The Perfect Boating Holiday in Holland

A 10-day boating holiday in Holland – who could ask for a better adventure? Start with a couple of amazing friends who have lived in the Netherlands, are fluent in Dutch, have experience with self-drive canal boating and who invite you to join them. Throw in bicycles for all. Now plot a roughly circular itinerary that will take you through the historic heart of Holland. That’s the ticket for this perfect canal boating adventure.

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Arriving in the Netherlands

Our pals meet us at Julianaplein – after a 7,000+ km flight across the Atlantic and a two-bus ride from Schipol Airport. They are riding their bikes with our rental bicycles rolling along – casually balanced with one hand – beside them. Taking out the straps we throw our rolling packs on backs, hop on our trusty steeds and pedal to the marina over cobblestone and brick streets.

Our home away from home for the next few days – Cristine – sits in white perfection on the idyllic canal. Cows graze in green meadows. Grebes, coots, swans, ducks and Canada geese swim by. A great blue heron fishes off the opposite bank.

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Stowing our gear in the front berth, we briefly admire the efficiency of our 9-metre, RV-like floating home. Tiny galley, wet bath, v-shaped forward berth and a sitting area/2^nd bedroom with a covered rear deck. We done many canoe trips over the years with these friends, but this is glamping on the water!

Exploring Haarlem by Bike

Back on bikes again, we blindly follow our guides into their old hometown of Haarlem. Quoting Rick Steves, Haarlem is “a Golden Age kind of town, cute and cozy…and quintessentially Dutch.” Jetlagged bodies come to life as we pedal along treed paths heading directly into the Grote Markt – or Market Square. The intricate spires of the 15^th century Gothic Grote Kerk captivates our gaze and draws us in. St. Bavo Church – more commonly referred to as Grote Kerk– is one of the best-known landmarks in the region.

We stare at the organ built in 1738 with over 5,000 pipes. Imagine the sound echoing through the church when a tiny 10-year-old Mozart was playing this almost 30-metre-high instrument. Walking carefully over close to 1500 tombstones paving the church floor, we admire the old map of “Harlemum” showcasing the walled city of 1688.

We are definitely in the Netherlands with its bounty of culture and history. Adventure on!

Did You Know this About Holland?

Neder means down or low in Dutch. Obviously, Nederland – the Dutch word for The Netherlands – means an area of low land. In this case, it was land reclaimed from the sea. Much of the country is below sea level. The Netherlands has 12 provinces. Our canal boating holiday will travel through three provinces: North Holland (Noord-Holland), South Holland (Zuid-Holland) and Utretcht. Because the Holland provinces have always held power and influence, the Netherlands are often referred to as simply Holland.

Enjoying Teylers Museum in Haarlem

In short, it’s a brilliant first day in Holland. But we still happy to be cosily tucked in our berths by 10 p.m. We sleep soundly with Cristine barely moving on the quiet canal. The next morning, with excitement high, we wolf down yogurt and granola and fresh fruit. As before, we pedal back back into town for a visit to the Netherland’s oldest museum. Dry, dusty mausoleum it is not!

Pieter Teyler van der Hulst willed his estate to a foundation. The foundation’s mission was to create and maintain a museum to stimulate art and science. When Teylers Museum opened in 1784 – six years after Pieter’s death – it was a masterpiece.

Walking in the Past

Today light still streams in from the second-story windows in the Oval Room, falling on the same display cases and objects viewed by the likes of Napoleon and Einstein. Exquisitely carved woodwork draws eyes up to library shelves holding Diderot and d’Alembert’s 34-volume Encyclopédie – the most important book of the Enlightenment and the museum’s very first purchase. 

Following the self-guided audio tour, we pour over the fossil rooms and literally have to drag the guys out of the instrument room – where leading scientists such as Van Marum and the Nobel Laureate Lorentz once worked. Everything on exhibit was originally used for research and demonstrations that helped expand humanity’s collective knowledge of science.

Off the Oval Room is a small picture gallery opened in 1839 – becoming the Netherlands’ first gallery of contemporary art. The work of Dutch artists such as Koekkoek fill the walls. Another room holds replicas of drawings by Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Raphael and Goltzius – the originals of which were all purchased by the museum and are now safely preserved.

Cycling to the North Sea

Three hours blow by before stomachs started growling. A quick lunch in streetside café off Grote Markt and we are off stretching limbs on a bike ride to Zandvoort on the North Sea. Of course, we can’t leave without a bag of frites with mayonnaise – a beach town staple. A leisurely bike back to Haarlem takes us past mansions surrounding National Park Zuid-Kennemerland.

Next time we’ll stop to appreciate the park, but our goal now is to find DeDAKKAS – a greenhouse restaurant built on the top level of a parking garage overlooking the city of Haarlem. “Proost” we exclaim as we sip local bevvies and chow down on vegetarian bitterballen. These  crunchy fried balls usually made with meat, but in this case the three flavours of bitterballen are made of beet root, oyster mushrooms and jackfruit. Each comes with a special sauce to dip and savour.

Let’s Get This Boating Holiday in Holland Underway!

Without delay the next morning, we are on the move in our rental canal boat, passing one larger yacht and carefully going around a racing skull. Two boats pass us coming the opposite direction. That’s all of the boat traffic we see on our journey from Haarlem to Amsterdam in the way of traffic.

There are also plenty of herons, coots, swans, white geese, ducks and long stretches of towering pampas grass. We pass a working windmill – picture time! – a vacant industrial sugar plant and old water pump plants. Our friend deftly navigates the Cristine under highway overpasses and bridges.

Exploring the Streets of Amsterdam

The morning canal cruise gets us to Amsterdam about noon. However we choose a marina tucked away from central Amsterdam. The peaceful surroundings are worth the extra distance to downtown. Biking alongside the canals, through woods, down sidestreets and along one busier tram street, we are in Vondel Park within 20 minutes of leaving the quiet harbor.

As soon as we lock up our bikes near the Rijksmuseum, we head out to wander through Amsterdam’s tourist core. Walking for a couple hours, we pass lines of people waiting to enter the Anne Frank Huis, explore the vibrant Jordaan neighborhood and pass through the quiet red light district – closed, with room rental signs in every other window.

Picking up the next day’s groceries at Albert Hijn – the Dutch version of Safeway – we bike back to the marina for dinner onboard. Word to wise? Don’t ride your bikes on the wooden walkways in marinas. Everyone knows it is not right – or so we learned from a not-so-happy harbourmaster.

Appreciating Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum

If you only have time for one museum stop in Amsterdam, certainly make it the Rijksmuseum. We were up at 7 a.m., on our bikes by 8:15 a.m., and standing in line with mere minutes to spare for our reserved by 9:00 a.m. for entry into the museum.

Quickly picking up headphones and audioplayers, we head up tiled stairs. To be sure this stairway is only a small part of Gothic vision for the 1885 building designed by famed architect Pierre Cuypers. In the main hall, stained glass windows portray Golden age artists such as Rembrandt. Nearby, a massive copy of Rembrandt’s “Night Watch” is being duplicated by artists for a TV series. We sit down to watch the artists at work as we listen to details about Grand Hall of the Dutch masters. Obviously, it’s time to let the art appreciation adventure begin!

Three and a half hours later and we have barely scratched the surface. Not only could the Rijksmuseum take days to begin to fully appreciate, but we have miles to make before day’s end.

Questions about renting a self-drive canal boat? Read our answers in this post!

Exploring Canal Paths on a Boating Holiday in Holland

Cognisant of the need to be back in Woubrugge the next morning by 10 a.m. to swap out the small boat – booked in advance by our friends before we jumped on the adventure – we load up and start powering on down the canals.

Our stop for the night has free overnight boat mooring alongside the small historic town of Oude Wetering. Canal paths are part of the Holland’s cycling routes and are quite easy to follow. Since there’s enough daylight left for an hour and a half bike ride, we take off along the lakeshore of Braassemermeer. However we do manage to catch the windmill of Veendermolen – parts of structure date back to the 1830s – at dusk and get back to our floating RV as darkness settles in.

Another day, another adventure awaits.

Stayed tuned for Part 2 of this Holland canal cruising adventure as we trade in Cristine for the 11-metre cruiser Parel and head out for more canal travel adventures boating from Woubrugge to Utrecht.