Skiing in the Netherlands?

Mss8122

I am desperately seeking any information about ski slopes in the Netherlands. I live in the U.S. and know nothing about them, nor can I find any information online or in travel magazines. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

BIANCHI_EURO

Hahaha!!!
This is realy funny. What a joke. Have you heard the famous song "in the Dutch mountains" or something?

The thing is, the song is a joke. There aren't any Dutch mountains. Skiing in Holland is like a beach holliday on the north pole. All the Dutch go towards Switzerland, Italia, France or Norway for skiing.

If you want to cycle in Holland, you can move into Limburg, the Ardennes (mostly in Belgium) are very nice but still not high altitudes like in the Alpes, Dolomites.

You 'd better bring your bike instead of ski's. It's great cycling in Holland!

Ciao, B.

Mss8122

Thanks for the info. What is the weather like in Holland in december? Good enough for cycling? Specifically I'm going to be traveling from december 1st through the 16th.

Mark

BIANCHI_EURO

Holland is completely flat (a table cloth like they say overhere). There's not even one serious mountain. Besides of that you have to be very lucky to experience any snow here. And if there is snow it 'll be not more than 10 cm usually. You definately won't find anything about skiing in Holland since there IS no skiing in Holland. Sorry...

Why Holland? Better check Switzerland (expensive) or France. I do know the adress of a Dutch company specialized in organizing ski trips, but as you can see they go to the countries I mentioned.

http://www.cirkel.nl/

Regards, Frank.

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BIANCHI_EURO

Hi,

It'll be very cold. Yesterday it was just 2 degrees Celsius. Be shure to wear overshoes/ gloves/ hat and winter outfit. I think normal temperatures in that period would be around 5-10 degrees. 5 december here is Saint Nicolaas celebrating his birthday. Equivalent for your Santa Claus, but this is much nicer and less commercially.

Where are you going? In the summer it'll be much nicer, but I know an exellent route in the provence of Limburg (THE provence to go cycling here).
It's called the "Mergelland route". You could cycle a part of that. The full route is 120km long and a bit heavy when it's cold. Exelent roads, incredible scenery (Ardennes (hills)), quite some climbing work, plenty hotels. Road signs tell the route. If you want to know the route, tell me.

Greetings, Frank.

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Mss8122

It's looking pretty slim that I will be cycling through the Netherlands with the reports of the weather being so bad. I would however appreciate information about the Mergelland route if for nothing more than future reference. Unfortionately in my line of work as a commercial farmer I can't travel during the summer time. December and February are my only options (What is the temperature like in February? Any better?) I guess while I have the attention of such friendly knowledgable people, perhaps you could help me with a dilemma I'm facing. It has always been a dream of mine to visit Amsterdam, however Skiing the Swiss Alps has always also been an equal dream. It seems unlikely I could visit both in 20 days, but if I could collect information about bus or train routes that could make it possible to do so I would be very grateful. I realize it would mean traveling through other countries but keep in mind I know nothing of how travelling works in europe, haha. Any websites or resources you can provide would help, however they must be in English to do me any good. Thanks for taking the time to answer my ignorant questions

NegrosP

Hey,

Amsterdam, well you have a couple of indoor skiing in the neigbourhood there. But like the other guys the netherlands i flat so no moutains here.

BIANCHI_EURO

Hi,

My aunt lives in Switzerland. She lives just at the start of several famous Tour de France climbs, like Les Mosses, Les Diablerets, col de la Croix and dents du midi.

When I go to Switzerland I travel by car. I switch driver seat every two hour with my companyon (safety) and then one can drive it all the way from Holland towards Switzerland in one track. If you're traveling alone it's better to book an overnight in Germany. I have never been on skiing holiday (a dream of me), so I don't know anything about that. Sorry, can't help with that.

February is worse than now. If you're very lucky you can skate here by that time (hasn't happened the last couple of years). I'll put a weather forcast in this message.

http://teletekst.nos.nl/gif/100-01.html

type page 704, then type "gaan" (=go), there's the forcast for the coming five days. You'll be able to understand it.

sun
%
rain
night temp (celsius)
day temp
wind (dir&force)

Here's the site of the Dutch transportation (train/ bus/ subway). It's not in English, but you'll understand the trip planning part. note: traveling here is expensive!:

http://www.9292ov.nl/

For the rest you'll have to find out your self. I was thinking, why not travel to Amsterdam and book a wintersport holiday with the site I posted in the message upstairs? It's not often that I say this, but what I heard of a friend of mine (is this word correct?) it looks to me like a reliable organisation, a bit on the expensive side however. If you mail them, they'll sure be able to reply in English.

Good Luck, B.

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Le Fougere

Don't be scared... The Netherlands is one of the best organized countries in Europe... I wish the bicycle lanes were respected here in France like they are there! Almost everybody speaks English, in fact the last time I was there I went into a coffe shop (for real coffee, not a cannabis store) and said, "Alstublieft, ik wil graag twee kafe kooppen" which is not very good dutch, but I like to at least try to speak the language where I am.... the clerk replied, "I'm sorry, I don't speak dutch!" Turns out he was from New Zealand, and since almost everyone there knows english, he could get away with not speaking the language! Of course, thats in downtown Amsterdam, not in Eindhoven or something... 100% of the police in A'dam speak english, and I've never met a person working in the train station who didn't. They can book a ticket for you in the station, on the spot. If you fly into Schipol airport (almost certain) you can take a train to Centraal Station in Amsterdam and then walk across the street to the VVV (tourist center) and book yourself a hotel for however many days. Then drop off your stuff, head back to the Centraal station and book your train to go skiing. While you are in A'dam, the most popular sites are the Rijksmuseum (may still be under renovation) the Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank House. But take time to head out to the Versetzmuseum which is the museum of the occupation and resistance. Very interesting!

As for the Skiing... I would say the Alps are great, but I might avoid Switzerland. Why? There are advantages, many of them speak English, but the disadvantages are also there, 1) its a very wealthy country which means it's not cheap. 2) its not a member of the Euro Zone which means you are going to have to change your money again. If you ski in the French or Italian alps, you can use the same money as in the Netherlands.
real quick like... Nether = under (like Netherworld from mythology), therefore Netherlands = under land... AKA "the low countries" although that usually means belgium too.. Some huge amount of the Netherlands is reclaimed land, land that used to be underwater, and they have drained off the water, put up dykes, and now they live below sea level! Therefore, ye shant find any mountains....

Best of Luck

Le Fougere

One more thing... Here's the web address of Nederlands Spoor, the train system...


http://www.ns.nl

Look up at the very top, see the word "english", click on it and voila, you can check times, prices, etc. Although, probably only to major cities outside of the Netherlands. For example, if you want to ski in the French Alps, check the times/prices to Paris, then go to the French national train system site to get you from Paris to the mountains (wherever you pick) The French system is called SNCF and has an english site too.

BIANCHI_EURO

Hi,

Agree with that. In Holland you're regarded as pretty stupid if you don't understand English. Of course you first ask politely if they understand English, but then most people are able to respond.

Switzerland, Norway and Sweden= (extremely) expensive. Also railway and fuel is very expensive in Holland, be aware!!

Mentioned site supports all dutch railway stations. My site supports even every Dutch adress (includes the bus). In Holland there's no place where you can't go by public transportation.

B.

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NegrosP

And you can legale, smoke weed

BIANCHI_EURO

smoking & cycling = slow motion

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Hookyrider

http://www.snowworld.nl/ worlds largest indoor ski slope!

there it is - skiing in the Netherlands, when you are done you'll want your bike, Valkenburg is just a few minutes away!

Zuid Limburg is where it is!! http://www.amstelgoldrace.com/ has some nice maps of the area, with photos of some of the good hills we have here in Limberg. The M-route snakes all over the place, and classic cars clubs love to follow the route in the summer time. All in all cycling here is fantastic!

Plus Christams markets are happening all over the place, we have some decent castles to visit, and Leon's Steakhouse is just up the road, what more could you want?

Dec 1st, it'll be steel grey, wet, and cold as brass monkey balls - however this doen't stop the Dutch from riding! Just wear the right stuff and use tires with some tread.

HR