8-Day North Holland Tulip Boat & Bike Tour

Day 1: Amsterdam – Hoorn
At 1.30 p.m. the crew will welcome you on board in Amsterdam and check you in. After a safety briefing the ship will head out onto the IJsselmeer, bound for Hoorn, your first destination.

Day 2: Hoorn – Enkhuizen (40 km or 50 km)
Today you will ride into the West-Frisian countryside, the second biggest tulip region in the Netherlands. The exact position of the fields shifts every year, so two different routes have been planned for you to choose from. This is a semi-guided tour: you will cycle at your own pace and stop for photographs as often as you like.

Day 3: Enkhuizen – Volendam | Volendam – Zaanse Schans | Zaanse Schans – Alkmaar (50 km)
Early in the morning your floating hotel will set off for the famous village of Volendam, where today's ride begins. You will cycle through Waterland, just north of Amsterdam, a landscape of hundreds of small canals and countless bridges, moving from one picturesque village to the next. The ride ends at Zaanse Schans, an old Dutch village of working windmills and traditional wooden houses, where you can visit artisans such as a cheesemaker and a clog maker — and where the people you see are actual inhabitants, not staff of an open-air museum. Around dinnertime the ship will continue to Alkmaar.

Day 4: Alkmaar – Alkmaar (33 km or 50 km)
Today's ride will take you to the tulip fields north of Alkmaar and on to Egmond aan Zee, a seaside resort set among the dunes near the North Sea, with one of the finest sandy beaches in the country — good for a walk, a swim, or simply the view. Close by lies the pretty artists' village of Bergen. Both are on the edge of the North Holland Dune Reserve, 5,300 hectares of forest and dune with landscapes you will find nowhere else. You will return to the ship in Alkmaar for dinner.

Day 5: Alkmaar – Zaandam | Zaandam – Haarlem (38 km or 47 km)
This morning you will cycle to Egmond-Binnen and then to Limmen, where you will visit the Hortus Bulborum, a garden museum dedicated to rare and historic bulbs. Some of the more than 3,500 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other flowers planted here are nearly extinct everywhere else in the world. Your route then runs on through colourful tulip fields to Zaandam, where the ship will be waiting to take you to Haarlem on a leisurely afternoon cruise. It moors for the night within walking distance of the centre, so you can walk into the old town before or after dinner: the Grote Markt and St Bavo's church are impressive indeed.

Day 6: Haarlem – Keukenhof – Haarlem (49 km)
Today you will ride through the oldest tulip fields in Holland to the Keukenhof Gardens, a bulb park of seven million flowering tulips laid out across 80 acres of traditional and modern garden architecture, with hyacinths, daffodils and many other flowers besides. In the afternoon you will cycle back to the ship in Haarlem. Keukenhof entrance tickets are not included: book them online in advance, choosing the 11.00–11.30 a.m. time slot. The ride from Haarlem to the Keukenhof is about 25 km.

Day 7: Haarlem – Amsterdam (31 km or 36 km)
Your last ride will bring you back to Amsterdam, entering the city from the west through a pleasant green belt. The afternoon is yours: the inner-city flower market, the Vondelpark, a museum, or simply the life of a city that never sleeps. Tickets for an end-of-day canal cruise are available on board at a reduced price.

Day 8: Amsterdam
End of your tour. Enjoy a good breakfast before disembarkation by 9.30 a.m.

Good to know
Cycling distances are approximate, and on the shorter routes you may not reach every highlight mentioned. If you prefer not to cycle on a given day you are welcome to stay on board while the ship cruises to the next mooring. Detailed cycling maps, route notes and a GPS app are provided, and the tour leader is reachable by phone for questions, breakdowns or emergencies. The itinerary may change for nautical, technical or meteorological reasons.