Bruges to Abbeville Bike & Barge Cruise | 15 Days Premium

Day 1 - Bruges. Test ride 22 km.
Boarding is between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm at the Bruges harbour. After the welcome talk and a short meeting with the crew you set up your e-bike and ride a test loop around town. In the evening your guides take you for a walk through the medieval centre.

Day 2 - Bruges to Deinze. 47 km.
The Fleur sails to Moerbrugge during breakfast. Flanders is flat, much of it just below sea level, and the riding is easy: green fields, small farms, quiet lanes. In the afternoon there is a picnic in the grounds of Poeke Castle before the ride into Deinze, where the ship is moored in the middle of town. The longer route is 58 km.

Day 3 - Deinze to Menen. 48 km.
Breakfast is served while the ship sails. Shortly after, you can stop at the small American cemetery at Waregem; the alternative route stays among the fields and villages. Both lead to Kortrijk, with its belfry and its beguinage, and on to Menen, where the Fleur waits. The longer route is 52 km.

Day 4 - Menen to Lille. 36 km.
The short route goes straight to Lille and leaves you the afternoon in the city. The longer one, 58 km, passes Tyne Cot near Ypres, the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world. Lille is the fourth largest city in France and still feels Flemish; dinner tonight is ashore, and the crew will point you to the Ch'ti cooking.

Day 5 - Lille to Arleux. 51 km.
Another sailing breakfast, then a choice: the mining museum at Lewarde, or the Louvre-Lens, which shows works lent by the Paris museum. Both routes end at Arleux, known for its smoked garlic. The longer route is 56 km.

Day 6 - Arleux to Havrincourt. 41 km.
The Fleur enters the Canal du Nord, a waterway that took sixty years to finish. The ride goes through Cambrai, a Roman town with fortifications from the reign of Charles V. Tonight the ship is moored on its own, at the highest point of the canal. The longer route is 53 km.

Day 7 - Havrincourt to Cappy. 46 km.
From Lock 7 the ship passes through the four-kilometre Ruyalcourt tunnel and crosses the watershed between the Scheldt and the Somme. You pick up the bikes on the other side and ride through the Somme valley, once the front line. There is time in Peronne for the Historial de la Grande Guerre before the ride down to Cappy.

Day 8 - Cappy to Corbie. 44 km.
The guides take you towards Albert and its underground 1916 museum, and past the Lochnagar crater, left by the mine the British detonated at the start of the Battle of the Somme. If you want, extend the ride to Thiepval and its memorial to the British and South African missing. The day ends at Corbie, above the river. The longer route is 54 km.

Day 9 - Corbie to Amiens. 29 km.
The Australian Sir John Monash Centre is just outside Corbie and worth the stop; you can also ride straight on to Hautefeuille for a French whisky tasting. Then Moreuil, once a weaving town, and into Amiens, where you stay two nights with the old town a short walk from the mooring. The longer route is 53 km.

Day 10 - Amiens. No cycling.
The bikes stay on board. The cathedral is twice the size of Notre-Dame in Paris and one of the largest Gothic churches in Europe. In the afternoon there is the Jules Verne house, or a drink on the Place du Don. Dinner is ashore.

Day 11 - Amiens to Samara. 42 km.
Before leaving Amiens you take a boat trip through the Hortillonnages, the floating market gardens. Then out into the countryside to Samara, where the arboretum and the historical park are within walking distance of the ship. The longer route is 51 km.

Day 12 - Samara to Long. 39 km.
On the way you visit the medieval underground caves of Naours, once used as shelter, and a goat cheese farm. At the lock of La Breilloire you board the Fleur and sail on to Long and its pink and white chateau, which is open to visitors.

Day 13 - Long to Abbeville. 57 km.
Today follows a voie verte, a car-free green road on an old railway line, to the castle of Rambures, a fifteenth-century fortified castle set in a rose garden and arboretum. Then on to Abbeville, the last mooring of the tour.

Day 14 - Abbeville to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and back. 47 km.
This morning you reach the English Channel. The longer route, 68 km, takes in Cayeux and its pebble beach; the shorter one goes straight to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, from where a steam train crosses the bay and back. Return to Abbeville for the farewell dinner on board.

Day 15 - Abbeville.
Breakfast, goodbyes to the guides and crew, and disembarkation by 9.00 am.

Distances are for the shorter route option and are approximate. On the shorter routes you may not reach every sight mentioned. If you would rather not ride on a given day, you can stay on board while the ship cruises to the next mooring.