bike and explore the Redways, so we didn’t hang around too long.

Riding the Redways

Milton Keynes’ redway system, known as the Redways are a 320 kilometre network of shared-use paths for walking, wheeling and cycling. Largely featuring a red asphalt surface and with lots of grade separation, at times they could be mistaken for something you’d see in the Netherlands.

Built during the construction of the city, the Redways cover a significant amount of Milton Keynes, often running next to the grid roads. Additionally, many Redways run through parkland, along the valley of the River Ouzel and Grand Union Canal. There’s also a section of the Redways running along what used to be the Wolverton to Newport Pagnell railway line.

Watch the full-length video Riding the Redways of Milton Keynes

When looking for a route to follow, I came across the Cultural Routes, which looked like a good place to start. I opted for the full blue route that covers the central northern areas of Milton Keynes and along a section of the Millennium Cycle Route. Starting at our hotel on Avebury Boulevard, I made my way onto the Redway at Marlborough Gate, to start my ride.

Crossing under V8 Marlborough Street, I got my first taste of one of the many underpasses I’d use during the ride. Being used to the largely substandard underpasses around Manchester, this was a very welcome change. While not up to Dutch standards, this and the underpasses felt safe and comfortable to use, with decent lines of sight.

I would say maintenance of the underpasses could be better, as a few of them were quite scruffy, I’d also say lighting could be a lot stronger. On the day of my ride, the weather was fairly clear and bright and my ride was during the day. Would I be saying the same thing, riding along there in the evening or in bad weather? I’m not sure.

Underpass under V8 Marlborough Street

My first taste of a Redway was riding on the one next to H6 Childs Way, on a tree-line path. This was on the edge of Fishermead, a residential area made up of rectangular blocks of terraces, which were some of the first to built in the city.

Redway parallel to H6 Childs Way

While riding through Fishermead, I passed through Pencarrow Mews, a temporary housing scheme by Milton Keynes Council that’s made from shipping containers. While it looks like an innovative scheme, it appears there’s been issues with the implementation. I’m also not that fond of the sea of asphalt and car parking spaces outside, felt more like a business park, than somewhere people live.

Temporary housing made from shipping containers at Pencarrow Mews, Fishermead

I continued along the Redway, passing under V7 Saxon Street and V6 Grafton Street in more underpasses. I then turned right towards Milton Keynes Central, passing an abandoned Toys R Us unit at Winterhill Retail Park. Riding under Midsummer Boulevard and Elder Gate to arrive at Station Square.

Recently redeveloped Station Square

Station Square has been recently redeveloped and features a distinctive, brightly painted central area, surrounded by new planting. The painted area is an artwork by artist Yinka Ilori, called Walk With Your Dreams, which draws on Nigerian textile patterns.

Painted Station Square selfie

I’ve only stopped in Milton Keynes once before. Many years ago, at the station on the way back from London. With a couple of hours to spare, I stepped out of the station thinking I might have a wander. Looking out onto Station Square at the time, I wasn’t particularly impressed and turned back into the station.

The redevelopment of the square is a significant improvement. It’s a much brighter and inviting space now and somewhere you may want to spend time. I also spotted some covered two-tier cycle parking there. As it was a Sunday, there weren’t many bikes there, though I expect it’s much busier during the week. To be honest, I would have expected more cycle parking.

Two-tier cycle parking in Station Square

Leaving the square, I made my way around the side of the station and across the railway tracks that lead to Milton Keynes Central. The Redway then continued on a further bridge passing over the A5 dual carriageway. After crossing the A5, I initially continued parallel to the road, before making my way along Leys Road, towards Loughton Valley Park.

Crossing the A5 on the Redway bridge

Loughton Valley Park is a linear park, with balancing lakes to deal with excess rainwater during heavy rainfall. The park is home to Bancroft Roman Villa, Bancroft Pétanque Piste and most famously, Milton Keynes’ concrete cows.

The route through the park took me under Portway, a main east/west route through Milton Keynes, then past the two lakes. At the time, I’d not realised the concrete cows were in the park, so I completely missed them, which was a shame.

Lodge Lake

The park was pretty quiet at the time, so I didn’t need to worry too much about mixing with other people walking or cycling. The path was mostly a decent width, though there were some narrower sections, so it could get a bit tricky if it does get busy.

Redway at the top of Lodge Lake

On the way towards H3 Monks Way, the route passes under the railway line heading to Milton Keynes Central, in a small tunnel that also carries the Tref-y-nant Brook. With a wooden structure carrying the footway above the brook, this is quite an interesting detail along the way. Though it’s not what you’d call accessible and is definitely too narrow to ride through.

Suspended wooden path above the Tref-y-nant Brook

Carrying on along the park, on the edge of Bradwell, I passed some sports fields and H3 Monks Way, not far from where the elusive concrete cows are. I then continued along the Redway through the park until I reached V6 Grafton Street.

After crossing V6 Grafton Street on a particularly good walking and cycling bridge, I turned onto what used to be part of the former Newport Pagnell Railway, a former 4 mile branch line on the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), connecting Wolverton to Newport Pagnell.

Redway on the location of the former Newport Pagnell Railway, next to the Bradwell Windmill

The line closed in 1964 and was since converted into a Redway, still connecting Wolverton to Newport Pagnell. It feels very much like your typical rail trail, with plenty clues to its original use, including the former platform at what used to be Bradwell Station.

Riding along the line, you also get views of Bradwell Windmill, a Grade II listed landmark, which was built in 1805 to mill barley and wheat. Now owned by Milton Keynes Council, it was restored between 1970s to 1990s, though it’s not in full working order.

Bradwell Windmill

I continued on the old railway path until it reached the Grand Union Canal, where I turned off before the old railway bridge that crosses the canal. I then made my way into Great Linford Manor Park.

The Railway information board next to the Grand Union Canal and old railway bridge

Originally a private garden for the manor house, Great Linford Manor Park is now open to the public. After being built in 1678, the estate fell into decline after being bisected by the Grand Union Canal in 1800, but it was later revived as a public park, as part of the Milton Keynes’ development.

The Hine Spring, Great Linford Manor Park

Since 2015, work has been under way to restore the park, with support from a National Lottery Heritage Fund and Community Fund grant. More information about the restoration can be found on The Parks Trust website, as well as on the Great Linford History website.

Linford Manor

Leaving Great Linford Manor Park, I carried on along the quiet roads in Great Linford towards the Grand Union Canal. Arriving at the canal, I joined the canal path and made my way south.

High Street, Great Linford

While not technically part of the Redways, the path along the Grand Union Canal was actually pretty good to ride along. Known as the Canal Broadwalk, it is billed as a fantastic walking, running or cycling route through some of Milton Keynes’ most beautiful parks.

Redway next to the Grand Union Canal

Given I’m used to the canals around Manchester and paths that are distinctly variable, I was very impressed with the route along the Grand Union Canal. The path was largely a decent width with a fairly smooth surface. There were no bumpy tree roots or loose cobbles to contend with.

One particularly nice feature on the Grand Union Canal was Narrowboat Wobbly, a narrowboat with a wood-fired pizza oven, selling pizza, coffee and ice cream. Given my fondness for pizza making and canals, I was very jealous. I’d love to be doing something like this on the Bridgewater Canal!

Pizza narrowboat on the Grand Union Canal

Leaving the canal, I made my way into Campbell Park, which sits next to the centre of Milton Keynes, very near to where I started the ride. Commonly used in publicity shots of the city, Campbell Park really exemplifies how much of a green Milton Keynes is.

Amphitheatre, Campbell Park

Within the park, you’ll find various pieces of public art, water features, cricket pitch and amphitheatre. Probably the most famous piece of public art is Light Pyramid (The Beacon) by Liliane Lijn, which sits on the belvedere, where you can enjoy fantastic views of the park and beyond.

Bike check at the Light Pyramid, Campbell Park

Riding up from the canal, I stopped at the Light Pyramid to capture the view, before making my way through the Milton Keynes Rose, another piece of public art, which is an open-air circle with markings based on the mathematical beauty of a flower.

I then left the park and made my way across V8 Marlborough Street again, to arrive back in the Theatre District and our hotel, where my ride ended. Meeting up with the others, I enthused about my ride around Milton Keynes and they looked a little surprised.

Milton Keynes Rose

Their experience of the city was pretty limited, having only really seen the central shopping district and sprawling boulevards around it. Whereas I’d got to experience the city beyond the centre, riding the Redways on my bike, which gave me a very different perspective.

While it’d be easy to point out all the ways Milton Keynes doesn’t live up to Dutch standards when it comes to cycling, it’s the closest I’ve experienced in the UK that comes anywhere near to matching the Netherlands, in terms of having a real network of safe cycle routes. I say that, having cycled in nearly all of the UK’s best cycling cities.

Milton Keynes gets a lot of stick for being a soulless, car-dominated new town, and probably in a lot of ways it is. But if I compare to another new town a little closer to home, that I’m far more familiar with, Warrington, they couldn’t be more different.

While both places are dominated with roundabouts, expressways and sprawl, Milton Keynes feels considered, well thought through and liveable, with its grid roads and grade separated Redways. In Warrington, cycling feels like an afterthought, where shared-use paths often dump you at roundabouts, with no priority for crossing.

This isn’t completely Warrington’s fault, as plans were scaled back, then abandoned, when Thatcher’s government disbanded the Development Corporations in the 1980s. You can read more about plans for Warrington New Town on Roads.org.uk.

After waiting so long to visit the city, I was expecting a lot from Milton Keynes and I have to say I was largely pleasantly surprised. The route I did was only a fraction of what’s there and I’d definitely like to return to the city to see more. I just need to engineer a reason to go back!

Route

While driving through, we were looking for somewhere to stop to eat our packed lunch. With its location next to the Haringvlietdam, the village of Stellendam looked like a good place to stop.

Marina Stellendam

After lunch, we set out for a wander round the Scheelhoek nature reserve. We then stumbled across the Tij Observatory (Vogelobservatorium ‘Tij’ Haringvliet). It was a very pleasant surprise.

The path to the Tij Observatory

The egg-shaped Tij Observatory was designed by RAU Architects and Ro&Ad Architects. It is designed for birdwatchers looking onto the Scheelhoek Nature Reserve and the Sandwich terns that nest there.

The Tij Observatory, which translates as Tide, takes the form of a tern’s egg. It is thatched with reeds from the local nature reserve. Funded by the Dutch lottery, it was built to celebrate the opening of sluices at Haringvlietdam.

Part of the North Sea Delta Works, the sluices have separated the Rhine and Meuse rivers from the North Sea. In 2018, the river management strategy was changed. The sluices now open regularly, connecting the rivers to the sea once again.

Tij Observatory exterior

With the parts of the building constructed in a factory, then assembled on site. The observatory is designed so it can be dismantled and relocated, if required. Meeting a key requirement of being a fully sustainable structure.

Tunnel approaching the Tij Observatory

The approach to the observatory is through a tunnel covered with sand and nesting holes for sand martins. This is to minimise disturbance to the birds. You enter the observatory at the ground level, then take the stairs up to the main observation area.

Inside the Tij Observatory

Around the observatory, there’s various openings giving you views out to observe. There’s also a large opening in the roof, which lights up the space. It’s designed to be completely exposed, with the internal wooden frame visible to see on the inside.

Upstairs in the Tij Observatory

Views of the interior of the observatory are almost as great as looking out through one of the lookout points. It really is a stunning structure and a great space to be in.

One of the lookout points

We stayed there for a while looking out to the nature reserve and enjoying views of the Haringvlietdam. While there’s some traffic noise, it’s a pretty serene spot to sit and watch the world go by.

Looking out to the east, to the nature reserves

I’m probably the least knowledgeable person when it comes to birdwatching. So I can’t really comment on that side of things. But we really enjoyed our little diversion on the way home.

Sadly, it was time to leave the Tij Observatory. We had a drive back through Belgium and France to do, to get the Eurotunnel back to the UK.

Read more about the fantastic Tij Observatory on ArchDaily and Dezeen.

More Netherlands 25 posts

Further posts from our trip to the Netherlands in 2025

• Two weeks at Duinrell
• Riding the Velostrada from Leiden to Den Haag
• Evening ride to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag
• Riding from Duinrell to Rotterdam
• Loop ride around Vlietland
• Riding from Duinrell to Delft
• Riding to Katwijk aan Zee for lunch
• Riding from Duinrell to Leiden
• A day trip to Amsterdam
• More wandering in Leiden
• Loop ride from Duinrell to Scheveningen
• Riding from Duinrell to Den Haag
• Riding to Kunstmuseum Den Haag
• One final ride to Leiden
• Visiting the Tij Observatory

It wasn’t the best of weather on that final day. But, it was good enough for a ride into Leiden and a wander round. For most of the day it was anyway.

Riding to Leiden

To get to Leiden, we largely followed the route we’d done previously on this holiday. This involved going along Zuylen van Nijeveltstraat in Wassenaar and then onto Deijlerweg. We then continued along Oude Trambaan and Ommedijkseweg, next to the A44 motorway.

From there, we went a different way to our usual route into Leiden. Instead of going past Leiden Centraal to Beestenmarkt, we took the path next to N206 Doctor Lelylaan, then along Haagweg.

Painted lane and cycle traffic lights on Haagweg

The reason for this different route was to make use of the cycle parking Waagstalling. The cycle parking is conveniently located in the basement of the former V&D department store. It is supervised and free to use for up to 14 consecutive days.

Waagstalling cycle parking

This is such a good use of vacant space in old department stores. I’d love to see this come to Manchester. We have plenty of old department store building in the city. I’ve been saying for some time we should convert unused retail space into cycle parking.

Waagstalling cycle parking

As the cycle parking is located in the basement, access to Waagstalling is via ramps. This can be done at either the front or rear of the building. Inside, the space is bright and clean and there’s lots of two tier cycle racks.

At the time we were there, there were plenty of spaces on the racks. Finding a spot wasn’t an issue. Using the cycle parking there was really easy, convenient and secure, and we’d definitely use it again.

Wandering around Leiden

After parking our bikes, the first thing we did was head for a drink at the nearby Trattoria Italiana City Hall. As you may have guessed from the name, this is located in Leiden’s Stadhuis (City Hall), or the basement of the city hall to be precise.

The Stadhuis itself is located on both Breestraat at the front and Vismarkt at the back, where it faces onto the Nieuwe Rijn. The basement of the building is at street-level at the rear, which has enabled it to be converted into a restaurant.

The restaurant has tables and chairs spilling out into Stadhuisplein, which is where we sat. This was a lovely space to sit and watch the world go by, on a busy Saturday in Leiden.

Stopping for a drink at Trattoria Italiana City Hall

After our drinks, we headed off to browse the market stalls located along the Nieuwe Rijn. The market features everything from fruit and veg, to flowers and even cycling accessories. The market is on twice a week, every Wednesday and Saturday.

Market stalls on Botermarkt

I remember reading in Peter Millar’s Marrakech Express, the way to tell the difference between a market for locals and one for tourists is by whether there’s a stall selling men’s underwear.

We didn’t actually see any stalls selling men’s pants. However, Leiden market would definitely be the type of market that would have them.

Market stall on Nieuwe Rijn

We really enjoyed wandering along the Nieuwe Rijn. We browsed the stalls and shops overlooking the river. It’s such a pleasant location for a market.

Cycling market stall on Gangetje

We continued our wandering around the streets off Breestraat. Then we made our way across the Nieuwe Rijn to Burcht van Leiden. This is the fortress on the hill that dates back to the eleventh century.

Walking along the wall at Burcht van Leiden

Despite being one of the top things to see in Leiden, we only actually found out about it in 2024! With this being our final time in Leiden, we decided to head back up again. This gave us chance to enjoy the great views of Leiden one last time.

View from Burcht van Leiden

We came down and continued our wander in the area surrounding Hooglandse Kerk. This Gothic church dates back to the fourteenth century. While doing this, we stumbled across the planters and seats installed on Nieuwstraat.

Planting on Nieuwstraat

The planters are filled with various plants and trees. They feature large building-shaped wooden frames and integrated seats. These planters brighten up the street with some green space, in what used to be parking spaces.

Planting on Nieuwstraat

We were now on the hunt for somewhere to eat. We ended up wandering back to the base of Burcht van Leiden and stopping at Brasserie Rumour. This was a really pleasant spot for our final evening of the holiday.

Tea at Brasserie Rumour

After eating, it was time to head back to Duinrell. We left Brasserie Rumour and crossed the Nieuwe Rijn and headed towards Waagstalling cycle parking.

Riding back to Duinrell

Arriving back at Waagstalling cycle parking, where we started. We unlocked our bikes and made our way up the ramp and set off back to Duinrell. We largely followed the route we arrived on, though had rain to contend with on the way.

Haagweg, approaching Heesterboom Sawmill

We were soon back at Duinrell. It was now time to pack everything up in preparation for heading back to the UK the next day. After doing so many trips to Duinrell for a week, it was nice staying for two weeks.

Two weeks gave us chance to really settle in and explore. This included multiple trips to Leiden and Den Haag, as well as returning to Amsterdam and Rotterdam. While we hadn’t been as lucky with the weather this year, we didn’t let that stop us doing anything.

So will we be returning in 2026? To be honest, probably not. I really fancy going somewhere we’ve not been. Maybe Copenhagen or similar, so I get my cycling fix too! 😉

More Netherlands 25 posts

Further posts from our trip to the Netherlands in 2025

• Two weeks at Duinrell
• Riding the Velostrada from Leiden to Den Haag
• Evening ride to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag
• Riding from Duinrell to Rotterdam
• Loop ride around Vlietland
• Riding from Duinrell to Delft
• Riding to Katwijk aan Zee for lunch
• Riding from Duinrell to Leiden
• A day trip to Amsterdam
• More wandering in Leiden
• Loop ride from Duinrell to Scheveningen
• Riding from Duinrell to Den Haag
• Riding to Kunstmuseum Den Haag
• One final ride to Leiden
• Visiting the Tij Observatory

Originally founded in 1866, the museum’s current building dates back to 1935 and has a collection of 165,000 works. It is renowned for having the largest collection of Mondrian’s in the world.

The museum’s collection of modern art includes many acclaimed artists. These include Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and local artist is Piet Mondriaan. Its collection also includes pottery and glass art, print, fashion and music.

The current home of the Kunstmuseum is a purpose-built building designed by the Dutch architect, H.P. Berlage. It is described by some as having a simple, sober, and accessible appearance. It definitely appears less grand and showy than other museums.

The building is made of everyday brick, rather than more opulent materials like marble and granite. It’s also built to a human scale and doesn’t feel imposing. On the inside, tiles in bold colours mirror the exterior brick, in a style that’s part modernist, part Art Deco.

To me, the yellow bricks and tiles are reminiscent of the original yellow tiles of Manchester’s Arndale Centre. Though given the Kunstmuseum was built decades before, maybe that should be the other way round. Maybe the Arndale Center architects Hugh Wilson and J. L. Womersley took inspiration from the Dutch museum?

Riding to Kunstmuseum Den Haag

From Duinrell, we set off on a route along Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg, then onto Kerkstraat and Schouwweg. This gave me chance to check out the result of the construction work I passed on here in 2024.

Continuous footway and cycleway across Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg

Originally, Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg was a 50 km/h distributor road, with protected cycling infrastructure along some of it. The purpose of it was to provide a route through Wassenaar, connecting Stoeplaan to the centre of the town.

School sign on Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg

It has now been downgraded to being a 30 km/h access road, with through traffic now directed along Jagerslaan. The protected cycling infrastructure has also been removed, as this isn’t deemed necessary on a 30 km/h road.

Reconstructed Schouwweg with a school sign

The street has been narrowed and paved with red bricks. This is to make it feel more like an access road and reduce traffic speeds. Measures like this are often neglected in the UK when 20 mph speed limits are introduced.

New footways and planting on Schouwweg

The footways have also been repaved and new planting has been added. This helps to make the area feel more like a place to linger, rather than one to drive through. Though that will only be successful if traffic levels are reduced sufficiently, to suit the new street design.

Approaching the Groot Haesebroekseweg crossing on Schouwweg

The question is, while still technically a through road, have traffic numbers reduced sufficiently? Well, we didn’t see any traffic while we were riding along there, which is promising, but in no way scientific.

After riding along the newly designed Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg, we made our way onto Buurtweg and over the N440. This was similar to the route I did a few days earlier, on the way back from Scheveningen.

Riding up the ramp to the bridge over the N440

This took us then took us into Den Haag on a different and a much less pleasant route. I’ve written before about finding Den Haag to be quite a car-centric city, by Dutch standards. On this ride into the city, we had a taste of some of the not so cycling-friendly roads.

Suicide cycle lane on Oostduinlaan

This is typical of what we regularly see in the UK, but this is the Netherlands, we expect better! There was suicide cycle lanes and door-zone unprotected lanes sandwiched between parked cars and tram tracks. Also, some really awful pavement parking from one of those stupid American trucks.

Stupid American truck blocking the footway and cycleway on Javastraat

Thankfully, we soon reached the centre of Den Haag. First of all, we set about grabbing some lunch at Restaurant Harper, which was very nice. Then after a short wander, we set off to Kunstmuseum Den Haag, experiencing more less than ideal cycling conditions.

Lunch at Restaurant Harper

It was only a short ride though, so soon we arrived at the museum, where we parked up. While parking, I had a quick look at some bike buses that were parked there. This was before the teachers and kids arrived and took off on them.

At Kunstmuseum Den Haag

Setting off into the museum, we were instantly impressed by both the building and its contents. With a low-key design that takes inspiration from modernism. It’s playful and less austere than many modernist building of the era.

Outside Kunstmuseum Den Haag

The use of the exterior brick and bright tiles internally, gives the building an additional dimension. While there’s some clear Art Deco motifs, it also feels a little Postmodern and playful.

Central foyer inside Kunstmuseum Den Haag

At the time of our visit, the main exhibition was Grand Dessert - The History of the Dessert. This is described as ‘A fun combination of art-historical objects and creative contributions from contemporary makers will make for a show full of surprises’. Which I think sums it up pretty well.

Start of Grand Dessert exhibition

The exhibition was very bright and playful, as you’d want it to be for such a subject. The artworks were playful, with many being larger than life. We loved looking round all the different rooms and could imagine it being very popular with families and kids.

Artwork in the Grand Dessert exhibition

There was also the exhibition of work by the groundbreaking feminist artist Maria Pinińska-Bereś, Is a Woman a Human Being? Described as being way ahead of her time. Her work explores the role of the female artist in a patriarchal world, delving into power struggles, sexuality, and political rebellion.

Artwork by Maria Pińinska-Bereś

I have to say, I wasn’t familiar with the work of Maria Pinińska-Bereś. But I did enjoy going round the exhibition and finding out more about her.

Artwork by Maria Pińinska-Bereś

After stopping for coffee and cake at the Grand Café, in the fantastic central atrium, we continued exploring the museum. We took in much of the permanent collection, which focuses on De Stijl and its most famous artist, Piet Mondrian. It also includes his final unfinished work Victory Boogie Woogie.

Person in front of Victory Boogie Woogie by Piet Mondrian

Splitting from the others, I headed into Chambers of Wonder. This is a very child-friendly exhibition, featuring a series of themed rooms, which varied massively. One of the rooms included models of the museum. Featuring the museum’s interior tile and exterior brick surfaces.

Room in the Chambers of Wonder exhibition

Now running out of time, I had a whistle-stop tour of more of the collection. This included the odd Picasso, as well as work by Marie Tak van Poortvliet and Jacoba van Heemskerck in the All they had exhibition.

All they had exhibition about Marie Tak van Poortvliet (1871–1936) and Jacoba van Heemskerck

I then continued onto the New New Babylon exhibition, featuring leading and emerging visual artists, designers, thinkers and activists. At this point, the museum was closing, so I didn’t really get chance to take much in.

New New Babylon group exhibition

We really enjoyed going round Kunstmuseum Den Haag. It didn’t feel as busy and intimidating as somewhere like Tate Modern or Centre Pompidou, making for a relaxing experience. It was only a shame we didn’t get there earlier.

Riding back

With the museum closed, it was time to ride back to Duinrell. We initially had some issues getting out of the area. This was due to some road closures on the route we were being directed on. But eventually, we got on the route back.

Cycle path circling the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons building

We ended up taking the street route back from Madurodam, largely on the route I did to Scheveningen. This took us past the NATO Communications and Information Agency building back over the N440 twice on Buurtweg.

Seven Spades sculpture

Once over the N440 for the second time, we continued along Buurtweg. Then onto Groot Haesebroekseweg, instead of on the newly reconstructed section of Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg. It wasn’t long before we arrived back at Duinrell.

More Netherlands 25 posts

Further posts from our trip to the Netherlands in 2025

• Two weeks at Duinrell
• Riding the Velostrada from Leiden to Den Haag
• Evening ride to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag
• Riding from Duinrell to Rotterdam
• Loop ride around Vlietland
• Riding from Duinrell to Delft
• Riding to Katwijk aan Zee for lunch
• Riding from Duinrell to Leiden
• A day trip to Amsterdam
• More wandering in Leiden
• Loop ride from Duinrell to Scheveningen
• Riding from Duinrell to Den Haag
• Riding to Kunstmuseum Den Haag
• One final ride to Leiden
• Visiting the Tij Observatory

Den Haag (The Hague) is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. It serves as the country’s administrative centre and its seat of government. The formal name of the city is s-Gravenhage. This name means “the count’s enclosure.” It refers to the hunting grounds that once made up the area.

Some of the old hunting grounds still exist in Haagse Bos. However, the city is now part of a larger conurbation. This includes Rotterdam and Delft, as well as the seaside town of Scheveningen.

Den Haag is home to many international judicial bodies. One of these is the International Criminal Court (ICC), which uses the nearby Scheveningen Prison. It also has many embassies, giving the city a very international feel.

Like Rotterdam, it doesn’t feel like a typical Dutch city, such as the likes of Amsterdam, Utrecht or Delft. Those cities are compact, with lots of canals and narrow streets. While Den Haag does have some canals, the city sprawls, with many wide roads and large towers.

Riding to Den Haag

We had a farewell lunchtime pancake at Restaurant De Zonnehof with the other half of our group. They were heading back to the UK. So after lunch, we decided to ride into Den Haag for an afternoon wander.

We most often do the dune route to Den Haag, usually stopping off at Madurodam or Scheveningen. These are both close to the end of the dune route. In a change to the usual, we arranged to go through Haagse Bos, the old hunting grounds.

We set off from Duinrell and made our way through Wassenaar on the local streets towards the N44. We passed through the woods around Kasteel de Wittenburg. From there, we carried on along the excellent bidirectional path running parallel to the N44 and then S101.

On the path next to the N44

We then took the underpass under the S101 and made our way into Haagse Bos. As well as being the location of the Royal Palace ‘Huis ten Bosch’., Haagse Bos is also one of the oldest remaining forests in the Netherlands.

Taking the underpass under the S101 Benoordenhoutseweg

Riding through Haagse Bos is a great way to get to Den Haag, even on a rainy day like this. There’s a decent shared use path through the forest and it’s nice to be riding under the trees. There’s things to see and do in there too, like water features and adventure playground.

Riding through Haagse Bos

It wasn’t long before we were coming out the other side of Haagse Bos and arriving in Den Haag. We continued along Korte Voorhout and passed the Hofvijver lake to arrive at Buitenhof. There, we parked our bikes in the cycle parking.

Wandering round Den Haag

We didn’t have massive plans for our day in Den Haag, mainly just a wander and see what we find. We started by going up the Uitzichtpunt Binnenhof tower, to enjoy views across the city. This was something I did in 2024, and I was keen to show the others what it was like.

Uitzichtpunt Binnenhof

After we got down from the tower, we made our way through the central shopping area and down Grote Marktstraat. Grote Marktstraat is Den Haag’s equivalent of London’s Oxford Street, but a thousand times better.

There’s no motor traffic on Grote Marktstraat and the associated noise and air pollution that comes with it. This creates space for people to walk and cycle. There are wide pavements here and a dedicated lane down the middle for cycling.

Rainbow flag on Grote Marktstraat

As you can imagine, it wasn’t always like this. Grote Marktstraat was once choked with traffic and trams, like main streets in most cities. As part of a redevelopment completed in 2004, the traffic was removed. The trams were also sunk into a tunnel beneath the street.

Hot dog cargo bike on Grote Marktstraat

All of this creates a space you want to spend time in. You can browse the shops and admire the artwork on the street. Alternatively, stop for a hot dog from the cargo bike equipped hot dog stall.

Trams passing into tunnel under Grote Marktstraat, from our 2024 trip

We continued our wander around the centre of Den Haag until it was time to eat. After finding that a restaurant we’d been to in 2015 had shut down, we looked for somewhere to go to. This saw us returning to Grote Marktstraat to eat at a fantastic Greek restaurant, Irodion.

Tea at Irodion

We really enjoyed our meal here and the casual, friendly atmosphere in Irodion. Fancying something sweet after that, we made our way to Qookies for some amazing chocolate bar milkshakes and waffles.

Waffles and shakes at Qookies

We were now feeling pretty stuffed. The weather was brightening up from the earlier showers. So we made our way back to our bikes to ride back to Duinrell.

Riding back to Duinrell

We collected our bikes and made our way back towards Haagse Bos. We took a slightly different route out of the centre. This involved riding along Fluwelen Burgwal and Kalvermarkt, where we once stayed, as part of our 2015 trip.

On Kalvermarkt

We then continued onto Herengracht, a street which once had a canal, but has since been filled in. We stopped briefly at the front of Den Haag Centraal, where currently large towers are being constructed.

Development in front of Den Haag Centraal

These are being built on top of a large underground cycle parking facility, with around 8,500 parking spaces. The ever wonderful Bicycle Dutch reported on the cycle parking previously. It was built and opened before the construction of the buildings above.

Fietsenstalling Den Haag Centraal

The construction has made access to the cycle parking quite difficult, but it has remained open. I wanted to stop for a look around. However, I sensed that the others wouldn’t be too impressed!

Laan van Reagan en Gorbatsjov selfie

We set off back into Haagse Bos and followed the route we came on. The weather was much better now as the sun had come out in the early evening. We made our way back to Duinrell.

More Netherlands 25 posts

Further posts from our trip to the Netherlands in 2025

• Two weeks at Duinrell
• Riding the Velostrada from Leiden to Den Haag
• Evening ride to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag
• Riding from Duinrell to Rotterdam
• Loop ride around Vlietland
• Riding from Duinrell to Delft
• Riding to Katwijk aan Zee for lunch
• Riding from Duinrell to Leiden
• A day trip to Amsterdam
• More wandering in Leiden
• Loop ride from Duinrell to Scheveningen
• Riding from Duinrell to Den Haag
• Riding to Kunstmuseum Den Haag
• One final ride to Leiden
• Visiting the Tij Observatory

One of Den Haag’s districts, Scheveningen is a large, busy seaside resort, filled with bars, a pier, casino and attractions. It’s very different to the seaside near Duinrell at Wassenaarse Slag.

Watch full-length video at normal speed Loop ride from Duinrell to Scheveningen

Besides the attractive promenade, Scheveningen also features fantastic cycle paths, making it a pleasure to ride along the seafront. There’s also lots of cycle parking, meaning there’s somewhere to park your bike, wherever you choose to stop.

Like during our 2024 trip, significant construction work was still under way on the building of a new dike. The dike has been constructed as part of the new promenade. This will offer multiple layers of defence against storms. The beach itself has also been raised and extended.

Riding to Scheveningen

Setting off from Duinrell, I decided to ride the dune route across to Scheveningen. This starts along the path to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag. Then, you turn off and onto the dune path that runs roughly parallel to the sea.

On the dune path to Wassenaarse Slag

This is roughly the same route as the one to Madurodam, which I covered in 2024. It consists of a largely paved path for most of the route, with a loose gravel walking path running alongside.

On the dune path towards Scheveningen

On a sunny day like this, it’s such a joy to ride along here. The path undulates across the dunes, giving some variation to the ride. It offers great views across to the sea and Den Haag in the distance.

Glad rooster, still my favourite sign!

At Watertoren and Pompstation Scheveningen (water tower and pumping station) the route diverges from the one to Madurodam. I took a right turn to head to Scheveningen. I was now riding along Harstenhoekweg, which would take me to the outskirts of the town.

Riding along Harstenhoekweg

I started riding along Gevers Deynootweg. This is the main street through Scheveningen that runs parallel to the seafront. Continuing along there, I made my way towards the beach, turning right onto Scheveningseslag.

At the beach in Scheveningen

Arriving at the seafront, I made my way along Strandweg, which is the road that runs next to the beach. The cycle path that runs on here is fantastic. It’s wide and smooth bidirectional path, with an asphalt surface that’s a pleasure to ride on.

Riding on Strandweg

You’ll not have any issue finding somewhere to park your bike, there’s tons of cycle parking all along the seafront. So wherever you fancy stopping on there, you’ll find somewhere to park up.

Cycle parking on Strandweg

I made my way to the end, where Beach Stadium The Hague is, as well as a new car park. Like in Katwijk-aan-Zee, the dunes were excavated to build the car park here. At the time I was there, the sand hadn’t been placed on top of the car park to cover it.

Car park on Strandweg

I made my way back along the seafront, looking for a place to stop and grab some refreshments. I picked up a cold drink and ice cream and found a bench to relax. From there, I enjoyed the views out to sea, while watching the world go by.

Stopping for a drink and ice cream

I didn’t have that much time to linger, so I didn’t get to explore further. Instead, it was time to head back to Duinrell.

Riding back to Duinrell

Setting off from the beach, I decided as I typically do, to take a different route on the way back. Initially, this involved riding back along Gevers Deynootweg and Zwolsestraat, passing Scheveningen Prison.

Couple riding along Zwolsestraat

Instead of heading back into the dunes, I carried on onto Maurits Kiekpad. This path follows the route from Zwolsestraat. Then it turns left and passes the NATO Communications and Information Agency building with all the flags outside.

NATO Communications and Information Agency

The route continues onto a bridge over the N440. It is followed by a cycle path between some sports fields and a golf club, called Buurtweg. The path then goes over the N440 again on another bridge.

Bridge over N440

After the second bridge, I carried on along Buurtweg, which then turns into Groot Haesebroekseweg. I was now on the outskirts of Wassenaar as I continued straight. The road became Jagerslaan and then Storm van ‘s-Gravesandeweg.

On bridge over the N440

I was soon back at Duinrell, but needed to head into Wassenaar first, to pick up some supplies from Jumbo!

Route

More Netherlands 25 posts

Further posts from our trip to the Netherlands in 2025

• Two weeks at Duinrell
• Riding the Velostrada from Leiden to Den Haag
• Evening ride to the beach at Wassenaarse Slag
• Riding from Duinrell to Rotterdam
• Loop ride around Vlietland
• Riding from Duinrell to Delft
• Riding to Katwijk aan Zee for lunch
• Riding from Duinrell to Leiden
• A day trip to Amsterdam
• More wandering in Leiden
• Loop ride from Duinrell to Scheveningen
• Riding from Duinrell to Den Haag
• Riding to Kunstmuseum Den Haag
• One final ride to Leiden
• Visiting the Tij Observatory