Highlights of Holland and Flanders: 8 days from Amsterdam to Bruges
MS FLUVIUS: Explore beautiful historical art cities and a variety of landscapes!
Travel by bike & barge: A unique and "typical Dutch" concept, where a cycling holiday and a journey on a comfortable ship are combined. Cycling cruises are ideal for those who like to cycle during the day and explore beautiful areas, without giving up a comfortable way of travelling. During our tours you don't have to pack and un-pack your suitcases every day to travel from one beautiful place to the next!
Eight day guided tours (Sat.-Sat), mid April till mid September; depending on departure date from Amsterdam to Bruges or from Bruges to Amsterdam; Total of 262-289 cycling kilometres (158-175 miles) in 6 days.
During this tour some of the most beautiful cities of Holland and Flanders are highlighted: Amsterdam, Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges, where you still can feel the charm of the days long gone. After embarkation in Amsterdam you will cross through a beautiful part of the Netherlands. After a short cruise with the ship, you bike along the winding small river Vecht with its impressive mansions and country houses on its banks. You visit a real Dutch cheese farm and the 19 Dutch windmills in Kinderdijk. Via Dordrecht and the fortified town of Willemstad, the ship cruises through the "Delta" Province of Zeeland to Belgium. You will spend the night in Antwerp, the city of Rubens, whose paintings can be admired in the cathedral. You will cycle from Antwerp to Ghent along the beautiful tidal river Lower Schelde. Destination of your tour is Bruges, the "Pearl of Flanders" with its picturesque medieval town centre.
MS FLUVIUS:
On this very beloved tour sails the small and comfortable river cruiser MS FLUVIUS for max. 36 guests. On board of this cosy ship are a total of 19 cabins (ca. 10 qm = 108 square feet) with shower + toilet, all with 2 low beds and air-conditioning, individual adjustable, and ventilation system; 3 cabins on the
upper deck (supplement) and 16 cabins on the lower deck. All cabins have a window (all windows are fixed). The salon with bar is a large room for common use and has a semi-separate restaurant area. On the large and partially roofed sun deck of the ca. 70 Meter long ship are sitting places (tables + chairs) and storage room for the bikes. The ship sails under Dutch flag and had its sailing area in Holland and Germany for many years and it is a very popular small river cruise ship for boat & bike tours.
The interior of the ship is a no-smoking zone: smoking is only allowed on the sun deck. As a safety measure, a statutory smoking ban applies in all cabins; this means that all cabins and rooms on board are no-smoking zones.
Tour details:
Day 1 (Sat): Amsterdam - Vianen (Bike tour ca. 5-15 km / 3-9 miles)
Embarkation and check-in where the crew will welcome you on board is at 1 p.m. At around 2 p.m. the MS FLUVIUS will depart from Amsterdam for Vianen, a small fortified village on the Lek River. After the distribution of bicycles, you can enjoy a short first test bike ride through the surrounding area.
Day 2 (Sun): Vianen - Schoonhoven - Kinderdijk - Dordrecht (Bike tour ca. 56 km / 34 miles)
After breakfast you will cycle a beautiful route to Schoonhoven - nicknamed Zilverstad (Silver City) - a city renowned for its talented silver smiths since the 17th century. As you continue to cycle along the Lek River you will pass through the Alblasserwaard region to Kinderdijk, a village famous for its impressive row of 19 large windmills - one of which you can visit - which have a UNESCO cultural heritage listing. From nearby Alblasserdam you will take the "Waterbus" (not included approx.EUR 4,- per person), a fast ferry, that will take and your bike you in approx. 10 minutes to Dordrecht, one of the oldest towns in Holland.
Day 3 (Mon): Dordrecht - Tholen | Tholen - Kreekrak lock (Bike tour ca. 43 km / 26 miles) | Kreekrak lock - Antwerp
During breakfast the ship sails to Tholen. Then a bike tour through a forest area, "the Wouwse Plantage", via Bergen op Zoom, towards the south to the impressive Kreekraksluis (lock). The ship is docked at the end of the dam and from here it will sails through the impressive port of Antwerp to the city. Antwerp is not only known as diamond city, but also as native city of painter Rubens. You will find some of his paintings in the "Onze Lieve Vrouwe (our lady) Cathedral". After diner: a visit to the beautiful old city centre.
Day 4 (Tue): Antwerp - Temse - St-Amands / Dendermonde (Bike tour ca. 42/56km** / 25/34 miles**)
After breakfast you cycle out of the port to the Zeeschelde. You follow this beautiful but capricious tidal river upstream to Dendermonde. There is a beautiful bike path along the river, and the landscape around the Schelde is magnificent. You will cycle either to St-Amands or Dendermonde, a friendly little town along the river.
Day 5 (Wed): St-Amands / Dendermonde - Ghent-Merelbeke (Bike tour ca. 53/40 km** / 32/24 miles**)
Bike tour from St-Amands or by barge to Dendermonde. From Dendermonde the bike tour follows again the river Schelde in the direction of Ghent. Ghent is a lively university city, again one with a rich past. In the afternoon you have the opportunity to discover the city some more, or to shop in the lively centre. The city was founded in Roman times, where the rivers Leie and Schelde converge. The convenient location has over the years brought much prosperity, culminating in the late 13th, early 14th century. The textile industry brought great wealth. In the city, many old patricians preserved. The Cloth Hall (1425) came cloth merchants together. The main church St. Bavo Cathedral, which is built in different ages and in different styles. In the cathedral are some masterpieces of medieval art, which "Adoration of the Mystic Lamb" by Jan van Eyck is the most famous.The ship is docked at the lock in Merelbeke, a suburb of Ghent.
Day 6 (Thu): Ghent-Merelbeke - Bruges (Bike tour ca. 45 km / 28 miles)
Our last bike tour starts just outside the city and goes through the pleasant country side of Western Flanders to Bruges. Bruges, also called the Venice of the North, is maybe the most beautiful of all Flemish cities. Its old centre, which dates from the Middle Ages, is almost completely intact. Bruges was at that time a metropolis and center of commerce and art. You can still see this glory at the beautiful buildings. But Bruges is a also a nice town for shopping or going out.
Day 7 (Fri): Tour around Bruges to the North Sea, (Bike tour ca. 50 km / 30 miles)
The last bike tour takes you to a quiet canal along where you'll find lots of poplars, through an attractive polder landscape with nice small farm houses to the North Sea coast. A 12 kilometer long sandy beach, numerous cafés and the attractive dune landscape of "Het Zwin" (an unique nature reserve) provide enough variety during your lunch break. Then back to Bruges.
Day 8 (Sat): Bruges
After breakfast: end of the tour and disembarkation till 10:00 am.
**: Both possibilities are being offered: the guest can choose.
Important information:
- Embarkation: from 1.00 p.m. to 1.30 p.m
- Disembarkation: After breakfast, until 10:00 am
- Bike hire on board: Unisex bicycles with normal mount (ladies model), 7 gears, hand brake and pedal brake and pannier bag, limited number of freewheel hub bikes. E-Bikes are only available after prior request (by booking) and confirmation and at limited number
- Cycle Tours: Daily guided bike tours. It is also possible to ride the bike tours individually. Tour description and maps are available on board. You will cycle about 35 to 56 km/21 to 35 miles. The kilometers/miles indicated for the cycle tours are approximate
- Cycle ways / level of difficulty: The quality of the cycle ways along this route is excellent. Most of the way is paved or asphalted and does not have any gradients of note. This makes the trip suitable even for unpracticed cyclists
- Luggage on board: we recommend waterproof rain gear, bike helmet, sun hat and sports shoes. We would like to ask you to do without hard-side luggage as storage space in the cabin is very limited!
- Alterations of schedule or program: subject to change. In case that as a result of nautical, technical or meteorological reasons a route cannot be taken, the skipper reserves the right to change the route for your safety (this would not be a rea-son for fee-free cancellation)
- Travel documents: EU citizens need a valid identity card or passport for this journey
- Special dietary needs and food allergies: inform us about your dietary needs and we will do our best to take them into consideration. There will be an extra fee of approx. EUR 25 per person/week (to be paid directly on board). Please inform us on booking.
Characteristics:
Operator:
Participants:
from 24
Tourtype:
guided
Children:
yes
Regions:
Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bruges, Flanders, Ghent, Lake Yssel, North Brabant, North Holland, North Sea, South Holland, Utrecht, Zealand
Countries:
Belgium, Netherlands
Benefits:
- Tour and accommodation on board in the booked category, 8 days / 7 nights (Sat.-Sat.) from Amsterdam to Bruges
- Full board (7 x breakfast, 6 x picnic lunch during bike tours or light lunch on board, 7 x three course dinner
- Use of bed linen and towels (change of towels daily possible)
- daily short cleaning of the cabin
- Welcoming drink and -speech on the first evening
- Tour leader (multilingual) with daily briefings of the bike tours, some short city tours
- during the day the tour leader is cycling the daily bike tour (guided tours) and can be reached by individual travelers on his/her cell phone
- Printed instructions and detailed maps for daily bike tours (deposited on board)
- daily coffee and tea till 4 PM
Start date: on request
End date:
Duration:
Price:
Click to order
Startdate
Middate
On request
Additional costs:
- All other costs: on request (bikehire, cabin categories, additional nights, transfers and so on)