Netherlands – Spring Tulip Bike and Barge Tour
Bicycles and cycling are central to life in The Netherlands. Tulips and other beautiful flowers are big business. Windmills are elegant and efficient. Come experience all of this and more on our wonderful bike and barge trip! The tour starts and ends in Amsterdam and takes you through the provinces of South- and North Holland while spring flowers are in bloom. Spend time in the historical cities of Haarlem, Leiden, Gouda and Alkmaar and learn about the water management of these lowlands from the North Sea. Visit the famous Keukenhof Gardens, known for the hundreds of thousands of blooming tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and other bulb flowers. The world-famous Aalsmeer flower auction is on the program where an astonishing volume of beautiful flowers are being traded daily and exported all over the world. One night the barge mooring is at the open-air museum ‘the Zaanse Schans’ with its windmills, cheese farm and picturesque wooden houses. You will be surprised by the beautiful, varied scenery and the wonderful cycling paths of Holland. In between cycling excursions, you cruise along with the ship, which travels to a new destination every day. You dine, sleep and eat breakfast on board. You’ll receive a packed lunch every day, and you can usually choose between a longer or shorter bike ride. It’s also possible to spend a day on board if you like.
PEDAL HAPPY! The tour is suitable for all levels. Elevation gains for all rides are less that 500ft, so no elevation stats are included. Ride like a local! Bicycles included with this tour are Dutch-style unisex casual/commuter bicycles with a low bar and an upright riding position. Stable, reliable, and relatively lightweight – they are built for comfort and sightseeing. We offer an ebike version for an additional $200 as well.
Itinerary
Day 01
Board the barge, get oriented, and “set sail” in the early afternoon.
Meals
– Dinner
Distance
3-8 mile test ride
You are welcome to check in at the barge beginning at 2 p.m. The crew will welcome you with coffee and tea. At 2.30 p.m. the barge leaves the harbor. While the barge sails to Haarlem, your tour leader will tell you about the tour, cycling and safety. From Spaarndam you have the option to do a little test ride. After we enjoy our first dinner on board, the tour leader will take you on a town walk through the beautiful city center of Haarlem.
Day 02
Visit Keukenhof Gardens and the oldest tulip fields in Holland before cycling on to Leiden.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Distance
23 miles
Today’s trip leads you through the oldest tulip fields in Holland. Visit the Keukenhof Gardens – considered by many the most beautiful bulb park in the world. It is said that Keukenhof is the place where spring breaks. An overwhelming blaze of colors; seven million flowering tulips cover 80 acres against a backdrop of traditional and modern gardening architecture. You also can admire the various hyacinths, daffodils and many other colorful flowers. In the afternoon you cycle to the city of Leiden. Dinner on board and after that you can join us on a walk around town.
Day 03
Pedal from Leiden to Gouda to sample and learn about Holland’s world-renowned cheeses!
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Distance
22 miles, or 26 miles.
After breakfast you will cycle out of Leiden and begin making you way through the ‘Green Heart’ of Holland. Near Zoeterwoude, you will visit a cheese farm where you will learn about the cheese-making process and have the opportunity to taste the results. In the afternoon you reach Gouda, famous for the Gouda cheese. Gouda has an attractive compact center with a pretty market square and Gothic town hall. The main church of Gouda, devoted to Saint John, is world famous for its stained-glass windows. After dinner you can join the walk around town.
Day 04
Enjoy Gouda in the morning and cycle through the “Green Heart” of southern Holland to Kudelstaart in the afternoon.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Distance
12 miles, or 27 miles.
We stay in Gouda this morning. You have the opportunity to do some shopping and explore the market square with its cheese weigh house, or you can visit the St. Johns church. We leave by barge around noon and have a light lunch on board. From Alphen aan den Rijn we cycle through the ‘Green Heart’ of South Holland via river Drecht and Amstel-Drecht channel to Kudelstaart. The Green Heart is a vast rural oasis characterized by meadows, farms, canals, rivers, lakes and picturesque villages amidst the urban sprawl of the greater Amsterdam area.
Day 05
Visit the bustling Alsmeer flower auction, cruise the canals back to Amsterdam, and pedal to a hamlet of historic windmills!
Meals
– Breakfast
Distance
AM: 5mi ride to flower auction.
PM: options to ride 14.5 miles, or 23 miles.
At 6.30 a.m. you can drink an early cup of coffee. After that you cycle to the flower auction of Aalsmeer, the largest of Europe. Here, huge quantities of flowers are trucked in and sold every day, after which they are distributed all over Europe. After your visit you return on board (around 9 a.m.) for a late breakfast and a nice cruise to Amsterdam, right through the city. In the afternoon, cycle from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans, a unique hamlet where people live and work, with original houses and windmills from the river Zaan area. The hamlet is dominated by operating windmills, the oldest built in 1673, for grinding mustard, spices, paint and oil and for sawing wood into planks. As you walk through the village you will see a clock museum, an old-fashioned grocery store, a house with period furniture, a clog maker and a cheese farm.
Day 06
Visit Hortus Bulborum flower and bulb museum on your way to the well-preserved historic “cheese-city” of Alkmaar.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
Distance
22 miles, or 28 miles.
This morning you cycle to the Hortus Bulborum, a unique garden museum dedicated to the preservation of rare and historic bulbs. More than 4,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other flowers are planted here. Your cycling tour continues to Egmond at the North Sea. The tour goes through the dunes to Alkmaar. This town is known as a Dutch cheese city. As you wander through the streets you’ll be amazed by the beauty of Alkmaar’s Old Town, with its well-preserved 17th century buildings and narrow, winding canals. Dinner is on your own tonight.
Day 07
Cycle to more windmills, an historic city and cap it all off with a canal tour of Amsterdam.
Meals
– Breakfast
– Lunch
– Dinner
Distance
31 miles, or 33 miles.
After breakfast, your cycling tour leads you to the former windmill complex of the Schermer Polder. Here we visit the Schermerhorn Windmill Museum. Your next stop is the beautiful town of De Rijp. Centuries of history are still evident here in De Rijp’s wooden facades, beautiful church, lock and town hall. From here, your ride continues back to Amsterdam. In the late afternoon or evening there is time for a canal tour through the famous canals of the city.
Day 08
Departure Day. Breakfast included.
Meals
– Breakfast
End of your tour: Disembarkation after breakfast until 9.30 a.m. The port of arrival/ disembarkation (end of cruise) is Amsterdam, Oosterdok.
