Tow canal route
Leiden, Oegstgeest
The tow canals and Leiden's enormously rich cloth industry are inextricably linked. Towing barges were the public transport of the 17th century. In this period, Dutch cities had built a reliable network of tow canals, with barges pulled by horses on towpaths along the canals. Travelling between cities was thus fast and comfortable, especially for merchants. As an important textile city, Leiden benefited from this as it made it easier to trade with port cities such as Amsterdam and Middelburg. The first connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem came in 1632. Then, in 1637, a southern tow canal followed between Leiden and Delft, from where you could easily sail to port city Rotterdam. A year later, the connection to The Hague was completed. That already gave such a boost to the sale of cloth, that Leiden merchants wanted a connection to the Haarlem and Amsterdam canal route as soon as possible. At the time, Leiden was the largest producer of cloth in Europe. This led to huge population growth. The demographic peak was around 1660, when the city had as many as 63,000 inhabitants. More than half of these were employed in the textile industry. At the same time, Leiden developed a new kind of cloth: made of high-quality Spanish merino wool and very finely finished, giving it a beautiful sheen. It was called the ‘New Leiden Cloth'. It became very popular among the European elite, and soon the new sheets became one of the most important export products of the Netherlands. In 1657, the long-awaited train barge connection from Leiden to Haarlem and Amsterdam finally arrived, bringing even more economic growth. Thanks to the hall of inspection, where sheets were checked for quality, Leiden was able to maintain its reputation for a long time. Thanks to the tow canals, Leiden was able to strengthen its international trading position, even when the Golden Age was coming to an end. This Tow canal route of about 19 kilometres takes you (by bike) through beautiful areas around Leiden and Oegstgeest. Along the way, several Pit stops have been added to the route so you can see and experience the historic waterways in many ways.
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Morsstraat , 2312 BN Leiden | 18.5 KM | |
|
From
16
to
4
|
2179 M | 2.2 KM | |
| Head north on Morsstraat | 14 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Morsstraat | 47 M | ||
| Turn right onto Morspoortbrug | 40 M | ||
| Turn right onto Morssingel | 130 M | ||
| Keep right onto Morssingel | 92 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Plesmanlaan | 414 M | ||
| Turn right onto Darwinweg | 304 M | ||
| Turn right onto Sandifortdreef | 348 M | ||
| Turn left onto Sandifortdreef | 170 M | ||
| Turn left onto Wassenaarseweg | 620 M | ||
| You are now at section 04 | 0 M | ||
|
From
4
to
5
|
967 M | 1 KM | |
| Head north on Wassenaarseweg | 66 M | ||
| Turn right onto Nachtegaallaan | 901 M | ||
| You are now at section 05 | 0 M | ||
|
From
5
to
55
|
1799 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head southeast on Van Slingelandtlaan | 273 M | ||
| Turn left onto Johan de Kosterweg | 282 M | ||
| Turn left onto Houtlaan | 239 M | ||
| Turn left | 18 M | ||
| Turn left onto Groene Maredijk | 627 M | ||
| Turn left onto Poelgeesterweg | 83 M | ||
| Turn right onto Laan van Oud-Poelgeest | 129 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Laan van Oud-Poelgeest | 148 M | ||
| You are now at section 55 | 0 M | ||
|
From
55
to
91
|
531 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head southeast on Laan van Alkemade | 60 M | ||
| Turn left onto Poelgeesterweg | 184 M | ||
| Turn right onto Kwaaklaan | 287 M | ||
| You are now at section 91 | 0 M | ||
|
From
91
to
77
|
819 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head northeast on Haarlemmertrekvaart | 819 M | ||
| You are now at section 77 | 0 M | ||
|
From
77
to
74
|
83 M | 0.1 KM | |
| Head northeast on Abtspoelweg | 83 M | ||
| You are now at section 74 | 0 M | ||
|
From
74
to
68
|
2550 M | 2.6 KM | |
| Head northwest on Haarlemmertrekvaart | 881 M | ||
| Keep left onto Haarlemmertrekvaart | 989 M | ||
| Continue straight | 585 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 10 M | ||
| Continue onto Rijksstraatweg | 10 M | ||
| Turn right to stay on Rijksstraatweg | 74 M | ||
| You are now at section 68 | 0 M | ||
|
From
68
to
76
|
1829 M | 1.8 KM | |
| Head southeast on Klinkenberg | 148 M | ||
| Turn right onto Spoorpad | 538 M | ||
| Turn right onto Spoorpad | 849 M | ||
| Continue straight | 227 M | ||
| Turn left | 17 M | ||
| Turn right onto van Wassenaarstraat | 50 M | ||
| You are now at section 76 | 0 M | ||
|
From
76
to
1
|
2757 M | 2.8 KM | |
| Head south on Padoxlaan; van Wassenaarstraat | 20 M | ||
| Turn right onto Oranje Nassaulaan | 964 M | ||
| Turn left onto 't Joppepad | 216 M | ||
| Turn left onto Veerpolder | 1.6 KM | ||
| You are now at section 01 | 0 M | ||
|
From
1
to
21
|
1544 M | 1.5 KM | |
| Head south on Broekpolder | 120 M | ||
| Turn right onto 't Joppepad | 332 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on 't Joppepad | 14 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Broekweg | 284 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Broekweg | 794 M | ||
| You are now at section 21 | 0 M | ||
|
From
21
to
22
|
1045 M | 1 KM | |
| Head southwest on Broekweg | 389 M | ||
| Turn right onto Broekwegviaduct | 656 M | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
75
|
1639 M | 1.6 KM | |
| Head south on Haarlemmertrekvaart | 574 M | ||
| Keep left onto Haarlemmerweg | 238 M | ||
| Turn right onto Stadspolderweg | 22 M | ||
| Turn left onto Haarlemmerweg | 9 M | ||
| Make a slight right to stay on Haarlemmerweg | 796 M | ||
| You are now at section 75 | 0 M | ||
|
From
75
to
16
|
780 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head west on Rijnsburgersingel | 471 M | ||
| Continue onto Stationsweg | 5 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Stationsweg | 69 M | ||
| Turn right onto 1e Binnenvestgracht | 235 M | ||
| You are now at section 16 | 0 M |