Travel preparations for a bicycle trip in Holland

OK, you decided to visit Holland, the Netherlands. Good.
A complete bicycle tour, or mixed, with some bicycle day trips included. Great idea.
With a focus on culture and history ? Even better. Plenty of that around here !
Means you still have some more choices to make, like :

• what to visit, the possibilities are frustratingly overwhelming,
• how to visit, your local way of transportation,
• when to visit, and the joys of flexibility.

With the buttons on the left, under "Tips", you can go to the various points of consideration on travel preparations. Here, a few general remarks.

Whatever you do, start your thinking with a good map of the country.
You'll notice that towns are never far apart, distances are short. Especially in the densely populated western part of the country, also the most visited part.
So, probably you will select a couple of towns you want to visit.
Choose a central town and stay there for a couple of days. Visit it (and may be nearby towns by train), and explore the surroundings on (bicycle) day trips. When done, move to another town.
This way, you'll lose less time, less carrying your entire luggage around, more relaxing.

Of course, when you plan a complete bicycle tour, the logistics are different. The most flexible is travelling as an independent unit, with all your (limited) luggage on your bike. If you're a bit hesitant, you might consider some coaching to get you on the road.
For relaxed cycling, plan a route on the countryside and along smaller towns. If you want to visit a major town, and certainly Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague or Utrecht, look for an accommodation in a nearby smaller town with a good train connection (unless you want to dive into the nightlife). And visit the major town by public transport and on foot.
Or if you insist on cycling in Amsterdam, use a local rental bike. Just don't take your (fancy) bike into town, not even with a good lock. Bike theft and vandalism is a serious problem, unfortunately.
But when in a major town, do enjoy the sight of all the bikes you'll see around you. Like the ones on this site.