Activity note: There will be no biking today which provides an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate after your international flight. Motorcoach time approximately 1.5 hours (50 miles / 80 kilometers).

Morning: Your program leader will be waiting for you and soon you board a coach for de Zaanse Schans, a village with windmills, and a wooden shoe museum. We will learn the history of windmills when floods were frequent (we are standing on land considerably lower than the North Sea only a few miles away) and the present use of the windmills (grinding flour, pigments used in paints, mustard seeds and log cutting).

Lunch: Enjoy an authentic taste of the Netherlands at a village restaurant located in an 18th-century grain barn. The restaurant specializes in Dutch-style pancakes, savory or sweet treats, which can measure almost a foot in diameter, and often eaten as a main course.

Afternoon: We continue by motorcoach to Schoorl. Upon arriving at the hotel, check in and get your room assignment. The Group Leader will be on hand to provide assistance as needed. Orientation: The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the program theme, the up-to-date Daily Schedule and any changes, discuss safety guidelines, emergency procedures, roles and responsibilities, and answer any questions you may have. A support vehicle will accompany the group while biking each day in the event of emergency situations. We have set aside some free time in the schedule for your personal independent exploration. The Group Leader will often be available during scheduled free time for informal excursions, activities, or meals that have been excluded from the program cost. You are welcome to join if you like, with any associated costs on your own. Upon arrival in Schoorl, bicycles will be fitted to the participant and skill testing will take place. Please be aware that indicated motorcoach times as well as biking distances are approximate and that program activities and schedules could change due to local circumstances such as weather, traffic conditions, etc. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Dinner: Join a welcome dinner in the hotel dining room, featuring a plated three-course dinner of your choice from a select menu plus water; other beverages available for purchase. Dinner each night will follow this description.

Evening: At leisure. The evening is free to continue becoming acquainted with your fellow participants or relax at the hotel. Get a good night's sleep for the full day tomorrow.

Activity note: Biking distance is 15 miles (24 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths.

Breakfast: In the hotel dining room, the ample buffet offers eggs, meats, cheeses, cereals, yogurt, breads (and chocolate sprinkles), juices milk, water, and hot beverages. Breakfast each morning will follow this description.

Morning: After a plentiful breakfast, we attend a lecture on the IBT Corner System, designed to make sure you don’t get lost, followed by a safety lecture about the rules of the road. Luckily, the Netherlands has laws in place that give the two-wheeler many advantages; you have come to the right place. Soon you will be bicycling through the dunes on quiet bicycle paths, with an occasional crossing rabbit, or local bicyclist passing you. This is what bicycling is supposed to be: no cars, clean air and the beaches and ocean to your left. At some point the dunes stop and a barricade of huge boulders has been erected in its place, a little later the dunes continue and soon we find ourselves in Sint Maartenszee.

Lunch: This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like on the North Sea beach in Sint Maartenszee. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Afternoon: After bicycling back to the hotel we will be joined by a local expert to hear about the maintenance of the dunes, fire prevention, and water collection.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: At leisure. Your evenings are free to enjoy as you like. Spend time with new Road Scholar friends, go exploring on your own, or simply relax.

Activity note: Biking distance is 15 miles (24 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths. Transfer time is approximately 45 minutes (20 miles / 32 kilometers). Ferry transfer is approximately 1 hour.

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: After leaving our luggage at the hotel’s storage room we head to Broek op Langedijk to visit the Museum BroekerVeiling and vegetable auction house. This is the oldest auction house in the Netherlands, founded in 1887. Its system, using a huge clock, has been copied in most auction houses. Barges with produce are entered and the buyers push a button to lock in their bids: the first one gets the lot (and pays the highest price!). Original old bridges and gardens make this field trip a memorable event.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like at the auction house.

Afternoon: We part with our bicycles and then motorcoach to Den Helder where we get on a large ferry and cross to the island of Texel (pronounced tessel). Soon we are in Ecomare, a nature museum, seal sanctuary, sea aquarium, and bird sanctuary. A lecture and field trip will acquaint us with this fascinating museum. Returning to the ferry we cross to the mainland and head for the province of Friesland via the Afsluitdijk (enclosing dam). The dike was built between 1927 and 1932 and is 20 miles long, connecting the provinces of North Holland and Friesland. The big salt water inlet off the North Sea, formerly called the Zuiderzee (South Sea), turned into a fresh water lake called the IJsselmeer (combining the name of a river with the Dutch name for lake). Our destination is Makkum.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Biking distance is 12 miles (20 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths. Transfer time is approximately 1 hour (19 miles / 30 kilometers).

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Join your fellow Road Scholars for a lecture by a local expert on Friesland, its customs, history and people.The province of Friesland is unique in that the locals have their own language, Frisian. Luckily for our group leader they all speak Dutch as well. Frisian is a member of the Germanic family of languages and is the closest living language related to English. However, don’t expect to understand the local dialect; you may pick up a few words that come close but that’s about it. Fortunately, almost all the Dutch speak good English. All road signs are in Dutch and Frisian and the province even has its own flag with what looks like hearts but are water lilies. Leaving our hotel, we pedal to Witmarsum and continue by bus to Franeker (Frentsjer in Frisian) where we visit the Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium. A local wool carder built this structure between 1774 and 1781 and it is the world’s oldest functioning planetarium. Using 10,000 hand-forged nails as teeth, the gear mechanism has a pendulum clock and nine weights. The amazing part is that all the planets in Eisinga’s model orbit the sun at the same speed as do the real planets!

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like in Franeker.

Afternoon: Bicycle back to Makkum and, upon arrival, have free time to relax on the beach or go into the village of Makkum. Like sushi? You may wish to sample a Dutch herring, eaten raw and sprinkled with onions.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Biking distance is 20 miles (32 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths.

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Today we turn south and bicycle along the shore of the IJsselmeer. We stop outside of Workum at a cheese farm. The owners decided to change to organic cheese making in 2002 and the result is a wonderful product. A lecture by an authority explains the whole process and will help us understand why the Dutch are known for cheese. Everywhere in Friesland one sees cows. Dairy farming is big business and many farms have three parts: the head, the neck and the rump — the head being the living quarters, the neck is the hallway leading to the rump, where the cows stay in inclement weather. The day's final destination is Hindeloopen, (Hylpen in Frisian), a village dating to 1225 with well preserved homes of captains who plied their trade by sailing to Scandinavia and the Balkan States. Here we explore the Frisian Skating Museum with the largest skating collection in the world. Hindeloopen is mostly known for its ornate hand-painted furniture that we will admire in an atelier.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like in Hindeloopen.

Afternoon: Return to our hotel and enjoy a relaxing afternoon in front of the hotel on the beach.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Biking distance is 8 miles (13 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths. Transfer time is approximately 1.45 hours (85 miles / 137 kilometers).

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: After checking out of the hotel, luggage is brought aboard the motorcoach and we are off for Luttelgeest where we explore the largest orchid grower in the country: de Orchideeën Hoeve. A flower expert will lead a field trip through their greenhouses and will surely captivate you; you will never see so many varieties in one place.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like.

Afternoon: We will continue by motorcoach to Vierhouten located in the province of Gelderland. The Netherlands has 12 provinces, each with its own capital. Most people call the country Holland, but the official name is The Netherlands. Gelderland lies in the center of the country and has some dense forest. After checking in at our hotel, we will mount our two-wheeler and bicycle a short distance through a dense forest to a hidden village. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands from 1940-1945, many Dutch people joined the Resistance. Those who were being sought by the Germans would hide in the village, as well as Jews who were temporarily in hiding, until it was safe to move them to Belgium, then on to France, Spain, and across the North Sea to England. The locals looked after the people in the hidden village and brought them food, and a doctor would take care of the sick. It all ended in October 1944 when the Germans discovered the village by accident.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Biking distance is 24 miles (39 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths.

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Today’s field trip takes us to Elburg where we enter the town through a gate built in 1592. The town was formerly situated on the IJsselmeer and was heavily fortified (new reclaimed land is now between the IJsselmeer and Elburg). We’ll see artillery casemates — underground compartments where guns were mounted — and the 14th-century St Nicolaas Church that allows for a splendid view from the top.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like in Elburg.

Afternoon: Returning to Vierhouten, we will be joined by a lecturer for a presentation on how the Dutch pensioners spent their golden years, followed by an explanation of the relationships between the Netherlands, the Royal Family, and the government.

Dinner: Hotel dining room.

Evening: At leisure.

Activity note: Biking distance is 24 miles (39 kilometers) on flat terrain, primarily on dedicated paved bicycle paths.

Breakfast: Hotel dining room.

Morning: Our last day on the bicycle, let’s make the most of it. Heading for the forest and past heather fields we bicycle to Het Loo Palace, a Royal Estate. Built in 1685 for William III (of William and Mary fame). This magnificent Baroque palace with its gorgeous gardens is well worth a visit. Until 1963 it was a royal residence, today it is open to the public. You are free to explore on your own.

Lunch: On your own to enjoy what you like.

Afternoon: We return to Vierhouten, bid farewell to our bicycles, relax, and enjoy our last afternoon with new-made friends.

Dinner: During our farewell dinner, recap your adventures and share your favorite memories with your fellow participants tonight at our farewell dinner.

Evening: At leisure. Prepare for departure in the morning and get a good night’s rest.

Activity note: Hotel check-out time is 11:00 a.m. See your program’s travel details regarding transfers. Transfer from the hotel to the airport is approximately 1.5 hours (68 miles / 110 kilometers).

Breakfast: Hotel dining room. This concludes our program.

Morning: Morning transfer to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for departures. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Please join our Facebook page and share photos of your program. Visit us at www.facebook.com/rsadventures. Best wishes for all your journeys!