• Meals: Dinner

Between 13:00 and 14.00 you’ll board your boat and be met by the captain, crew and local leader. After stowing your luggage you can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and meet the other guests. The first part of the tour see us sailing to Spaarndam (at 14:15), known as the village of Hansje Brinker and from here we’ll take a gentle ride into the beautiful city of Haarlem.

Haarlem offers many interesting sites from the 17th century. The Market Square with the Grote Kerk (Great Church) or St. Bavo Kerk (1390-1520) is particularly well-known; Mozart gave a concert here! Other famous places include the Town Hall, the Waag (weighing-house) and the Vleeshal (the former Meat Hall, now housing part of the Frans Hals museum with many 17th-century old masters).

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Today starts with a short ride through the centre of Haarlem to have a better look at some of the city’s typical almshouses. From Haarlem you’ll be cycling to the ‘Cruquiusgemaal’ (Cruquius Pumping Station), one of the three steam-powered pumping stations that drained the Haarlemmer Lake between 1849 and 1852. Now a museum, it gives you an excellent idea of the Dutch ‘battle against the water‘. You’ll then make your way through the dunes to the beach and on towards Leiden, your destination for the day.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

You’ll leave Leiden in a southerly direction and ride along the Vliet canal. In Voorschoten you’ll turn westwards towards the coastline. ‘Wassenaarse Slag’ (the entrance to the beach near the Dutch town of Wassenaaryou) is a great spot to take a break. The beaches can be reached through the Meijendelse Slag at the southern end or the Wassenaarse Slag at the northern end of the 8 Km stretch of coast.

The route to Delft takes you along the water once again. The old centre of Delft is well worth a visit; a well-conserved medieval city with canals, a magnificent town hall and a royal tomb in the Nieuwe Kerk. .

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Today is yours to do with as you please! You can stay in Delft and discover the old centre or visit The Hague by public transport. Delft is a beautiful town to wander round; learn more about the famous dutch painter Vermeer at the Vermeer Centre or visit the Nieuwe Kerk. When the weather is clear the view from the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) is spectacular; a large part of the Green Heart can be seen from here! It is here in Delft also, that the famous blue and white Delft Blue pottery originated and it’s still produced by hand.

The most prominent features of Delft are its five windmills, the tallest in the world. Once there were over twenty mills in the town, most of them being used for grinding grain for the distillers who distilled malt spirit for the jenever (Dutch type of gin) industry. The remaining five giants are still characteristic of the city.

The city of The Hague has an international character with its wide avenues, parks and stately mansions. Possible visits include the Peace Palace (housing the International Court of Justice) the Binnenhof, with the 13th-century Ridderzaal (Knights’ Hall) and the seat of the Dutch Government and Parliament.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

The first part of today’s route will see you sailing through the centre of Rotterdam, thus giving you the best view of the modern architecture of this port. Your cycling day starts in Kinderdijk and then takes you through the Alblasserwaard, situated in between rivers and showing you a wide scenery of water and meadows.

Via the ‘storks village’ of Groot-Ammers you’ll cross the river Lek and enter Schoonhoven, renowned for its silver industry. In the Bartholomeus Church Olivier van Noort was buried, the first Hollander who made a trip around the world, in the 17th century. The bells in the little open tower of the town hall were cast out of his ship’s cannons.

You’ll continue on towards Gouda. Known for its cheese, pipes, stroopwafels (treacle-waffles) and pottery. You will also discover beautiful stained-glass windows, a fairytale-like town hall and atmospheric canals. Gouda is a beautiful Old-Dutch city and after dinner you will be able to talk a walk through the city.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

From Gouda you will continue your tour over country roads, banks and channels through the Green Heart and polders to Oude Wetering, a sleepy village between the lakes of Braasemmermeer and Westeinderplannen.

On the way you pass the wetlands of Reeuwijkse Plassen, north of Gouda, and will ride through typical Dutch countryside with many waterways, green pastures and of course some windmills.

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Today you will first ride to the village of Uithoorn. Circa 1885, several fortifications were built around Oude Wetering and Uithoorn as part of the Defence Line of Amsterdam. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam.

From Uithoorn you start your ride into Amsterdam. Amsterdam’s name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city’s origin as a dam of the river Amstel. The extensive network of bicycle paths ensures a relatively easy way back into the city, showing you some remarkable sites in the center.

Time for a farewell dinner and then you may wish to take a canal trip or take a stroll through the city.

• Meals: Breakfast

After our last breakfast, it’s time to disembark (by 10am) and say goodbye to your fellow passengers, your guide and the crew before starting your journey home.