RedStater

I'm doing several weeks of cycling around NW Europe starting next month, and me being me, I'm looking to do so on the cheap. About ten days of this will be in the Netherlands.

I've come across online references to the 'Vrienden op de Fiets' organization, which has established a network of private homes across Holland and Belgium that are, for a minimal fee, willing to take in touring hikers and cyclists. Costs ten euro to join, around twenty a night to lodge. Has anyone any experience with this network?

bilboburgler

Yes it works, tend to be very cheap rooms, should also have a few tools to help fix a bike. You will also find Bett und Bike (has a web site and a green/yellow bike symbol) in Germany with tends towards slightly better rooms in Germany but the same concept. Ordinary Bed and Breakfast is pretty cheap in Holland (rooms generally are cheaper near to the sea/beach resorts) have a look at http://www.bb-holland.nl/ and better http://www.bedandbreakfast.nl/bed-and-breakfast/

It sounds like you know what you are doing but if of any interest have a look at www.mybikeguide.co.uk which has a whole load of bits and pieces on it.

J62

I don't have personal experience but I checked it out thoroughly last fall when I was in BE. bbb has described it well. I'm planning to use the same network this fall.

RedStater

Joined up a couple of weeks ago and received the directory of addresses today (that was quick!). I'll send them the ten euro (bank transfer or postal order only, no cash or credit cards) when I get to Amsterdam. No email addresses for those listings in NL, but most of those in BE or FR include them, go figure.

menachem

I use Vrienden op de Fiets a lot: join early, as you'll need the directory to locate your hosts. Usually what I do is call one day ahead: do this in the morning, make a shortlist of desirable addresses and start calling. I am usually on the lookout for addresses that have lodgings in a separate building from people's house, such as a guesthouse, or garden house or something. Usually, people will ask you for your membership number, so make sure you don't lose your membership card. You can sometimes be stuck with a host who wants to tell you his life story. And you'll also encounter hosts with very sumptuous arrangements.
Mind you, Vrienden is not about Bed and Breakfast operators: these are private individuals who offer you a bed and a breakfast in the morning, a warm shower and a secure place for your bike. It's very reciprocal. You might want to check out warmshowers too.

@bilboburger: to be honest, it sounds as if you're not really familiar with VodF.

menachem

Also mybikeguide.co.uk doesn't offer any information on VodF

bilboburgler

menachem, mybikeguide.co.uk does not have any information on Vrienden op de Fiets you are correct.

I have used them and, a bit like you, I find you get a mix of hosts, I will not tell you the details of the guy who wanted to show me his picture collection (all a bit odd) but otherwise perfectly pleasant. I would recommend a B&B myself as you know what you are getting into.

RedStater

@ Menachem and BBB: in your collective experiences, are the hosts usually anglophonic? I speak English and French but have no Dutch or Flemish at all.

menachem

@RedStater, you'll need to call your hosts to "book" accommodation, so you'll be able to find out then. Also, do try to select addresses with "apart gedeelte" (separate accommodation) as the most desirable and first to call: usually they're garden houses, or its rooms that have their own separate entrance. Then, if you want to avoid your hosts, you can.

RedStater

Report from the field : I'm in Maastricht, having cycled down from Amsterdam. This is my third night in a VodF crib, and so far it's working out very well. What an excellent network! Very little trouble arranging accommodation for the same night, though I have had to call several places. Hosts are very genial though sometimes overattentive.

RedStater

Back from my tour. I used VodF accommodations in Holland and Belgium more than a dozen times. Some places were wonderful, some OK, none were what I'd call bad. I would usually start calling around noon of the same day, once I had a good idea of how far I expected to get that day. Sometimes I had to call as many as three places, but never did I come up empty-handed. It seems that virtually all of the hosts speak at least some English (though some of the Flemish didn't). I recommend that, when calling, the first thing out of your mouth should be, slowly and clearly, "Hi, I'm with Vrienden op da Fiets, how's your English?" as a means of establishing your bona fides, your language limitations and that you're not some crank or telemarketer. Almost everyone I called was friendly and welcoming, even though they may not have had availability for the night.

I had trouble with making the required contribution to the organization - I couldn't get their Dutch bank to accept a transfer from my American account. I'd planned on mailing them a postal/money order once in Holland, only to find that such things didn't exist there...go figure! I ended up giving my second host my invoice and the necessary ten euro, on their promise to take care of it for me.

Every host seemed genuinely pleased to see me, possibly because in every case I was their first guest from the United States, and I suppose I had some novelty value.

Surprisingly only one of the hosts asked to see my VodF card. No one asked for a passport or any ID (remarkably trusting, I thought...I don't know if I'd take a stranger into MY home without some kind of ID verification!) They seemed to assume that, since I had the VodF map and book, I was legit. Payment was always in cash, of course - no credit cards. Some folks asked 25 euro instead of the usual 20, and I didn't argue. Still a bargain.

Can't recommend this network highly enough. More comfortable than any hostel, I thought, and there are a lot more of them - seems that every other town and village in the Netherlands has at least one host. It's inexpensive, friendly, and in Holland at least, ubiquitous (there are VodF cribs in Belgium to, but not nearly as many, and fewer still in NE France - I did a lot of wild camping, there). My bride and I are discussing another cycling tour in Holland next summer, and I'll rely primarily on this network, I think.

adrienne

This in an interesting report. I'm glad the organization worked out well for you.

You should turn it into a full-blown trip report and say what towns you stayed in and what route your took and talk about food and sights, etc.

RedStater

Objective of the trip was to visit battlefields and sites related to the First and Second World Wars (though I did get Waterloo, Quatre Bras and Ligny in). Transportation was by touring bicycle, hauling all my own gear. Virtually all dining was roadside or campsite, from local supermarkets. Accomodation was VodF, hostels, or most frequently, my hammock in the still-shelltorn forests around the battle sites. Prize souvenir was the carcass of a WWI French 75mm artillery shell that I found in a shell hole next to my campsite in a French forest, that's gonna make me a damned fine bedside lamp

Nice of you to think that it's worthy of a trip report, adrienne, but in honesty, I can't see that this this sort of thing would interest many, or any, Fodorites.

J62

I like the info RS has provide just as-is. Hit on the most important points for me, about the VodF network.

BicycleFriends

I can only confirm what has been written above. From very very good to sometimes a bit basic.
Rooms tend to be bigger in belgium than in the Netherlands
;-)
Some hosts don't mind (very) late reservations. Others appreciate a reservation a few days before. Never start phoning the first one of the list. Big chance he's already booked. Anyway, the ranking is random and changes every year.

In the Netherlands, every village or neighbourhood has its host. In the flemish part of Belgium, there are less hosts but with 300 of them, you will never fall without.
For the ones less self-assured with long distance cycling but interested in visiting the cultural richness of the Low Countries, one more advice. Look for hosts where you can spend two nights. So you will be able to alternate a day of cycling with a day of rest and culture.
When it comes to food, the Belgian kitchen als o overrules the Dutch one ;-)