Sailing home | Bruges to Amsterdam

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to the boat.

Boarding.

As you board the ship, you can stow your luggage in your cabin, then enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. It’s also a good time to get to know your guide, the captain and crew and, of course, your fellow passengers. Boarding time is between 1 and 2 pm.

At 2 p.m., you’ll leave the city walls of Bruges for a trip to Ghent. You’ll mainly follow the canal between Bruges and Ghent to Aalterbrug, which offers a superb, peaceful cycle path with a surprising variety of experiences. After dinner, you’ll have plenty of time to explore the typical old city center.
Ghent is a large city with around 250,000 inhabitants. Its name is said to come from the Celtic Ganda, meaning “mouth, confluence”. Indeed, the Lys and Scheldt rivers flow together through the city center. In 630, Saint Amand founded the Abbey of Saint-Bavon. In the Middle Ages, Ghent became one of Europe’s most influential cities (around 56,000 inhabitants in 1350), thanks to the cloth industry. From the 14th to the 16th century, there were numerous conflicts with the lords of Flanders, as well as within the city itself.

Economic decline came in 1584, when the city was captured by the Spanish during the Dutch revolt against King Philip II, and lasted for several centuries. It wasn’t until the 19th century that Ghent was reborn as an industrial city – and a socialist bastion at that. The city boasts many well-preserved patrician and guild houses, as well as old warehouses, the “Gravensteen” (medieval castle of the counts), the Church of St. Nicholas (with 13th-century foundations), St. Bavo’s Cathedral (14th century, with the famous painting “De Aanbidding van het Lam”, “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb” by the Van Eijck brothers) and the “Belfort” (14th century belfry).

Ghent is proud of its rich past, but it’s much more than a museum city. This lively city, with its many squares and friendly pubs, is an excellent mix of medieval buildings, elegant shopping streets, splendid mansions, working-class districts dating from the early 20th century, where students often live, and lively little squares where people eat out until dawn on warm summer nights….

Dinner and overnight on board the houseboat.

Breakfast on the houseboat and preparation of your lunch box.

Free time. The city of Ghent takes pride in its rich history, numerous well-preserved guild houses and patrician mansions, as well as its old warehouses, the Gravensteen (medieval castle), the Saint Nicholas Church, Saint Bavo’s Cathedral, and the Belfry (14th century). But Ghent is much more than just a museum city. This lively city, with its many squares and cozy bars, is an excellent mix of medieval buildings, stylish shopping streets, beautiful homes, and early 20th century popular neighborhoods where students often live today. You can also choose to cycle with your guide. The luxurious castles and villas of Destelbergen and its surroundings, just a stone’s throw from Ghent, are the silent witnesses of the rich history of this city located on the banks of the Scheldt River.

Dinner and overnight on board the houseboat.

Breakfast on the houseboat and preparation of your lunch box.

Today, you will leave Belgium and arrive in the Netherlands. During breakfast, you will navigate to Sas van Gent and cross Zeeuws-Vlaanderen (Dutch Flanders). With a short ferry ride from Breskens to Vlissingen (Flushing), you will cross the Western Scheldt. From Vlissingen, it will only take you 30 minutes by bike to reach Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland.
Modern Middelburg has retained much of its historic and picturesque character. There are splendid 17th and 18th-century merchant houses and warehouses along the canals. The medieval abbey is still used today as a museum and as the seat of the provincial government.

Dinner and overnight on board the houseboat.

Breakfast on the houseboat and preparation of your lunch box.

You will first head towards the city of Veere, once an important trading place. From Veere, you will cross the Veersgat dam (here you have the opportunity to visit the beach) north of Beveland. Soon, you will reach the Eastern Scheldt. The huge locks are built on this embankment and can be closed in case of storms and high tides, thus protecting the southwest of the Netherlands from the sea. This embankment was one of the last in a series of sea barriers. By following the embankment, one will understand why this has been one of the most difficult and costly challenges to protect the country, today and in the future. It also allows seawater to enter the vast Delta region. That is precisely why the Delta Works is designated as one of the seven wonders of the modern world by the American Society of Civil Engineers. After this dam, you cycle to Zierikzee.

Dinner and overnight on board the houseboat.

Breakfast on the houseboat and preparation of your lunch box.

A beautiful bike ride on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland is on the agenda. You pedal to Bruinisse. The village is known as a very isolated community. The main source of income is mussel fishing. There is a statue of an open mussel on the dike towards Grevelingen. You continue your journey to Willemstad (an old fortified town) and board the boat. Navigation to Dordrecht, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, located at a junction of busy waterways.

Dinner and overnight on board the houseboat.

Breakfast on the houseboat and preparation of your lunch box.

From Gorinchem, you will visit Woudrichem (an ancient fortified town) and the most famous castle in the Netherlands, Loevestein. You will follow the meanders of the Linge river through the Betuwe. This area is known for its large amount of orchards and will be covered in flowers in May. Alongside the city of Leerdam, famous for its glass, you will continue your visit towards the north towards Vianen.

Dinner and overnight on board the houseboat.