Amsterdam to Bruges Premium by Boat and Bike

Day 1: Amsterdam – Utrecht
You will board in Amsterdam at 2 p.m., where the crew for the week will be waiting to welcome you. At 2.30 p.m. the ship departs for Utrecht, and from there you will enjoy a first scenic test ride through the surrounding countryside.

Day 2: Utrecht – Vreeswijk | Vreeswijk – Schoonhoven – Kinderdijk (32 km or 56 km)
Over breakfast the ship cruises to Vreeswijk, where your cycling begins. You will follow winding rivers past small villages and historic locks, through quiet Dutch countryside. Later you will ride across the Alblasserwaard to Kinderdijk, a village famous for its row of nineteen great windmills, all UNESCO-listed, with the chance to step inside one of them. From nearby Alblasserdam the Waterbus, a fast ferry, will carry you and your bike to Dordrecht in about ten minutes — one of the oldest towns in Holland.

Day 3: Dordrecht – Willemstad | Willemstad – Bergen op Zoom (42 km or 50 km)
While you have breakfast the ship sails to Willemstad, a beautiful old fortified town on the Haringvliet, where the day's ride starts. You will cycle to Tholen, once an island in the wide Zeeland streams where people lived by fishing, and now joined to the mainland. From there you continue to Bergen op Zoom, a historic fortified town that once looked out over the open Oosterschelde. After dinner you can walk the old town, where narrow streets, market and church squares and singular monumental buildings trace more than eight hundred years of history.

Day 4: Bergen op Zoom – Kreekrak lock | Kreekrak lock – Antwerp (21 km or 35 km)
The morning brings a short ride through the woodland of the Wouwse Plantage around Bergen op Zoom. In the early afternoon you will be back on board as the ship sails to Antwerp, on the river Schelde. Antwerp handles up to eighty per cent of the world's rough diamonds and holds a long list of sights: the City Hall, one of several majestic Renaissance buildings, the Grote Markt, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Cathedral and the medieval Steen Castle. Tonight's dinner is not included — you will eat in town, in a restaurant of your choice, with recommendations available on board.

Day 5: Antwerp – Temse – St. Amands (34 km or 49 km)
This morning you will cycle out of Antwerp along a picturesque stretch of the Schelde to St. Amands, your mooring for the night. There is only one word for the landscape along the Schelde here, and that is magnificent: it is without doubt one of the natural highlights of the tour.

Day 6: St. Amands – Dendermonde | Dendermonde – Ghent (52 km)
You will keep following the Schelde to Ghent, where the ship moors for the night at a lock in a suburb of the city. Ghent is a lively university city with a long history: since Roman times its position at the junction of the Leie and the Schelde has made it a successful trading port. The city counts an opera house, eighteen museums, more than a hundred churches and over four hundred historic buildings. Among the highlights are St. Bavo's Cathedral, home to medieval masterpieces including Jan van Eyck's Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, and the ninety-one-metre belfry, one of three medieval towers watching over the old centre. Before dinner a small canal boat will take you on a guided tour through the historic city.

Day 7: Ghent – Bruges (22 km or 45 km)
Today you will ride from Ghent through the open Flemish countryside of western Flanders to Bruges, often called the Venice of the North and arguably the most beautiful of the Flemish cities. More than two million visitors a year come for its medieval centre, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has kept its historic fabric intact through the centuries, so that the original Gothic buildings still shape the identity of the town. You can visit one of the many museums, or simply take in the city from the comfort of a pavement café.

Day 8: Bruges
End of your tour: disembarkation after breakfast, until 9.30 a.m.