Bakkum Round Trip: by bicycle and with a guide | Sunday, October 11, 2026
Of course, you can simply navigate through Bakkum.
I just watch the cows for a moment. A nice little dike. Next to it, a small ditch. Nothing alarming.
Until a tour guide drives alongside you and tells you that this innocent landscape is full of medieval waterworks, plans by King William I, and places where entire families once earned their living.
On Sunday, October 11th, Stichting Oer-IJ is organizing the Ommetje Bakkum: a bicycle tour where you don't have to pedal hard, but you see much more afterwards.
A king with grand plans
Along the way, the tour guides discuss, among other things, the agricultural plan of King William I.
These include the Koningskanaal, a lock complex, and farms with names like Het Oude Huys, Johanna's Hof and De Brabantse Landbouw.
Duin en Bosch is also mentioned. A place that is now often traversed by bicycle, but which had a significant influence on the development of Bakkum.
Look here. That's why we're taking a guidebook with us.
This miserable little dike suddenly turns out to be 700 years old.
Zeerijdts- and Zuiddijckje are located in Bakkum-Noord. Not exactly names you'd casually mention at a birthday party.
In the Middle Ages, however, they had an important task: during high tide, they kept the land along the inner edge of the dunes dry.
That's exactly what we like. A landscape you can cycle past a hundred times and only discover on the 101st time that it has been there for centuries for a good reason.
And what does Schelgeest actually have to do with it?
The route also leads along Schulpvaart. Lime kilns used to stand here, providing work for many villagers. And along the way, you'll find the answer to a question you probably hadn't even considered before this bike tour: Where does the street name Schelgeest actually come from?
No, we won't reveal that here.
Otherwise, these travel guides might as well stay home.
Practical and good to know
Date: Sunday, October 11, 2026
Start: 1:00 PM
Starting point: De Oude Keuken on the Duin en Bosch estate
Address: Oude Parklaan 117, 1901 ZZ Castricum
Cost: €5 per person
Activity: Guided bike tour with guides from Stichting Oer-IJ
Registration: in advance via Stichting Oer-IJ
5 things you might not know
King William I had grand agricultural plans for Bakkum, including a canal and a complete lock system.
In the Middle Ages, the Zeerijdts- and the Zuiddijckje dammed the water here. Small dike, challenging path.
The Schulpvaart was once important for the lime kilns and thus also for employment in the village.
Farms like Johanna's Hof and Brabantse Landbouw are part of the same historic landscape, which you can easily cycle through during this tour.
Schelgeest isn't just any street name. Why is it called that? That's why you pay the €5.
First cycle, then return with different eyes
This is exactly the kind of trip we love: being outdoors, getting some exercise, and discovering that the landscape around the corner is much less ordinary than it looks.
Furthermore, Bakkum is very close to Boutique Stay Uitgeest . Follow the guided bike tour, and you'll probably find yourself thinking about every little dike you see all weekend: there must be a story behind this one too.
This event is part of Uitgeest's local events calendar. The full events calendar can be found at https://www.boutiquestay.nl/uitagenda