Netherlands: 8-day Tulip Tour

Your whirlwind tour kicks off with check-in and welcome coffees and teas served by the crew between 1pm and 2pm. We set sail for Haarlem at 2:30pm while your tour leader takes you through a cycling and safety briefing. At Spaarndam you’ll have the option to take a test ride with your new bicycle, followed by dinner on board and a stroll under the stars through Haarlem’s beautiful city centre.

On day two of the tour you’ll not only cycle through Holland’s oldest tulip fields, but you’ll also visit the world’s most beautiful bulb park, Keukenhof gardens, fondly known as the place where spring breaks in Holland. There are no less than seven million flowering tulips here, not to mention endless fields of daffodils and hyacinths. It’s on to Leiden after that for dinner on board followed by a moonlit meander through the town.

After a delicious breakfast you will cycle out of Leiden where we’ll begin cycling through the “green heart” of Holland towards a quaint cheese farm near Zoeterwoude where you’ll learn about the cheese-making process and have an opportunity to sample the finished product. Having whet your appetite it’s on to Gouda, the birthplace of Gouda cheese, with its impressive, Gothic town hall and pretty market square. Once again, you’ll have an opportunity to explore the town after dinner.

It’s a leisurely start to day four – explore more of Gouda at your own pace, visiting iconic spots such as St Johns church and the fully operational Red Lion windmill where you can buy stone-ground wheat, rye and oat flour. Our barge leaves at noon, just in time for a light lunch onboard as we head to Alphen ann den Rijn to continue our tour through Holland’s “green heart” to Kudelstaart.

It’s an early 6:30am start on day five and for good reason – this is the day when we visit the flower auction of Aalsmeer, the largest in the world. Flowers from this auction are distributed all over Europe and the hustle and bustle of this busy marketplace makes for an invigorating start to the day!

We return onboard for a late breakfast at 9am as we sail on to Amsterdam to begin the day’s cycling. This time we’re striking out for Zaanse Schans, a wonderful hamlet that still has original windmills and houses from hundreds of years ago. Windmills from as long ago as 1673 play a dominant role in this hamlet, as does the clock museum, clog-maker and cheese farm. At the end of the afternoon we will cycle to Purmerend, where we’ll spend the night.

From Purmerend you’ll hop on your bicycle and cycle through to the Hortus Bulborum, a one-of-a-kind garden museum in which rare and historic bulbs are preserved. From there you’ll cycle to Egmond at the Northsea where you’ll breathe in the fresh sea air as you cycle through the dunes toward Alkmaar. Here you’ll explore Alkmaar’s Old Town with its buildings originally built in the 17^th century surrounded by quaint, winding canals. Dinner will be in town at your own account.

After breakfast you’ll hop back on your bike to cycle to the old windmill complex of the Schermer Polder for a visit to the Schermerhorn Windmill Museum. You’ll then begin to loop back to Amsterdam via the beautiful town of De Rijp with its wooden facades and charming church, lock and town hall. You’ll arrive back in Amsterdam during late afternoon / early evening – the perfect time to squeeze in a canal tour as the sun sets on your memorable bike and barge tour of Holland.

Fond farewells as the tour ends and we disembark after breakfast until 9:30am.