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Bike/Barge Tour from Amsterdam (8 days)
Route: Amsterdam > Volendam > Enkhuizen > Medenblik > Texel > Alkmaar > Amsterdam
Price: On a Standard Plus Barge, the price is $1260 Low Season and $1375 High Season /person (double occupancy).
Low Season: April 5, June 7, 14, 21 September 20, 2008
High season: April 12, 19, 26, May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, June 28, July 12, August 9, 23, 30, September 6, 13, 2008
You will cycle straight across a distinctly rural environment. Not until the 17th Century was this area recovered from the sea and reclaimed with the use of hundreds of windmills. Many of these windmills are still in working order. One can get a feel for the old Dutch atmosphere in Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Edam and Volendam: traditional costumes, sailing ships and long johns on the clotheslines. Then you sail to Texel, an island with thousands of sheep and a magnificent nature reserve.
Back on the mainland the route brings you over small dykes and country roads, through vast polders and through the most beautiful dune area: from Schoorl, almost unpronounceable for foreigners, to Bergen. These are also the only kilometres you will be cycling above sea level.
Alkmaar will also provide a good picture of ancient times. It is the capital of Dutch cheese with its own cheese market and weighhouse for cheese. In Zaanse Schans the mills, still in working order, and houses bring the past to life.
Time for tulips
April and May are the tulip months. You will cycle amid colorful tulip fields stretching for miles.
Day-by-Day Itinerary:
Saturday
Amsterdam, embarkation at 4 PM near Central Station, short round trip 20km/ 13 miles
Sunday:
Amsterdam - Volendam (42km)
Monday
Volendam - Enkhuizen (57 km)
Tuesday
Enkhuizen - Medemblik/Oude Zeug (33-43 km). Sailing to Texel.
Wednesday
Texel round trip (40, 50 or 66 km).
Thursday
Texel - Sailing to Den Helder - Biking to Alkmaar (54 km).
Friday
Alkmaar - Zaanse Schans - Amsterdam (58 km).
Saturday
Amsterdam, debarkation before 10 AM near Central Railway Station
Included in tour:
• 7 nights accommodations aboard barge
• Full board (breakfast + packed lunch + 3-courses dinner)
• Coffee and Tea on board
• Tour guide
• Route description
• Use of 24 speed Gazelle Medeo bicycle with panniers, lock and water bottle
• Credit card fee
• Booking fee
• Ferry fares on the route
Not included in tour:
• Airfare
• entrance fees to museums approx. 15 euro
• Drinks (other than coffee & tea on board)
• Bicycle damage protection insurance
• Transfer between airport and barge in Amsterdam
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