Finally, a bike and barge tour to the beautiful northern provinces
The Netherlands is so much more than Holland! On this tour, we take you from (North) Holland to the North, to the provinces that are still less populated, less traffic, more nature, more agriculture, and a lot more water, canals, streams, and national parks. Time has not stood still, so yes, there are also towns and cities, and living standards are as high as they are across the whole country. Wouter, Tim and Lenny lived in this part of the country for a long time before the IRIS became our ship. We hope to show you the beauty of this region, which offers a vast network of cycling paths and plenty of natural beauty and calm. With beautiful villages, each with its own history, and the bustling cities of Groningen and Leeuwarden.
Watersports are a major magnet for tourism in Friesland, and we will pass through lakes and canals with the IRIS, and on the bike. In Groningen, we’ll enjoy the countryside and the typical weirdendorpjes (hamlets built on higher ground, artificial hills), and have dinner on our own in Groningen Stad. In Drenthe, we will see the remains of the Ice Age, where rocks were shovelled into the Netherlands, used to build graves in the Stone Age.
A visit to the Waddenzee is inevitable! The Wadden Sea — called the Waddenzee in Dutch — is one of the world’s largest tidal wetland systems. Stretching along the northern coasts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, it covers around 500 kilometres of coastline and is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique ecosystem.
One of the most remarkable features of the Waddenzee is that large parts of it dry out twice a day during low tide. This creates vast mudflats where people can even take guided “mudflat walks” between islands and the mainland.
And then we pay a visit to the other side of the Netherlands, as we are now going back to Amsterdam, but not without a dip into the history of the harbours on that side of the Zuiderzee, nowadays IJsselmeer. Enkhuizen, Volendam, and Marken offer a beautiful way to get a good impression of past trade and fishing.
