Hoek van Holland - Maasland - Maassluis
- Distance: 23km
- Duration (with breaks): 5h 30min
- Route type: point-to-point
How cool is it when the start of an epic thru-hike is just a metro ride away?? This is exactly how we got to the start of GR5, Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands.
Talking about the start – we never found the official start of GR5. There was supposed to be a high pole with various directions, including one to the end of GR5, Nice in France. We circled the metro station for a couple of minutes until assuming that the pole must have been removed due to constructions nearby. At least we could soon spot the red-white stripes of the trail and continue without an epic “we started here” picture.
I found out about GR5 when searching for a trail to follow while visiting Vosges National Park in France. That’s when I decided to “collect” GR5 instead of hiking it in one go. The Dutch section of the trail is pretty short, a little more than 100km. That is why I chose to complete it over a few weekends. Edo agreed to join me for a day, so today I’m still hiking with my partner in hiking crime.
We soon left the streets and entered a little park nearby. The path zigzagged between the town and forested areas until we finally left Hoek van Holland behind. Quite some parts of this section follow bike roads, but that wasn’t an issue. Most of the Dutchies on bikes manage to easily share their road with walkers.
I loved walking on wide forested paths in Sollenveld & Kapittelduinen. We passed numerous old bunkers, hiding quietly between trees and bushes. One of them has been even turned into a bat sanctuary, how handy.
Exiting the forest meant coming back to the bike path. This time we walked alongside Westland, the capital of numerous greenhouses, where most of the dutch veggies are grown. It was a bit of a dull section until we reached a road with numerous windmills. One straight road for 3km. Now that one felt like an eternity!
We were happy to finish the straight section and even enter the fields. Finally no more asphalt! As Dutch fields are separated by water, we crossed quite a few little canals to reach Maasland town. In one of those fields, we passed cows and I was proud to bravely walk past them. Those who walk with me know that I tend to get scared easily by any moving (or not) objects on my way…
Maasland is such a cute little Dutch town. This is where the first stage ends, so if you’re not in a hurry, stay here and get to know a typical Dutch town with its little streets and beautiful bridges over the canals.
Our destination was Maasluis, from which the metro goes back to Rotterdam. It takes around an hour to reach Maasluis from Maasland and most of the path is through the suburbs between the towns. The transition is so subtle that I didn’t even notice when we left one town and entered the other.
Even though I thought of staying in Maasluis or continuing to Rockanje to hike for another day, I decided to go home as I wasn’t feeling well. When your bed is so close, the temptation is too high to resist 🙂 I’ll be back though!
Day 1 tips
- Get your snacks for the day in Hoek van Holland. You will not pass any towns before Maasland without taking a detour.