Southern Tulip Tour

Embarkation is between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM. The barge is moored at the Oosterdok in central Amsterdam, near the train station. After arrival on board, you can settle in and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. It is also a good moment to become acquainted with the tour leader, skipper and crew and of course your fellow passengers.
You will first cruise through Amsterdam before reaching the wetlands south of the city and the mooring place of today, the village of Oude Wetering. A relaxed way of starting your trip and get used to life on the barge.

During dinner aboard the ship, the program for the next day and the global planning of the week are discussed. Instruc- tions on cycling and safely procedures will also be given. After dinner the tour leader will escort you on the first kilometers on your bike during a short ride around the village.

From Oude Wetering, we will continue our tour over country roads, banks and channels through the Green Heart and pol- ders to the city known for its cheese: Gouda.
Your ride takes you through a typical Dutch landscape filed with green meadows, wetlands, canals, rivers and small villages. You will cross waterways on small ferries and over bridges. Before we reach Gouda you ride through the Reeuwijkse Plassen, a nature reserve and renowned wetland.

Who thinks of Gouda, not only thinks of cheese, pipes, ‘stroopwafels’ (treacle-waffle) and pottery, but also of stained- glass windows, a fairy-like town hall and atmospheric canals. Gouda is beautiful Old-Dutch city with a mostly intact city center.
The ‘St. Janskerk’, Gouda’s 123-metre-long church, with its renowned ‘Goudse Glazen’ (leaded light windows), the beauti- ful gothic town hall and the ‘Waag’ (a building once used for weighing cheese) are absolutely worth a visit.

As on most evenings after dinner the tour guide will take you on a walk through the city.

Today we cycle from Gouda over easy and quiet country roads past scenic polders via Kinderdijk to Rotterdam. Kinderdijk has a UNESCO cultural World Heritage listing and is the largest group of windmills in the Netherlands. The 19 windmills at Kinderdijk are an impressive sight and were still actively used until 1950. These days, a large pumping station is responsible for controlling the water level in the polder. Here you can visit a windmill from inside. An impressive piece of centuries old technique that is still functional today.

From Kinderdijk you take the ferry to Rotterdam where the barge is waiting for you. From there the barge takes you to Delft, the town famous for its pottery, the ‘Delft blue’. The Prinsenhof Museum is housed in the former St Agatha’s monastery. In 1572 William of Orange chose the convent as one of his residences. It was from here that he led the revolt against the Spanish tyranny of Holland. He was murdered on the steps of the Prinsenhof on July 10, 1584, by Balthazar Gerards, a Spanish sympathiser. Two bullet holes in the wall of the stairs bear witness to this event.

On Sundays the most Dutch take out their bikes for a ride. From Delft we cycle to Den Haag (The Hague), where you can visit the Binnenhof with the houses of parliament, the royal palace Noordeinde and the Peace Palace (Vredespaleis). You continue through the Haagse Bosch, a large park, and past the other royal palace Huis ten Bosch. A tranquil cycle path through the dunes leads you to Wassenaarse Slag. Here some remains of the WW II structure Atlantikwall can still be seen. Five bunkers are connected by nearly 3,000-feet-long brick tunnels. You continue 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. 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.

Today you visit the Keukenhof gardens, the most beautiful spring park in the world. An overwhelming blaze of colours of 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 pavilions will surprise you with unique flower shows. And amidst the wealth of colours there are surprising objects of art. This unequalled combination is extremely pleasing to the eye. In the Keukenhof various gardens and gardening styles can be found: the English Landscape Garden, the Historical Garden, the Natural Garden, the Japanese Natural Garden, the Formal Garden and three special colours gardens. Spread throughout the entire park there are approximately eighty sculptures from well-known Dutch artists. There are also several other art objects, such as the collection ‘Surprising Tulips’.

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From Leiden you cycle through wonderful flower beds in the direction of Haarlem. In the period of March to May the bulb fields are blooming, starting with daffodils and followed by hyacinths, tulips and lilies. The colors in the fields are over- whelming and look almost unreal. Once in the city of Haarlem you can make a short walking tour through the city to see some typical ‘hofjes’ (almshouses), old houses around a central courtyard, now usually housing elderly people.

Haarlem, which rendered its name to Harlem, New York, is a lively city with good shopping possibilities. The barge is berthed in the city centre, with a view of St Bavo’s Church and with easy access to the Grote Markt with its many outdoor cafés. As on most evenings the tour guide will take you on a walk around the city after dinner.

From Haarlem you sail to Spaarndam, a picturesque village on the edge of Haarlem. Spaarndam’s name comes from the dam built in the Spaarne River to limit the danger of flooding from the sea. Here you can find the statue of Hansje Brinker on the IJdijk. Hansje is a character from an American novel, which saved the country from flooding by putting his finger in the dike. The Buitenhuizen ferry takes you across the North Sea Canal and from there you cycle to the Zaanse Schans. The Zaanse Schans, with its traditional weatherboard houses, warehouses and windmills may give you the 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 bakery can be visited here. The last kilometres are a leisurely ride into Amsterdam.

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