
Holiday Highlights
- Staying on board a charming Dutch Barge
- Cycling through beautiful Flemish cities
- Enjoying a leisurely evening meal, with a friendly mix of nationalities
- Viewing the impressive 17th century windmills at Kinderdijk
- Spending the night in the lively, diverse city of Ghent
- Experiencing the UNESCO World Heritage town of Bruges
Would absolutely recommend Skedaddle – service and product were excellent. I loved this holiday. I saw areas of the countries that the average traveler would never see. The bike and barge was a prefect mix – cycle all day and relax on a nice river cruise ship at night.
Itinerary
- Meals: Dinner
Today you will arrive into Bruges and make your way to your barge for 13.00 to board (boarding between 13:00 and 14:00). After a welcome meeting with the crew at 14:00, there’ll be time for a bike fitting and a short test ride through the countryside surrounding Bruges. After dinner your guide will take you for a short walk through the centre of Bruges.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
We’ll start our day today on the water as the barge leaves Bruges early in the morning. Just outside the city, our first bike tour through the flat lands of West-Flanders, to Ghent, begins. Our destination today is the historical centre of Ghent, which you can explore during an afternoon stroll; the town centre features lovely illuminated streets which are simply unmissable! The barge is docked in Merelbeke (a small suburb); just a 30 minute cycle from Ghent city centre.

- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
After breakfast in Ghent, we’ll ride downstream through a diverse landscape, discovering some of the most beautiful parts of the River Schelde. The route will take us to Dendermonde; a charming town on the confluence of the River Dender and Schelde, with a beautiful town hall located on a cozy square; the perfect place to sit with a coffee and watch the world go by.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today we will follow the River Schelde further downstream over Baasrode and Temse to Antwerp. There is a beautiful cycling track along the river and the scenery is magnificent! Antwerp is well known as a major sea port and the city where the famous painter Rubens was born. If you‘re an art lover, you should take some time to visit the cathedral where you can admire his paintings. Antwerp is also famous for handling up to 80% of the world’s rough diamonds.

- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
This morning, the ship will sail along the Schelde-Rhine Canal to the huge Kreekrak lock system. Here your bicycle tour starts throufh the beautiful “Wouwse Plantage” forest to Tholen.
Tholen was once an island in the middle of the large Zeeland streams, where many of the locals here would spend their days fishing for a living. Nowadays the island is not as isolated as there are many connections to the mainland, however this remains as picturesque village with many relics of an eventful past.
From here you’ll enjoy a lovely afternoon sail on to Dordrecht, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and our destination for the day. During the cruise be sure to watch out for the impressive Volkerak lock system. This evening your tour leader will take you for a stroll around Dordrecht town telling you about the history of the Netherlands.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Today a fast ferry will bring you to Alblasserdam, from where you cycle to Kinderdijk, the most famous windmills in the Netherlands with 19 UNESCO cultural heritage-listed windmills in a row (don’t forget your camera!).
The windmills were constructed in the 18th century to pump water out of the low Alblasserwaard polder, and here you can visit one of the windmills to get a real insight into times gone by. We’ll then cycle via the Silver City of Schoonhoven to Vianen, a tranquil, fortified town on the River Lek, where we will spend the night.

- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
We’ll begin today with a gentle cruise to Breukelen, where we will disembark and start our final day of cycling along the Vecht River. Today we’ll be biking through an area well known for its beautiful mansions, small castles and grand houses with large gardens and parks. We’ll ride through the small villages of Nieuwersluis, Loenen and Vreeland to Nigtevecht, where we can visit a traditional cheese farm. We continue through Muiden to finally reach our destination; Amsterdam!
- Meals: Breakfast
It’s time to say goodbye to your floating home, as we disembark the barge and depart after breakfast, by 09:30am.

Gallery
The Cycling
Terrain
The route follows mostly flat terrain along quiet roads and cycle paths. Around 50% of the route is shared with traffic, and 50% is on cycle paths where you’ll be separated from motor vehicles. If any of the days are too long, or you would just like to put your feet up for a day, there is the option to stay on board the barge during the day. Due to the leisurely nature of the tour we do recommend a hybrid bike, however as the majority of the route sticks to tarmac the route is suitable for road bikes. (There may however be short sections on cobbles or hard-packed gravel or dirt roads where you may have to take extra care).

Leisure Cycling Grade
Distances generally between 15-30 miles / 24-48 kms per day
For those looking for an easy-going route
Mainly on the flat
Some undulations and the odd cheeky challenge
Our grading guidelines have been carefully created based on our many years of cycling experience, as well as customer feedback from our trips. Of course, if you're still struggling to figure out where you fit on the scale, do feel free to give us a quick call and we'll be more than happy to help!
For more information about our grading system click here.
Is this suitable for you?
Maybe you have recently got into cycling and would like to do more over consecutive days, or maybe you‘re looking for a more energetic alternative to your usual holiday? If you‘re looking for an opportunity to try some quiet roads, cycle paths or some accessible, cycle friendly routes these holidays might be for you. You’ll come across some gently undulating terrain and the odd cheeky challenge, so we’d generally expect those on a Grade 2 holiday to ride their bikes relatively frequently at home, perhaps commuting to work or heading out for some leisurely rides at the weekend.
Dates & Prices
Late Availability
We want you to know which holidays are coming up soon, so you don’t miss out! If a trip has this symbol beside it, it means you don’t have long to snap up your place.
OFFER ALERT! Save 20% on all departures before 01 June, 2021. Simply quote EARLY21 at point of booking to redeem this offer. Terms and conditions apply
Private Departures
Are you keen to only travel with your family or friends? Struggling to find the right date? Well, we can organise a private departure for this tour and tailor aspects to suit your group's specific needs. Contact our friendly team and we'll help you turn your dream into reality.
Whats Included 
A) Barge accommodation (shared twin / double en suite cabins)
B) Meals as per the itinerary (B=Breakfast, L=Packed Lunch, D=Dinner)
C) English speaking local leader
D) Daily route information
E) Linen and towels provided
F) Coffee and tea on board the boat (until 16.00)
G) Daily route information (1 set per cabin)
H) Tickets for the “Water Bus” fast ferry as mentioned in the itinerary
I) Ferry Fares
What's not Included 
A) Bike hire (available if required)
B) Flights and charges for travelling with your bike (if applicable)
C) Single cabin (available on request)
D) Travel insurance
E) Personal clothing and equipment
F) Personal expenditure (souvenirs, bar bills, hotel facilities etc)
G) Entrance fees to museums and other attractions en route
H) Travel to barge on arrival day
I) Travel from barge on departure day
The Essentials
News, Reviews & Stories
Reviews
Glynis, UKA superb trip!Tour leader was excellent! Greatly appreciated his group management style and skills, his knowledge of the areas and the history as well as easy attentive attitude to all in the group. No one day stood out as better than others. The variety in the routes was very good, the time in cities and villages worked well, evening entertainment was nicely planned. Overall a superb trip!
Gwen, CanadaLoved it!Tom, our Tour Leader, had some fun stories to tell as he showed us around towns and also had some interesting places off the regular stops that were interesting and fun. Favourite day? Loved them all! We were on 3 different boats one day and on another water taxis and a long tunnel under the river into Antwerp.