A7 route from Amsterdam to Italy...

[Ruairidh Dunford]

I am interested in hearing from anyone who has arrived in Amsterdam and then driven their Seven southwards please.

I am considering this port as an arrival point for an upcoming tour in the Austin and would appreciate some first hand knowledge of the smaller roads around this area - I have been told that it is a busy place and I do not want to end up on dual carriageways and motorways.

[BrianHutchings]

I am interested in hearing from anyone who has arrived in Amsterdam and then driven their Seven southwards please.

I am considering this port as an arrival point for an upcoming tour in the Austin and would appreciate some first hand knowledge of the smaller roads around this area - I have been told that it is a busy place and I do not want to end up on dual carriageways and motorways.

Hello Ruairidh, off on one of your marathon trips again!
By Amsterdam I assume that you mean Ijmuiden which is the port for Amsterdam. It might be better to get off at Ijmuiden and avoid Amsterdam, which is always busy, especially with cyclists who, in Holland generally have right of way.
I've only been as far south as Zeeland so cannot help further than that but  one thing I learnt was that non motorway and local traffic can use the service roads that are normally on both sides of motorways and major roads. There is often very little traffic on these but there is also a lack of direction signs so SATNAV is a good idea as is a reasonable map such as the ones produced by the Dutch version of our AA known as ANWB. They do an excellent book covering the whole of the Netherlands at a scale of 1:150.
All the best with your trip.
Regards
Brian Hutchings

[Andrew Fallon]

Ruairidh,
My advice is: keep off Dutch motorways (A-roads) in your Seven! The speed limits on them can be up to 130 kph/80 mph and on your way south there are several windy, high-rise bridges to be contended with as well as one or two long, deep and steep tunnels. The slower routes include local ferries to get you across the wide rivers (which account for the bridges and tunnels in the first place).
If you wish, I'll send you a Seven-friendly route from IJmuiden to Maastricht, which is near the southernmost Dutch-Belgian border.
Andrew

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Brian - thank you for this, very helpful indeed.

Andrew - yes please! Thank you.

[Steve Jones]

And remember, some of these roads/bridges/tunnels have a minimum speed limit as well! It's just over 25 years since I was pulled in a Dutch tunnel by the Police for not going fast enough in an RP Saloon. The fact that they stopped me when the requirement was that I should have been going faster seems as odd now as it did then. They 'escorted' me out of the tunnel with a police car in front and another behind - flashing lights on both but, thankfully, no sirens. Once out, they gave me a bollocking and told me in no uncertain terms to obey the minimum speed limits in the future or keep away from them.

The ANWB Road Atlas (mine's 1:100,000. 1:150 would be a big, big book) as recommended by Brian is a must as it shows the 'small' roads. Most of the common, commercially available, maps are to a larger scale and don't. They can prove difficult to obtain though. Mine came from a Dutch ANWB member/A7 owner. The agenda in Holland seems to be to get traffic onto the main, through, routes and off the sort of roads we prefer.

Steve

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Very helpful Steve - thank you.

[BrianHutchings]

And remember, some of these roads/bridges/tunnels have a minimum speed limit as well! It's just over 25 years since I was pulled in a Dutch tunnel by the Police for not going fast enough in an RP Saloon. The fact that they stopped me when the requirement was that I should have been going faster seems as odd now as it did then. They 'escorted' me out of the tunnel with a police car in front and another behind - flashing lights on both but, thankfully, no sirens. Once out, they gave me a bollocking and told me in no uncertain terms to obey the minimum speed limits in the future or keep away from them.  

The ANWB Road Atlas (mine's 1:100,000. 1:150 would be a big, big book) as recommended by Brian is a must as it shows the 'small' roads.  Most of the common, commercially available, maps are to a larger scale and don't. They can prove difficult to obtain though. Mine came from a Dutch ANWB member/A7 owner. The agenda in Holland seems to be to get traffic onto the main, through, routes and off the sort of roads we prefer.

Steve

The ANWB book that I mentioned is A4 size and is 1/4" inch thick. I got mine from Stanfords in England a few years ago for the princley sum of £8.95 though it has no doubt increased now.
It shows all the small roads, including the ones alongside motorways etc but you need to know that they are there otherwise they are very easy to miss on the map.
Brian

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Thanks Brian - I love an excuse to buy a good map!

[Steve Jones]

Thanks Brian - I love an excuse to buy a good map!

I think Brian and I are talking about slightly different map books, Ruairidh. I think Brian's will be the 1:150,000 version. Mine is the larger scale 1:100,000 version with even more detail. As I understood it when I got mine, the 1:100,000 version was only available to ANWB members although that was a few years ago. No doubt Andrew will put me right if that's not the case. 

Whatever, try and get the largest scale (and most up to date) map you can, particularly for Holland. The common ones at 1:200,000, 1:300,000, 1:500,000 scale and are the best part of useless for the sort of roads you'll be looking for. You can get individual sheets at a big scale made for cyclists but you'd need a big box to carry them all in

Steve

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Thanks Steve - that makes sense to me.