Super Tulip Tour

Netherlands Bike + Boat Tour

Brand new for us in 2012 is this Super Tulip Tour totally dedicated to the beautiful tulip. You will cycle through acres of spring flowers and tulips, learn all about growing tulips in a tulip park and of course you will visit the  Keukenhof.  There are only two dates in early April for this tour which (if the weather cooperates) will allow you to see Tulips in the fields. The daily mileage is a bit longer than our normal tulip tours but through Holland's cycling paradise, you will enjoy every mile!

Where You’ll Stay

Aboard the beautiful Comfort Plus boat, the Zwaan.

What’s Included

• 7 nights accommodations on board
• Breakfasts and dinners
• Packed lunches
• Coffee and tea on board
• Tour guide
• Route information
• Road book
• Entrance fee for the Keukenhof
• Ferry fares on the route
• 24 speed hybrid bicycle with pannier bags, lock and water bottle

What’s Not Included

• Beverages other than mentioned
• Entrance fees to museums (approximately €15 per tour)
• Electric bikes available

Tour Dates

• March 31, April 7 and April 14, 2012.

Skill Level

Daily mileage is from 13 to 33 miles. There is, however, one day in which you can choose between a 44 mile or a 31 mile day.

Tour Boats

• Zwaan

Day-To-Day Itinerary

1. Amsterdam - Purmerend:  13 miles/20 km
2. Purmerend - Schagen: 28 or 16 miles/45 or 25 km
3. Schagen - Alkmaar: 44 or 31 miles/70 or 50 km
4. Alkmaar-Zaanse Schans-Haarlem: 31 miles/50 km
5. Haarlem -Keukenhof-Leiden: 28 miles/45 km
6. Leiden-Kudelstaart: 28 miles/45 km
7. Kudelstaart-Amsterdam: 31 miles/50 km
8. Departure from Amsterdam

*All distances are approximate. The above planned itinerary is subject to change due to changing wind and weather conditions and other unforeseen circumstances having to do with mooring requirements, etc.

SATURDAY: Amsterdam - Purmerend:  13 miles/20 km
Individual arrival on board. You can put your luggage away in your cabin and then relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. This is a good time for you to become acquainted with the guide, skipper, crew and your fellow passengers. Bicycles will be distributed followed by a  short tour from the ship's berth through the quieter parts of the city heading north. This will take you through the Dutch "Waterland" region (Waterland). The villages and houses stand on ground that is virtually level with the surrounding water. The soil is peaty and soggy. It is a region with a characteristic and age-old Dutch landscape. The polder landscape is scattered with ditches, waterways, drawbridges,mills historic villages and most of all, wooden houses. You will be moored in the city of Purmerend for the night.  Sometime during dinner, the program for the week will be explained.

SUNDAY: Purmerend - Schagen: 28 or 16 miles/45 or 25 km
Today's stage takes you through the 'droogmakerij' Beemster with the 17th century towns of Schermerhorn, Graft and De Rijp. A 'droogmakerij' is a specific type of polder, a portion of a lake around which first a dike was built and which was then reclaimed or impoldered. Graft and De Rijp are two proud, typical 17th century villages that enjoyed great prosperity at the heyday of the fishing and whaling industries. Through Alkmaar, also called the City of Cheese, you will cycle to Schagen. It is also possible to embark in Alkmaar and remain on board to Schagen.

MONDAY: Schagen-Tulip Garden-Alkmaaar: 44 or 31 miles/70 or 50 km
From Schagen you will cycle through the dunes; in this area you will find the most beautiful part. In Anna Paulowna, the center of the largest tulip areas in the Netherlands you will visit a tulip garden where you can learn all there is to know about tulips and tulip growing. Your destination for today is Alkmaar with almost 400 heritage sites, canals and harbors that dominate the town scape.

TUESDAY: Alkmaar-Zaanse Schans-Haarlem:  31 miles/50 km
Today you have time to pay a visit to the Zaanse Schans, a unique hamlet where people live and work in original houses and windmills from the Zaan River area. The hamlet is dominated by three operating windmills, the oldest built in 1673 for grinding mustard, spices, paint and oil and for sawing wood. As you walk through
the village you will see a clock museum, an old fashioned grocery store, a house with period furniture, a clog maker and a cheese farm. From the Zaansee  Schans you sail to Haarlem. Haarlem is a lively city  with many interesting 17th century sights.

WEDNESDAY: Haarlem -Keukenhof-Leiden: 28 miles/45 km
On the agenda today is a visit to the Keukenhof gardens, the most beautiful spring park in the world. Keukenhof is the place where spring first begins. An overwhelming blaze of colors, seven million flowering tulips in a magnificent 80 acres background of traditional and modern gardening architecture. The many blossoms, the flowering rhododendrons and azaleas are a feast to the eye. The night is spent in Leiden, one of the oldest towns in the Netherlands and an important university town.  Here the pilgrims lived before they ventured to Plymouth Rock. You'll find Leiden loaded with important museums. 

THURSDAY: Leiden-Kudelstaart: 28 miles/45 km
Biking from Leiden to Kudelstaart, a small town bordered by the Westeinderplassen, the route passes straight through the green heart of Holland , an area with small cycle paths, lakes, small rivers, cattle and cheese.

FRIDAY: Kudelstaart-Amsterdam: 31 miles/50 km
In the early morning you can visit one of the many flower auctions in Aalsmeer. Every day "Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer" sets the world price for flowers and plants. This happens by bringing supply and demand together by means of the auction clock-a fascinating process during which large and small batches of flowers are sold within fractions of seconds. As a visitor ot Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer, you will walk over a specially designed gallery. Enjoy the gorgeous flowers; experience the hustle and bustle of auction. The flowers and plants that are sold at the auctions are exported all over the world.  Afterward you will cycle to Amsterdam.

SATURDAY:  End of tour

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