Southern Netherlands bike & boat tour

Day 1 Saturday: Amsterdam individual arrival (Embarkation)

Embarkation and check-in from 2 p.m. in Amsterdam. Take the opportunity to go shopping, to explore downtown Amsterdam, take a canal cruise or visit a museum. Welcome drink, dinner and first briefing on board.

Day 2: Amsterdam – Breukelen | Breukelen – Utrecht | Utrecht – Rotterdam 25 km / 16 mi or 40 km/25 miles

Your first cycling tour starts in Breukelen. You’ll tour along the beautiful and winding river Vecht with its enchanting background of imposing castles, country houses and quaint tearooms. You will follow the Vecht into the centre of Utrecht where you will have the opportunity to explore the beautiful historical city centre: the Dom Cathedral with its tower, the canals, special shops and nice cafes. In the afternoon you will continue on by ship from Utrecht to Rotterdam.

Day 3: Rotterdam – Schiedam – Delft – Rotterdam 28 km/17 miles or 50 km/31 miles

Today you will cycle via the “jenever city” of Schiedam and through the Delfland area to Delft, famous, of course, for its blue pottery. Visit the beautiful city centre with its small canals, picturesque streets, bridges and alleys. For many of our guests a visit to the Delftware factory is one of the highlights of their tour. Afterwards, you will cycle back to Rotterdam, where you can enjoy a short city walk in the evening.

Day 4: Rotterdam – Alblasserdam with the “waterbus” |   Kinderdijk – (Gouda) – Schoonhoven 30 km/19 miles or 58 km/36 miles

Today you can cycle the first part or the “waterbus” will take you and your bicycle to Alblasserdam. After just a few minutes of cycling you will reach Kinderdijk (UNESCO cultural heritage, with its impressive row of 19 large windmills). You then have the choice between a longer cycling tour with a visit to the beautiful cheese city of Gouda or a short cycling tour through the Alblasserwaard. Both tours end in the “silver city” of Schoonhoven, where you can visit a silversmith.

Day 5: Schoonhoven – Oudewater – Utrecht | Utrecht – Haarlem 45 km/28 miles

Today you will cycle from Schoonhoven through the beautiful “Green Heart” of Holland along small villages and quiet roads to Utrecht. On your way you can visit a traditional cheese farm and in Oudewater you can visit the Witches Weigh House. Late afternoon the ship will sail from Utrecht to Haarlem.

Day 6: Haarlem – North Sea coast – Haarlem |  Haarlem – Zaandam 40 km/25 miles or 50 km/31 miles*

Today you can choose from 2 cycling tours. Both tours takes you through the beautiful Kennemer dunes, a national park where you can spot several bird species, Scottish Highland cows and Shetland ponies. After a visit to the seaside resorts Bloemendaal and Zandvoort you cycle through the forests and the centre of Haarlem back to the ship. The longer cycling tour leads to the largest steam engine of the world, the Cruquius pumping station and back to Haarlem. During dinner your ship will cruise to Zaandam.

*Departure dates between April 14 and May 5: On Thursday you have the opportunity to visit the world famous Tulip exhibition park “Keukenhof” in Lisse (by bicycle or public transport; transfers/tickets/entrance fees not included).

Day 7: Zaandam – Amsterdam 30 km/19 miles or 45 km/28 miles

From Zaandam your final day of cycling will take you to the open air museum the Zaanse Schans (free entry), with its beautiful windmills, an Old Dutch village with traditional wooden houses, a cheese farm and a traditional wooden clog maker. After exploring the museum you cycle through the recreational area “Twiske” back to Amsterdam. The afternoon and evening are yours to enjoy everything Amsterdam has to offer. If you didn’t do a canal tour on the first day, you will have the opportunity to do so today.

Day 8 (Sat): Amsterdam  End of cruise – disembarkation

End of your tour: Disembarkation after breakfast until 9.30 a.m.

Ship De Amsterdam

The Amsterdam has a spacious restaurant on the lower deck. The pleasant lounge on the upper deck has large windows around, which offers you a great view of the surroundings. There is also a bar with a dance floor. Wi-Fi is available. On the partially roofed sun deck, chairs and sun loungers invite for a stay. Here you can relax and have a drink and enjoy the scenery while sailing.  Bicycles will be stored on a separate part of the sun deck.

Year of construction: 1991 (refitted 2017)
Size of boat: 94,8m x 11m (311 ft x 36 ft.)
Size of cabins: 11 – 15 m² (135 sq.ft. x 200 sq.ft.)
Number of cabins: 56 guest cabins with private bathroom
Cabin equipment: Individual climate control, TV, wardrobe, mini-safe, hair dryer, 230V and 115V sockets
Beds: Double beds: 200 x 160 cm, twin beds: 200 x 80 cm*
Service: Daily cabin cleaning, fresh towels at mid- week
Catering: A spacious restaurant on the lower deck. In the morning the oval buffet in the middle. The pleasant lounge on the upper deck has large windows allround which offers you a great view of the surroundings. There is also a bar with a dance floor for some evening fun!
Languages on board: German, English

Dates and Prices

Prices shown are per person.  The trip on the boat De Amsterdam is available every Saturday from March 25th – October 7th:

• Season A: departure dates on March 25, April 1 and 8 and Oct. 7
• Season B: departure dates on April 15 and 22; Sept. 23 and 30
• Season C: departure dates on April 29; Sept. 9 and 16
• Season D: all other departure dates, weekly from May 6 up to and incl. Sept. 2