Noord Nederland en Texel-island tour

Check in: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Merlijn will set sail for Zaandam where there is an overnight stay. We’ll present you with a welcome drink and introduce the crew. We will also provide information on the tour, the ship, and offer you a safety briefing. During dinner we will arrive in Zaandam. In the evening there will be time for a city walk through Zaandam.

After your first breakfast on board, you can try out your bike and do some sightseeing in ‘de Zaanse Schans’, which is famous for its open-air museum and windmills, and you might want to visit one of the mills. You will get the experience of the real ancient Dutch history. Afterwards the bike tour gets underway, and you will cycle to Alkmaar, along the rest of the Zaanse Schans, leading you through an attractive Dutch landscape. After dinner we offer you an evening stroll through this pretty city, well known for its open-air-cheese-market, unfortunately on Fridays only.

Today’s bike tour leads you through a part of the Netherlands that we call ‘Dutch nature at its purest’, meadows, canals, farm houses and more. Your tour ends in Den Helder, the most northern part of the province ‘North-Holland’, where we will stay overnight.

While you enjoy your breakfast, Captain steers the Merlijn to the isle of Texel. We will sail very close to open sea, if you look very carefully; you can see England. Arrived in Texel you will have the opportunity to cycle this island. Here are dunes, beaches and lots of great bike paths. You will have the chance to visit a cheese farm today or tomorrow and if you want to take a break from cycling you will definitely enjoy the nature and the sea. There are many local dishes on the island. Tonight you will enjoy this local cuisine while having dinner in one of the many restaurants here.

This morning we will stay longer on the island of Texel, so you will be able to cycle more on this beautiful island. Early afternoon we will sail across the Wadden Sea to Stavoren. The Wadden Sea sailing gives you a stunning view on the shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It has a high biological diversity and is an important area for both breeding and migrating birds. It is also possible you will be able to spot some seals. Early evening we will arrive in Stavoren. Enjoy your stroll through this ancient harbor city with many monuments to see.

Your bike tour starts in Stavoren and takes you through the charming landscape of province ‘Friesland’ - with lots of small canals and lakes - to Lemmer. Here you will board the Merlijn and together we sail to Urk, a formerly fisher village with a lot of history, your evening walk through this village after dinner will be very interesting to you.         

Early morning we motor from Urk to Lelystad, along the coast of our new land. Your bike tour of today will be in the ‘new land’, our youngest province called Flevoland. Once this was the ‘Zuiderzee’, an open sea. Flevoland has been reclaimed in the sixties and has become the 12th province of the Netherlands. After you board the Merlijn again, we  have a wonderful afternoon of cruising. Have that last drink or finally read that book you brought! This evening there will be a farewell dinner and the last night on board.

Breakfast, check out and departure. Extend your stay in Holland and reserve some time to explore the city, you might want to go on a ride through the canals, or you may want to visit the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh museum.