Woerden, Oudewater, Driebruggen

This cycle route revolves around old crafts, with cheese-making as the highlight. Start from the cheese centre of the region: the Cheese Warehouse in Woerden. From here you cycle to the Streekmarkt Woerden, where the Cheese Market is held from April to August. During the Cheese Market, a show recreates the trade of yesteryear. The many regional products and types of (farmer's) cheese you will find here show that Woerden is still connected to the surrounding countryside.

Cycle via the junctions to the picturesque centre of Oudewater. You can take a break on a terrace here, or visit the Rope Museum or the Witches' Watch. In the Rope Museum, the craftsmanship comes to the fore: you can see how hemp, yarns, sledges and spinning wheels were hammered in the old days in a real job shed. The Witches' Watch tells you about the medieval witch hunts, when certain women were thought to be witches. If a woman was lighter than the weight on the other side of the scales, she was a witch. Do you dare stand on the scales?

The cycle route also takes you through Papekop, originally a swampy area that was reclaimed in the 12th and 13th centuries after the bishop of Utrecht owned it. The agreements about the piece of land were laid down in a contract, called a 'cope' at the time. This gave rise to the name 'Pape-cope'.

If you look closely at the meadows in Papekopop, you might notice that they have the same dimensions. This is not without reason: the cope stipulated that the bishop issued the pieces of land in fixed sizes. Each meadow is therefore still 1,250 metres long and 113 metres wide.

Enjoy a scenic route along narrow roads and past old farms. And don't forget to stop at one of the monumental farms for a slice of delicious, traditional farm cheese!