Coast, Flowers & Island Tour

DAY TO DAY SCHEDULE

The first day of your holiday you will stay in the cheese city of Alkmaar. Alkmaar has a rich history and a world famous cheese market (on fridays). Alkmaar can be reached by train from Amsterdam Airport in about 45 minutes. Free parking at the hotel. You wont need a reservation.

The second day of your tour will be unforgettable; you are going to visit the windmill area of the Zaanse Schans and end your day in the vibrant city of Amsterdam. Riding along the North Sea coast offers a combination of long sandy beaches and beautiful nature. The villages along the coast such as Wijk aan Zee, Castricum and Egmond aan Zee have their own characteristics which will be evident once you pass through them. The Zaanse Schans with its famous windmills has an open air museum lying next to the river the Zaan. The style of this area is 17th-18th Century: beautiful dark green wooden buildings, bridges and windmills. Amsterdam will welcome you with romantic canals, bridges and… more than 800,000 bicycles! Staying in Amsterdam is a never-ending trip of entertainment and excitement with very few limitations on exploring the human mind and spirit. But it also offers something for the more cultured person with lots of art, historic buildings, a quiet evening out or just looking around the canal area. Either way you’ll have a great time. A canal boat trip is a great way to get a better look at the canal houses .

This lovely trip takes you along the waterfront of the Hoornsche Hop and Lake Markermeer past and through villages such as Monnickendam, Edam and Volendam. Volendam offers many shops to browse around, restaurants and cafes, where hundreds of tourists every day enjoy the authentic atmosphere and the view of the historic harbor.

The cycle route continues along the coast of the former Zuiderzee. Cozy old villages are plenty in this part of West-Friesland with farms and mills, large fields with all kinds of vegetables, especially many types of cabbage and onions. Towns such as Hoorn, Enkhuizen Zuiderzee with its outdoor and Medemblik are really worth seeing.

Along The Wieringermeer lake you bike from Medemblik to Den Helder. South of Den Helder has lies the largest flower bulb region in the world. In spring it is a great color sea of tulips and other flowers.

Texel is the largest Wadden island and the largest island in The Neterlands. It has a beautiful nature and is perfect to discover by bike. There are several bike trails on the island, including through the beautiful nature reserve De Slufter, the only area in the Netherlands where the sea has had its flow unhindered. A walk in the Slufter is an amazing experience when you’re an admirer of nature.

On your last biking day yuo cycle down the North Sea coast past wide beaches, seaside resorts, woods and Zwanenwater, a dune reserve. All along our North Sea coast, dunes protect the hinterland from being flooded by the sea – except near the town of Petten. Here, the dunes have been washed away and a sea wall has been built. An exhibition, “De Dijk te Kijk”, explains all about the past, present and future of the sea wall and about the trials and tribulations of the people of Petten over the course of many centuries.

After breakfast you return home again!