Amstelveen, Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, Ter Aar

The Amstel winds its way for 31 kilometres through North and South Holland and even touches the province of Utrecht. In the thirteenth century, people began reclaiming the surrounding peatland. The peat they cut was turned into turf, which was an important fuel at the time. Around that same period, villages like Amstelveen and Ouderkerk aan de Amstel started to grow.

As the peat shrank and settled, the landscape changed dramatically. Large lakes formed, some of which still exist today, like the Westeinderplassen. Others were later drained. The Haarlemmermeer disappeared under the force of the windmills in the nineteenth century, along with Legmeer and Hornmeer, which are now residential areas in Aalsmeer.

At the mouth of the Amstel, a dam was built in the early Middle Ages. That became the fishing and trading village of Amstelredam, which received city rights around 1300 and eventually became the city of Amsterdam. Other places in the Amstelland still reflect the name of the river:
• Nes aan de Amstel, named after its location by the river
• Ouderkerk aan de Amstel
• Amstelveen
• Amstelhoek

Although you are just south of Amsterdam, you will barely notice that as you cycle in the direction of Langerak and Nieuwveen. Only when you approach Aalsmeer and Amstelveen do you feel the energy of the busy Randstad. This is where centuries of Dutch history come together, with reclaimed land, drained lakes and villages that grew into international cities. A landscape that still tells the story.