Our first cycling day in Zeeland can be summed up by the scenes around the small harbour town of Veere.

Charming streets.

Packed with cyclists – not just Dutch, we heard German, French, Belgian and English voices.

And everything was catered for. Not just the wide cycle lanes and the conveniently signed Fietscafe.

The meeting point was the Fiets and Voet Ferry – the dedicated cycle and pedestrian ferry that sails between Veere and Kamperland. It was packed with cyclists in both directions, with queues on and off.

Which is not surprising when we realised it had a dedicated bike deck and access ramp with staff who didn’t complain about the bikes but helped stack them carefully, to the point of guiding a sporty chap on a good road bike away from all the big lumpy trekking bikes and letting him stand in his own place with his precious machine.

The views from the boat were lovely. And of course at either end it was linked into a perfectly signed cycle route network with hardly a car in sight,

Sigh. Some day all cycle touring destinations could be like this.