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2009 Holland Bike & Barge Amsterdam-Bruges - Detailed Itinerary

TBA

Day 1 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Depart the U.S. and begin your crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Depart from the U.S. for the Netherlands. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets.

Day 2 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Arrive in Amsterdam

Upon arrival at the Amsterdam airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If any portion of your luggage appears to be lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area: VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. (Please note: Also make certain your VBT luggage tags are affixed to your bag so that your VBT representative can identify you.) After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign. Please wait here while your representative helps make arrangements for your transfer via taxi or minibus to your Amsterdam hotel (transfer time approximately 20 minutes depending upon traffic). Important: Transfers are provided by STS Taxi Service, who will be looking for you and carrying a VBT signboard. You may be approached by other companies offering a transfer. Please use only STS Taxi Services (telephone 036 530 9014). Transfers provided by any other company will be at your own expense. Please note: If you cannot find the VBT representative or driver, or have been delayed due to waiting in customs or because of lost luggage, please go to the Red & White Meeting Point and wait there. Once you are at the hotel, VBT provides you with a city information packet that includes information and recommendations on what to see and do in Amsterdam during your stay. You have the rest of the day to relax or to begin your exploration of the city. Please note: VBT may modify times in accordance with each tour's flight arrival time to assure that each air package guest has access to the VBT representative. Upon arrival at the airport, please reconfirm the times that VBT's representative will be available for your assistance. Also please note: VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you fly in earlier than the scheduled program dates, transportation from the airport will be at your own expense.

Hotel: Hotel Vondel - Extension Hotel

Day 3 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Amsterdam

Delve into Amsterdam's cultural and historic riches at your own pace during this independent trip extension. From the Van Gogh Museum to the floating flower market, you can expect to find an inexhaustible variety of delights in this cultured capital. Take in the superlative collection of art by Dutch Masters in the Rijkmuseum (under renovation until 2008, but with its most famous masterpieces still on display). Visit Anne Frank's house, including the attic where she and her family hid from the Nazis until they were betrayed. Your hotel is located near the major points of interest, and you have ample time to browse Amsterdam's huge array of elegant shops and be entertained by the city's animated street life.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Vondel - Extension Hotel

Day 4 of PRE-TRIP EXTENSION Independent exploration of Amsterdam

Continue your independent exploration of the city's amazing cathedrals, art galleries, museums and shops.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Vondel - Extension Hotel

Day 1 of AIR PACKAGE Depart U.S./Fly to Amsterdam

Depart from the U.S. for the Netherlands. The particulars of your arrival overseas are detailed with your flight itinerary and airline tickets.

Day 1 of BIKE TOUR Arrive in Amsterdam

VBT No-Air Package guests: Upon arrival at the Amsterdam airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. After exiting the customs area, transfer on your own to Hotel Vondel (address: Vondelstraat 18-30, 1054 GD Amsterdam, The Netherlands; telephone +31 [0] 20 61 64 075). You are responsible for your own transportation to the hotel. Taxi cost is approximately 35 euros/$66.00 USD (transfer time approximately 20 minutes depending upon traffic). There is also excellent train service from the airport to the city center rail station, still a 10 minute taxi ride from the hotel. VBT Air Package Guests: Upon arrival at the Amsterdam airport, claim your luggage and clear customs. If your luggage is lost, fill in a PIR form before leaving the customs area: VBT representatives are not allowed into the customs area. (Please note: Also make certain your VBT luggage tags are affixed to your bag so that your VBT representative can identify you.) After exiting customs, enter the arrival hall and look for your VBT representative or driver, who will be holding a VBT sign and will make arrangements for your transfer via taxi or minibus to your Amsterdam hotel (transfer time approximately 20 minutes depending upon traffic). Important: Transfers are provided by STS Taxi Service, who will be looking for you and carrying a VBT signboard. You may be approached by other companies offering a transfer. Please use only STS Taxi Services (telephone 036 530 9014). Transfers provided by any other company will be at your own expense. Please note: If you cannot find the VBT representative or driver, or have been delayed due to waiting in customs or because of lost luggage, please go to the Red & White Meeting Point and wait there. VBT Pre-Trip Extension guests: Spend the morning on your own before joining the other guests. Please note: Your local guide will meet all guests in the hotel lobby at 2 p.m. If you miss this appointment, make sure you join the group at 6:00 p.m. for the briefing and cocktail reception, or call the Front Desk and leave a message for your local guide. After checking in, you have free time to explore Amsterdam before gathering with your local guide and traveling companions for a welcome reception and briefing at 6:00 p.m. Tonight, try one of Amsterdam's wonderful restaurants for dinner on your own.

Hotel: Hotel Vondel

Day 2 of BIKE TOUR Embark barge/Warm-up ride/Cruise to Vianen

Today, join your local guide for a guided walking tour of Amsterdam, visiting many of the city's highlights. Board the barge at 1:45 p.m. in order to depart at 2 p.m. At the docks, meet the barge crew and your VBT Trip Leaders, who welcome you aboard with refreshments. Cruise out of Amsterdam on the IJ waterway, catching glimpses of houseboats and floating houses; the barge stops before dinner for your warm-up ride, which goes along the river Vecht. This evening, gather with the group for a welcome dinner onboard. Afterward, your captain gives a talk on navigation and the route for our journey. We moor in Vianen, a small city on the river Lek.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 3 of BIKE TOUR Cycle and Cruise to Dordrecht

This morning, cycle from Vianen through beautiful countryside to Schoonhoven, known as the “Silver City.” Then continue to Kinderdijk, home to an impressive group of 19 windmills that date to 1740 and were used well into the 20th century. This site is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit one of the windmills before cycling to Dordrecht, one of the oldest towns in Holland and an important junction for shipping traffic (If you prefer, relax on the barge as it cruises to Dordrecht). Use free time on arrival for an evening walk before dinner on board the barge, which moors in the city's historic center. Your Trip Leaders teach a language class tonight.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 4 of BIKE TOUR Cruise to Willemstad/Cycle to Tholen

This morning, the barge sails to Willemstad, an old fortified town on the Haringvliet, where you can explore before cycling to Tholen. Your route goes along the impressive complex of locks de Volkerak to Tholen, which was once an island in the middle of the large Zeeland streams, where many people fished for their living. Today, Tholen is connected to the mainland, but it remains a picturesque village with relics of an eventful past. Eat lunch on your own in Tholen. Before dinner, the barge captain gives us a talk explaining Holland's waterway system, how its locks work, and what life on a barge is like.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 5 of BIKE TOUR Cycle and Cruise to Antwerp

This morning, cycle across the Oesterdam in the Oosterschelde, which connects Tholen with Zeeland Flanders towards the south. The barge waits at the end of the dam; from there, cruise to the impressive port of Antwerp. After lunch on board the barge you have the rest of the afternoon to explore Antwerp with your Trip Leader. Antwerp is not only known as the “Diamond City,” but also as the native city of the painter Rubens. Visit the Cathedral of Our Lady and the Market Square, which is surrounded by beautiful historic townhouses. Tonight enjoy dinner on your own in a local restaurant.

Meals: B, L  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 6 of BIKE TOUR Discovery Day! Cycle to Temse

Cycle to Temse, arriving in time for lunch on your own. After lunch, continue cycling to Dendermonde, where you follow a beautiful bike path along the river with magnificent views of the landscape around Schelde. Tonight's dinner is served on the barge.

Meals: B, D  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 7 of BIKE TOUR Tour Ghent

After breakfast, begin cycling from Dendermonde to Ghent. Located at the confluence of the Schelde and Leie rivers, this “City of 200 Bridges” was founded around AD 600 and boasts many beautiful buildings dating back to medieval times. Eat lunch on board the barge before taking a walking tour of the city with a local guide. Then explore the city on your own before dinner at a local restaurant.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 8 of BIKE TOUR Arrive in Bruges

During breakfast this morning, the barge cruises out of the city while cyclists who have chosen the longer ride option begin cycling toward Bruges. Others remain on board until Aalte, where the shorter cycling route to Bruges begins. The barge rejoins the main canal and arrives in Bruges in the late afternoon. Lunch is a picnic today with your Trip Leaders, en route to Bruges. Regarded by many as Europe's best-preserved medieval city, Bruges is filled with beautiful houses, built by wealthy textile merchants that line its network of canals. A 350-foot-high, 13th-century belfry tower, which houses Europe's most famous carillon, presides over the city's Market Square. You have ample time to marvel at the medieval ambience of this lovely city and to walk its winding streets. Dine on the barge one last time this evening.

Meals: B, L, D  Hotel: Barge Iris

Day 9 of BIKE TOUR Depart Barge/Discover Bruges

After breakfast, say goodbye to your barge crew and Trip Leaders then walk through Bruges's winding streets to the hotel with our local guide. During the walk, our local guide leads an orientation tour of the historical city center. After checking in, you have free time for independent exploration. Bruges was northern Europe's leading trade center between the 13th and 15th centuries, based largely on thriving wool and textile industries. The city has been famous for its fine lace for 500 years; you may wish to visit one of the small cottage industries revolving around lace-making. Enjoy dinner on your own in town tonight.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Oud Huis De Peellaert

Day 10 of BIKE TOUR Free day in Bruges

You have the entire day to pursue your own interests in Bruges, a city that has been compared to a vast open-air museum. Be sure to go to the top of the Belfort bell tower for a panoramic view of the city in all its medieval splendor. You might wish to visit the 12th-century Basilica of the Holy Blood, which is said to contain a small vial of Christ's blood brought to Bruges in 1149 from the Holy Land. Or stop by the Memling Museum, housed in one of the oldest surviving medieval hospitals in Europe. Tonight dinner is on your own.

Meals: B  Hotel: Hotel Oud Huis De Peellaert

Day 11 of BIKE TOUR Depart for U.S. or begin optional Brussels extension

VBT No-Air Package guests: Your trip ends at your Bruges hotel after breakfast. You may continue to the Bruges railway station or transfer on your own (approximately 175 euros/$210 USD for a taxi) to the Brussels airport for your flight home (approximately one hour, longer during rush hours). VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast*, meet in the hotel lobby for your transfer to the Brussels airport and your flight back to the U.S. Please note: Be sure that you are waiting at the designated time and transfer location. Check your “Transfer Reminder” for the scheduled time. VBT Post-Trip Extension guests: If you have chosen the VBT Post-Trip Extension, transfer after breakfast to your Brussels hotel (transfer time 11 a.m.). After settling in, enjoy the next few days exploring at your own pace. This is an independent extension – there is no VBT representative or Trip Leader. VBT provides a city information booklet, which includes information and recommendations on what to see and do in Brussels. Earlier in your trip, your VBT representative will tell you your final transfer time. A taxi will meet you on the last day of your extension (Day 4 of Post-Trip) at the hotel's reception area and will transfer you to the airport for your flight back to the U.S. Important: VBT recommends that you check the time of your transfer in your “Transfer Reminder.” The transfer is prearranged by VBT and is prepaid. VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense. * Note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the Front Desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

Meals: B  Hotel: NH Grand Place Arenberg Hotel - Extension Hotel

Day 2 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Independent Exploration of Brussels

From your hotel located in the center of the city, walk the cobbled streets to popular sites or hop on a tram right outside the hotel. Stroll the Grand Place, Brussels' magnificent central square that boasts the country's finest Baroque guildhalls. Visit the Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, where you can see Belgium's premier collections of ancient and modern art including works by Pieter Breugel the Elder, Rubens and the Belgian Surrealists. End your day with regional specialties at one of Brussels's many delightful restaurants.

Meals: B  Hotel: NH Grand Place Arenberg Hotel - Extension Hotel

Day 3 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Independent Exploration of Brussels

Continue to explore and stroll through the squares and streets of Brussels on your independent trip extension.

Meals: B  Hotel: NH Grand Place Arenberg Hotel - Extension Hotel

Day 4 of POST-TRIP EXTENSION Brussels extension concludes/Depart for home

VBT Air Package guests: After breakfast*, transfer to the airport for your flight home. Please note: Be sure that you are waiting at the designated time and transfer location. VBT No-Air Package guests: Your trip ends at your Bruges Hotel after breakfast. Continue to the Bruges railway station or transfer by taxi on your own (approximately 175 euros/$210 USD) to the Brussels airport for your flight home (approximately 1 hour, longer during rush hours). Important: VBT recommends that you check the time of your transfer in your “Transfer Reminder.” The transfer is prearranged by VBT and is prepaid. VBT transfer times and departure points are finalized in advance and cannot be modified for individual guests. If you extend your stay beyond the scheduled program dates, return transportation to the airport will be at your own expense. * Please note: For guests with early-morning departures, breakfast at the hotel may not be available. Please check with the Front Desk to verify the times that breakfast is served.

Meals: B