No, we’re not really getting on a tall ship and sailing to Borkum, it’ll be the conventional ferry. But, we do have the opportunity to include the Tall Ships Festival in this year’s Load of Borkum holiday and so we will, of course! Here is the revised itinerary…we hope you will like it!
Our adventure begins at St Pancras from where we catch the late morning Eurostar direct to Rotterdam.
From here our onward train takes us to Groningen from where a coach will meet us for the ½ hour transfer to Veendam and the Parkzicht Hotel.
You will love staying here. They are super friendly and have a huge restaurant/café that is the focal point of the town – oh, and they also have a brewery!
Today we are heading to lovely Harlingen for a day at the Tall Ships Festival.
We are going out and back by rail so that you are not constrained to a particular return time.
Take as long as you want to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere, get aboard some tall ships and see the various street entertainers and stalls.
There will be loads going on to engross you throughout the day.
By coach we head to the Historic Triangle pausing on the amazing Afslitdijk Dam.
Steam, on Holland’s most famous tourist railway before a vintage boat cruise to Enkhuisen.
Time to explore this lovely town and then we take the ferry across the Wadden Sea to Stavoren, a train to Sneek and indulge in an evening meal out before driving back up to Veendam – a long but excellent day out.
Local stuff today. An hour south (ish) of Veendam is the excellent open-air museum called Veenpark.
Here there are period buildings with costumed guides, a railway, and a pancake house!
Later, we steam between Stadskanaal and Veendam on the STAR railway, visit the National Bus Museum and arrive back at our hotel in retro style!
Off to the German Island of Borkum today.
A super boat trip across the water precedes a privately hire steam train, island tour and surprises organised by our lifelong friend Wilfreid.
This is an absolutely unforgettable day and, quite possibly, the highlight of the holiday.
We retrace our route via Groningen and Rotterdam arriving back at St Pancras late afternoon.
Situated in the middle of a very quiet town – Veendam. The hotel is family run (The Appies!) and is a very happy place to stay! It is unusual but then most of Northern Holland is. The hotel features very pleasant rooms with TV, telephone and private facilities, and a very good restaurant for meals and snacks. It also has its own brewery so one can enjoy the fantastic selection on offer. On a pleasant evening nothing could be finer than dining on the town square.