Golden Circle

8 days | from: € 755,-  |  Group | Barge | Guided | Level 2

The Zuiderzee is irrevocably linked to the period in Dutch history called the Golden Age: the period in the 17th century when Holland was a powerful seafaring and trading nation. The Golden Circle will lead you along the shores of the Zuiderzee, through Holland’s rich history, and its beautiful countryside.

Highlights include:
Zuiderzeemuseum
National Park De Weerribben
Giethoorn
Dutch nature in a nutshell 
 
Dotted around the Zuiderzee are towns whose names were household words in both hemispheres: Monnickendam, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Vollenhove, Harderwijk and of course Amsterdam at the center of the web, all bearing witness to their rich pasts.
The Zuiderzee museum in Enkhuizen, which you can visit on Monday, will revive that past. Crafts typical of the time are practised in this open-air museum, and houses, boats and costumes can be admired.
In the space of a week you will also pass through four different landscapes: the archetypical Dutch polder with its windmills and drainage ditches, the marshy region in the province of Overijssel with the beautiful lakes of National Park ‘De Weerribben’, the heathed and wooded area of the Veluwe, and the unique lake and peat bog region around the rivers Vecht and Amstel.

The route from day to day +km
sat		Amsterdam, embarkation at 4 PM near Central Station, short round trip, 20
sun		Amsterdam - Hoorn, 50
mon		Hoorn - Enkhuizen 27, visit to the Zuiderzeemuseum. Sailing to Urk
tue		Urk-  sailing to Genemuiden or Zwartsluis. Round trip Giethoorn and Weerribben, 55
wed		Genemuiden or Zwartsluis - sailing to Roggebotsluis. From here to Harderwijk, 45.
thu		Harderwijk - Spakenburg, 52
fri		Spakenburg - Amsterdam, 55
sat		Amsterdam, debarkation before 10 AM near Central Station

1 km = 0.62 miles
Level of difficulty: 2