8 days in Holland by Bike and Boat among the tulips

Day 1: Amsterdam – Spaarndam | Spaarndam – Haarlem (6 km or 14 km)
Check-in between 1.00 and 2.00 pm. The crew will welcome you with coffee and tea. At 2.30 pm the boat will set sail for Haarlem, while your guide will introduce the tour, presenting the cycling stages along with some basic safety rules. In Spaarndam, you'll have the chance for a short test ride of the bikes. After dinner on board, your guide will take you for a guided walking tour in the beautiful Haarlem city center.

Day 2: Haarlem – Keukenhof – Leiden (38 km)
Today's stage will take you through Holland's oldest tulip fields. You'll also visit the world-famous Keukenhof, the most beautiful bulb flower park in the world, a true explosion of colors in spring: seven million blooming tulips populate an area of 80 hectares made spectacular by modern landscape architecture. In addition to tulips, you can admire wonderful hyacinths, daffodils, and many other colorful flowers. In the afternoon you will reach the city of Leiden by bike. Dinner on board and city walking tour.

Day 3: Leiden – Gouda (32 km or 40 km)
After breakfast, you'll leave the city of Leiden to bike through what is called the Green Heart of Holland, where you can immerse yourself in the greenest Dutch landscapes. Near Zoeterwoude, you'll stop to visit a local cheese factory, where you can learn about the production process of Dutch cheese and finally taste the results. In the afternoon you'll reach Gouda, famous for its cheese. Here, you can visit the magnificent historic center with the Market Square and the Gothic Style Town Hall, as well as the Church of Saint John with its beautiful stained-glass windows. After dinner, you can enjoy a guided walking tour of the city to see its night time charm.

Day 4: Gouda – Alphen a/d Rijn | Alphen a/d Rijn – Kudelstaart (20 km or 44 km)
This morning we will stay a little longer in Gouda, so you'll have time for shopping, relax at a terrace of one of the many bars overlooking the Market Square, or taste the fabulous siroopwafel, waffle-like cakes filled with caramel cream. The boat will depart around noon. Light lunch on board. From Alphen a/d Rijn, you'll bike through the Green Heart of South Holland along the Drecht river and the Amstel-Drecht canal to Kudelstaart.

Day 5: Kudelstaart – Flower Auction | Aalsmeer – Amsterdam | Amsterdam – Zaanse Schans – Purmerend (9 km + 23 km or 30km)
Early wake up to attend Europe's largest flower auction at Aalsmeer, which we will reach by bike. Here every day, 20 million flowers are sold to be distributed all over the world. You will be overwhelmed by a huge wave of colors! We'll return on board around 9.00 am and have breakfast while the boat sails to Amsterdam, where we'll enjoy a wonderful city cruise on the canals. From Amsterdam, we'll then bike to Zaanse Schans, a unique place where we will immerse ourselves in Holland of the 17th and 18th centuries among historic houses, artisan shops, and the essential windmills, still working, including the oldest one, dating from 1673, which is still used to grind mustard seeds, spices, and saw wood. Walking around the village, we'll also encounter the Watch Museum, an old grocery store, a house furnished with period furniture, a workshop where the typical wooden clogs are handcrafted, and a cheese factory. In the late afternoon, we will reach Purmerend by bike, where we’ll spend the night.

Day 6: Purmerend – Spijkerboor | Spijkerboor – Alkmaar (29 km or 39 km)
This morning we'll bike to the Hortus Bulborum, a unique garden museum dedicated to the preservation of rare and old bulbs, where over 4000 tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and other flowers are grown. The cycling route will then continue towards Egmond, on the North Sea. Biking through the dunes, we will reach Alkmaar, known as the Dutch city of cheese. You will be enchanted by its historic center with well-preserved 17th-century buildings and the network of narrow canals. Dinner is at your leisure in the city.

Day 7: Alkmaar – Amsterdam (37 km or 54 km)
After breakfast, we will embark by bike towards the Schermer Polder, an ancient windmill complex and UNESCO site. Here you can visit the Shermerhorn Windmill Museum, where it will be easy to understand the complex system of water management used in Holland for centuries. The next stop is in the beautiful town of De Rijp, rich in history, as shown by the ancient wooden facades, the beautiful churches, and the town hall. From here, our bike route will finally take us back to Amsterdam. In the late afternoon or evening, we will do a city canal tour.

Day 8: Amsterdam
Disembark after breakfast before 9.30 am. End of services.