Europe 2026 – Trip Overview

On March 30, I will be travelling to Europe for 23 days with some of my friends from BikeBrampton: David and Dayle, Cindy and Mark, Alina, and Wayne, It will be my first time travelling with Cindy’s husband Mark, and with Alina. We started planning by booking an 8 day Bike and Barge tour of the Netherlands beginning April 4. We agreed that eight days is too short a time to spend in Europe, so we built out our trip from there.

We decided to fly to Amsterdam on March 29 and spend five days in Amsterdam before boarding the barge. We will tour Amsterdam, visit the Rijsmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history, the Van Gogh Museum, and take a day tour to The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam. One of the cycling days on the barge part of the trip will take us to the famous Keukenhof Gardens. We have already bought our tickets to some of these places, because apparently things fill up quickly.

This image from the tour website shows the path of the barge in blue, and the routes we will be cycling in white. The tour operator has created an “Experience” in RidewithGPS. We can access it with a code to add it to our RidewithGPS account. This allows us to view the routes we will be riding. It also provides for voice navigation while riding. There were trips available with a ride leader for an additional cost, but we all agreed we prefer the self-guided option.

This is a picture of the bikes we will be riding. E bikes are available, but we chose acoustic.

David and Dayle, and Wayne will be returning to Canada a day after the cruise. Cindy and Mark will continue to explore the Netherlands and Belgium for another week. Alina is from Wroclaw, Poland, and has an apartment there. She and I will be flying there after the cruise. We will spend five days exploring the area, and then take a train to Berlin where we will stay for three days. We will return overnight to Amsterdam on the European Sleeper, and fly home that evening.

I have been creating lists in Google Maps of places I am interested in visiting. I have one for each of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Wroclaw and Berlin. I uploaded the cycling routes from the RidewithGPS Experience to Google MyMaps so that I can see the proximity of the places in my lists to the routes we will be cycling.

I have not visited the Netherlands, Poland, or Germany before. I do have Dutch roots. My maiden name is Van Velzer. My Halloween costume about 50 years ago was “Dutch girl”. We are counting down the days until we leave, and trying to plan as much as possible ahead of our departure, so that we maximize our time in Europe.

Bike and Barge Itinerary

The following descriptions are taken verbatim from the tour website

Day 1: Amsterdam – Hoorn

At 1.30pm, the crew welcomes you on the ship and checks you in. After a safety briefing, the ship will head out towards the IJsselmeer. Our first destination is Hoorn.

Day 2: Hoorn – Enkhuizen (40 km/25 mi. or 50 km/31 mi.)

While the exact field locations shift every year, the “West-Frisian” area is known for being the second biggest tulip region in the Netherlands. We’ve planned two different bike routes through the fields for you to choose from. Due to the semi-guided concept on this tour, you can cycle at your own pace and stop for photos as often as you’d like.

Day 3: Enkhuizen – Volendam | Volendam – Zaanse Schans (50 km/31 mi) | Zaanse Schans – Alkmaar

Early in the morning, your floating hotel will set off to take you to the famous village of Volendam. This is where today’s bike ride will start. You’ll cycle through “Waterland,” just north of Amsterdam. Hundreds of small canals and plenty of bridges make up the landscape as you cycle from one picturesque village to the next. The cycling tour ends at Zaanse Schans, an old Dutch village with beautiful windmills, still in use, and traditional wooden houses. There, you can visit artisans like a cheesemaker and a clog maker. Yet Zaanse Schans is more than just an open-air museum, because the people you see are actual inhabitants! Around dinnertime, your cruise continues on to Alkmaar.

Day 4: Alkmaar – Alkmaar (33 km/21 mi. or 50 km/31 mi.)

Today’s bike tour brings you to lovely tulip fields north of Alkmaar, then to seaside resort Egmond aan Zee, pleasantly situated in the dunes near the North Sea. The sandy beach is one of the most beautiful of the Netherlands and great for a walk, a swim or simply for enjoying the view. Close by, the pretty artists’ village of Bergen is definitely worth a visit. Both Egmond aan Zee and Bergen are close to the North Holland Dune Reserve, a 5,300-hectare (2.5 square miles) forest and dune area with unique landscapes. Return to the ship in Alkmaar for dinner.

Day 5: Alkmaar – Zaandam (38 km/24 mi. or 47 km/29 mi.) | Zaandam – Haarlem

This morning you cycle to Egmond-Binnen and then to Limmen. In this village you’ll visit the Hortus Bulborum, a unique garden museum dedicated to the preservation of rare and historic bulbs. Some of the over 3,500 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other flowers planted here are nearly extinct in the rest of the world. Your cycling tour continues through colorful tulip fields and brings you to Zaandam. The ship will be waiting for you to take you to Haarlem on a leisurely afternoon cruise. It will dock for the night within walking distance of the city center. Grab the chance to visit the exceptionally beautiful historical inner city at the end of the afternoon or after dinner. The Grote Markt (central market square) and St. Bavo church are impressive indeed.

Day 6: Haarlem – Keukenhof – Haarlem (49 km/30 mi.)

Today’s trip leads you through the oldest tulip fields of Holland to the Keukenhof Gardens. This flower bulb park is an overwhelming blaze of colors with seven million flowering tulips in a magnificent 80-acre setting of traditional and modern garden architecture. You can also revel in the beauty and fragrances of various hyacinths, daffodils and many other colorful flowers. In the afternoon you’ll cycle back to the ship in Haarlem. (Keukenhof tickets not included. You can book them directly online at the Keukenhof, time slot from 11 – 11.30 am. The bike ride from Haarlem to the Keukenhof is about 25 km.)

Day 7: Haarlem – Amsterdam (31 km/19 mi. or 36 km/22 mi.)

Your last bike tour brings you back to Amsterdam. You’ll enter the city from the west through a pleasant green area. You can use the afternoon to discover more of this amazing city: visit the inner-city flower market, go to the Vondelpark, enjoy a museum, or just look at life in this city that never sleeps. There is something interesting to do for everyone. For those who want to do an end-of-day canal tour, we offer tickets at a reduced price.

Day 8: Amsterdam

End of your tour. Enjoy a good breakfast before disembarkation by 9.30 am.