Luxury Dutch & Belgian Waterways River Cruise & Bike (Tulip Time From Amsterdam To Bruges) 8D7N, Fully Guided

THREE BIKING OPTIONS:
Level 1, Approx. 18 km (11 miles), 1-2 hours biking, Elevation gain: 61 m (200 ft)
Level 2, Approx. 24 km (15 miles ), 2-3 hours biking, Elevation gain: 91 m (300 ft)
Level 2, Approx. 34 km (21 miles), 2-3 hours biking, Elevation gain: 122 m (400 ft)

Today, meet your tour leaders in their distinctive shirts at 8.30 am in front of Amsterdam Sloterdijk train station, Orlyplein 105 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We will convene at Sloterdijk main entrance next to the Starbucks coffee shop. Follow signs to Station Hill when you arrive. Note: This is NOT Amsterdam’s main Centraal Station.

If you are arriving at Centraal this morning, plan ahead for a 10-minute train ride or a 15-minute taxi ride to Sloterdijk. Please arrive dressed in your biking clothes and bring your luggage and a daypack with your rain gear and anything else you might need for today’s ride (your luggage will be transported to our ship directly).

After meeting in elegant Amsterdam, the perfect introduction to our exploration of the fertile Low Countries with its fascinating maze of canals, gardens, and bike paths. We board a shuttle to a charming country farmhouse, the ideal scenic destination for your leaders to fit your bike and give a brief demonstration on biking techniques and safety.

We head out cycling along canals and through fields of flowers in this region known as the Bollenstreek, or bulb country. Our ride is seamless and enjoyable because of the properly-maintained network of ritual bike paths, owing to how highly this densely developed nation holds cycling for commuting and pleasure.

We stop for lunch at a restaurant, serving us delights made from organic ingredients. After, we pedal onwards towards today’s highlight: the world-renowned Keukenhof Gardens. This botanical haven spans across a staggering 79 acres. It is sometimes called the Garden of Europe and opens to visitors for only 8 weeks a year, when the spring flowers bloom. Spend the afternoon strolling between awe-inspiring swaths of brilliant colour, landscaped with an expert eye into a wonderland of avenues, glades, dells and patios. It is every nature lover's dream, an experience that exceeds expectations.

After visiting the gardens, we shuttle back to Amsterdam to board our ship, the luxury Amawaterways ship. A fine custom-designed vessel replete with marvellous designs featuring stylish private staterooms, panoramic windows, French balconies and an onboard team of professionals. Settle into your staterooms and get comfortable in luxury beddings. Tonight, as the waters of the canals lap peacefully around us, we enjoy a welcome dinner featuring European and international delights on board and toast to a magical week.

Overnight Amsterdam.

TWO BIKING OPTIONS:
Level 1, Approx. 27 km (17 miles), 1-2 hours biking, Elevation gain: 91 m (300 ft)
Level 2, Approx. 56 km (35 miles ), 3-5 hours biking, Elevation gain: 244 m (800 ft)

This morning, we sail through the Netherland’s largest lake, Ijsselmeer. Once a massive bay of the North Sea, the waterway becames a lake through an engineering feat in 1932: the completion of a dyke, done to protect coastal residents from storm surges and high water and functions till this day.

After lunch on board, we disembark in picturesque Hoorn, whose old port is swept by seagulls and lined with brick canal houses and rows of gingerbread-icing windows. Meet up with your bikes to ride along the breathtaking coast, then onwards between shimmering lakes and fields of dairy cows. You’ll soon get a taste of the product of these four-legged creatures in Edam, our destination. We will sample the town’s acclaimed cheese and discover waterways lined with kaleidoscopic houses. You can choose to ride back to Hoorn along a different route or return to ship via shuttle.

We convene tonight on our luxury ship as we lift the actor and share stories of the day over another delicious dinner prepared by the skilled kitchen mavens.

Cruise overnight Hoorn to Middleburg.

Level 3, Approx. 48 km (30 miles ), 3-5 hours biking, Elevation gain: 152 m (500 ft)

After cruising through the morning and we eat lunch on board, we arrive in Middelburg this afternoon, a quaint town poised amidst the wispy peninsulas and islands of Zeeland (Sealand) province. More than half of the land here has been reclaimed from the sea over the years, and the influence of the sea is everywhere in today’s ride. We start our cycling through the town, which displays rich historic details left over from Middelburg’s heyday as the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company. Afterwards, follow a mix of bike paths and coastal roads as we loop around Middleburg’s shoreline. Drink in views of crashing waves on the sand as you ride. If the Netherlands wasn’t on your list of beach destinations, prepare to be surprised.

Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own in one of Middelburg’s welcoming eateries. Or dine on the ship before we set sail for Belgium.

Cruise overnight Middelburg to Ghent.

TWO BIKING OPTIONS:
Level 2, Approx. 52 km (32 miles), 2-3 hours biking, Elevation gain: 183 m (600 ft)
Level 4, Approx. 104 km (64 miles ), 4-6 hours biking, Elevation gain: 366 m (1200 ft)

Today, we sail inland into Belgium and port in Ghent’s canals, one of the country’s oldest cities. Ghent’s wedding cake Gothic architecture awaits to astound you, with skyline-piercing bell towers and ornate facades dripping with intricate details. Spin your bike out of town and through the countryside of Flanders, as the locals call this part of Belgium. Here field and sleepy villages are interspersed with forests and hidden country estates.

We get to our destination; alluring Bruges, filled with a maze of narrow canals dotted by crooked mediaeval houses that have features in movies such as In Bruges, in 2008. Choose to shuttle or ride your bike back to the ship in Ghent. If you feel like you didn’t get as much of Bruges as you would have liked. Don’t fret because this afternoon we head back there for an exclusive boat tour around the town’s canals. Soak in Bruges’ cosy aura as we wind our way between swans, weeping willows and ivy-draped brick walls.

We meet back aboard this evening to share stories about our day over another mouth-watering dinner on the water.

TWO BIKING OPTIONS:
Level 2, Approx. 35 km (22 miles), 2-3 hours biking, Elevation gain: 152 m (500 ft)
Level 4, Approx. 79 km (49 miles ), 4-6 hours biking, Elevation gain: 335 m (1100 ft)

We wake up in cosmopolitan Antwerp’s port this morning; another day of Belgian delights await us. We start our ride with a cyclist’s eye-view of the 19th-century fortress, then ride through quiet residential streets as we head out of town. Enjoy a calm route through this idyllic landscape of the countryside, bursting with spring greens.

Stop to admire the licorice-striped brickwork of Brasschaat Castle. Your leaders will have a delicious pick-me-up snack for you; waffles and chocolate taste best as cycling fuel. Continue onward to Westmalle, where the monks of renowned Westmalle Abbey have been brewing beer since 1794. The abbey is closed to visitors who could disturb the monks’ cloistered lifestyle but we’ll gain insights during a presentation, and, of course beer tasting at the attached Cafe Trappisten. After the tasting, you can take full advantage of the brews to step down a hearty lunch on site.

After lunch, you can choose to return to Antwerp by bike, or shuttle back to the ship and spend the afternoon exploring the city at your pace. Passionate gardeners who want to skip today’s rides may consider joining a ship excursion to the Floralia flower shop at nearby Groot-Bijgaarden Castle. The exhibition displays 14 hectares planted with over a thousand bulbs. Just like the Keukenhof Gardens, this marvel only opens for a few months in spring every year.

Enjoy the day to your fill, as our ship departs from Antwerp early this evening. We enjoy dinner on board as our home starts its way north, back towards the Netherlands. (Overnight cruise from Antwerp to Rotterdam)

TWO BIKING OPTIONS:
Level 2, Approx. 29 km (18 miles), 2-3 hours biking, Elevation gain: 122 m (400 ft)
Level 4, Approx. 63 km (39 miles ), 4-6 hours biking, Elevation gain: 213 m (700 ft)

This morning, we’re back in the Netherlands and today’s ride just exudes “Dutch”, as we set out on our bike through the Green Heart area. This region of peaceful farmland has remained untouched despite being surrounded by the extended urban zone called the Randstad, which stretches between a ring of cities including Rotterdam and The Hague.

Begin from the botanical gardens in the city of Rotterdam and follow the cycle paths, fietspaden, to historic Gouda and the largest market square in the Netherlands. We enjoy lunch in an old harbour house where we learn Gouda’s fascinating history. Our lovely hosts make a wonderful spread with local ingredients.

As we ride further this afternoon, be on the lookout for a variety of birds such as buntings, warblers and bluethroats. En route, we visit a dairy farm to sample the local cheese that has made Gouda so famous. Then we head our next destination, the 19 windmills at the World Heritage Site of Kinderdijk. It was built in the mid-1700s in one of the earliest Dutch bids to reclaim the land from the sea; some of the windmills still functioned up until the 1950s. Here, you’ll learn about the marvellous inventions that keep the Netherlands dry. We hop into small boats for an up-close glance at the charming windmills from the best seat in the house: floating along the surface of the canals.

Our ship will meet up with us in Kinderdijk, allowing us to pop aboard and freshen up before we head to an on-shore dinner in the charming canal town of Schoonhoven. (Overnight cruise from Schoonhoven to Amsterdam)

TWO BIKING OPTIONS:
Level 2, Approx. 40 km (25 miles), 2-3 hours biking, Elevation gain: 152 m (500 ft)
Level 4, Approx. 56 km (35 miles ), 4-6 hours biking, Elevation gain: 274 m (900 ft)

Today we return for the grand finale to where it all began, Amsterdam. We make our way through the city’s bustling cycle lanes before we head out of town via the dreamy Zaanse Schans quarter, where wooden windmills seem to float on the sea grass among mirror-smooth waterways. We stop for a snack of poffertjes (baked pancake puffs) then continue alongside the wide Markermeer, a lake separated from the sea by dykes. We park our trusty two-wheeler at a waterfront pavilion where we enjoy a fresh and delicious lunch.

Afterwards, you could either shuttle back to the city centre or continue riding along polders, canals and bike paths to complete the loop at our ship.

This evening, we bid farewell to the Low Countries in style with an evening cruise through Amsterdam’s maze of dazzling tree-lined canals. Back aboard the ship, we raise a glass to toast our colourful celebration of spring, followed by one last dinner together surrounded by the lights of the glittering royal city. (Overnight Amsterdam)

Today marks the end of your trip. The Low Countries have been a wonderful host to us this past week. Memories of joy and satisfaction are a byproduct of the magic our destinations have bestowed upon us but it is now time to bid a hearty farewell. Enjoy a delightful leisure breakfast this morning and then head on your journey onwards.

NOTE: This itinerary is provided as an example only – prevailing conditions and local arrangements may cause variation.