Cycling

Day 1

Schiedam

A town known for their gin, historic canals and tallest windmills in the world

Pick-up from the hotel/airport is around 1pm so that guests can be aboard Cruiseship Aurora by 2pm, they get their suites, introduction + speech, welcome drink/aperitif etc and canapes..This first day our guests would do their bike fitting and then just explore the local area via a short tour around Schiedam

If preferred, then up to 2,5 hr cycling tour from Schiedam can be:

Schiedam – Rotterdam (and back): cycle to the city of Rotterdam with stops by all the major sightseeing places (Euromast, Markethall, cubic houses, Old port, Erasmus bridge and Holland America next to SS Rotterdam), this is about 15km

If longer route is desired, then do the loop around the Kralingen lake as well and return back to Schiedam for a dinner around 7pm…this is about 25 km route

Day 2

Rotterdam to Delft

Known for the Delft Blue Pottery.

The luxury barge cruise departs 8.30 during breakfast, leaves through the lock at 9am onto Maas river, then next to Euromast via Parksluis at 10am we get back into peaceful inland waterways past Overschie and head for Delft with arrival around noon. Guests will spend morning on board and after an early lunch they shall cycle around the town to see the beautiful square and admire the famous town for a bit with an optional visit of Royal Delft. In the afternoon ride scheduled into the countryside around the town.

Day 3

Delft to Leiden

A city known for their rich history, the courtyards, the oldest university of the country and vibrant city center.

After breakfast guests disembark and hop on their bikes. From Delft we cycle in the direction of The Hague, through ‘het Haagse Bosch’, a large park, and past the former Royal Palace ‘Huis ten Bosch’. The long tour leads you over tranquil cycle paths through the dunes to Wassenaarse Slag. Here you can see the remains of the Atlantikwall. Five bunkers are connected by nearly 3,000-feet-long brick tunnels. Now the underground network serves as a bat reserve. The route continues through the dunes, to Katwijk aan Zee, an old fishing village. The old inhabitants of Katwijk still speak their own dialect, ‘Kattuks’. Following the course of the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) river we cycle to Leiden. Leiden boasts 14 museums, including the Rijksmuseum. The ship is moored near the Zijlpoort, a gate that once formed part of the city walls. The shorter route leads you inland after ‘Huis den Bosch’ and brings you along ‘Vlietlanden’ a 130 ha big recreational lake to Leiden…this longer route takes about 50km, incl. a few km around Delft and Leiden to get to Aurora moored up at Zijlpoort.

Day 4

Leiden to Haarlem

A city known of famous museums, culinary restaurants and the Golden Streets.

Depending on the season, the cycling route varies either through the tulip/bulb fields (March to May) which is about 40km or guests can take the so called Haarlem/Leiden Dunes cycle route – about 50km.

A) Leiden – Keukenhof Tulip Gardens – Haarlem: out of Leiden you are heading north past Kaag Plassen, towards Lisse and Keukenhof Tulip Gardens – the most beautiful flower park in the world where spring breaks and one gets overwhelmed with a blaze of colours. Admire about seven million flowering tulips in a magnificent 80-acres’ background of traditional and modern gardening architecture. You can also admire the various hyacinths, daffodils and many other colorful flowers. In the afternoon you cycle to Haarlem and one should take a tour through this old capital of the North Holland province to stop by some typical “hofjes” (almshouses), old houses with a central courtyard now usually housing the elderly, or just admire the main square “Grote Markt” – with a plethora of outdoor cafes, the Butcher’s hall, the townhall, the cathedral of St Bavo etc.

Aurora is moored up within a stone’s throw from St.Bavo’s church at the Donkere Spaarne.

B)Leiden-Haarlem: after tulip cruise season we would suggest that our guests cycle along the so called Haarlem-Leiden Dunes Cycle Route that is about 50- 55km long. The cycle trip leads through the quaint villages and the beautiful natural surrounding with woods, dunes and meadows, where guests pedal along the North Sea coastline and once they leave the vibrant university town of Leiden (Rembrandt’s birthplace), they cycle through the fishing village of Katwijk and the seaside resort of Noordwijk. Then they can either pass the country estates near Vogelenzang, the forest and go past the Cruquis (museum) into Haarlem via this southern route. Or they can keep following the beach into Zandvoort and Bloemendaal and get to Haarlem this way.

Day 5

Haarlem to Zaandam

A town known of the cheese dairy, various windmills and the colorful wooden houses.

From Haarlem we set sail in the morning around 9am (due to bridge opening), we get through the Spaarnsluis (the lock) and cruise through the North Sea Canal, to our mooring spot in Zaandam – usually by the Zaan theater. From here our guests will cycle onto Zaanse Schans only about 6km away. The Zaanse Schans, with its traditional weatherboard doll houses, warehouses and windmills may give you the blast from the past feeling of stepping back into the 17th or 18th century. Yet this is no open-air museum, but a lively neighborhood where people live and work. Among other things, a cheese farm, a clog maker and an old-fashioned bakery store and a clock museum, can be visited here. Lunch will be in the village so that you can taste the authentic local cuisine in one of the cosy restaurants.

From Zaanse Schans one can cycle through so called Zaanse Schans Cycle Route (www.holland-cycling.com, either 52km/3,5hr or 39km/2,5hr)

And for those more sportive the option to cycle east across the beautiful countryside towards the picturesque villages of Broek in Waterland, Monnickendam and Marken can be scheduled with the option of taking a ferry across to Volendam – about 60km total.

Day 6

Zaandam to Alkmaar

A city known for their cheese market and the beautiful old city with many canals

Aurora sets sail from Zaandam early on and cruises through the green rural countryside towards our destination Alkmaar. The guests start their cycling from Zaandam and cycle past the open air museum of Zaanse Schans and continue following the river Zaan and the Knollendammer canal to our cheese town Alkmaar. Lunch aboard and then an optional cycle trip to the unique wooded dune area near the villages Bergen and Schoorl and to the Hondsbossche Zeewering, a sea wall. You’ll have plenty of time to have a drink at an outdoor cafe or to walk on the beach. If you feel like it, you are of course, free to spend a day on your own sightseeing in Alkmaar or relaxing at the seaside.