Tag Archives: cycling holidays

BoatBikeTours’ Netherlands Islandhopping: The Texel Roads Yields Up its Treasure

Watching the sun set behind the historic windmill that is the centerpiece of the Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild on the island of Texel from the top deck of our ship, Leafde fan Fryslân on Boat Bike Tours’Islandhopping trip  © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
 

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.

Biking on Texel on Boat Bike Tours’Islandhopping trip  © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Whale skeletons on view at the Ecomare marine wildlife sanctuary and environmental center on Texel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

An underwater view of seals at the Ecomare marine wildlife sanctuary and environmental center on Texel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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!). 

Two of the rescued seal pups at the Ecomare marine wildlife sanctuary and environmental center on Texel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I go walking on the dunes and come upon a turf hut (“zoonekeet” or “zooien huus”) of one of dune farmers, named Pagga who lived here until 1909.

Checking out Pagga’s zoonekeet at the Ecomare marine wildlife sanctuary and environmental center on Texel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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).

Biking on Texel on Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

The gorgeous landscape as you bike around Texel on Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

The gorgeous landscape as you bike around Texel on Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Discovering Museum Kaap Skil’s Treasure Trove

Museum Kaap Skil is a must-see on Texel during Boat Bike Tours’Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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 historic windmill is the centerpiece of a living history village at Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild, just a short walk from where our ship is docked © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild on the island of Texel features a living-history village © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild on the island of Texel features a living-history village © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Knowing which ship these artifacts came from adds so much to the story at Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild on the island of Texel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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. “Every find from the Palmwood Wreck is important, but the dress has been dubbed “the ‘Nightwatch’ of the textile world.” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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 protective airtight 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.

Watch as a ship is wrecked in a storm in the Texel harbor at the world’s largest marine model, at the Museum Kaap Skil in Oudeschild © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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/.)

Museum Kaap Skil, Heemskerckstraat 9, 1792 AA Oudeschild, Netherlands, Phone:+31 222 314 956, https://kaapskil.nl/en/ Tickets: 12E (a bargain).

Tall ships in Texel’s harbor evoke the glory days of The Texel Roads © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Our ship, Leafde fan Fryslân on Boat Bike Tours’Islandhopping trip docked in Texel’s harbor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

More information, Boat Bike Tours, www.boatbiketours.com, 203-814-1249.

Next: Boat Bike Tours Islandhopping on the Wadden Sea: Sailing, Biking, Exploring Terschelling

See also:

SETTING SAIL ON BOAT BIKE TOURS’ ISLANDHOPPING TOUR TO THE WADDEN SEA

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© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_feature

Setting Sail on Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping Tour to the Wadden Sea

Biking through the Dutch countryside from Franeker to Makkum on Day 6 of BoatBikeTours’ Islandhopping tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.)

Biking through the tranquil Dutch countryside on BoatBikeTours’ Islandhopping tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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).

Tall ships in the harbor at Oudeschild on the island of Texel, a testament to Holland’s past and present © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Leafde fan Fryslân, claims to be the only four-masted schooner in Dutch waters and is our floating home for BoatBikeTours’ eight-day Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Leafde fan Fryslân’s captain, Age, would have been right at home in that Great Age of Sail © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Sailing the Leafde fan Fryslân schooner on the Wadden Sea © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Chef Peter offers seconds. Yes please. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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

The dining room/lounge on the Leafde fan Fryslân schooner © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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).

Playing games in the evening on the Leafde fan Fryslân schooner © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

And We’re Off!

Sailing the Leafde fan Fryslân schooner on Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

The castle at Medemblik is one of 12 built by William but one of only two that remains © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

The charming architecture of Medemblik © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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).

Following our guide through the charming alleys and streets of Medemblik © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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 

Biking passed the castle at Medemblik © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Biking around Medemblik on Day 2 of Boat Bike Tours’ Islandhopping trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Biking around Medemblik, we appreciate the importance of water management © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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)..

Going through a lock as we sail from Medemblik to Texel © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

Watching the sunset over Oudeschild on the island of Texel from the top deck of Leafde fan Fryslân © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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.

More information: Boat Bike Tours, www.boatbiketours.com, 203-814-1249.

Next: Boat BikeTours’ Islandhopping in Netherlands: The Treasure Found on The Texel Roads

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© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_feature

Six Days on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ Idaho Trails: Biking the Coeur d’Alenes

Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho on the last day of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

On Day 4 of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip, after breakfast at our base at the Silver Mountain Resort, we are shuttled to Shoshone Park in the mining town of Mullan for an easy downstream ride through the “Silver Valley,” home to several historic mining communities.

We soon pick up the official start of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, enjoying views of the rocky, forested mountains, as we make our way to the utterly charming “wild west” town of Wallace.

Biking on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes to Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We have been primed for Wallace’s character (and humor) when we had a talk by a local historian at the Roosevelt Inn in Coeur d’Alene so are prepared for the “history (and some hilarity!) that await us as citizens of Wallace have tenaciously preserved their town amidst an ever changing landscape of fortunes lost and gained.”

Now, we stroll around the town looking for some of the sights she pointed out, like the town’s last brothel, a mining museum, a silver shop, before we join the Sierra Silver Mine Tour that Discovery has arranged for us. It begins with a delightful narrated tour of Wallace in an open-air trolley that takes us up to the mine.

Who knew that Wallace was the “Silver Capital of the World” – some $138 billion worth taken out of these mines –$20 billion of metals just last year (did I hear that right?) – 1 million ounces of silver. In the 1960s, incredulously, Wallace was the “richest little city” in America with the highest number of millionaires per capita, as well as a thriving brothel industry. (The last running bordello was shut down in 1989 when the FBI raided tax dodgers – there is still resentment in the town – but you can visit the Bordello Museum.)

When mining began in 1886, Wallace’s population was 500; at its peak, in 1940, when some 200 mines were operating (quartz, gold, silver, copper, zinc), the population peaked at 4000, but, with the collapse of silver prices in March 1980, most of the mines closed, the miners left and the population fell to the present number of 800. Today, there are still four active silver mines, including the Lucky Friday and the Galina mines, and one gold mine.

In 1890, a chimney fire destroyed most of the town – the buildings we see today date from 1890-1920. Indeed, Wallace has the rare honor of the entire town being listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

Other tidbits: only one sitting president has visited Wallace: Theodore Roosevelt came in 1903 on a campaign whistle stop; the town spent $5000 just on flags to welcome him. There was a shootout on Valentine’s Day, 1951 – one of the tommy guns is on display in the museum. And Wallace’s most famous native is Lana Turner went one day to a grocery store where she was discovered.

You would be forgiven if you thought Wallace was a theme park creation (the 1997 movie “Dante’s Peak” was filmed here), but the history and the heritage are real, as is the miner, “Fast Freddie,” who is our guide into the silver mine.

“Fast Freddie” guides us on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“Fast Freddie” is a colorful character (he looks as if he came from Hollywood casting), with a marvelous sense of humor, amusing and engaging, but most important, he is authentic, speaking of his own experience working 21 years underground in these mines. “You need a good sense of humor in a mine,” Freddie tells us. “We used to play tricks.” 

This mine was only briefly used, he says, because the silver was very low grade and not worth the expense. It was turned into a mining school, where students learned the techniques of mining and could be hired right into a job.

After the collapse of the silver market and the closure of mines, Wallace looked to tourism to compensate. This mine was turned into an attraction, getting as many as 18,000 visitors a year.

A skeleton wearing a hard hat greets us as we enter the Sierra Silver Mine in Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

As we enter the mine and pass a skeleton sitting on a chair, Freddie tells us that one of the worst mining disasters in history took place on May 2, 1972 when 91 miners lost lives and just 2 survived. ‘It took 2 weeks to recover all of them. They didn’t have a system to know who was down there.’ After that, the Mine Safety Administration mandated a tag system – larger mines have more sophisticated program.

The proverbial canary in a mine. “Fast Freddie” guides us on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We actually see a canary cage – used to let the miners know when oxygen is low (the proverbial “canary in a coal mine.”)

In this mine, future miners were taught to run the jack, the drill, and to blast. The miners work alone at different levels, so each one has to do everything – digging, setting the dynamite charge, moving out the ore. “You have to get everything done so you can blast before the next shift arrives.”

“Fast Freddie” guides us on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

How to protect against the noise? “A cigarette butt was ear protection” (not sure he was joking.)

“Fast Freddie” guides us on the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The veins of silver go down for miles – in 1964, they were mining at 250 feet. The Lucky Friday Mine, the largest in the area, is operating at 9600 feet below ground. The deeper they go, the hotter it gets – at 9,000 ft, as much as 170 degrees – so they designed a refrigerated ventilation system to cool to 100 degrees.

After being returned by the trolley, we have time to wander around Wallace before biking back on the trail on our own to the Silver Mine Resort.

The last brothel in Wallace, Idaho is now the Oasis Bordello Museum © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Wallace is really interesting – like a time warp and not really just “tourist quaint”, quirky and fun.  Just strolling around, you find the Wallace District Mining Museum, the Idaho Silver Shop, Northern Railroad Depot Museum, and everyone’s favorite, the Oasis Bordello Museum.

Wallace, Idaho, claims to be the “center of the universe.” Prove them otherwise. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Wallace, Idaho, claims to be the “center of the universe.” Prove them otherwise. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

These folks in Wallace have a sense of humor – and an eye for a profit-making tourism-promoting gimmick: they designated a manhole at the crossroads in the middle of town as the “Center of the Universe” (that’s what is engraved on it). Based on what? “What’s the evidence that it isn’t?” comes the reply.

A mummified mermaid, one of the curiosities and collectibles on view in the Trading Post, Wallace, Idaho © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I find a shop that sells guns, antiques, curios, and collectibles. In a glass cabinet is a large mummified “mermaid” (calling to mind a similar fantastical creature displayed in a store in Banff, Canada, and P.T. Barnum’s museum of oddities).

Poster above rifle barrels in the Wallace, Idaho gun shop: Americanism © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

It’s a delightful bike ride from Wallace to the Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg, where later we have dinner together in the mountain village base.

DAY 5:  39 or 46 miles, Cataldo Mission and the Coeur d’Alenes

The plan on Day 5 is to set out from the Silver Mountain Resort biking on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, and after 11 miles or so, to visit the Cataldo Mission, Idaho’s oldest standing building, lunch at the Rodehouse before continuing biking, with a choice of 39 or 46 miles of cycling to Harrison, where we are to be shuttled back to the resort for a celebratory dinner in Kellogg for our last night together.  

But it is a drenching rain.

Our guide, Calista Phillips, says “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing” and says her job is to cheer lead for biking, but if we don’t want to, we can choose  to shuttle the first 11 miles instead of bike to the Cataldo Mission. After assuring us we won’t be missing much in the way of scenery and that the portion from Cataldo to Smelterville is the pretty part, we vote to take her up on her offer to drive us to the Mission. (I’m just so grateful it wasn’t raining like this when we did the Route of the Hiawatha, especially when I see another bike tour heading out there this morning.)

The visit at the Cataldo Mission starts with an excellent video that explains how the local tribe invited the Jesuits (“Black Robes”) to come here and build the mission. At the time, the introduction of the horse meant that tribes that had coexisted in their own land before, began to encroach on each other’s territory. The tribe believed that the “Black Robe” missionaries had a superior power, a Great Spirit, who would enable them to triumph over their enemies.

The Mission of the Sacred Art was built in 1850-1853, by Father Pierre Jean De Smet, chief of the “Black Robes” who answered the tribe’s invitation to come, along with Father Ravalli, an Italian-born religious leader who designed the building and supervised construction with simple tools and without nails.

Old Mission church, Cataldo, Idaho’s oldest standing building © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Old Mission church is simple and beautiful – the wood-beamed ceiling painted blue with huckleberries, to make the native people more comfortable since they were used to praying outside. We learn that the walls were decorated with fabric bought from the Hudson Bay Company and a hand-painted newspaper from Philadelphia that Fr. Ravalli had received in the mail. Tin cans were used to create the chandeliers. Both wooden statues were carved by Fr. Rivalli with a knife to look like marble.

What I find most fascinating, though, is the museum there that better represents the tribe’s point of view – how they were initially drawn to Christianity with its values of “comfort, community” the sense of miraculous to be found in nature, and a Great Spirit with power to grant protection, like their own spirits, which seemed (at first) to conform with their own values and beliefs.

The Coeur d’Alene people – the Schitsu’umsh, meaning “Those who were found here” or “The discovered people” – were initially drawn in because the early Jesuits were tolerant of native culture and traditions, even blending the cultures together.

The mission became a stop and supply station for traders, settlers, and miners traveling on the Mullan Road, and a port for boats heading up the Coeur d’Alene River.

Old Mission church, Cataldo, Idaho’s oldest standing building © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Over time, the Coeur d’Alene people regretted the decision to give the Black Robes a stronghold when  they realized the Jesuits’ mission was to create an Empire of Christianity. At the same time, white settlers looking to exploit the region’s resources, who brought guns and small pox, were taking territory and pushing out the indigenous tribes. In 1877, even the mission was forcibly relocated from the ‘House of the Great Spirit.”

The museum displays photos and artifacts that show the effort to Christianize and eradicate native heritage and culture – but done in an understated, polite way since this museum, is apparently a partnership between the tribe and the mission. (The Cataldo Mission became a state historic park in 1935, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.)

We have lunch at the Rodehouse, right across the road from the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. By this time, the rain has all but ended – it is grey and humid  – and we get back on the trail for the 16-mile ride back to the resort.  The cloud formations make for dramatic scenes.

Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho through marshland © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We cycle along an enchanting stretch of wetlands – part of the trail is a berm with marsh on either side. We have been told “just after Metamonk Village (mile 20) to be on lookout for moose.

Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho through marshland © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

I spot an osprey with fish in its claws so heavy it couldn’t take flight so dropped it; a black furry creature (otter? muskrat?) carrying what looked like a mouse dashes across the path; a flock of blue heron, a family of deer, and finally, when we are almost at the end of the trail, we come upon a moose with her baby.

Finally! We come upon the promised moose and her baby on the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

DAY 6: 16 miles to the end of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes

Day 6 is our final day of riding. We pack up our luggage, have breakfast, and shuttle to Harrison, the point on the trail where we ended yesterday’s ride. Today, we bike the last section, 16 miles, through a series of chained lakes to the end of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. It is glorious.

Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho on the last day of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

It’s a perfect day – sunshine, cool temp (60 degrees), a bit of a headwind. We ride along the Lake Coeur d’Alene, then cross over the Chatcolet Bridge, a really interesting bridge which was once a swinging trestle (the challenge is to ride over the hump), then into the forest where we climb for about seven miles, through the Coeur D’Alene reservation, to finish at the trail’s end, at a moving Indian Warriors and Veterans Memorial.

Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho on the last day of Discovery Bicycle Tours’ six-day Idaho Trails trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Here we have a picnic lunch, feeling extremely satisfied and happy, before we pack into the van again for an hour-drive back at Spokane Airport or downtown.

At the end of Biking the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, Idaho is this monument to the Warriors and Veterans © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Discovery Bicycle Tours Merges into Active Adventures

Our Idaho Trails group. Discovery Bicycle Tours specializes in small-groups and personalized service. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Discovery Bicycle Tours has just joined Austin Adventures, a Montana-based North America National Parks small group tour company, under the umbrella ownership of Active Adventures, a New Zealand-based small group adventure travel company. These companies primarily offer hiking and multi-sport options, and just like Discovery Bicycle Tours, focus on small groups (averaging 12 guests).

Austin Adventures is a Montana-based North American National Parks expert offering small group tours with personal touches, flexible options to do as much or as little as you want, and “wow” moments. Austin Adventures also specializes in family and multi-generational tours across North America and around the globe. 

Active Adventures, based in New Zealand, has expanded over the past 30 years to South and Central America, Europe, the Himalayas and Africa. They offer small group, inspiring bucket-list adventures worldwide, with a mix of activities ranging from hiking, biking, and kayaking to snorkeling and caving. Each trip is designed to be flexible, so if you’re a little short on time or you’d prefer to skip an activity, they can alter the itinerary to suit you.

The merger means that the teams behind Discovery Bicycle Tours, Active Adventures, and Austin Adventures are located around the world in five countries, 15 cities, and even a campervan.

“Across the three brands, we’ve been running tours in North America for 77 years, Europe for 50 years, New Zealand for 25 years, South and Central America for 20 years, the Himalayas for 14 years, and Africa for five years. That’s a world of knowledgeand deep local experience across our brands,” Scott Cone, Discovery’s owner, stated.

Discovery Bicycle Tours, 800-257-2226, www.discoverybicycletours.com

See also:

Six Days Cycling Idaho Trails with Discovery Bicycle Tours

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© 2025 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Visit instagram.com/going_places_far_and_near and instagram.com/bigbackpacktraveler/ Send comments or questions to FamTravLtr@aol.com. Bluesky: @newsphotosfeatures.bsky.social X: @TravelFeatures Threads: @news_and_photo_features ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Best Bike Trips for This Summer’s Travel

Fondest memories of travel are from bike tours like BoatBikeTour’s Bruges-Amsterdam trip, with this memorable scene of biking passed windmills after a rain © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Biking is my favorite form of travel – I love the perfect pace – not to fast, not too slow to be able to really be in the moment – being outside with no window or barrier, going through villages and neighborhoods you would not likely see traveling by car, bus or train, being able to stop and admire the view. And I love at the end of the day, feeling both physically accomplished and exhilarated, with the endorphins sparking. You feel you are an active participant in your surroundings, not a mere spectator. All your senses are activated.

The end of our self-guided bike trip along the Danube Bike Trail from Passau to Vienna © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

In decades of travel, the experiences I cherish most include riding the biketours.com’s self-guided Danube Bike Trail trip from Passau to Vienna with my sons; being transformed seeing people and villages in Albania (e-bike recommended); the exhilaration of reaching the top of Cadillac Mountain on Discovery Bicycle’s Maine Coast tour; and the warm feeling after a hot shower, wrapped in a lush bathrobe in a historic inn after a hilly, rainy ride on a hybrid bike (e-bike available)  on Discovery’s Eastern Quebec Townships trip; the sheer delight of biking from Bruges to Amsterdam and sailing on a boat with Boat Bike Tours.

Bike trips have become so popular, they have veered far from the humdrum into the heretofore unimaginable. There is hardly any place in the world where you cannot explore on two-wheels (hybrid, road bikes, gravel bikes, e-bikes), where there are not guided trips, or self-guided trips (where you rent the bike, have vouchers for accommodations, and your luggage is picked up and magically appears at the next inn, much easier now with Ride GPS and similar apps). Also, e-bikes have opened a world and extended your years in the saddle – you no longer have to be afraid when the ride is rated a 4, with major hills.

Jubilant to have made it to the top of Cadillac Mountain, a five-mile ascent (with a hybrid!), a wonderful option on Discovery Bicycle’s Coastal Maine trip© Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Also, whether you are a family, a couple, a group of friends, or traveling solo (as I do), bike tours are ideal. Here are some recommendations:

Biking the award-winning Mickelson rail trail on Wilderness Voyageurs’ Badlands and Black Hills trip through South Dakota © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Wilderness Voyageurs has a huge selection of offerings, especially trips that take advantage of rail-trails (the company is based along the Great Allegheny Passage in Ohiopyle, PA).They have trips on 30 rail-trails across the USA (11 are in the Rails to Trails Conservancy Hall of Fame), and have been the operator of RTC’s Sojourn trips on the GAP. They offer a marvelous selection of trips on New York’s Erie Canalway, on the new Empire Trail Network (from Battery Park up to Albany, but the trail network actually goes all the way up to Canada), as well as Missouri’s KATY Trail (longest rail trail in the USA), C&O Canal and Mickelson Rail Trail in South Dakota (I thoroughly enjoyed its Badlands & Black Hills tour). The trip I am looking to do next is the Coeur d’Alene & Hiawatha Trail in Idaho – two Rail-to-Trail Conservancy Hall of Famers, with 10 tunnels including the famous “Taft Tunnel” at 8771 feet long, 7 steel trestles, one 220 feet high). The company has an extensive selection of road bike tours in Michigan, Texas, Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, Gettysburg & the civil War, Shenandoah & Skyline Drive, Kentucky Bike & Bourbon, Colorado, New York’s Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks and a new offering on the Maine Coast & Acadia (I am eying the San Juan Islands, Washington, six-day trip covering San Juan, Lopez and Orcas Islands). It also offers gravel bike tours and two itineraries in Cuba. The trips are well marked for their ability, and the guides, accommodations and meals are superb. (Wilderness-Voyageurs.com, 855-550-7705).-

Feeling tired but exhilarated at the end of a challenging ride (on a hybrid) on Discovery Bicycle’s Eastern Quebec Townships trip © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Discovery Bicycle Tours has actually added departures on four otherwise sold out itineraries this year: GAP Trail Getaway, ride the full Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) Trail in 4 days, from Cumberland, Maryland, to Pittsburgh, PA (Level 1), new departures Sept. 14-17, Sept. 19-22; six days of carefree riding on the P’tit Train du Nord, one of the most scenic rail trails in the lovely province of Quebec, just over the border in Canada (take your passport! Level 2-easier to intermediate, new departure Sept. 17-22); a four-day Appalachian Rail Trails, one of Discovery’s newest tours, offers some of the best trail riding in the Virginia-West Virginia region; new departure Oct. 6-11); and a four-day New York Finger Lakes Getaway trip where you unpack once, stay in a high-end inn, and spin through New York State’s famed winery region filled with delightful farms and villages and perhaps spot Amish buggies (easier-intermediate, departure Sept. 22-25). Discovery Bicycle Tours offers cycling vacations through the US, Canada, New Zealand, Europe,
Chile, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They are already taking bookings for 2025 for its 8-day Bike & Barge Netherlands North tour; 8-day Moselle River Bike & Barge; 8-day E-bike & Cruise Croatia. Discovery Bicycle Tours, which I traveled with on their marvelous Maine Coast and their Eastern Quebec Townships trips, provides excellent value for what is high luxury (inns, dining) – including bike rentals, even e-bikes, in the cost. (800-257-2226, 802-457-3553, tours@discoverybicycletours.com, discoverybicycletours.com).

Catching up to our boat hotel, Royal Princess, as we bike on the path to Kinderdijk on the Bruges to Amsterdam trip with BoatBikeTours © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Netherlands-based Boat Bike Tours, which I traveled with on their fabulous Bruges-to-Amsterdam tour (by boat), has special offers for this summer, with up to 200 Euro savings per person on select tours: Sail & Bike Ijsselmeer & National Parks- 100 euro discount per person, on an elegant three-masted sailing ship, Elizabeth, cycling through dune landscapes, peaceful pastureland and historic fishing villages. In France, get 200 Euro discount per person: Taste Champagne (and brie!) in Champagne (Paris-Eparnay or Eparnay-Paris on the Zwaantje); or visit the best winemakers in Northern Burgundy (on the Zwaantje); the Paris-Montargis tour for beautiful medieval towns and royal history on the Fleur. There is also a 100 Euro discount pp on its Croatia/Greece programs; cycle through ancient landscapes as you explore the Aegean or Ionian islands of Greece, experience the layered history of the Croatian coastline or island-hop the gorgeous Croatian islands. (https://www.boatbiketours.com/all-offers/, boatbiketours.com, NL: +31 20 72 35 400, USA: +1 203 814 1249).

Discover Slovenia’s attractions, like Predjama Castle with Backroads © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Backroads, a pioneer in biking trips since its founding in 1979 by Tom Hale, has branched out to all manner of active, multi-sport programs, and from its California origins, to span the world. It still offers one of the most extensive opportunities for biking – in fact, 143 different itineraries this year, including all the major US destinations (California, New York, Kentucky, Vermont), plus a huge selection of international destinations. Among them: 6-day Bordeaux & Dordogne Bike Tour; Brittany & Normandy Bike Tour; 6-day Tuscany by the Sea Bike Tour; and  Croatia & Slovenia Bike, and eight-day Vietnam & Cambodia Bike Tour, and the trip I am eyeing, eight-day Japan Bike Tour featuring Nikko National Park to Kyoto (https://www.backroads.com/trips/BJNI/japan-bike-tour). (backroads.com, 800-462-2848).

Among DuVine Cycling’s favorite itineraries for first-timers is the Douro Valley of Portugal © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

There’s still time for DuVine Cycling & Adventure Co.’s offer to first-time Duvine travelers to take $250 off any 2024 scheduled departure tour booked by June 9. Among the favorites for first timers: Bordeaux, France; Douro Valley, Portugal; Tuscany, Italy; Costa Brava, Spain; Greek Isles Yacht & Bike Tour. Its catalog of all-inclusive, luxury cycling vacations spans the United States, Europe, Latin America and Africa and include family, adventure, challenge, cycle & sail, specialty, villas, private tours, and, of course, classic itineraries. BTW, 2025 tour dates are live on duvine.com to take advantage of best rates and dates—especially for destinations that sold out fast in 2024: tulip season in Holland, new departures in Norway, and its popular hiking and biking tour in the Italian Dolomites (duvine.com, 888 396 5383)

Butterfield & Robinson offers such exotic cycling trips such as Ultimate Morocco, The Sahara to Marrakech Biking © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The high-end operator, Butterfield & Robinson, offers such exotic cycling trips as Ultimate Morocco, The Sahara to Marrakech Biking (with time spent in bustling souks, historic Kasbahs and indigenous Berber camps hidden among the Sahara’s silky dunes) and Vietnam biking Expedition through lush rice paddies and local villages, discover ancient cities, enjoying delicious Vietnamese cuisine and culture. B&R has released its 2025 offerings, including a new Bali Multi-Active; Japan Tayoma biking. It’s new, limited edition Sri Lanka: Cultural Triangle to South Coast Biking, February 9 – 16, 2025  is an eight-day sojourn that takes you from the port city of Negombo to the sacred city of Kandy, concluding in Galle Fort, and visiting the UNESCO World Heritage sites like Sigiriya Rock. (butterfield.com, 866-551-9090)

VBT Bicycling Vacations’ Prague to Budapest tour is available as an 11-day air-inclusive © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

VBT Bicycling Vacations, an early pioneer in bike trips through Vermont, has long ago spread wings to far-flung destinations, to the far reaches of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. One trip that has caught my eye is a six-day Utah: Bryce Canyon & Zion National Parks (rated easy/moderate, bike included, offered September to October) and Maryland: Eastern Shore & Chesapeake Bay (easy, bike included, offered June-October), Among the Europe itineraries is an eight-day Danube Bike & River Cruise: Prague to Budapest, available as an 11-day air-inclusive. More exotic: South Africa: Cape Town & the Garden Route, easy/moderate, bike included, available as an 11-day air-inclusive package, or 9-day land-only; New Zealand: The South island, 12-days,Jan 6-17, 2025,air included.(vbt.com, 877-774-1942, 855-443-0719) 

Looking for more hard core?

Biking in Sonoma, California’s wine country, one of Trek Travel’s most romantic bike tours of 2024 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Trek Travel’s trending trips include: Andalucia bike tour (breathtaking views, savor exquisite tapas, taste classic wines, and experience warm hospitality set to the rhythm of passionate music.); Norway bike tour (Pedal past the Nigardsbreen and Bergset glaciers and conquer Sognefjellet Mountain Pass, northern Europe’s highest); Shenandoah Valley Gravel Bike Tour (pedal along pristine unpaved roads nestled in the valley between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains). Cycle through Tuscany, or Explore Coastal Charm of Croatia. Looking for romance on your bike trip? Its top “Romantic Bike Tours in 2024” include Mallorca Island; Loire Valley; Andalucia; Santa Barbara Wine Country; California Wine Country. Trek Travel is also a leader in gravel bike trips, the newest trend in cycling. (There may still be time to take advantage of a $250 discount: use code EXPLORE250 at checkout. trektravel.com, 866-464-8735)

Escape Adventures has a bike tour along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Prominent in active travel, Escape Adventures has a wonderful selection of rides through national parks, including Glacier National park Road Bike tour; Canyonlands National Park; North Rim of the Grand Canyon; Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon Road Bike Tour; Canyonlands, Arches & Moab by Mountain Bike. More exotic: a road bike Tour de France Experience; Vuelta a Espana Experience; New Zealand road trip. With 100 destinations, Escape Adventures caters to the full spectrum of active travelers, respective to fitness level and activity type. From road cyclist to mountain biker to electric biker, hiker, and multi-sport enthusiast, and from first timer to friends and family groups of all ability levels. Escape Adventures is introducing a guided “bikepacking” 5-day camping and mountain biking trip along the 144-mile-long Maah Daah Hey Trail System (MDH). Majestic plateaus, jagged peaks and valleys, large expanses of rolling prairie, and rivers intertwine to offer the adventurous outdoors enthusiast a taste of pure, unadulterated badlands. Located adjacent to Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the MDH is one of the lengthiest stretches of continuous trail in America. Hailed as an IMBA epic, the MDH unfolds on 95% singletrack. The guided tour starts at $1,499 per person double. (https://escapeadventures.com/tour/maah-daah-hey-singletrack-mountain-bike-tour/ https://escapeadventures.com/, 800-596-2953)

Discover France is offering cycling trips that combine the exploration of iconic mountain pass and Tour de France routes with daily luxury accommodations and local gastronomy. Available in the Alps, Provence Mont Ventoux, the Pyrenees and the French Riviera, these prestigious cycling adventures lets you discover charming regions while taking on a sporting challenge. Its trip through the Dordogne region lets you ride and discover charming villages, stroll through the narrow streets of medieval towns built on cliffs, such as Rocamadour, experience its rich gastronomy, such as the famous black truffle and finish the trip with an escapade in the Lascaux Caves, one of the many prehistoric sites of the region. Its “Tour de France: Dolomites & Grand Departure Adventure,” is an 8-day VIP Bike Tour that includes a ride through the famous Dolomites and a stop in Florence(Italy) for the grand departure of the Tour de France. During the first few days you will challenge yourself by riding in the Italian mountains. Then enjoy VIP access to the Tour’s historic start in Florence. Riding on the official road of the Tour and crossing the finish line in Bologna will end this adventure on a high note. (DISCOVER FRANCE 427 Rue Hélène Boucher Mauguio 34130 France, discoverfrance.com).

Biketours.com pioneered biking in Albania © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

For excellent value in bike tours, my go-to is BikeTours.com – basically a broker of programs in just about every country in Europe, even Montenegro, Poland, Romania, and Estonia (I took a fabulous boat/bike trip through Greek Islands), plus Japan and South Africa and the United States. They basically represent local operators, so offer much the same itinerary as the high-end offerings, but with more choice of accommodations and opportunities for lower cost. They also offer perhaps the best selection of self-guided trips, which can be 30-50 percent cheaper than guided tours (we’ve done their self-guided Danube Bike Tour Passau-Vienna, and self-guided Venice-Croatia and guided Greek Isles boat/bike trip, and a guided Slovenia trip). The company, under its previous owner and founder, Jim Johnson, opened Albania for biking, which I experienced the trip with Johnson. You appreciate how significant biking is to really understanding a country and its people, when you ride through villages (e-bike recommended). Albania is perhaps Europe’s best kept secret. We were impressed by Albania’s diverse landscapes—snow-capped mountains, deep forests and beaches—its rich heritage and culture and how people in rural areas were actually excited and curious to see visitors in their villages, especially those traveling by bicycle. This also has to be one of the best values in European cycling: experience the 9-day “UNESCO Sites of Albania” guided 1190E or self-guided from 950E. (biketours.com, 833-216-0635, 215-613-0874)

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Great Day to Book a Bike Tour: United Nations Declares June 3 World Bicycle Day

Biking in Albania with BikeTours.com. The United Nations declared June 3rd World Bicycle Day in recognition of the positive impact bicycles have on human health and the environment, not to mention opportunities for people-to-people relations © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

The United Nations has declared June 3rd World Bicycle Day in recognition of the positive impact bicycles have on human health and the environment. Not to mention biking immerses you in the life around you; you see the world at a pace slow enough to really see without a window to separate you, fast enough to see a lot, and you can stop where you want and really smell the roses, even chat with a local. You become a mobile ambassador of mutual understanding.

With cycling growing in popularity worldwide, this is a good time to showcase but a few of the finest bicycle tours available.

Cairo to Cape Town Cycling: TDA Global Cycling’s epic bike expedition takes riders from the Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, Egypt, to Cape Town, South Africa, in the shadow of Table Mountain. (https://tdaglobalcycling.com/tour-dafrique)

Karma Cambodia: Grasshopper Adventures’ tour from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh includes friendly faces, delicious food, rich culture, and great riding, making it an unforgettable way to experience Southeast Asia. (https://www.grasshopperadventures.com/en/long-tours/karma-cambodia.html)
Ecuador Volcano Biking:  Bike to waterfalls, lakes, and Inca ruins, while staying in classic haciendas each night on a mountain biking tour of the foothills around Ecuador’s Cotopaxi National Park with Adventure Life. (https://www.adventure-life.com/ecuador/tours/3951/cotopaxi-mountain-biking)

Red Rock Riding: Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations’ new Northern Arizona tour leads riders through the beautiful Prescott National Forest, Skull Valley, Mormon Lake, and the iconic Red Rock Scenic Byway. (https://gosojourn.com/bicycle-tours/arizona-sedona-bike-tours/)
 
Canada on Two Wheels:  Enjoy country roads and bike paths through farmlands and small villages from Canada’s capital city to the heart of French-speaking Quebec on Sojourn Bicycling & Active Vacations’ Ottawa to Montreal tour. (https://gosojourn.com/bicycle-tours/ottawa-to-montreal-bike-tours/)

Slow Food Piedmont Cycling: On this culinary bike tour offered by Tourissimo, learn about the Slow Food movement right at its birthplace and cycle to vineyards, ancient castles, and hidden hilltop hamlets. (https://www.tourissimo.travel/piedmont-chef-bike-tour-2018)

Bike from Paris to St. Petersburg: Ride & Seek’s “Napoleon Expedition” extends the length of Europe into the cultural heart of Russia following in the footsteps of Grande Armée. (https://rideandseek.com/tour/napoleon-paris-to-saint-petersburg/)

Cycling Down Under: On TDA Global Cycling’s Trans-Oceania tour, ride through Australia’s coastal wine country, southern Outback and Great Ocean Road, then past New Zealand’s sheep-filled hills, hot springs and glaciers. (https://tdaglobalcycling.com/trans-oceania)

More Bike Tours 

The recently held TD Five Boro Bike Tour of New York City, the largest noncompetitive cycling event in North America which cuts off participation at 32,000,  is preceded by a two-day Bike Expo, when bikers can take advantage of discounts and giveaways by scores of bike, biking gear, and be introduced to bike tour companies and destinations from Quebec in Canada, to Taiwan, as well as special biking events through such groups as the World Association of Cycling Events (www.wacebike.com)

There is a new online biking trip planner for the state of Maine, organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, various biking groups and clubs (www.bikemain.org/wheretoride), as well as Maine’s annual 8-Day Bike Maine trip with 450 riders going 320 miles (2018 is fully booked). There’s also the Bold Cost Scenic Bikeway, 211 miles of low-traffic, on-road riding; you can get detailed online and printable maps, GPS data, and local information to organize a self-guided ride (BikeBoldCoast.com)

Also, a 45-day cross-country bike tour, from San Diego, California to St. Augustine, Florida, with luxury accommodations (none of this camping stuff), fine dining, for $13,000, through Cycle of Life Adventures (they also have less ambitious itineraries). (cycleoflifeadventures.com, 303-945-9886)

One of my favorite bike tours because of the sheer number of interesting sites, sights, scenery is the annual Cycle the Erie Canal ride, which travels 400-miles, from Buffalo to Albany, following the Erie Canalway. The ride offers 400 miles and 400 years of history. This year’s, the 20th annual ride, is scheduled July 8 – 15, 2018 (www.ptny.org/canaltour).

(See series: Cycle the Erie: 400 Miles & 400 Years of History Flow By on Canalway Bike Tour Across New York State)

This summer, I have bike tours planned with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, a nonprofit which uses an annual Sojourn trip as a fundraiser for its advocacy of reclaiming and preserving unused rail lines for greenways. This year’s Sojourn travels 160-miles along the Delaware and Lehigh trail (D&L Trail) in Pennsylvania (railstotrails.org).

Also, I have back-to-back bike tours set through one of our favorite bike tour companies BikeTours.com: the first is a weeklong self-guided bike tour from Venice to Trieste to Istria; then I will link up with a week-long guided bike tour of Slovenia. These are just two of Biketours.com’s amazing catalog of 200 guided and self-guided trips in 33 European countries at excellent value.

Stony Brookside, Long Island’s First Bed-and-Bike Inn

How about a biking weekend in the East End? Take your bike on the Long Island Railroad and come out to Stony Brookside, what may be Long Island’s first bed-and-bike inn.

Located in the historic district of Stony Brook Village, about 90 minutes from New York City, the Stony Brookside Bed & Bike Inn, which opened in 2016, is a colonial revival built in 1941 and designed by renowned architect Richard Haviland Smythe. The Inn has an artistic flavor and is decorated with pieces of original artwork by family members including artist Carol Buchman and a chandelier created from reused bicycle parts by artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga. The offers a beautiful breakfast room, library, three bedrooms with views of the Stony Brook Mill Pond or the Stony Brook village, and a backyard.

Guests have access to the breakfast room stocked with refreshments, a full living room, refrigerator, bicycle storage, on-site parking and the use of its new outdoor Yoga platform. Individual and group Yoga classes available upon request.

There are many options for destinations within riding distance of the Inn – historic sites, wineries (local or the North Fork Wine Trail), Shelter Island, the Hamptons & South Fork, local festivals, hidden beaches, musical events. Shuttle service can be arranged.

The inn can create a self-guided route based on your interest, goal and skill level, and will supply a Garmin GPS loaded with your route for your day’s bike tour. There are several loops that start and end at the Inn that give you the option to do one or more or call it a day – your choice.

Or you can join a custom and individualized guided tour of your choice. Whether your goal is to train, sightsee, or have knowledgeable company along with you for the ride, we can lead you through the most scenic and historic of routes in the area.

Bring your own bike, use one of the inn’s road bikes available to guests, or rent a bike from the local shop, Campus Bicycle (guests get a discount). You can also rent a Big Cat electric bicycle (this should be done in advance).

(Stony Brookside, 48 Main Street, Stony Brook, NY 11790, 631.675.0393, info@thestonybrookside.com, www.thestonybrookside.com)