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Holland's Tulips 5-day Bike and Barge Tour (FV)
Experience Holland in the best possible way: a gorgeous spring short break dominated by flowers. This 5-day mini-cruise ploughs through the most beautiful season of the year and will take you to gorgeous areas such in “the Garden of Amsterdam”. Enjoy some unforgettable days on board of a passenger barge with excellent service and an alternating itinerary.
Amsterdam is also called, by some, the smallest metropolis of Europe. There are many unique museums, enticing shopping and, recently added to the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage list, the canals in the heart of Amsterdam certainly make a visit to Amsterdam a highlight. Visit the famous flower market in the centre of the capital and discover the Zaanse Schans open-air museum including windmills, a traditional cheesemaker, a clog maker and an authentic traditional Dutch village.
Other highlights of this trip
For many years the river cruiser has been a popular choice. Onboard of this charming barge, which caters for a maximum of 44 guests, there are 18 twins and 4 double cabins: 14 regular and 1 smaller twin on the lower deck, and 3 twins and 4 double cabins on the upper deck. All of these are equipped with the necessary facilities: beds, bathroom, air conditioning and a cabinet for your belongings. Have drink in the salon on the upper deck and enjoy your meal in the restaurant area. Or take a seat on the large sun deck if the weather allows it.
If you would like to rent a bike (60 EUR) or e-bike (145 EUR), helmet (10 EUR), bike limit of liability (10/25 EUR) please contact our office when booking: [email protected]
Slow Tours offers a number of other Tulip Tours in Holland
Tour Details Holland: Tulip Tour
Amsterdam | Amsterdam – Zaandam
Embarkation and check-in, where the crew will welcome you onboard, takes place at 2pm. As soon as all guests have arrived a short cruise will bring you to Zaandam, a spot famous for its windmills. Here, your barge will berth in the centre of the city for the night. Upon arrival you can enjoy taking your new bike for a brief test ride through the surrounding area. In the evening, enjoy a short walk through the picturesque centre of Zaandam.
Zaandam – Zaanse Schans – Zaandam | Zaandam – Haarlem 24km or 34km
After breakfast you will enjoy a 5km bicycle ride to the open-air museum “Zaanse Schans” with beautiful windmills, traditional wooden houses, an old Dutch village, a cheese farm and a traditional wooden clog maker. In the afternoon you have a choice to make: you can either cycle 24km to Haarlem or take it easy and join the barge while enjoying the scenery. In Haarlem visit the historical inner city with the Grote Market and St. Bavo church. Your barge will be berthed not far from the centre of Haarlem for the night, so you will have time to enjoy a short city walk in the afternoon or in the evening.
Haarlem – Keukenhof – Oude Wetering approx. 40km
Today you will cycle to the Keukenhof, arguably the most famous flower park in the world where you can admire hundreds of thousands of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and many other flowers in full bloom. After an extensive visit, you will get back on your bicycle at noon and will head to Oude Wetering, a small village, where your floating hotel will be waiting for you.
Oude Wetering – Amsterdam | Amsterdam Waterland cycling tour approx. 27-35km
This morning you are in for a real treat – an early visit by bus (6.30am) to the biggest flower auction in the world at Aalsmeer. In the morning millions of flowers are auctioned off here and are instantly sent out to all parts of the world. By 9am you will return onto your barge where a late breakfast will be waiting for you before you make your way to Amsterdam by bicycle. During the afternoon you will join the barge sailing through Amsterdam, there is time to discover this amazing city. Visit the inner city flower market, go to a museum, do some shopping, there is just so much to do!
The Aalsmeer flower auction is closed during weekends and on public holidays. This is an optional visit. Please be aware that on the April 14 and 22 tour 2021, a visit to the flower auction is not possible.
Amsterdam
Disembarkation after breakfast until 9.30 am: End of your trip.
The tour details are barring changes, a.o. as a result of nautical, technical or meteorological reasons.
We had a fantastic time aboard the barge for the Tulip Tour with Jens and Marleen as our guides. Many of the boat crew were delightful, and the food was excellent. If there were any issues on the ship, the crew were quick to address them. The group of passengers on our boat were all very nice and a quick camaraderie was formed between us all. The bike tour itself was outstanding. We opted for regular bikes, but many on our boat had e-bikes. The Dutch mountains (fierce headwinds) did make an appearance on couple of occasions, but we managed the week without electric assist. We traveled in many different sized groups throughout the week and the level of care the guides took to make sure everyone was informed and looked after was above and beyond. There were numerous other boats doing the same tour routes as us, so it was great to get to meet those crews, passengers, and guides as well. Every night our guides offered a walking tour of each city we were docked in, and we even received a history lesson on the reclaimed lands from Marleen, our guide, whose family has lived there for quite some time. This was our first experience traveling like this and we were not let down in any way.
Thanks once again for your patience and kindness booking me for the Amsterdam trip with bikes. The bikes were great and fit well. The guides Frans and Janz were fun to be with and very helpful. Bea, Nadja, and the staff were tremendous and sweet. Captain Richard was a gentleman without par. The meals gave us energy for the biking. I loved the design of the barge with its spacious lounge fulfilling bar, reading, eating, and get-to-know you space. The windmills and tulips took my breath away! - April 2023
Tours marked with are special prices.
| Start | End | Max. No. Guests | Accommodation | Price p.p. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 01 2025 | Apr 05 2025 | 44 | Single rooms | 1,229€ | ||
| Double rooms | 819€ | |||||
| Apr 05 2025 | Apr 09 2025 | 44 | Single rooms | 0€ | ||
| Double rooms | 869€ | |||||
| Apr 09 2025 | Apr 13 2025 | 44 | Single rooms | 0€ | ||
| Double rooms | 869€ |
If you would like to drive yourself before or after your tour, ask us for a quote on any brand new Renault, Peugeot or Citroen vehicle for driving in Europe.
Pick up your vehicle from most capital cities in Europe and return it to your drop off destination. Top insurance cover. Email [email protected] for a competitive quote
32
Really can’t begin to say how much we enjoyed this bike and boat tour - it totally surpassed our expectations, and we knew when we booked it would be an amazing trip. Right from the minute we stepped on board, the crew looked after everything for us. They were very professional, but friendly and fun also. Vases of tulips greeted us in the dining room and salon area - nice touch!! The meals were incredible - never expected an Italian chef, that was a huge bonus!! Our cabins were a good size and had lots of storage, and were tidied up daily for us. The bikes were light weight and set up for us - great for the cycling we did. Our cycling tour guides really made the trip for us - they were fun, caring, so informative about the area and went out of their way to do little extras for us. Such amazing ambassadors for you!!! We have been talking nonstop about our trip since we got back - and would recommend it to anyone who wants to see a country up close and personal!! Robert, 28 April 2019