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Waterlinieroute
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One of the newest of the LF routes, the Waterlinieroute was launched in 2021 to follow the ‘waterlines’ that for centuries protected Holland from invasion.

These were routes across the country that could be flooded on command by opening a series of sluices, providing an impenetrable moat around cities and across the nation. 20th century military technology rendered them helpless, but until then, they provided a watery bulwark against attack.

The waterlines were designed to protect cities, not to flood them. As a result, this is an entirely rural route. It skirts Utrecht, Amsterdam and Haarlem, rarely passing through any built-up area. You will, however, see a fascinating array of historic defences: batteries, dykes, and fortifications such as the garrison town of Naarden.

It’s entirely flat, of course, and two-thirds on very quiet roads with a further third on traffic-free cycleways. 

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