Travelogue: Wind and salt on the skin

From our guests Verena and Michiel

Our sailing and boat-experienced guests Verena and Michiel hoisted the sails in May 2018 and sailed to the Dutch North Sea islands on the impressive ship Wapen fan Fryslân. They tell us enthusiastically about their varied bike and boat trip on the IJsselmeer.

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The nice thing about traveling by boat is that you travel all around without having to pack and unpack every time and get a lot of outdoor air. One disadvantage of cruise-like trips is the bored passive that can hang around.
This is what sparked our interest in boat and bike trips a few years ago. We did the Danube tour from Passau to Budapest (and back) and across the Baltic Sea near Rügen.
This year we opted for the North Netherlands, a tour around the IJsselmeer. Luck was with us (7 days of sun and easterly wind) with a mixed table crew (2 from Canada, 2 from Germany, 2 from Holland). The average age was 50+, but there was also a father with his daughters (8 and 13 years old). In total we were 26 participants, 4 of them crew.

 

On the ship

You could actively sail along, or read quietly in one of the comfortable corners.
On average, we cycled 40-50 km per day, usually combined with a few hours of sailing. The weather and the ebb and flow of the tide determined the daily schedule.
No tourist highlights such as the Reichsmuseum, the canal belt or similar, but very beautiful, very Dutch old towns such as Enkhuizen, Medemblik, Texel (Den Burgt), Harlingen, Franeker, Workum and even smaller villages such as Gaast.

 

on the ship

Find out about the special museums of Eize Eizinga, Joopie Huisman and the Wrakkenmuseum on Terschelling.
There was also plenty of opportunity to dive into the water.
Enkhuizen is easy to reach by train. Good food is served on board, including vegetarian food.
You can bring your own bike or rent e-bikes.
We found it a beautiful and green trip.

Bike tour