Discover the Hanzesteden by bike

Even in the Middle Ages there was a kind of European Union: the Hanze. It was an alliance between trading cities that started to work together to protect the interests of the participants and to improve the security of their trade. Kings and other noblemen gave privileges to the Hanze merchants, although this was not always entirely voluntary. For example, they had to pay less or no toll.

There are still traces of the Hanze period, although some towns have been more fortunate than others. Where one city has remained virtually intact, other cities have had to deal with wars, city fires or floods. But whether there are many or few remnants of the Hanze period, there is always the hinterland to which the cities had to contend with their prosperity and position: the rivers, the Zuiderzee or the old trade routes that made trade with the hinterland possible.

If you want to discover the Hanzesteden for yourself, you can of course take a bike and see more of the rich landscape that surrounds the Hanzesteden. And because it is easier to enter the cities, because the old town centers are not always easy to explore! That is why Fietsnetwerk has created fourteen cycling routes around the old Hanzesteden.