Netherlands

On a western edge of mainland Europe, this pristine trading country is as dotted with windmills and as laced with canals as one would expect. But on the changing face of the Netherlands, the windmills are restaurants, the canal barges are tourist tanks, the tulips are growing in the wooden clogs and the tiles are on the wall.

With the landscape being as flat as the pancakes in its numerous pancake specialty restaurants, the Netherlands is a cyclists dream. So, on yer bike and make the Netherlands your first hop stop onto continental Europe.