Eurosail Bike & Barge Holland roundtrip Bike & Barge 14 days Itinerary: Amsterdam Kudelstraat Gouda Dordrecht - Delft leiden Haarlem Alkmaar Texel Medemblik Enkhuizen Volendam - Amsterdam This wonderful bike & barge tour will take you through the provinces of South Holland an North Holland. You will be surprised by the beautiful, varied scenery and the wonderful bikeways of Holland. The tour begins in Amsterdam and takes you to the beautiful, historical cities of Gouda, Delft, Leiden and Haarlem. You will visit the impressive flower auction in Aalsmeer, the windmills in Kinderdijk are visited and you will get the opportunity to admire the famous delft ware. In addition to this, a visit to the parliament buildings in the capital of The Hague is on the program. In the second week we sail and bike the province of North Holland. Here you will meet folkore and tradition in the flat polder-land, along the North Sea coast and in romantic fishing villages. You will cycle across a distinctly rural area, a former lake and marsh land area. Since the 17th Century, this area has been reclaimed from the sea, in ancient times by pumping it dry with windmills. Various landscapes, typical Dutch polder-land, sand dunes and the beautiful North Sea beaches, the island of Texel and the picturesque harbours of the IJsselmeer coast: that is what the beautiful Northern Tour offers. On your return to Amsterdam, you will go for a round trip of the canals and you will get the opportunity to visit the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh museum. We will offer a bike tour of 35-55 km every day. Day 1 (Sat): Amsterdam 14.00h Arrival 15.00 h Welcome speech and crew introduction 18.15 h Welcome drink 20.00 h Walk through the city of Amsterdam
Day 2 (Sun): Amsterdam Kudelstaart Biking: about 35 km 9.00 h The first bike tour leads out of the city along the river Amstel. It is possible to visit a cheese farm on the way. Here the cheese is prepared according to traditional methods. You will find the ship in a rural little village called Kudelstaart. Day 3 (Mon):Kudelstaart - Gouda Biking: about 50 km 7.00 h Early coffee 7.15 h Today you go by bike 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. 9.00 h After your visit you return on board for a late breakfast. 10.00 h Today s bike tour goes right through the green heart of Holland to Gouda, the fa mous cheese town. Gouda has a picturesque center, with a wonderful town hall. We will also visit the St. Jans curch with its famous stained glass windows 20.00 h Town walk Day 4 (Tue): Gouda - Dordrecht Biking: about 50 km 9.00 h In the morning our beautiful bike ride leads to Schoonhoven, the Silvertown. From we continue to Kinderdijk right across the Alblasserwaard. There an impressive row of large windmills appears, built to drain the Alblasserwaard. We can visit one of the mills. Then the barge takes us further to Dordrecht, one of the oldest towns in Hol land, and an important junction for shipping traffic. There we spend the night in the historic port of Wolwevershaven. 20.00 h Town walk Day 5 (Wed): Dordrecht - Delft Biking: about 35 km. 7.00 h Departure by barge from Dordrecht to Rotterdam while cruising. We cruise through the harbor of Rotterdam. During this cruise, you can see a great deal of interesting architecture from the river. 10.00 h From here our biketour starts. First we visit Schiedam, famous for its historical center
and for having the tallest windmills in the world. Schie dam is also famous for the dis tilleries and malthouses and production of jenever (gin). Our destination today is Delft, were you will visit a delftware pottery. 20.00 h Town walk through the historic center of Delft Day 6 (Thu): Delft - Leiden Biking: about 45 km. 9.00 h Today you will visit The Hague with the Binnenhof, seat of the Dutch parliament. Later you will visit Scheveningen at the Northsea coast. You bike via the dunes to Leiden. Leiden is the oldest university town of the Nether lands. 20.00 h Townwalk Day 7 (Fri): Leiden Haarlem Biking: about 45 km 9.00 h Today you bike from Leiden to Haarlem first along the Kagerplassen an area with big lakes. In the afternoon you will visit the Cruqius museum, a former steam pump station where you learn about the water management in the Netherlands. Final destination is the historic center of Haarlem.. 20.00 h Town walk through Haarlem Day 8 (Sat): Haarlem 9.00 h Day of rest in Haarlem. Haarlem is a nice town to stay a day. You can vsit the Frans Hals museum, or go shopping. 18.30 h Today there is no dinner on the barge. You can go to one of the nice restaurants in the city Day 9 (Sun): Haarlem Zaanse Schans Alkmaar Biketour: about 55 km 9.00 h Bike tour starts from Haarlem. You will visit of the open air museum Zaanse Schans with traditional
wooden houses, 3 windmills, cheese and wooden shoe ( clog ) manufacture. Later the bike tour goes on to Alkmaar. 20.00 h Town walk in Alkmaar Day 10 (Mo):Alkmaar St. Maartensvlotbrug Den Helder Biketour: about 50 km 9.00 h The bike tour starts from Alkmaar via artist village Bergen to the North Sea. Along the beach, through the sand dunes and the flat polder- and coast land to the naval port of Den Helder. 17.00 h You will meet the barge in Den Helder and we will cross the Marsdiep to the harbour Oudeschild on the island of Texel (depending on weather conditions: also possible on Tuesday morning) Day 11 (Tu): Den Helder Texel Medemblik 9.00 h Bike round trip on the largest of Dutch islands, Texel. Through beautiful natural areas with the possibility to have a break on the most beautiful beaches. Recommended: pay a visit to the seal sanctuary "Ecomare" and/or cycle the beautiful Thijsse-route on the southern part of the island through picturesque villages and landscapes 17.00 h Barge leaves from the Island over the beautiful Waddenzee to the mainland. while sailing Day 12 (We):Medemblik - Enkhuizen 9.00 h Bike tour Medemblik through the inlands or along the IJsselmeer (former "Zuider zee") coast to Enkhuizen: beautiful harbour, historical town and the very interesting Zuiderzeemuseum. in town
Day 13 (Th): Enkhuizen Volendam 9.00 h Bike tour via Hoorn (short visit of the beautiful historical town) and cheese town of Edam to the old fishing harbour of Volendam: taste the famous smoked eel paling or salted herring. Day 14 (Fri): Volendam Amsterdam Biketour: about 40 km 9.00 h Bike tour through the beautiful Waterland area with its hundreds of small lakes and canals, if you wish with a de-tour to the former island of Marken, through the Garden of Amsterdam. We are back in Amsterdam early in the afternoon, so you have time to visit the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh museum, if you like. 20.00 h Evening in Amsterdam. Day 15 (Sat):Amsterdam 9.00 h Departure www.eurosailtravel.com info@eurosailtravel.com Tel: 0031 6 51437444