Wadden Sea Premium 2025

Sail & Bike Wadden Sea Premium

Sail and bike tours are something very special. Feel the freedom, the wind and salt on your skin! It’s a little bit like discovering the seas and new areas as a modern-day explorer.

Aboard the only four-masted-schooner in Dutch waters, the Leafde fan Fryslân, you will experience pure nature while enjoying water, sun and a stiff breeze on the big inland lake IJsselmeer and the so-called “Wadden Sea”, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage biosphere reserve. During this Sail & Bike Tour, the tour guides will take you on an exploration of the beautiful and unique Frisian Sea and some of its islands.

It is a world with two faces, where sand and water dominate during the changeover from low to high tide and where islands of all sizes line up like pearls on a chain. There are tidal channels, seagrass meadows, mussel beds, sandbanks, mudflats, salt marshes, beaches and dunes. The Frisian Sea is the habitat of marine mammals, such as seals and porpoises, and the breeding ground and wintering area for millions of birds. The area is one of the last remaining large-scale, low-tide ecosystems where natural processes continue to function. Furthermore you will visit the famous (freshwater lake) IJsselmeer and its beautiful coastline with many fishing villages and old trading harbor towns.

Highlights of the tour are the North Sea islands of Texel and Terschelling and their beautiful natural areas, small villages and long sandy beaches that you can explore by bicycle. Highlights on the coasts of the mainland in the provinces of North-Holland and Friesland are a combination of rural areas, small villages and picturesque harbor towns: a true “El Dorado” for cyclists. If you like, on board, you may – instructed by the experienced crew – lend a hand during navigating and raising the sails. Sailing experience is not necessary. But of course you are also very welcome to just relax and enjoy the sailing and scenery.

The ship – Your sailing hotel
In between cycling excursions, you cruise along with the ship, which travels to a new destination every day. You dine, sleep and eat breakfast on board. You’ll receive a packed lunch every day, and you can usually choose between a longer or shorter bike ride. It’s also possible to spend a day on board if you like. There are rental bikes on board, but you can also bring your own if you mention it when booking.

Fully Guided
Accompanied by a competent, professional and multilingual tour leader, you and the group will visit interesting sights and places on the daily cycling tours. During the bike tour, they will explain the local history and culture behind the things you encounter along the way. You can also choose to ride individually with the help of our Ride with GPS app and our BBT cycling map (available on board).

Day 1: Enkhuizen – Medemblik

Embarkation and check-in where the crew will welcome you on board is from 2 p.m. (4 p.m. on May 4) near the beautiful center of Enkhuizen and close to the railway station. After everyone is checked in the captain will give a introduction to your sailing hotel and the tour leaders give a overview of the week to come. After all the necessary safety instructions are given the ship will depart to your first destination of the week, Medemblik. After dinner your tour leaders will guide you through this historic town now known for its sailing culture.

Day 2: Medemblik, roundtour (28 km/17 mi or 40 km/24.8 mi.) | sailing Medemblik – Den Oever – Texel

In the morning, after a extensive bike fitting, you can head off on your first bikeride. We will ride in two groups where one guide will take a longer route while the other group will take a shorter trail. Highlight for both routes is the picturesque village of Twisk. This former peat mining town never experienced great poverty and is still in pristine historic state.

After the cycling tour the ship will sail further to Texel, the biggest Dutch Island in the North Sea. Note: If weather doesn’t work with us, an overnight in Den Oever might be necessary.

Day 3: Texel, roundtrip from/to Oudeschild (43 km/26 mi. or 49 km/30 mi.)

The island of Texel is a cyclist’s dream destination with its varied scenery, picturesque villages and dedicated cycling paths. Your guides will take you on a tour around the Island. Included in your program is a visit to the seal sanctuary station “Ecomare”. While the main mission of the foundation is to rescue and cure birds and seals, they also try to educate visitors on the area and wildlife.

Day 4: Texel – Terschelling (sailing about 5 – 6 hrs.)

Today is a full sailing day. The captain and sailor will introduce you to the art of sailing while the impressive ship makes its way to the next Island, Terschelling. The Wadden Sea with all its sandbanks is a UNESCO world heritage. As you sail your way through the sandbanks of the Wadden Sea, keep a lookout for seals in the wild. They like to rest on the sandbars. While sailing you will enjoy an extensive lunch on board. In the afternoon the ship will arrive on Terschelling island, which features a number of picturesque villages situated between the polder and sand dunes along its 30 km expanse. No dinner will be served tonight, to enable you to explore the island and try one of the nice restaurants on Terschelling (not incl.).

Day 5: Terschelling roundtrip, (42 km /26 mi.) | sailing Terschelling – Harlingen

While the previous day was all about sailing, today is all about cycling. Terschelling has plenty to offer cycle tourists: nature and culture, 70 km of cycling tracks and 4 beautiful villages. West Terschelling is the largest village on the island and features a number of nice shops and pubs. The standout landmark on the island is the 400 year-old lighthouse “Brandaris” that can be seen from well off in the distance. Also worth visiting is the heath land of “Boschplaat” which will captivate you with its mud, beaches and dunes. You might even spot ducks, black-winged stilts, large colonies of spoonbills and great black-backed gulls. After a day of cycling, you can relax in comfort once you have arrived on board. In the late afternoon the ship will cross the Wadden Sea sail to Harlingen, the most important harbor city of the province of Friesland.

Day 6: Harlingen – Franeker – Makkum (48 km/29 mi. or 58 km/36 mi.)

The bike tour of today goes via Franeker, where a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage Planetarium of Eise Eisinga is on the program. After the visit you continue your cycling tour through the beautiful wide Frisian countryside along several rural villages to the small harbor of Makkum on the eastern bank of the lake IJsselmeer. If you take the long cycling trip, you will also visit Bolsward, one of the Eleven Frisian Cities.

Day 7: Makkum – Stavoren (32 km/19 mi. or 49 km/30 mi.) | sailing to Enkhuizen

From Makkum you will cycle to Stavoren. The short tour leads you via the old trading town of Hindeloopen. This local art of painting – a type of traditional decorative painting – is quite famous. Apart from this you’ll find the First Frisian Museum of Ice Skating in Hindeloopen. The long tour runs along several Frisian lakes and shows you a different type of landscape. From Stavoren the ship will set sail to cross the IJsselmeer to Enkhuizen in the late afternoon.

Day 8: Enkhuizen

End of your tour: Disembarkation after breakfast until 9.30 a.m.

Good to know

• Cycling route distances in the travel program are approximate.
• On some days you can choose between a longer and a shorter cycling route. Please note that on the shorter routes you may not be able to visit all the highlights mentioned.
• If you prefer not to cycle on a particular day, you’re welcome to stay on board and relax while the ship cruises to the next landing place.
• The tour itinerary and route are subject to possible changes due to nautical, technical or meteorological reasons, or other unforeseen events.
• On the arrival day, you can leave your luggage on board the ship from 11.00 am. (not possible on May 4, 2025)

Important observations for the Sail & Bike program: A little bit of adventure is a part of every Sail & Bike tour: the departure and arrival day and the location – Enkhuizen – are a certainty, 100%. For the rest, the planned daily sailing routes are partially dependent on the strength and direction of the winds and – on the Wadden Sea – high and low tide. The skipper decides the best route to be taken day by day, and discusses the options with his guests. The crew does everything in its power to enable the program to run according to plan and to offer you as fascinating, varied and active a week as possible, in which nature and culture play a major part. It is, however, also possible that departure times and the time spent on the water – and even the order of the program itself – may be adjusted. Enjoy the ride and let yourself be led by the elements! Whenever possible, various passages will be undertaken fully rigged and anyone who would like to help the crew to sail and steer the boat is welcome to do so. This is of course absolutely up to you and no sailing experience is necessary.

Included in this tour

• 8 days/7 nights
• 7 x breakfast
• 5 x packed lunches & 1 x lunch on board
• 6 x 3-course dinner
• Coffee and tea on board
• Welcome drink
• Use of bed linen and towels
• Daily cleaning of the cabin
• Climate-controlled cabin
• Daily briefings
• Fully guided cycling tours (2 tour leaders, 2 groups)
• BBT-cycling map (1 set per cabin)
• GPS tracks
• Use of a helmet
• Use of a waterproof pannier bag
• Biodegradable water bottle
• Fees for ferries
• City walk Medemblik
• Nature museum & seal sanctuary Ecomare
• UNESCO World Heritage Planetarium of Eise Eisinga
• Wi-Fi

Excluded in this tour

• 1x Dinner on Terschelling
• Drinks
• Bicycle rental or E-bike rental
• Personal insurances
• Gratuities (at your discretion)
• Entrance fees and excursions (not mentioned under inclusions)
• Transfers to/from the docking place
• Parking fees

2025:

• Rental bicycle Premium: €105 per week
• Rental E-Bike Premium: €266 per week (only on request, limited number available)
• Parking own bicycle: €14 per week (only a limited number of parking places available: pref. reservation by booking)
• Parking + charge station own E-Bike: €28 per week (only a limited number of parking places available: pref. reservation by booking)
• Parking Enkhuizen: Parking behind the NS-train station or at the Dirck Chinaplein in Enkhuizen is free, but can be very crowded (status: April 2024).

Tour dates 2025 – Leafde fan Fryslan, departures on Sunday:

Season A: May 4, 11, 18 and 25; June 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29; August 31; September 7 and 14 Season B: September 21 and 28