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The owners of Pedaal are one part English, one part Dutch, and both parts Canadian. In this travelogue, we feature one part Dutch parents riding one part English bike throughout the landscapes of Europe. It’s an ode to Pedaal’s own parentage! But ultimately, this is a story of what makes Brompton so exceptional. On one hand, it’s the best bike ever for the daily commute. On the other, a Brompton explores the world—wherever you want to go and however you want to get there. This is especially true in a place like Holland, where it feels as if the ground was raised up for a life on two wheels. But for now, we’ll be quiet and let our elders (and the bikes) do the talking about travels with a Brompton in Europe.

Unfolding Plans

A few years ago, when we first retired, we decided to spend six months traveling through Europe. Both of us were born in Holland and wanted to return for a visit. Plus, one of our kids was living in the Netherlands, teaching school, while his spouse was completing her master’s degree in Leiden. We knew we wanted to bring bikes to explore the cities and villages in Europe, as well as to travel between them, while visiting the Netherlands, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden.

Our son Eric—who was once the CEO of Curbside Cycle and is now one of the owners of Pedaal—recommended that we purchase a pair of six-speed Bromptons. He had ridden in European cities with his and knew they would be easy to travel with by plane and train. What he was keen to learn was whether they would also be perfect for cycling through both the countryside and towns on our trip. Well, turns out they were! We took a couple for a test ride and quickly agreed: one for each of us. A great decision!

Security on Ground and in the Air

Along with the bikes, we purchased Brompton Travel Bags to check them as regular baggage on the airplane. [Editors note: my parents bought a much earlier version of todays’ Travel Bag, the current version is much better, especially when it comes to rolling]. To protect the bikes, we packed our quick-dry clothes around them and included our backpacks. Upon arriving in Amsterdam, we unpacked the bikes and clothes, transferred our clothing into our carry-on-sized backpacks, and stored the Travel Bags until our return.

It takes just 10 to 15 seconds to unfold the Bromptons and get them ready to ride—and about the same time to refold them for carrying onto the train with our backpacks. Weighing only about 25 pounds (12 kg), the bikes were easy to bring on board. We simply placed them between the seats to keep an eye on them while making sure they were locked together, as bike theft is practically a national pastime in Europe. Our Abus Bordo folding locks worked perfectly for the job.

Day Tripping

To prepare for our upcoming long-distance travels in Europe, we spent several weeks cycling between towns and villages such as Gouda, Leiden, Delft, Den Haag, Utrecht, and Keukenhof. These were mostly single-day trips, with Zoetermeer as our home base. Holland boasts some of the best designated bike trails in the world, allowing you to travel from town to town without dealing with cars. Thanks to the country’s flat terrain and compact size, exploring landscapes and monuments by bike—the Netherlands’ favorite mode of transport—is easy and enjoyable. The cycle junction (knooppunten) network is designed to guide you along recommended routes or help you create your own by connecting different paths. Sounds complicated? It really isn’t.

We love cycling in the Netherlands, stopping in cafés along the way for some coffee and appeltaart (apple cake) and a beer and bitterballen for lunch. Delicious! We gave our bikes some real test runs and got very handy at putting our backpacks on and off the rear bike racks.

Where to Stay

If you’re planning a cycling trip to the Netherlands or Belgium, there’s a fantastic organization called Vrienden op de Fiets (Friends of the Bike). It offers places to stay similar to B&Bs but at a much lower cost—approximately 25 euros per person. Host families are usually fellow cyclists, and we’ve enjoyed meeting local people, often sharing a glass of wine and stories. The Dutch love Canadians and always offer a warm welcome.

Train Hopping

After a wonderful visit with our kids in Holland, we headed to the train station in Den Haag, folded our bikes, and boarded the train to Paris. Ah, Paris—romance and history! We found a great little apartment and set out on our bikes to explore the city. Paris is quite bike-friendly if you’re cautious of traffic, though we found drivers to be fairly aggressive—something to keep in mind. From Paris, we took the train to Avignon and loved cycling around this beautiful historic town and its surrounding countryside. From there, we continued on to Orange and Arles, where Van Gogh created many of his works. It was fantastic biking through this vibrant and colourful landscape.

Back on the train and off to Italy and Cinque Terre. We couldn’t bike here—too many hills and cliffs—so our folded bikes stayed in our small apartment. Then off to Siena, where we could bike around the city a bit, but there were very limited bike lanes around the city, and Italian drivers were scary, as they were in Rome, our next stop. Rome was visited on foot, as we were warned not to cycle around this town—too dangerous. Good decision.

Adding Kilometers, and Climbs

On the train again, and the next stop was Switzerland and the beautiful town of Interlaken. Here, we could bike, and it was awesome—from village to village with mountains, lakes, farms, and friendly people. A highlight was the cycle trip from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg. It was quite the climb up, but our little Bromptons got us there without any issues. This was a spectacular ride up and great fun coasting down the hills back to Interlaken.

After three days in Interlaken, we took the train to Austria and the city of Salzburg—The Sound of Music and so much beauty and history. We had planned—and did—bike from Salzburg to Vienna, a 500 km trip along the Inn, Salzach, and Danube rivers. [Editors note: this is along Eurovelo Route LF6]. Mostly level bike trails, visiting some incredible villages and towns along the way. Our Bromptons handled so well. Even though we were told we were seniors, we were able to keep up and pass most other cyclists on the way; the only bikers that passed us were the spandex speed cyclists.

Mountains, Danube, Coast.

From Vienna, we headed to Prague—didn’t do much cycling here, as most of what we wanted to see we could reach on foot. Kept our bikes in our room. Then back to Holland to celebrate our son’s birthday and spend some time in our birth country. We also cycled the Eurovelo LF1 Route—650 km from Den Helder to Bruges in Belgium and back again, mostly along the coast. Again, the Bromptons were just plain awesome for this trip—handled well, and it was so easy to pack our backpacks on the rear rack when cycling. We also spent some time cycling around the many cities and towns of Holland before heading off to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden. Both of these cities are very bike-friendly, and we enjoyed biking in and around them.

Frictionless Travel

This was a trip of a lifetime. There are so many more things we could say about the sights we saw, the food, the wine, the beers, the people, the music, the weather, and the visits with our kids, but we want to focus on the ease with which we could just fold our bikes, take them on the train, unfold them, and cycle from place to place—around town, through the countryside, and on long trips of hundreds of kilometers, up and down hills, though not too steep.

Oh, and one of the things we noticed in Holland was that, because of the many canals and waterways, a lot of folks travel the country by boat and use Brompton bikes to head into the towns and villages to do their shopping and sightseeing. The bikes take up very little space and are ever so handy for getting around. We also found that in Holland and Denmark, people commute from their homes by train and take their Brompton bikes to get to the train from their homes and to work from their last train stop. So handy!

Encore Trip!

A few years after this trip, we were offered an opportunity to do a six-week home exchange with a couple who lived in Friesland, in northern Holland. Again, we bagged our bikes on the airplane and traveled light for this trip. We added three weeks to bike around the inland sea called the IJsselmeer. To sleep, we used Friends of the Bike for places to stay and had the most wonderful trip circling the sea—so many historical sights, great food and Dutch beer, a comfortable ride, and great hosts.

We have put thousands of kilometers on our little bikes and have had almost no maintenance issues. Whether flying to Europe, or packed into our campervan to explore Northern California’s Sonoma Valley – or our home on Vancouver Island – we love riding these bikes. They give us much joy.

Thanks For Reading!

Hey, it’s us again! If you are interested in riding around Europe with a Brompton there are all kinds of great resources. First, there are the Eurovelo routes. You could spend hours perusing each route, dreaming of the perfect vacation. In Holland, there are the LF Routes. Some of these are part of the Eurovelo routes. But, because the Netherlands has so much bicycle infrastructure, these routes are custom made for the best possible rides. Choose from the coast, the IJsselmeer, and many more. When you finish a route, you even get a cool sticker!

The Vrienden Op De Fiets is an absolute wonder. You meet great hosts, pay a small fee, and sleep in a great bed with breakfast. Plus, you get insider knowledge for the day ahead. However, signing up is a bit old school – involving the postal service – but you get an actual paper book of addresses and emails once you’re a member. It’s quite charming. If you’d like more info on using a Brompton throughout Europe please reach out eric@pedaal.com. His parents are happy to share tips and tricks! Sign up to our newsletter below to get more travelogues delivered to your inbox!