Holland & Belgium Premium Tulip tour

Check in: 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Merlijn will set sail for Haarlem 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 Haarlem. In the evening there will be time for a city walk.

During breakfast, the Merlijn will take you a little closer towards the flower exhibition ‘Keukenhof’ and will dock at Cruquius. Here, your bike tour to the flower exhibition Keukenhof will start. It is estimated that nearly 7 million flower bulbs are planted here annually to cover an area of roughly 80 acres. This makes Keukenhof, easily, the largest flower garden in the world. During your visit, you will get to admire all these beautiful tulips and other flowers that are cultivated in Holland (entrance fee included). After spending a few hours here on your own, you cycle on to Leiden, where Merlijn awaits you.

After breakfast your bike tour will start. Soon you will leave the city behind you, and you can enjoy the green scenery. Halfway you will visit the Hague, that houses the buildings of Parliament, and cycle by the King’s Palace. Our destination for today is Delft, famous for the Delft Blue pottery. In the afternoon there is time to visit a 400-year-old factory (included in your tour) where you can see the production and craftsmanship. After dinner there will be a city evening walk to show you Delft’s standout sites.

After a sailing breakfast, today’s cycling tour will start. Soon the skyline of ‘Manhattan on the Maas’ - as the city of Rotterdam is also known - will appear. You will bike along the highlights of this metropole, while following the paved cycle paths. Cross the river with a ferry to reach ‘Kinder-Dijk’, which is world-famous for its windmills, and you will be able to see an impressive row of them, built to drain the ‘Alblasserwaard polder’. The best way to see this open-air museum is by bike! You will cycle along the ‘polder’ towards Papendrecht, from where you have 2 options:

• Board a deluxe fast ferry, which will take you directly where the Merlijn is berthed in Dordrecht.
• Extend the tour and cycle on to Dordrecht.

Tonight you can sample some Dutch cuisine in one of the local restaurants of this charming, well-arranged, mid-sized city.

There will be a sailing breakfast while we cruise to Willemstad. You will then spend some free time in this picturesque small town with its windmill and harbour, after which your bike tour to Tholen will start. The tour will be on flat terrain through a ‘polder landscape’. Tholen was once an island in the middle of the large Zeeland streams, where the main occupation was fishing. Nowadays, it is connected to the mainland in various ways, but is still a charming village with many relics of an eventful past.

Today’s bike tour is not too long, leaving you time to spend an entire afternoon exploring Antwerp. The tour starts after breakfast and just before you reach Antwerp by bike, we offer you 2 options:

1. Board the Merlijn, and together we’ll sail through Antwerp’s magnificent harbour to our docking place in the historic centre. You will have lunch on board, and arrive in the city early to explore the cultural highlights.
2. Carry on biking through the ‘harbour landscape’ until you reach Merlijn’s berth in Antwerp.

Antwerp is not only known as the ‘diamond city’, but also as the native city of the painter Rubens. In the heart of the city you will see the Cathedral of ‘Our Lady’, as well as opulent merchant homes from Antwerp’s illustrious rich past, around the Market Square. Our guide will show you around this marvellous city, where you can have a closer look at the Cathedral. You can also spend your afternoon shopping in the lively city centre. Tonight you can enjoy some Belgian cuisine while eating out in one of the 1000+ local restaurants in Antwerp.

After breakfast your bike tour will start. You’ll leave Antwerp behind you, and wave goodbye while entering the St. Anna tunnel, which will take you to the other side of the Schelde river. From here, you follow the river further upstream via Temse to Sint-Amands. There is a beautiful cycle path, and the landscape around the river is magnificent. Sint-Amands is a small town on the tidal Schelde River, surrounded by nature.

In the morning, we cruise to Dendermonde, a nice country town on the Dender estuary. Your bike tour starts from here and leads you further along the beautiful but capricious tidal river Schelde. Soon you will see the city of Ghent. Ghent is a lively university city, and once again one with a rich past. This city has its origins in Roman times, at the place where the rivers Leie and Schelde converge. This favorable situation brought a great deal of prosperity over the years. The major church is the St. Baafs Cathedral, built in various ages and in various styles. We will park the bikes and get to enjoy a different view of the city during a boat ride through the city’s canals. Merlijn’s berth is a fair distance from the city, when you have gained enough impressions we will cycle on to the ship and enjoy another delicious dinner on board.

We start with a sailing breakfast and then head for Aalter, where your bike tour will start, taking you through the pleasant countryside of Western Flanders to Bruges. Bruges, also called ‘the Venice of the North’, is perhaps the most beautiful of all Flemish cities. Its old centre, which dates back to the Middle Ages, is almost completely intact. At the time, Bruges was a metropolis, a centre of art and commerce, which we can still fully enjoy. It’s also a great place to shop or have an evening out. We end with an onboard dinner and evening stroll through the city.

Today you have 2 options;

1. A guided bike tour to Oostende, a major city by the sea. Have a swim in the North Sea, and feel the sand between your toes while you enjoy a picnic lunch on the beach or at a seaside restaurant.
2. Culture lovers can leave their bike onboard and go sightseeing in the city of Bruges. Visit the market square, go on a ride through the canals, and eat some Belgian fries for lunch!

Everybody returns on board for the Farewell dinner and your last overnight stay on the Merlijn.

After breakfast it is time to say goodbye and continue your European trip or leave for the airport.