Bike and Barge Holland’s Tulip – A Private Sojourn Tour
Tour Overview
Bike and Barge Trip for Holland Tulips - Private Chartered Boat for Sojourn Guests
Duration: 8 Days / 7 Nights
Start: Amsterdam, The Netherlands | End: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Bikes: View Fleet |
E-Bikes Available ( Limited. Request Early)
Rating: Easy Trips
Tulips | Windmills | Keukenhof Gardens | Amsterdam
Experience Holland at its most spectacular—during peak tulip season in April. This exclusive 8-day Sojourn Bike & Barge adventure combines scenic cycling with the ease and charm of traveling aboard a privately chartered Dutch barge reserved exclusively for Sojourn guests.
Ride with experienced Sojourn leaders and van support through the flower-filled countryside of North and South Holland, while your floating home cruises from one picturesque destination to the next. Beginning and ending in Amsterdam, the journey takes you through historic Haarlem, Leiden, Gouda, and Alkmaar, past iconic windmills, colorful tulip fields, canals, and quintessential Dutch landscapes.
Visit the magnificent Keukenhof Gardens, experience the famous Aalsmeer Flower Auction, and explore Zaanse Schans, with its historic windmills, wooden houses, and traditional cheese-making.
A highlight of this trip is the world-famous Keukenhof Gardens and the feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of vibrant tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and other stunning bulb flowers. Additionally, experience the bustling energy of the Aalsmeer flower auction, where an astonishing volume of exquisite flowers are traded daily and shipped worldwide.
Explore the open-air museum known as ‘the Zaanse Schans,’ – visit picturesque windmills, a charming cheese farm, and traditional wooden houses. Throughout your journey, you’ll be amazed by Holland’s diverse and breathtaking scenery, all while enjoying the convenience of excellent cycling paths.
Special note:
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Cabins must be booked for two guests. While the trip price is listed per person, all cabins are sold on a double-occupancy basis, meaning two guests must share and book each cabin. Single occupancy and single supplements are not available for this trip.
Please provide any dietary requirements when booking, including vegetarian, lactose-free, or gluten-free needs. Unfortunately, due to the limited size of the ship’s kitchen, vegan meals cannot be accommodated.
For details on where to fly, visas, and other travel information, please check the TRIP FAQ Tab
Lodging Information
Distinctive lodging, carefully selected to complement your tour.
Sarah
For Sojourn’s Netherlands Tulip Tour, the Sarah is privately chartered exclusively for our guests. Originally a cargo vessel, this traditional Dutch barge has been converted into a comfortable, intimate passenger boat designed to navigate the Netherlands’ narrow canals and waterways. With just ten cabins, the experience is cozy, casual, and distinctly Dutch rather than that of a luxury cruise ship. Cabins are compact, so we recommend packing light and embracing the Sarah for what makes her special: an authentic and memorable way to travel through the Netherlands.
Date and Pricing
- 2027
- Make it Private
Book NowWhat's Included
- Support of experienced local leaders and support van
- Custom Sojourn branded performance shirt, riding sling bag and water bottle – yours to keep
- Seven nights on board the boat with private cabins and bathrooms
- All Breakfast and Lunches, Six Dinners
- Touring bikes with straight handlebars, seven Shimano speeds, and roller brakes. They also have a low instep. They are fitted with Schwalbe puncture-resistant tires and flat pedals.
- A limited number of Electric Assist or E-bikes are also available. Request while booking.
- Daily route directions, maps, and a downloadable GPS Option
- 5% Past Traveler Discount to use on your next Sojourn Tour for the next 2 years after your trip.
FAQs
- United States and Canadian citizens do not require a visa to enter The Netherlands for tourism or business stays under ninety (90) days. Here are more details.
- The trip starts and ends in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Distances in the itinerary are subject to change.
- On some days you can choose between a longer and a shorter cycling route. Please note that on the shorter routes you may not be able to visit all the highlights mentioned.
- If you prefer not to cycle on a particular day, you’re welcome to stay on board and relax while the ship cruises to the next port.
- All cabins (your hotel room aboard) have their private bathroom with a shower, toilet, and washbasin. Cabins are usually twin cabins: they nearly always have two single beds, some of which can be assembled to make it a queen bed. However, they are smaller than a standard hotel room with limited options and the wardrobes are small. So please pack accordingly.
- Please mention dietary needs during booking (e.g., vegetarian meals, lactose intolerance, or gluten-free diet). Unfortunately, we cannot offer vegan meals on this trip. The ship’s kitchen is not large enough to guarantee vegan meals.
- The tour itinerary and route are subject to possible changes due to nautical, technical or meteorological reasons, or other unforeseen events.
- On the embarkation day, you can leave your luggage on board the ship from 11.00 am.
- You disembark in Amsterdam around 9:30 am at the end of the trip. Please do not book any flight before 2:30pm on the same day.
- Most of the locals including the ship crew do speak English.
Guest Reviews
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DAY BY DAY
Bike and Barge in The Netherlands for Tulip Season
Today you board and check in between 1PM and 2PM local time. Late afternoon, the barge leaves the harbor towards Haarlem. Today’s ride will be in Spaarndam. After dinner on board, we will take you on a town walk through the beautiful city center of Haarlem.
3,8
Barge
DAfter breakfast, get on a trip through the oldest tulip fields of Holland, including a visit to the Keukenhof Gardens. This is the most beautiful bulb park in the world, with an outstanding blaze of colors; seven million flowering tulips in a magnificent 80-acres background of traditional and modern gardening architecture. In the afternoon, you ride to the city of Leiden. Dinner will be on board tonight. Post-dinner, we can all go on a walk through the town.
23 Barge B, L, DAfter breakfast today, we will ride out of Leiden and travel through Holland’s ‘green heart.’ Visit a cheese farm near Zoeterwoude to taste and learn about cheese-making and explore Gouda, the famous cheese town where we visit the town’s market square and the Gothic town hall. The main church of Gouda, devoted to Saint John, is world-famous for its stained glass windows. Post dinner, we can once again walk through the town.
22,26 Barge B,L,DWe are staying in Gouda this morning. Take advantage of some shopping for local memorabilia. Visit the market square with its cheese weigh house or explore the St. Johns church. We sail around noon and have lunch on board. From Alphen aan den Rijn, you cycle through South Holland via river Drecht and Amstel-Drecht channel to Kudelstaart.
12,27 Barge B,L,DThis morning, cycle to the flower auction of Aalsmeer, the largest in Europe. Here, vast quantities of flowers are trucked in, sold daily, and distributed all over Europe. Return on board for a late breakfast while the barge sails to Amsterdam. You will enjoy a lovely cruise through the city of Amsterdam. Ride from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans, a unique hamlet where people live and work, with original houses and windmills. The oldest windmill was built in 1673 to grind mustard, spices, paint, and oil and saw wood into planks. Walking through the village, you will visit a clock museum, an old-fashioned grocery store, a house with period furniture, a clog maker, and a cheese farm. We will bike to Purmerend after the visit, where we spend the night on the barge.
5,21 Barge B,L,DWe ride to the Hortus Bulborum this morning, a unique garden museum dedicated to preserving rare and historic bulbs. More than 4,000 tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and other flowers are planted here. We continue biking to Egmond at the Northsea through the dunes to Alkmaar, a Dutch cheese city. As you wander the streets, you’ll be amazed by Alkmaar’s Old Town’s beauty, well-preserved 17th-century buildings, and narrow, winding canals. Dinner is on your own today.
18,24 Barge B,LAfter breakfast, we ride to the former windmill complex of the Schermer Polder. Here we visit the Schermerhorn Windmill Museum before heading to the beautiful town of De Rijp. Centuries of history remain evident in De Rijp’s wooden facades, church, lock, and town hall. From here, we ride back to Amsterdam for a canal tour through the city’s famous canals.
22,33 Barge B,L,DAfter breakfast , disembark in Amsterdam around 9:30 AM.
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