Exploring the F28: a Technical Tour of Utrecht’s Cycling Highway

As part of the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference 2026 in Utrecht, the Dutch Cycling Embassy partnered with the Province of Utrecht to organise a technical tour along the F28 doorfietsroute between Utrecht and Amersfoort. On Friday 2 October, international cycling professionals had the opportunity to experience the route by bike and explore how the Netherlands is developing high-quality connections between cities and surrounding communities.

The F28 is a 21-kilometre cycling route connecting the centres of Utrecht and Amersfoort, passing through five municipalities. Rather than creating an entirely new route, the project brings together and upgrades existing cycling infrastructure to create a more continuous, recognisable and comfortable connection. The route officially opened in June 2025.

During the technical tour, participants experienced the route from a user’s perspective while learning about the planning and implementation behind it. The Province of Utrecht is working with municipalities along the route to improve cycling space, safety and comfort, including wider and upgraded cycle paths, bicycle streets, safer crossings and clearer wayfinding.

For the Dutch Cycling Embassy, the F28 provides a valuable example of how cycling infrastructure can function at a regional scale. Doorfietsroutes are designed not only for leisure cycling, but also to make longer everyday journeys by bike more attractive by connecting towns and cities with employment areas, schools and public transport hubs. The Province of Utrecht is developing a wider network of fourteen such routes, together covering around 250 kilometres.

The technical tour also highlighted an important aspect of developing regional cycling networks: continuity depends on cooperation. A route such as the F28 crosses administrative boundaries, requiring different municipalities and the province to work together on design, implementation and management. This regional approach helps create a cycling experience that is consistent from one municipality to the next.

The tour was one of six technical visits offered during the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference, giving the conference’s international audience the opportunity to experience cycling in Utrecht and the surrounding region first-hand.

For the Dutch Cycling Embassy, bringing international professionals onto the F28 was another opportunity to do what we value most: share Dutch cycling expertise through practical experience and exchange. Seeing infrastructure in context—and discussing the choices, challenges and collaboration behind it—can provide inspiration for cycling networks far beyond the Netherlands.