By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
On Day 8 of our Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping Netherlands tour, we wake up in Enkhuizen, back where we started. We have breakfast and have to disembark by 9:30 am but we are able to leave our luggage on board for a couple of hours, giving me time to explore a bit before I need to take the train back to Amsterdam and the Schiphol Airport. I really appreciate this bit of time since I hadn’t a chance to explore Enkhuizen when we first arrived (I recommend coming a day before the ship sails so you have more time), and though I had some time to explore in the evening, i really enjoy myself wandering around this morning.
I find myself at the Zuiden Kerk (church) – magnificent yet simple and unpretentious, awesome yet approachable; ancient yet modern, the painted wooden ceiling shaped like the upside down bottom of a boat. It is Sunday morning and people are gathering for service as the organmeister plays Pacobel.
I find my way to the Zuiderzee Museum, an open-air living history museum village that re-creates daily life around the Zuiderzee before the sea was turned into a lake (the Ijsselmeer where we have just sailed) – when the dam was built in 1932. You stroll the cobble streets and explore 140 historic buildings collected from the former Zuiderzee region.
The outdoor museum was opened by Queen Beatrix in 1983 as an extension of the indoor Zuiderzeemuseum, which opened in 1950 (the indoor museum doesn’t open until noon so I have to miss it). Most of the buildings are authentic while others are reconstructed replicas of actual buildings. A complete village, you can wander around and visit a windmill, lime kilns, fish-smoking house, steam laundry, drugstore, pharmacy, basketmaker, blacksmith, cheese warehouse, school (where wooden shoes are lined up outside the classroom), even a hairdresser, and visit the working post office. The harbor is a replica of its layout on Marken. From April to November you can see life in the village of Urk as it was in 1905, meet residents and watch traditional activities, like games and building clog boats, and demonstrations of crafts such as rope-making, cooperage, basket making and herring being smoked.
The Indoor Museum, “a treasure house of the Zuiderzee,” consists of a string of 17th century buildings (original and replicated), some of which were used by the Dutch East India Company. Here, various collections are presented with a modern approach: you can dive into a ‘Sea of Stories’ and experience life on the former Zuiderzee in this interactive exhibition. A popular attraction is the ‘Schepenhal’ (ship’s hall), which allows visitors a close-up view of historic ships. The indoor museum also displays artifacts from the Zuiderzee cultural past, including paintings, furniture and traditional local costumes (‘klederdracht’). (Unfortunately, it opens at noon and I do not have the time to visit.)
Both indoor and outdoor museums have several restaurants located in National Heritage sites, like the Hindeloopen Pub, the Amsterdam House and the Pepper House on the Wierdijk.
Admission is 22E (56E for a family); plan to spend at least 3 hours at the outdoor museum. [Note: if you are extending the boat bike tour with a stay in Amsterdam, you may want to get the Iamsterdam city card (www.iamsterdam.com), which includes admission to the Zuiderzee Museum, https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/whats-on/calendar/museums-and-galleries/museums/zuiderzee-museum]
Zuiderzee Museum, Wierdijk 12-22, 1601 LA Enkhuizen, https://www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl/.
I am relieved to see how amazingly easy it is to get to/from the embarkation point in Enkhuizen from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (especially since I arrived by plane on the same day as the boat departed): just walk down to the train (every 15 minutes) to the Central Station, a quick switch to the train to Enkhuizen (every half hour) for the hour-long, comfortable and scenic ride. The trick is to “check in” with a credit/debit card using the app, or purchase a ticket (14-16E) before you go through to the train by tapping on a pole (a conductor will double check on the train), then when you depart the train, tap it on the pole again, and the correct amount is debited. (If you don’t pre-purchase, the conductor can charge you an extra 50E; I did forget but the conductor was extremely kind in helping me buy the ticket online.) Then it’s just a five minute walk from the train station to the ship. You can purchase tickets in the vending machines at the stations or online on https://www.ns.nl/en/journeyplanner#/. The website can also be used to check the timetable.
Getting back to the airport is equally easy – we are asked to leave the ship by 9:30 am (but I am able to store my luggage there, so I could visit the city until 11).I time my touring to get back to the ship, pick up my stuff to get the 11:39 am train to Central Station in Amsterdam, then a quick switch to the train to Schiphol with more than the three-hours before my flight at 7:05 pm.
This was my second trip with Boat Bike Tours (I had the best time on their Bruges-Amsterdam boat-bike-tour – utter perfection with the biking, the boat, the sights along the way; be sure to plan to spend at least a day in Bruges before the bike tour to appreciate its enchantment).
Boat Bike Tours, which is based in Amsterdam, got its start when Channel Cruises Holland, a barge tour operator founded in 1977, added biking to its itineraries in response to guests asking for traditional Dutch activities. The new cruise-and-cycle concept was so successful that it was spun off as its own brand in the mid-1990s. Between 2000 and 2020, the company added more itineraries and ships. Last year, Boat Bike Tours merged with Islandhopping, a Croatia-based operator which also specializes in cruise-and-cycle travel (I loved the boat-bike trip in Greece that I took with Islandhopping some years ago). Together, the merged company, while operating under their own names, offers more than 70 itineraries in 15 countries, and has opened a North American sales office in Fairfield, Connecticut.
“With half of our guests coming from North America now, it makes sense to have an office here,” said Jana Tvedt, Director of Sales, North America for Boat Bike Tours. “We’re available when needed and familiar with what Americans and Canadians are looking for in destinations, experiences and ships. And we’re always happy to work with travel advisors, groups and charters.”
Each season, the company contracts some 50 ships including barges, motor yachts and sailing ships, ranging in category from comfortable to superior. Biking styles include guided for casual riders and independent (self-guided) for seasoned cyclists, with touring bikes, e-bikes and mountain bikes available depending on the destination.
Itineraries range from five to 15 days, with most being eight days, and cater to a variety of budgets and interests, from historic cities and landmarks to picturesque natural landscapes and the world’s best wines. The Boat Bike Tours concept is to enable guests to connect with local people, culture and nature, while traveling by smaller boat and by bike also takes guests beyond tourist hotspots and minimizes environmental impacts. (Our sailing ship, Leafde fan Fryslân, uses biodiesel.)
The big news is that Boat Bike Tours will be offering a newly built ship for 2026, Magnifique X, an all-suite ship accommodating 32 passengers, giving the company a new deluxe, superior category. In addition to the bigger cabin, the itinerary is also enhanced with upgraded amenities, support van, included lunches, and more sightseeing inclusions. The itinerary goes from Amsterdam to Paris with one night hotel stay in Amsterdam, then biking to Bruges, then a motorcoach transfer to Paris where there is a hotel stay. (Bookings are open.)
Among its most popular itineraries for North American travelers:
Amsterdam to Bruges: Cruise and ride through the Dutch countryside of Zeeland and western Flanders in Belgium. Tour world-famous cities such as Amsterdam, Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges, as well as picturesque villages, a Dutch cheese farm, the windmills of Kinderdijk and the magnificent natural landscape along the Schelde River.
Split to Dubrovnik: Hop from island to island in the South Dalmatia region of Croatia by boat and e-bike. See the town centers of Split and Dubrovnik, and experience the culture and nature of more sparsely populated islands like Brač, Hvar, Korčula, Lastovo, Mljet and Šipan. E-bikes help with hilly and mountainous terrain.
Cochem to Metz: Follow the Moselle River through Germany, France and Luxembourg, passing endless vineyards and stopping to taste local wines. See enchanting old cities like Cochem and Bernkastel, the once-imperial Roman Trier, the stunning waterfalls of Saarburg, the Gothic cathedral of Metz and welcoming villages in between.
The merger of the Boat Bike Tours and Islandhopping means that clients of either one can take advantage of a 3% loyalty discount when booking. Notably, bike tours prove superb for the burgeoning number of solo travelers, and each departure offers at least one cabin with a reduced single supplement.
By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
Day 6 on Boat Bike Tours’ eight-day Islandhopping tour of northern Netherlands is a case when the hype doesn’t even begin to match the reality of the experience. Today’s ride will take us either 29 or 36 miles (depending on our choice of short or long routes) from Harlingen to Franeker, through the Frisian countryside and rural villages to Bolsward and into Makkum on the eastern bank of lake Ijsselmeer. Boat Bike Tours doesn’t just curate the cycling routes, they also curate experiences. In this case, our bike tour turns into an exploration of the solar system through an 18th century lens.
We set out biking first to the historic center of Franeker to visit the Koninklijk Eise Eisinga Planetarium (Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium) – the oldest continuously operating planetarium in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. I had never heard of Eise Eisinga or his planetarium, but am instantly amazed.
Eise Eisinga was a wool-comber and largely self-taught scientist and astronomer who spent seven years, from 1774 to 1781, building a remarkable planetarium in his house! – in his living room/bedroom/dining room to be precise. We see the cupboard where he would have slept with his wife under the mechanism, the pull-out trundle bed where his children would have slept, the dining table. Above, on the ceiling, we see where he constructed a solar system where the six known planets in exact scale follow their rotation around the sun with remarkable precision even by today’s standards, using today’s instruments. The fact that the mechanism is still in working order is evidence of the ingenuity and foresight of its maker, who left detailed instructions for its maintenance.
While waiting for the English-language presentation, we visit the fascinating exhibits that take up the rest of his home, starting with a delightful video interview between “Eise Eisinga” and an actual Dutch astronaut and another superb video about Eisinga’s life.
When I learn about Eise Eisinga’s biography, I am awed by his genius, bringing to my mind Leonardo DaVinci.
Eise Eisinga was born in 1744 in Dronrijp where he attended primary school. Like many children in those days who worked at home, he worked in his father’s wool combing establishment. In addition to his father’s profession, he inherited his father’s interest in astronomy and mathematics. Eise was so determined to learn that he would travel every week to Franeker, a major center of learning, to study Euclidean math with Willem Wijtses, a wool dyer. When he was 24, Eisinga married Pietje Jacobs and settled in Franeker in 1768, working as a wool comber.
On May 8, 1774,a local newspaper published a prediction from a preacher that the confluence of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter and the moon would result in the mutual forces of these celestial bodies knocking the earth off its path and cause it to be burned up by the sun (“the end of time!”). That set off a panic and seems to have been an impetus for Eisinga to begin building his model of the solar system to show the extreme unlikelihood of planets colliding.
It took Eisinga seven years to construct his planetarium – a real triumph of craftsmanship to carve the wood (his father, a woodcarver, helped), create 6,000 precision nails for the cogs, and the exquisite painting. Eise would have finished sooner, but in a critical development, he had to adjust the placement of the pendulum that kept everything in motion, because his wife drew the line on allowing him to cut a hole in the floor (it was their bedroom, after all), so he had to recalculate everything and replace all 6,000 nails.
The power (and motion) for the entire mechanism comes from a clock, “like the beating heart of the machine,” our guide explains. The mechanism is powered by a system of nine weights – one for clock and 8 for different axels of system
All is built to scale to fit into the space – an astonishing 1 to 1 trillion – and everything is turning so slowly, you can’t detect motion visually. Every planet has its own calculated speed, so Mercury takes 88 days to make one full rotation; Venus takes 224 days; Earth takes 365 days plus 76 hours while the moon takes 29 ½ days to go around the earth (it shows the phases of the moon); Mars takes 687 days; Jupiter, with four moons (the number known at the time), takes 11 years, 315 ⅓ days for its rotation; and Saturn, the furthest known planet at the time, actually has rings and 5 moons and takes 29 years plus 164 days for its rotation.
How do they know the planetarium is still working when everything moves so slowly?
“Everything is connected, so we check what moves daily: the date, zodiac sign, day of week.” On December 31, a special nail pushes the gears into motion to flip to the new year.
Eise Eisinga was such a visionary, two years after finishing his remarkable machine, he wrote a 90-page manual explaining how to maintain it.
“Every 22 years, we follow 5 steps – take board down, sand down, paint the years, let the paint dry, then replace it in the attic,” our guide says. The wheels are so big and move so slowly, they clean the gears once or twice a year.
Eisinga’s son took over when he died, and the planetarium remained in the family for 140 years until 1922 when his great granddaughter was the last in the family to maintain the planetarium. Then the City of Franeker took over its management.
Most of the mechanism is original (Mercury had to be replaced after being damaged in World War II) but they have had to change the ropes for the gears and pulleys.
After the presentation, we are able to climb the stairs to the attic to peer into where the wheels and gears are laid out.
Eisinga came to Franeker with his wife because it had the second largest university in the country and was a center for learning that drew famous scientists. But you can appreciate how trade with the world not only gave Netherlands the wealth to pursue science and innovation, but the access to and transfer of knowledge, not to mention a culture of Enlightenment that was open to new ideas and discovery. And Eise Eisinga was wealthy enough that he could afford to make natural science a hobby.
It is a humbling experience to imagine such expertise and craft hundreds of years ago, before the tools and instruments we have today.
The museum offers several permanent exhibits: Eisinga’s former wool combing establishment, an extensive collection of historical astronomical instruments, Eisinga’s mathematical and astronomical manuscripts which you can digitally peruse, all marvelous juxtapositions to an interactive permanent exhibition, De Ruimte (Space) that opened in 2016, as well as that delightful video conversation between “Eise” and a modern-day Dutch astronaut (English subtitles).
I peek into a room to see the finishing touches on a new temporary exhibit: a spectacular astronomical cabinet from 1771 by Jean Paulus and Prof. Ghiesbregt. “After long wanderings, this Belgian instrument came into possession of Bert Degenaar, a famous Dutch antique collector. On his behalf, the instruments were completely restored and made functional again by horologist Pieter de Ruiter. The 3 meter wide and over 2.5 meter high cabinet is equipped with various globes, planetariums (including an unprecedented representation of the 5th-century worldview of Martianus Capella) and the 16th-century heliocentric worldview of Copernicus. A number of dials provide information about various time indications, calendars, the position of the planets, the phases of the moon, and the orbit of Jupiter’s four largest moons.” The exposition also includes a large collection of original drawings of the various instruments.
All of this goes to serve as a literal display of what The Enlightenment was all about, which largely due to mass printing and trade, made its way to the New World, as well, and was foundational to the Founders of the United States.
Admission to Eise Eisinga’s planetarium is 6E (a HUGE bargain).
We continue on our 36-mile bike route which follows much of the a famous 11-city, 200-km bike tour, and in the course of two days, we will visit six of the 11 and have the opportunity to collect stamps (like passport stamps) on postcards our guides have provided.
By the time we ride into Bolsward, one of the Eleven Frisian Cities, the rain has stopped. Here we see one of the art installations we have been told about – this one looks like Toothless from “How to Train Your Dragon.”.
Bolsward is really beautiful, and I am entranced by the magnificence of The Court of Justice building, now a museum, where I get to climb into the tower built on top of the Court in 1617 (a really improbable and unsafe construction).
But this is the first day when I see why people would get an e-bike in the Netherlands – I’m guessing I am pushing through or against 15 mph winds.
In the evening, our guide, Edith, leads a walking tour of Makkum– it’s just me and a couple from Alberta, Canada. Edith points to homes that have a Coat of Arms or some indication of who lived there, when the fellow shows us his ring with a Coat of Arms. He turns out to be a descendent of the Trip family, one of the wealthiest, most powerful families in Netherlands.
He relates more of his family’s fascinating story as we sit in a historic pub with centuries old Delpht tiles of great 17th century trading ships, noting more than once than the family fortune had been long gone and his branch of the family emigrated to Canada. It’s like having someone from that time tell their story.
Trip’s family’s coat of arms, he relates, has three zoltbommel (wooden shoes) – a nod to the fact that the family started by manufacturing wooden shoes.
Then, brothers Jacob and Elias Trip went into river barges, got rich, then expanded into sea trade. They had a connection with an iron factory which they parlayed into weapons manufacture, arming the Dutch rebels against the Spanish in its 80-year war for independence, 1568-1648 (apparently selling arms to both sides).
Trip was among the original investors of the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie, VOC), in 1602, the first public company to issue stock and the first truly multinational corporation, transforming global commerce and trade (at its peak, the company would have been worth $7 trillion in today’s dollars, the most valuable company in history). The VOC was granted a monopoly on Dutch trade with Asia and also possessed the power to wage war, make treaties, govern territories, and even mint its own currency, as if a nation-state. So much of what we experience on our trip goes back to the Dutch East India Company.
Meanwhile, the Trips became one of the richest and most important families in Netherlands. Portraits painted by Rembrandt of his relatives Jacob Trip (1576-1661) and his wife, Margaretha de Geer, are in the National Gallery and Ryksmuseum. Their sons, Louis and Hendrick Trip, became fabulously wealthy arms merchants, and built the Trippenhuis in 1662 once the widest residence in Amsterdam and on the list of top 100 Dutch heritage sites.
Edith adds that the Netherlands was one of the first republics in the world and makes the claim that its declaration of independence in 1581, provided a model for Thomas Jefferson in 1776, and was printed on paper from a Dutch paper mill.
“We are now a kingdom, but we started as a republic. Our constitution limits the power of king, our monarchy is more about public relations, like the United Kingdom.”
The first king of the Netherlands, Napoleon’s brother Louis who reigned from 1806-1810, started an art collection, which he brought to TrippenHuis – in essence the first Ryksmuseum. Trippenhuis was where Rembrandt’s “Night Watch: hung until 1851 and since 1887, has housed the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Day 7’s ride takes us from Makkum to Stavoren, from where our ship, Leafde fan Fryslân, will sail across lake IJsselmeer to Enkhuizen, the endpoint of our trip. There is a prediction of rain today and strong wind, so the guides suggest I do the shorter ride (19 miles) and promise I won’t miss out on anything I will regret (the longer route, 30 miles, goes along several Frisian Lakes).
Among the highlights of the ride are coming across a house deliberately built in an upside-down version of a traditional Frisian home (a bit surreal and you have to wonder), and a historic windmill, De Nylannermole, which the sign says dates from 1784, though its history goes back to 1624 (I’m trying to figure out the Dutch). At one point, I see the windmill with a wind turbine in the distance behind it, and later, we see windsurfers and sailboats – all reflections of how the Dutch have embraced wind.
We stop for lunch in a tiny little village as rain comes (we sit under umbrellas outside), and then continue on to Hindeloopen (where we should have cycled for lunch), an old trading town famous for a traditional decorative painting style. Hindeloopen seems to be the epicenter for cycling.
I finish the ride 1:15 pm, hoping I made the right choice in biking the shorter route, and have some time to explore Stavoren before we sail.
There is yet another one of the art installations (this one a giant fish), but I am particularly intrigued by the sculpture of “The Lady of Stavoren” here, and the moral to the story it offers.
“The Lady of Stavoren” legend dates from when the city was the largest and richest in Friesland. Many of the merchant ships were owned the Lady of Stavoren who ordered one of her captains to “Bring me the finest treasure in the world.” He brought back a grain that transformed into pure gold in the midday sun. She forced him to throw it into the sea. A fisherman foretold that she would be punished and at some point beg for grain. Later, two of her ships were lost at sea and she became a beggar woman, while the place where the grain was tossed turned into a sandbank, where a plant that grew ears of corn grew up but yielded no grain.
We have an enjoyable sail back to Enkhuizen, a gala farewell dinner, and then I go off to explore the historic town, which is really worth more time than I will have before I have to return to Schiphol Airport early the next day. (Suggestion: arrive the day before the ship sails to give yourself some time to enjoy Enkhuizen.)
By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
Day 4 of our eight-day Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping tour of the Netherlands is spent sailing to the island of Terschelling. It takes about six hours to sail across the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
“Big boat, small water,” our captain, Age, says, guaranteeing that the ship is “unsinkable” because the water is so shallow, we would run aground first. (“Wadden” means “mudflats” and the Wadden Sea is a large intertidal area in the North Sea along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark.)
We have a northwest wind so we can raise the sails on our ship, Leafde fan Fryslân, the only four-masted ship sailing in Dutch waters, instead of just motoring to Terschelling.
Lukacz, who I call the first mate, gives us the safety talk and invites us to help raise the sails (we don’t do it very well). He says it is more important to be safe “You are on vacation, a nice time. You can’t have a nice time with a broken hand. Bad pain is bad time.” But looking around at several of us with boating jackets, says, “I can see this isn’t your first rodeo.”
‘It’s about being happy,” Lukas says, finishing with “What do you think about my speech?”
The wind is so strong (“Respect the power,” he says), but once the sails are raised, we feel the quiet tranquility of sailing. But having come from Texel, and seeing the scores of shipwrecks of those ocean-going trading ships, I can only imagine what this would feel like in a storm, or how those sailors felt for months, even years crossing vast seas to Asia, Africa, and North America.
We have lunch on board as we sail (tonight, we will be on our own for dinner in Terschelling, armed with a list of recommended restaurants).
The scene is stunning, with several tall sailing ships along the horizon, the swirling green/blue water, the white cottony clouds.
It is just 4 pm when we sail into Terschelling, flabberghasted by the finesse Captain Age shows to park our enormous ship, Leafde fan Fryslân, 210 ft. long, 24 ft. wide.
We walk off the ship from the crowded harbor crammed with sailing ships tied up two and three abreast and explore the popular village. Huge ferry boats deposit thousands of visitors each day (remarkable considering a mere 9,700 people live on Terschelling).
Terschelling, one of 15 islands in the North Sea and the furthest north we will travel on our Islandhopping tour, is just 30 km long and 4.5 km wide with vast sand beaches, strong winds and wild water – and we will cycle around most of it.
The town is dominated by the 420 year-old Brandaris lighthouse, standing 388 ft high that can be seen from far off in the distance. I learn this is the oldest lighthouse in the Netherlands. The first tower was built in 1323 to guide ships on their way to Amsterdam through the Zuiderzee, the narrow opening between Vlieland and Terschelling. A flood destroyed the tower in 1570. Construction on a new tower began in 1592 but the tower collapsed before it was finished because of poor building materials. The tower we see today, remarkably, was built in 1594. It became the first lighthouse in the Netherlands equipped with a rotating Freshnel lens in 1837 and was electrified in 1907.
I meet up with a German couple from our ship and follow them up a path over the dunes to the hilltop for a stunning view of the island and the port as the sun streams through clouds.
Back in the charming village, I come upon a gaggle of girls who, it turns out, are Ukrainians taking refuge here from the war in their homeland. This brings a jolt of the world and current events to this small, isolated, peaceful place, shocking me back to the present out of my reverie for ages past. But as the historic markers and notes remind, the vast majority of human history has been one invasion, one war, one revolution, one disaster after another, and the nostalgia that sweeps over us looking back has a way of tempering the horror of that time. I think that one reason history is more palatable, less stressful, than present-day events is that we know how that chapter of the story ended.
While the previous day was all about sailing, Day 5 is all about cycling. Terschelling offers 70 km of cycling tracks and four charming villages to discover. We will cycle 26 miles roundtrip, then, in the afternoon, sail across the Wadden Sea to Harlingen, the most important harbor city of the province of Friesland.
This is the first day of cycling where I appreciate why people get e-bikes in the Netherlands: the paths may be flat but the wind is strong (all the charming historic windmills and now modern wind turbines should have been a clue). I power through and at one point, one of our group becomes very conscientious about riding right in front of me to break the wind a bit (like the Tour de France!).
We set out along the dyke, then turn off into villages, farms and fields. Our route takes us to the Stryper Wyke (wife) statue, a short distance from a cemetery. The monument heralds back to the 1666 wars with the English over trade with India. The British declared the North Sea as theirs and invaded this area, burning, raping, killing. The British, the story goes, confronted the Stryper Wyke demanding to know how many defenders there were, to which she replied, “100 standing, 1000 laying down” – referring to the cemetery. The legend goes that the invaders took her literally and retreated, and she is credited with saving the town.
In fact, everywhere we go, there are just such statues, monuments, plaques, placards and historic photos that cherish local history, heritage and culture and show the pride the Dutch have.
We ride passed an intriguing Toesaks Museum (pirates!) which is described as “an exciting and pleasantly eccentric museum for kids and adults” offering a collection recovered from shipwrecks. The museum is housed in a farmhouse and has a real pirate ship, a tree house and a castle. Owner and wreck diver Hille van Dieren, I learn later, has been collecting recovered inventory pieces from the many shipwrecks around Terschelling since 1975. The museum is full of curiosities from 1650 to the present (https://wrakkenmuseum.nl/).
No one else wants to stop to visit, so I take a quick peek inside so I don’t hold up the group. But if it were important to me, I could have left the group and followed the route myself using the RideGPS app that Boat Bike Tours provides. But, the ship is sailing this afternoon and I wouldn’t have known if I could complete the route in time.
We ride through open fields (battling the wind), through forest and then over a stretch of sand (not fun) and come to Koor Hoorn, hiking over enormous dunes which open up to this vast expanse of sand beach almost completely vacant of people or structures. I walk what seems a quarter mile before I finally reach the actual water, where the sea is swirling with whitecaps and the beach is strewn with a thick white foam that looks like pieces of clouds have fallen from the sky.
We get to a charming Cranberry inn (spectacular desserts, all made with cranberry), and walk out to the cranberry field (not a bog).There is a small exhibit and video on a second floor. Just as we are gathering to leave, it starts to rain. Edith checks the weather app and predicts it will only last a few minutes – so I go back inside to get cozy in the upstairs screening room to watch the video about the island and raising cranberry. Sure enough, the rain stops within 15 minutes, and we are on our way. (One of the good things about the strong wind, is that rain rarely lasts long.)
We are in awe – along with everyone else on the dock – collectively holding our breath as Captain Age maneuvers out of the tight harbor. We sail across the Wadden Sea to Harlingen, considered the most important harbor city of the province of Friesland.
The first thing we see is a restoration of the De Witte Swaen (the White Swan). This was the famous vessel sailed by16th-century Dutch explorer Willem Barentsz when he discovered the Arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen (now known as Svalbard) and Bear Island. He then sailed onward to the Russian archipelago of Nova Zembla, where, in 1596, the ship got stuck in the ice and they were forced to stay the winter. Barentsz did not survive, but 12 of the 17 crew were saved. Here, in the port of Harlingen, marine archaeologist Gerald de Weerdt is directing volunteers in building a genuine replica of the ship using 16th century techniques and materials. After years of work, his team is planning to finish the ship by year’s end. It will be sailed to Amsterdam and then returned here. Eventually, de Weerdt and his team want to retrace Barentsz’s voyage by sailing the vessel to Spitsbergen and Nova Zembla (hopefully with a better outcome).
Anya explains the complicated system of dykes and the dam built in 1932 which turned part of the Wadden Sea into a lake and from salt to fresh water, changing the ecology, and what was done to protect the fish migration from the changed ecosystem.
She points out the architecture – the Celtic tradition of putting a symbol to protect the house from evil – and how 600 buildings in the town are protected for their historic significance.
Magnificent buildings like the elaborate City Hall show the wealth of this town.
As we have seen before, the biggest building, typically a church, was built on the highest point, to provide safety when the town flooded. Holland broke with the Catholic Church of Spain and declared religious freedom when it won its independence after an 80-year war.
She notes that under Napoleon, who conquered the Netherlands in 1800 and installed his brother, Louis, as its first king (who ruled 1806-1810), every home had to replace the ornaments that showed a coat of arms or profession with a house number and street, and a registry was kept of names, religion and where they lived.
“In World War II, the Nazis could see where Jews lived” (one of the reasons why today, the Dutch are still concerned to protect private information on the internet).
Today, we see some of the ”stumbling stones” – square copper plates in the sidewalk -documenting the name of the Jews who lived in the home, “the last place they lived in freedom,” before being taken by Nazis to concentration camps. There are some 70,000 of these “stumbling stones” in Europe, about 7,000 in the Netherlands, Anya says.
I am reminded that after declaring its independence from Catholic Spain in 1581, Holland instituted religious freedom and Jews, who suffered Spain’s Inquisition, were able to practice relatively openly. Rembrandt lived in Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter, a short distance from where the Grand Synagogue was built. When Jews went to New Amsterdam in 1654,then a trading post of the Dutch West India Company. Governor Peter Stuyvesant wanted to evict the Jews, but the company required him to let the Jews stay. (This is all brought back when I visit two exhibits currently on view in New York City: “New York at Its Core: Port City (1609-1898)” at the Museum of the City of New York and “The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt,” at the Jewish Museum.)
By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
Day 3 of Boat Bike Tours’ eight-day Islandhopping tour proves to be my favorite, most perfect day – the biking, the attractions, the scenery, the gestalt of the island of Texel, even the weather, all combining for a thrilling experience. We will be biking roundtrip from and back to Oudeschild with a choice of a 26 mile or 30 mile route. We soon discover the treasures harbored on The Texel Roads.
We start off biking together to Ecomare, a seal sanctuary and ecology center with superb displays, exhibits and notes (with English) that teach about ecology, climate change, animal and environmental conservation, focused on the local area, making clear what these existential planetary changes mean for the people living here.
I start in the room with skeletons of actual whales – enormous, suspended so that they look like they are swimming – then move to an aquarium where you can see rescued seals swimming under water. You go outside to the various habitats where there are excellent explanations of why the seals were rescued (and the steps they take to avoid “rescuing” a seal that is merely resting on the beach), what their prognosis is to be re-released into the wild or whether some condition, like blindness, will require them to stay.
We see areas where baby animals are nurtured, where medical procedures are conducted, where seal pups are raised until they can be released (I wonder how they learn how to hunt for themselves), and where animals are quarantined (the sign says it’s a good thing if this area is empty!).
Our stay is timed so we get to see a feeding, before heading out again.
I stick with my group doing the longer ride (41 km), until we reach a delightful town of Dun Berg, where there is a huge event going on with a military band and seniors in wheelchairs who have been gathered for the concert that turns out to be the May 20 celebration of Texel’s Independence (different from the Netherlands, because it marks the day they finally expelled the German occupiers).
I spend about a half-hour wandering the lovely town center before breaking off on my own in order to arrive back in Oudeschild in time to visit the Museum Kaap Skil. I feel very brave but use the RideGPS to give me the route, even though I find myself double-checking that I have selected the right route to follow. Because it stays light so late (till nearly 9 pm), I figure even if I get lost, I can still get back during daylight.
I find myself so delighted to be doing these 12 miles on my own – it is idyllic pastoral scenery that compels me to stop to take photos – then I ride through a couple of villages, then onto the path along the dyke with the ocean on one side and the high berm with sheep (who keep the grass shorn) on the other, that takes me right to the harbor and the ship.
I make it back in under two hours, by 3:15 pm, with just enough time to really enjoy this astonishing Museum Kaap Skil (do not miss it!), in which the historic windmill, so prominent in the landscape, is the centerpiece.
I quickly drop my things in my cabin, then climb the stairs up and over the dyke, down below sea level to the village and the museum.
The museum has a small village of outdoor attractions including the historic windmill and a ship, Texelse Blazer, dated 1894, that is being restored, and authentically furnished cottages, beachcomber’s shed and smithy, gives you a realistic view of island life during the Netherlands’ Golden Age of Sail.
On Tuesdays and Thursday when volunteers dress in period clothes, you can watch wool being spun, fishnets being mended, ropemaking, and taste a smoked fish (tastiest smoked fish I’ve ever had), visit the grocery store and walk into homes furnished as they would have been.
I save the indoor exhibits in the modern museum for last (the outdoor village closes at 4 pm, the museum at 5 pm). These extraordinary exhibits of artifacts rescued from shipwrecks in the Wadden Sea that were so plentiful off this port – an indication of how important a port Texel was during the Golden Age of Sail – are a fitting climax to the visit.
I start on the upper floor, in “World Voyage,” where you can follow specific ships to their destination and see artifacts obtained from them.. A centrally located compass shows the way and Texel folk from the past tell their stories, assisted by shipwreck finds. People such as Albert Gronders, who sailed the Baltic Sea yearly to buy grain in the 17th century, narrates the north shipping. about Baltic Sea shipping. If you go east, then Jacob Schagen, who, as a 15-year-old Texel man, sailed for the Far East aboard the VOC ship De Jonge Lieve in 1762, narrates about the eastern shipping routes. Texel folk from the past also tell their stories about journeys west and southbound.
Alongside the adventurous and positive aspects of seventeenth century trade for Texel, World Voyage also explores its “shadow sides:” “Adventure, wealth, trade and romance, but also exploitation, danger, slavery and poverty. Global trade in the 16th and 17th century knew many faces,” reads a self-aware note.
A section themed “A Complex History,” acknowledges the violence, greed and role in the slave trade that enabled Holland’s seafaring empire. Among the artifacts displayed are tools destined for slaves to use on a sugar plantation in Suriname alongside luxury objects meant to guarantee the plantation owners a comfortable life, salvaged from a ship that sunk near Texel, never having reached the destination.
The displays are sensational, with many having interactive elements (the notes in English are much appreciated: I also enjoy reading about “The Women Who Stayed Behind”.
The stellar attraction in Museum Kaap Skil is a 17th century silk dress “of royal allure,” salvaged from a shipwreck at the bottom of the Wadden Sea. Given the name ‘Palmhoutwrak‘ (Palmwood wreck), this was a merchant ship carrying luxurious goods, that must have been wrecked on the Texel Roads around 1650. The precious garment is still in amazingly good condition despite having lain on the seabed for almost four centuries. “It is a unique find worldwide; hardly any clothing from the seventeenth century has been preserved. Scientists expect to need years to answer all the questions that the dress has raised.” It is now on display with other textiles and artifacts in a new exhibition at the Museum Kaap Skil, kept in a protectiveairtight display cases, filled with nitrogen, especially designed for the fragile textiles in this exhibition.
“Every find from the Palmwood Wreck is important, but the dress has been dubbed “the ‘Nightwatch’ of the textile world.”
The findings were so extensive that researchers had been working for years to make an inventory and only recently discovered that a second dress from the Palmwood Wreck was most probably a wedding dress, adorned with silver. This dress was less well-preserved but you can see it as well as what it would look like “restored” to its glory in an animation
The Palmwood finds are divided into four themes in the exhibition: wealth, worldly, intimate and stylish. Together they show how valuable, tasteful and exclusive the cargo was: a calf leather bookbinding and a gilded silver cup bearing the English royal family Stuart’s coat of arms in gold print; objects gathered from all corners of the globe: like an oriental rug and a caftan; intimate objects like a toiletry set, knitted silk stockings and a red silk bodice.
Merchant vessels, warships, whalers: they all anchored on what was known as “the Texel Roads.” In the 16th and 17th century this was the place to load, unload and wait for favorable winds, the notes explain. But many ships were lost in storms, which is why there are dozens of shipwrecks lying in the seabed near Texel and how it comes to be that so many of these artifacts can now be viewed at Museum Kaap Skil with such interesting detail. You have more of a personalized connection to each object.
In the exposition ‘Ship in Sight – the Roads of Texel and the World’, the Roads of Texel come alive. A dimension has been added to what is claimed to be “the world’s largest maritime scale model.” The hidden stories about the 160 ships have become visible, thanks to new technique. They show that the Roads of Texel was the logistic hub of the 17th century.
So I find myself in this enormous room – I’m guessing over 100-feet long – that has a model of the city with all the various ships in the harbor (you can use a telescope to zero in on anything, then look up the back story of 160 ships and what happened to that particular ship). Then, extending the full length of the room, an animated film so realistically created of the ships sailing into port, finishes with a massive storm hitting, and you watch how fast one of the ships sinks.
On large touchscreens, you see the ship models very close up, down to the smallest details. There is the Seven Provinces, the ship with which Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter won many navel battles, and the Petronella, a fluyt ship we learn was headed to Riga to buy grain. You can learn about the ship’s features, the routes sailed, personal stories, special facts and important events.
The exhibits make the point just how important the Roads of Texel was as the logistic hub of the 17th century.
You know what – it is spectacular to see first hand, but if you cannot visit, check out the website, https://kaapskil.nl/en/ (You can actually watch the thrilling and fascinating hour-long video on the museum website, https://kaapskil.nl/en/discover/expositions/ship-in-sight-the-roads-of-texel-and-the-world/.)
In the evening, after dinner, our Boat Bike Tours guide Edith leads a walking tour of Oudeschild. After, I wander around the harbor and walk along the dyke, the colors absolutely stunning in the setting sun.
By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Netherlands has to be the best destination on the planet for biking. It isn’t just the ubiquitous biking culture (you are greeted at Schiphol Airport with the sign, ”There are more bikes in the Netherlands than people”) and infrastructure that gives as much, if not more, preference to bikes over cars; the mostly flat landscape, but on top of all are the stunning landscapes, the architecture, the quaint villages, and how the Dutch show such pride and honest reflection in their heritage, culture and history.
This is my second trip with Boat Bike Tours, a Netherlands-based operator with decades of experience combining biking with boating. I loved the Bruges to Amsterdam bike-boat trip so much, I eagerly signed on for its eight-day Islandhopping Premium tour that would bring me north on a four-masted sailing ship to bike the ports and islands of Lake Ijsselmeer and the Wadden Sea, so central during the Netherlands’ Golden Age of Sail.
I expect to see stunning pastoral scenes and bike through quaint villages, and to be astonished by the preservation of architecture from the 1600s (the dates and decoration proudly displayed). But I am (yet again) delighted by the cultural sites and excursions Boat Bike Tours organizes, particularly Ecomare, a marvelous seal sanctuary we visit on our ride around Texel that offers superb lessons in ecology and climate change (I race back using the RideGPS app in time to visit the Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild where the ship is docked, which features mind-blowing artifacts rescued from 400-year old shipwrecks) and the utterly astonishing Eise Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker, the oldest working planetarium in the world, built on the living room ceiling of its genius creator that continues to amaze (and still works!) just as it did when Eisinga finished it in 1781. (Also, be sure to arrange time – 2-4 hours – either before you embark or after you disembark in Enkhuizen to visit the Zeidersee Museum, which is a living history museum formed as an entire village. Best to arrive in Enkhuizen the day before.)
And then there is the pure joy of biking on the most extensive, expansive network of biking paths and roads probably anywhere in the world (even when you ride in town with cars, drivers are very considerate). For the most part, the paths are flat, though I must admit, I did not consider the force of the wind on the northern islands when I chose to ride a regular hybrid when most everyone else has an e-bike. (It’s Netherlands, I thought to myself, how hard could biking be? The fact that Netherlands is so identified with its historic windmills and sailing ships, and today’s battalions of wind turbines should have been a clue.) But I power through, cheered by my newly acquired and supportive brethren (I estimate I only slow them down by five minutes or so.)
Biking epitomizes the appeal that has become a trend of “slow” (and “responsible”) travel at a perfect pace to be constantly interested in what is around, slow enough to really see and even “smell” the roses. Indeed, without a window as a barrier, you can feel the fresh air; hear the wind and the sea, the bleating of sheep and goats as we ride passed; smell the trees and the fields. Meanwhile, the physicality of biking after 20-35 miles– even with an e-bike (which is not like a motor scooter but just boosts the power of your pedaling) sets the endorphins firing and gives you a physically satisfied sensation when you complete the ride.
Slow travel also maximizes the benefits of travel while minimizing the adverse impacts of tourism on the local population and environment.
The only thing better than biking in the Netherlands is biking by boat, compounding the advantages of “slow travel,” especially with a ship that uses biodiesel You can certainly enjoy biking in the Netherlands with an inn-to-inn itinerary, guided or self-guided. But doing it by boat adds an extra dimension, an ambiance (not to mention you don’t have to pack/unpack each day).
Seeing Netherlands by boat adds to the experience because sailing – that is global trade – was so important to the Netherlands and you see the islands, villages, ports as they were meant to be seen. Indeed, I am astonished when I arrive at the embarkation port, Enkhuizen and see scores of sailing ships – tjalks, fluyts, sloeps, aaks, botters, skutsjes, the traditional flat-bottomed ships designed for navigating the shallow waters of the Frisian Lakes – some 100 years old, that instantly make you think you have been transported back to the Golden Age of Sail.
Our ship, Leafde fan Fryslân, claims to be the only four-masted schooner in Dutch waters. It didn’t start out that way, though. Built in 1962 to carry freight on the Baltic Sea, the barkentine was converted into a luxury three-mast passenger ship in 2006. Then, over the winter of 2023-2024, it was cut into two and extended with a 14-meter (46 ft.) section and a fourth mast installed. The ship is now 210 ft. long, 24 ft. wide, with a sail surface of 2494 sq ft.
Our captain, Age, would have been right at home in that Great Age of Sail. We are in awe how he maneuvers this huge ship into the tight corners to park at the dock in a crowded harbor (another wonderful feature of this tour is that we always are able to walk on/off the ship into the village and have walking tours in each place).
The captain is helped by his all-purpose first mate, Lukasz, who lets us help raise the sails after giving us a safety speech that basically says he will do all the tough stuff, and describes himself as a “monkey” (we soon see why). On the days when we are able to sail (one day is spent sailing not biking), we are able to experience the exquisite, peaceful feeling of being under sail while the sea swirls.
The 38-passenger ship is very comfortable with 20 cabins including 4 suites on the upper deck (that have double glass sliding door and a small private balcony); all with private bathroom and air conditioner. There is a very pleasant dining room/bar on the middle deck where we enjoy sumptuous meals prepared by Chef Peter, served with white linen tablecloths, cloth napkins and beautiful china and crystal. There is also a cozy lounge area in what would have been the wheelhouse. I am surprised by how good the Wi-Fi is.
There is always coffee, tea and hot chocolate available, and we can help ourselves to wine and beer on an honor system, paying the bill on the last day.
Everyone agrees that the cuisine prepared by Chef Peter, who I would have to say is the most unpretentious gourmet chef I have ever encountered, is remarkable. He prepares dishes with scrumptuous flavor (but not overly so) and gorgeous presentation befitting a fine-dining restaurant, and then would come out with a platter to ask if anyone wanted seconds.
Each evening after dinner we are given an orientation to the next day’s program and then typically invited to join a walking tour of the village.
Each day, we set out after breakfast, having packed snacks and lunch, and are able to choose long or short routes, or we can bike on our own using the itinerary loaded on the RideGPS app. We divide into two groups – for long or short rides – each led by one of the guides with one of us volunteering as “sweep.”
Each afternoon, we typically have time to wander about the village (if we are not sailing to the next destination) and help ourselves to a snack, coffee, tea and hot chocolate, before dinner.
On a guided bike tour besides the benefit of a guide who may modify the route for the weather or point out significant sights, you have the camaraderie of the group. And for some reason, bike tour people tend to be the nicest, kindest, most open and interested in all that they experience
Our group on this Islandhopping tour is particularly great, instantly melding into a community supporting each other. This is especially interesting because we come from various parts of Britain, Germany, Canada (French and English speaking, East and West), Denmark, and from the East, Midwest and West United States. The Germans, the Dane and the Quebecois all are kind enough to speak English when we are together. And instead of sticking to their own nationality, everyone mixes up at meals, with the couples taking in the three of us traveling solo (bike tours are ideal for solo travelers). In the evening, there would be raucus laughter as people play games and share stories (two couples discovering they shared their wedding anniversary and how they both met at a disco).
More amazingly, I subsequently learn during an evening walking tour of Makkum, that a fellow traveler is descendent of the Trip family – one of the founding members of the Dutch East Indies Company (the first company to issue public stock) and munitions manufacturers that supplied the Dutch revolt against Spain, becoming one of Netherlands’ most powerful and fabulously wealthy families. He even has an actual coat of arms and portraits of his ancestors Jacob Trip (1576-1661) and his wife, Margaretha de Geer, painted by Rembrandt are in the National Gallery and Ryksmuseum. He is like the embodiment of the history that we see around us. He relates his family’s fascinating story as we sat in a historic pub with centuries old Delpht tiles of great sailing ships, emphasizing that the family fortune had long gone and his side of the Trip family emigrated to Canada.
Getting to the ship in Enkhuisen proves extremely easy from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (instead of arriving the day before as I usually do, I take a chance and just arrive the same day). From the airport, you walk to the train that takes you into the Central Station (every 15 minutes) then change at the Central Station for a train leaving every half hour for the hour-long trip to Enkhuisen. (Be sure you buy the ticket in advance online or at a ticket machine and “check in” on a pole before you get on the train, otherwise you can be charged an extra 50E for the 16E fare if the conductor has to issue the ticket; I know because I didn’t and the conductor was extremely nice in helping me buy the ticket onboard),
The harbor is right at the station, and the ship about a five-minute walk.
We are told to arrive on the ship by 2 pm and they mean it, because the ship sails this afternoon to Medemblik. Two couples are touch and go to make it on time.
There is great excitement as we cast off and set sail to our first destination, Medemblik. It is exciting to see the landscape from the water, and when we pull into port, the sun is low enough to make gorgeous silhouettes of the historic windmill.
Because we are heading into the wind, we use the motor (biodiesel!) instead of raising the sails (Captain Age explains a ship of this size would take a mile each time it had to tack). I am extremely happy I remembered my warm jacket.
Each evening after dinner there is an orientation to the next day’s biking and touring, and then typically an 8 pm walking tour.
And so we are met with a two local guides who walk us about, explaining the history and significance of this place.
We learn that William II came with army against farmers in 1256 and in 1289, Medemblik was made a city. William built the castle that is a prominent feature here that was less about keeping out invaders and more about keeping the citizenry inside. Most of the castle remains – one of only two castles that have survived from the 12 William built. Rembrandt’s famous “Night Watch” was kept here for protection during World War II.
Despite invading this land, William wound up being a popular ruler because he built the dykes that reduced flooding and produced better farm yields – turning the land into the shape of a bathtub – and built a court and prison.
Medemblik became an important trading city in the 1500-1600s during Netherlands’ Golden Age, with tall ships sailing to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
But in 1932, when the dam was built, splitting the Zuiderzee into Lake Ijsselmeer, Medemblik lost most of its trade because the big sailing ships could not get in; the water turned from salt to fresh (they had to devise a system to allow for fish migration. (I wonder how the people reacted to entire economy being remade.)
Eight years ago, the city built a 250-meters high wind turbine, apparently the biggest in Europe (I gather the locals aren’t thrilled, especially since he says the electricity produced is used mainly by Google and Amazon).
Our guide shows us churches that changed from Catholic to Protestant after Holland’s independence from Catholic Spain, and the orphanage and the housing for widows the church community built.
The church dates from 1100 but was built to a grand scale in 1400; then in 1517, the city was invaded by the Frissons who burned the city down. The church was rebuilt but its steeple leans (like Piza). This church dates from 1570.
Churches were typically built on the highest points in town – which in this case is two meters below sea level – so if the city should flood, everyone would go there to seek shelter. In 1945, the Germans bombed the dykes, flooding the city.
In 1800, Napoleon conquered the Netherlands, which had been a republic (first in the world! our guide Anya tells me) and made his brother, Louis, the first King of The Netherlands.
Day 2: Medemblik (17 mi. or 24.8 mi. roundtrip) then sailing to Texel
This is our first cycling day – each day we have a choice of a long and a short route and today we can choose 24.8 or 17 miles with a group and guide, or go on our own using the RideGPS app.
Medemblik proves to be so idyllically scenic with classic Dutch pastoral scenes. Our “rest stop” is at a farm, where the farmer has left out a serve-yourself coffee maker and provides a lovely bathroom. I note an interesting playground that is inhabited by goats (really anxious to get snacks from us) and chickens.
We soon appreciate how water management has been a singular preoccupation of the Dutch for centuries and how they have become masters at it. This entire community is below sea level – built behind dykes – as if a bathtub. The quaint, centuries-old wooden windmills were part of that water management system and today there is even a separate government agency and tax devoted to water management.
We ride through the picturesque village of Twisk, a former peat mining town.
We finish the long ride about 2:15 pm, so I still have some time to wander about the charming village center before the ship sails at 4 pm for Texel (we will have dinner while we sail)..
Sailing is picturesque and dramatic – we go by the dam that split the sea, through a lock, and sail into Texel as the sun is starting to drop behind its historic windmill, making for a stunning scene.
I go out for a walk – you literally climb stairs to get over the dyke, then down stairs into the town of Oudeschild (below sealevel), then, a few steps beyond, to vast fields with sheep and back again to stroll along the dyke as the sun goes down.
