Lansingerland: Parks, Polder Paths and Culture

Lansingerland combines green recreational areas, paths through the polders and traces of water management. When choosing where to stay, you can think about what matters to you: walks and cycling, nature and water sports, or historic buildings. The landscapes and sights offer different ways to explore the area, without requiring you to devote your days to a single theme.

Discover parks and landscapes

Annie M.G. Schmidtpark is a 3.5-kilometre-long urban park covering around 60 hectares on the border between Berkel en Rodenrijs and Bergschenhoek. Here you can walk, cycle, play sports or relax. The park is also home to the naturalistic Tuin van Floddertje and a skatepark. Its combination of paths, a nature playground and sports facilities makes the park a versatile destination for spending time outdoors.

The landscapes of the Rottemeren also offer a range of activities: you can sail, canoe, mountain bike, ride a water bike, climb, ski, fish or go for a walk. Rugged hills and park-like woodlands meet expanses of water and open space, and bird diversity is increasing. The natural and recreational areas are accessible year-round, although local restrictions may still apply in certain areas. The west bank has walking and cycling paths, a beach, day-camping facilities, fishing spots and a ferry connection to Zevenhuizen. If you plan to take the ferry, check the timetable in advance.

Hoge Bergse Bos has an artificial outdoor ski slope, a mountain bike course and a 34-metre-high climbing hill. Lage Bergse Bos offers a different setting: it is laid out in the romantic English landscape style, with ponds, winding paths and islands. The specific landscapes and recreational facilities therefore vary, without requiring you to follow a particular order when planning your visit.

In Zuidpolder, you will find walking trails, a dog-walking route, the Polderpad and benches. Natuurmonumenten’s Melkschuur Zuidpolder serves as an information point; flowering plants and birdsong are also among the natural experiences described there. Groenzoom, meanwhile, is a 450-hectare nature and recreation area between Lansingerland and Pijnacker-Nootdorp. As a green buffer zone between built-up areas, it connects Midden-Delfland with the Groene Hart. Groenzoom has walking trails as well as routes for cycling, canoeing and horse riding.

Polder paths and cycling connections

The Polderpad is a cycling and walking route between the Schie and Rotte rivers. It runs through the centre of four green reclaimed areas, whose landscapes are shaped by birds, livestock, farms, dikes and pumping stations. North of the A16 tunnel, the Polderpad is also a continuous cycling connection within Lansingerland’s green, ecological and recreational network. This means the route can be viewed both in terms of its course between the rivers and the polder landscapes described along the way.

Another infrastructure project is the 20-kilometre Delft–Rotterdam-Alexander Metropolitan Cycling Route, which is still being improved. It connects Delft and Rotterdam-Alexander stations; Lansingerland is one of four municipalities working on its improvement. Near Rodenrijs station, the route connects to the Zoetermeer–Rotterdam cycling route. At the Groene Halte Rodenrijs, there are signs, a drinking water point and benches. A circular route of three to five kilometres starts at or near the stop. When planning, bear in mind that construction work and local detours may affect your route.

Agriculture and regional history

For an insight into farming operations, the publicly accessible dairy farm is a special stop: you can watch the milking robot at work up close. Farm Safari is a walking activity in the countryside that starts at Boerderij Het Lansingerland. Participants receive a backpack containing a drink and an apple, as well as a guide with questions, activities and interesting facts. Lunch, coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer and wine are served in the lunchroom and on the terrace at Boerderij Het Lansingerland. From the lunchroom, you can see the cows in the barn.

The windmills tell the story of the work required to drain the land. Molen de Valk is a Rijksmonument dating from 1772. Together with three windmills each in Westpolder and Noordpolder, it pumped water from the drained Noord-, West- and Zuidpolder areas of Berkel, via the Zweth, into the Schie. Buildings connected with greenhouse farming and water management are also part of the region’s history: the Tuinderschoorsteen in Bleiswijk is 18 metres tall and was built in 1952 from specially fired red radial bricks. Bleiswijkse Verlaat dates from around 1774; it was largely renovated in 1972 and fully restored in 2015. These places add a perspective on technical and economic history to nature and cycling trips.

Discover more destinations: Bleiswijk, Zwijndrecht, Boskoop, Kaag En Braassem, Vlaardingen, Krimpen Aan Den Ijssel, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Capelle Aan Den Ijssel.

For the overview of the wider region: South Holland.