Tulip Tour - Amsterdam to Bruges - 11 day

Amsterdam to Bruges

Day 1: Amsterdam - Zaandam
Day 2: Zaandam - Haarlem, 19 mi. or extend to 34 mi. (30 or 50 km)
Day 3: Haarlem - Cruquius - Keukenhof - Leidschendam - Delft, 34 mi. (55 km) 
Day 4: Delft - Rotterdam - Kinderdijk - Dordrecht, 25 mi. or extend to 37 mi. (40 or 60 km)
Day 5: Dordrecht - Willemstad - Tholen, 28 miles (45 km)
Day 6: Tholen - Antwerp, 12 mi. or extend to 31 mi (20 or 50 km)
Day 7: Antwerp - St. Amands, 22 mi. (45 km)
Day 8: Sint-Amands - Dendermonde - Gent, 22 mi. (35 km)
Day 9: Gent - Bruges, 24 mi. (38 km)
Day 10: Bruges, bike tour to Oostende, 34 mi. (55 km)
Day 11: Bruges, end of the tour

Day 1: Amsterdam - Zaandam
Check-in will begin at 3:30 pm. Please be prompt because at 5 pm the Merlijn will set off for Zaandam. The crew will welcome you on board with a complimentary drink and information on the barge and the route. In the evening, a city walk will be offered through Zaandam.

Day 2: Zaandam - Haarlem,19 mi. or extend to 31 mi. (30 or 50 km)
After your first breakfast on board, you can test your bike and do some sightseeing in ‘the Zaanse Schans’ famous for its open-air museum and windmills. Perhaps you will want to visit one. You will then bike from Zaandam to Haarlem.  After crossing the river with a ferry, the route leads through the beautiful flat landscape of Holland. The Merlijn will moor in Haarlem, and from here, there are 2 options:

1. Extend your bike tour with a loop through the dune landscape.
2. Soak up the history and culture of Haarlem! Explore this historical city with a visit to the ‘Frans Hals’ museum or the ‘St. Bavo church’, both cultural highlights.

After dinner, go out and sample the famous local “Jopen” beer.

Day 3: Haarlem - Cruquius - Keukenhof - Leidschendam - Delft, 34 mi. (55 km)
Get ready to pedal through the oldest tulip fields of Holland, including a visit to the world-famous Keukenhof gardens! This is the most beautiful flower garden in the world, an overwhelming blaze of colors as seven million flowering tulips rise up in a magnificent background of traditional and modern gardening architecture. It is here that Spring begins. Hyacinths, narcissus, and many other flowers dazzle as well. After being saturated with color and scent, the cycling continues to Leidschendam where you will board the boat to navigate to the city of Delft. In its beautifully preserved historic center, you discover the rich history of the city. Delft is known for its Delfts Blue ceramic, the Nieuwe Kerk with its historic link to the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family. After dinner, there will be an evening walk through the city to showcase the highlights.

Day 4: Delft - Rotterdam - Kinderdijk - Dordrecht, 25 mi. or extend to 37 mi. (40 or 60 km)
In the morning, you will spend more time in Delft, including a visit to ‘the Royal Delft’, the world of Delft Blue. After your visit, the bike tour starts leading through the Green Heart of Holland. Soon you will see the skyline from ‘Manhattan at the Maas’, the nickname of Rotterdam. You pedal the highlights of this metropolis while following the well-paved bike paths. Cross the river You will reach Kinderdijk by ferry crossing,  world-famous for its windmills. This impressive row of large windmills was built to drain the ‘Alblasserwaard polder’. The best way to see this open-air museum is by bike!  The route then leads to the town of Alblasserdam. From here you have 2 options:

1. Embark on a deluxe fast-ferry, transferring you to the Merlijn in Dordrecht.
2. Extend the tour and bike to Dordrecht:
Dordrecht is one of the oldest cities in Holland. Known since the 11th century, Dordrecht developed into an important market city because of its strategic location. It traded primarily in wine, wood, and cereals. In 1421, the Saint Elisabeth's flood flooded large parts of southern Holland, causing Dordrecht to become an island.

Tonight you will enjoy the Dutch cuisine in one of the local restaurants in this, charming, well-arranged, mid-sized, city.

Day 5: Dordrecht - Willemstad - Tholen, 28 mi.(45 km)
Starting early from Dordrecht, you will enjoy a sailing breakfast while motoring along the industrial area south of Rotterdam to the old fortress town Willemstad. You can spend some time here enjoying the harbor, and then from Tholen, the cycling begins. The tour will be on flat terrain thru ‘polder landscape’. Tholen once was an island in the middle of the large Zeeland streams, where many people were fishermen for a living. Nowadays it is connected to the mainland in various ways, but it is still a charming village with many relics of a historic past.

Day 6: Tholen - Antwerp,12 mi. or extend to 31 mi (20 or 50 km)
Today’s bike tour is not too long so you can explore Antwerp the entire afternoon. The tour starts after breakfast and just before you reach Antwerp by bike, you are offered two options:

1. Board the Merlijn and sail through Antwerp’s magnificent harbors to the docking place in the old center. You will have lunch on board and arrive early in the city to explore the cultural highlights.
2. Carry on biking through the ‘harbor-landscape’ to the Merlijn's docking place in Antwerp.

Antwerp is not only known as the diamond city, but also as the birthplace of the painter Rubens. In the heart of the city, you will see the Cathedral of ‘Our Lady’ and the beautiful Market Square. A local guide can be arranged to show you around this marvelous city. The guide can teach you more about the Cathedral or the very interesting Central Station. You can also spend your afternoon shopping in the lively center. Tonight you will enjoy the Belgium cuisine while eating out in one of the wonderful local restaurants in Antwerp.

Day 7: Antwerp - St. Amands, 22 mi. (45 km)
The cycling itinerary today leads directly from Antwerp, entering the St. Anna tunnel, leading to the other side of the Schelde river. From here you follow the river further upstream via Temse to Sint Amands, a small town on the Schelde River. The cycle path is beautiful here, surrounded by the river landscape.

Day 8: St. Amands - Dendermonde - Ghent, 22 mi. (35 km)
Your day begins with a cruise to Dendermonde, a nice country town on the Dender estuary, and then by bike, along the beautiful but capricious tidal Schelde River. Your destination is Ghent, a lively university city, with a rich past. This city has its origins in Roman Times, where the rivers Leie and Schelde converge. This favorable situation brought a great deal of prosperity over the years. The major church is the St. Baafs Cathedral, built during various ages and in various styles. You will make a loop thru the city before biking to the Merlijn. The docking in Ghent is a bit far from the center, but after dinner, you will be offered a transfer to the city. A boat ride thru the canals by night can be organized for a supplement.

Day 9: Gent - Bruges, 24 mi. (38 km)
As you enjoy your breakfast, the Merlijn will navigate to Aalter, where you disembark, and then by bike, follow a route through the pleasant countryside of Western Flanders to Bruges. Bruges also called the Venice of the North, is considered by some, the most beautiful of all Flemish cities. Its old center, which dates from the Middle Ages, is almost completely intact. At one time, Bruges was a metropolis, center of trade and art, and this fame has left its legacy for you to enjoy. Dinner on board, followed by a walk thru the city.

Day 10: Bruges, and bike tour to Oostende, 34 mi. (55 km)
Today you have 2 options:

1. A guided bike tour that will go to Oostende, a major coastal city. You can enjoy the North sea, feel the sand between your toes, and enjoy a picnic lunch on the beach or in a seaside restaurant.

2. For culture lovers, leave your bike onboard and go sightseeing in the city of Bruges. Visit the market square, go on a ride thru the canals and eat some Belgium fries for lunch! Everybody returns onboard for the farewell, celebratory dinner and your last overnight stay on the Merlijn.

Day 11: Bruges
The official end of your tour. Disembarkation after breakfast.

Bruges to Amsterdam

Day 1: Bruges -  check in between 3:30 and 4:30
Day 2: Bruges - Oostende, 55 km
Day 3: Bruges - Moerbrugge - Ghent, 38 km
Day 4: Ghent - Dendermonde - Sint Amands, 35 or 50 km
Day 5: Sint-Amands - Antwerp, 45 km
Day 6: Antwerp - Kreekerak - Tholen, 20, 50 or 70 km
Day 7: Tholen - Willemstad - Dordrecht, 45 km
Day 8: Dordrecht - Kinderdijk - Rotterdam, 35 or 55 km
Day 9: Delft - Leidschendam/Leiden - Haarlem, 55 km
Day 10: Haarlem - Zaanse Schans - Amsterdam, 42 km
Day 11: Amsterdam

Day 1: Arrival in Amsterdam, sail to Haarlem, short test ride on the way
Day 2: Haarlem - Keukenhof - Leiden,  26 mi. (40 km)
Day 3: Leiden - Gouda, 27 mi. (41 km)
Day 4: Gouda - Kinderdijk - Dordrecht, 22 mi. (36 km)
Day 5: Dordrecht - Tholen, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 6: Tholen - Antwerp, 20 mi. (32 km)
Day 7: Antwerpen, 10 mi. (17 km)
Day 8: Antwerp -  Dendermonde, 32 or 20 mi. (52 or 32  km)
Day 9: Dendermonde - Ghent, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 10: Gent - Bruges, 25 mi. (40 km)
Day 11: Day of departure

Day 1: Amsterdam to Haarlem,  10 mi. (6 km)
Check in begins at 1:00 pm but you can drop your luggage at 9:15 am so as to be free to explore Amsterdam unencumbered. (Lunch is not provided by the barge on this first day.) At 1:30 you will have a tour introduction meeting with coffee and cookies followed by immediate departure to Haarlem, sailing on the North Sea Channel.  You will be able to cycle for a short distance just outside of Haarlem to the mooring location in the city. Haarlem is often considered as a small version of Amsterdam, a lovely compact town, with a center square and the St. Bavo medieval church from 1479. Enjoy a town walk with the guides and after can stop by the local brewery for a beer. Dinner is served at 6.30 pm!

Day 2: Haarlem - Leiden, 26 mi. (40 km)
The first full day of cycling from Haarlem to Leiden begins with a visit to the Keukenhof. This flower exposition of 80 acres is filled with 7 million tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and many more flowers. The ride then continues to Leiden, the oldest university town of the Netherlands. Historic Leiden is situated at the Old Rhine, which ends in the North Sea and was a strategic town until the 17 th century due to the broadcloth industry. 

Day 3: Leiden - Gouda, 27 mi. (41 km)
You cycle from Leiden to Gouda with a stop at a cheese farm including a guided tour with a little bit of tasting and the option to
buy some (sealed) products at the local farm shop. This is the  Green Heart  of Holland, fertile countryside dotted with farms, grazing cows, and knotted willow trees.  Gouda is the name you know from the cheese. You will find cheese shops here, but also shops were you can buy the famous Stroopwafels, another thing that Gouda brought to the world.
The market square is dominated by the Town Hall, which originates from the mid-fifteenth century and is built in a Gothic style. It is one of the oldest and most impressive gothic secular buildings of the Netherlands. There is also a very spectacular old church, with 72 (!) stained glass windows, of which 61 date from 1530-1559.

Day 4: Gouda - Kinderdijk -  Dordrecht, 22 mi. (36 km) 
Between Gouda and Dordrecht we visit one of the places with the highest concentration of historic windmills,  the Unesco World Heritage site of Kinderdijk, where 19 windmills stand that worked together to keep the land behind it dry. After this visit it is a short ride to the place where the ship awaits embarkation to sail through the busiest crossing of waterways and onward to Dordrecht. Be amazed by the fast ferries that are used heavily by commuters here. Dordrecht is again an old town, a town that played a role as a
trading city and also in the history of the church.

Day 5: Dordrecht - Tholen, 25 mi. (40 km)
As you enjoy your breakfast, the Iris will navigate to Willemstad. This star-shaped fortified town was once an important defensive position, named after the founding father of the Netherlands, William of Orange. Your cycling route follows the impressive complex of locks "de Volkerak’" to Tholen. Tholen was once an island in the middle of the large Zeeland streams, otherwise known as the Rhein Delta on the North Sea where many fishermen lived. Today, Tholen is connected to the mainland, but it retains its picturesque charm and boasts many fishing and boating relics from its colorful past.

Day 6: Tholen - Antwerp, 20 mi. (32 km)
There aren’t many forests in Holland, but you will have the unique thrill of biking through the Wouwse Plantation, an otherworldly landscape of sand dune forests alternating with fields of heather and moorlands. Along the way, you visit a Canadian and British World War Two Cemetery, an opportunity for a contemplative walk. After this short ride,  back on board, you enjoy a cruising lunch to Antwerp, the city of Diamonds. Antwerp was home to the famous painter Peter Paul Rubens. Many of his paintings are still in the city to be admired. Antwerp’s Golden age was the 16th century when its trade blossomed and it became the sugar capital of Europe. Many of the buildings in the center still originate from that time and while walking the streets, you feel as if you have been transported back 500 years. From the 19th century until recently, Antwerp was the world center for diamond refining and trading.

Day 7: Antwerp, 10 mi. (17 km)
Today, you will explore the city of Antwerp more fully, including significant sights like the Cathedral of Our Lady, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. with its celebrated paintings by Rubens, such as The Raising of the Cross, Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and The Descent from the Cross, and many lesser-known but beautiful paintings by artists such as Otto van Veen, Jacob de Backer, and Marten de Vosold. You can also visit a Beguinage where unmarried women could live like nuns until they found a suitable husband. The rest of the day is for you to spend by yourself in the city. You could visit museums like the Rubens House, which has many paintings in his old residence, or the Red Starline museum highlighting the history of the ships that brought many American immigrants to the US more than 100 years ago. If you’d like to go biking, you can join your bike guide for an alternative sightseeing tour on your bike.

Day 8: Antwerp -  Dendermonde, 32 or 20 mi. (52 or 32  km)
In Antwerp, you will make use of an iconic way of crossing the river,  a tunnel, and elevators ONLY for pedestrians and bicyclists! You then make your way up the Scheldt river by ferry. This will not be your last ferry of the day as you cross the river a few times. Lunch is enjoyed in the garden of Castle Wisselkerke. This won’t be the last castle of the day! The bike route crosses flood zones many times which attracts a wide variety of waterbirds to the area. Our docking for the day is in Dendermonde, a small but historic town with a great town square for us to enjoy a real Belgian beer.

Day 9: Dendermonde - Ghent, 25 mi. (40 km)
The Belgian country roads lead through small towns, by lakes and castles, and into Ghent. As the birthplace of Charles V and the biggest city in the 13th century in Northern Europe after Paris, this city has many historical sights to see and, by many, is regarded as prettier than even Bruges. In the evening a small boat will pick us to see the city as most traders would have, from the water.

Day 10: Ghent - Bruges, 25 mi. (40 km)
More time to explore Ghent is set aside this morning and then you continue your path to the final destination.

From Ghent, you bike into forests and eat lunch at an old estate. Utilizing an old rail-to-trail route, you enter Bruges by bike. The Iris will be docked in the center of this small city so that you easily explore its criss-cross of canals and medieval alleys.

Day 11: Bruges
Today is the official end of the tour after enjoying your last breakfast. You can leave your luggage on board until 12.00 and spend some more time in Bruges. Taxis can be arranged by the ship. Enjoy some more time in Bruges!