Kinderdijk

Half a day at the Kinderdijk mills

Give Kinderdijk half a day and arrive on the first water bus or bus, before the paths fill. The site is open landscape and free to walk, so follow the Nederwaard channel past the line of mills without a ticket, then decide whether to pay for the two museum mills and the boat trip along the channel.

Early light, or the last hour before sunset, is when the mills look their best.

Then decide whether the interiors are worth it. Paid entry covers the two museum mills at Nederwaard and the Wisboomgemaal pumping station, which shows how engines eventually took over from wind. Choose the mill you can climb almost to the top, where the whole mechanism is on view, from the gears turned by the sails to the curved blades that lift the water a few metres. The other was largely rebuilt after a 1997 fire and has very low beams. Finish with the 30-minute boat trip along the channel, which runs from April to October, then have lunch near the entrance before heading back.

Coffee and apple pie at the entrance, nothing on the mill paths

Eating at Kinderdijk is simple. A counter at the entrance sells coffee, ice cream and small apple pies, and Kantine De Molenhoek serves fuller meals. The mill paths have no cafés and the dykes are exposed to wind and sun, so carry water and a layer before walking out to the far mills.

Kantine De Molenhoek is the casual option for a snack. For a proper meal, Buena Vista on Molenstraat occupies a historic building on the main road near the mills, with an old-Dutch interior and a menu of meat, fish and Dutch pancakes, the large, thin, plate-sized kind topped with apple, bacon or cheese. It opens from Wednesday to Sunday, from midday.

For dinner, most visitors return to Rotterdam or Dordrecht, or stop in Alblasserdam on the way. Cyclists heading on to Schoonhoven will find more choice in its old centre.

Riding the Lek dyke to Nieuwpoort and Schoonhoven

A bike turns a morning at the mills into a full day in the polder. Ride east along the Lek dyke to Nieuwpoort, a tiny fortress town with intact ramparts and a moat, facing Schoonhoven, the Silver City, across the river. The country in between is polder at its plainest, with long straight ditches.

It faces Schoonhoven, the Silver City, across the river; a small ferry links the two, and Schoonhoven's silversmiths have worked there for centuries. Deeper in the Alblasserwaard, the Streekcentrum Ooievaarsdorp Het Liesvelt is a stork village where the birds nest on platforms around the farm.

The country in between is polder at its plainest and best: long straight ditches, grazing cattle and church towers on the horizon. You can even ride all the way from Rotterdam along the river, about 15 km, and take the water bus for one leg if your legs give out. Hire bikes in Alblasserdam or at Partycentrum de Klok. There is no shelter on the dykes, so look at the forecast before deciding which direction to ride first.