With great regret we have to let you know we again will have to postpone
this trip. We don’t know the new date yet, but will inform you by email
and of course this website.
This trip leads us to completely new Expat Club destinations in the Northern Netherlands, namely the three Provinces of Friesland, Groningen & Drenthe. We will visit several picturesque historic villages, add 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Wadden Sea and Wouda steam pumping station), see the major cities of Leeuwarden (European Capital of Culture 2018) and the large student city Groningen, and see an ultra ancient “Hunnebed” site in the green Province of Drenthe. This is an excellent opportunity to go to a part of the Netherlands that not many people see, but that is so much worth it. We depart already on Saturday evening to get a full day on Sunday in Friesland and return to Brussels on Monday (holiday). Note, there is a chance we already leave on Saturday morning so we have extra time but cannot yet confirm this.
Are we allowed to do this trip?
This trip will take us back to Belgium within 48 hours, so there are no additional requirements upon return (no Passenger Locator Form, no negative PCR and no quarantine). Equally important, there are no requirements for visiting the Netherlands. You will not need a negative PCR if you travel by private bus like we do. You will not have to go into quarantine. Traveling by bus with full capacity is allowed in both countries, although we will have many empty seats available since we take a large double-decker. Hotels are allowed to receive guests, with meals in the rooms (not in the restaurants) and we can discover the destinations without any problems. Masks are not required outside in the Netherlands, only inside in public places.
What is the trip fee?
To join this trip you can reserve a spot for €399 only. However, if you reserve your spot by Sunday 16 May 23h59, you will get a €50 discount and only pay €349. The single surcharge is €95 per person. The trip includes:
Transportation by private luxury bus
2 nights stay in 4-star hotels, including breakfast
2 nice lunch bags
visits to many destinations in Friesland, Groningen & Drenthe
Children up until 18 years will get €100 discount.
How can I reserve?
If you would like to join, please send an email to bookings@expatclub.org answering the following questions:
For how many people would you like to reserve?
What room would you like (single, double, twin)?
Would you like a vegetarian lunch or regular lunch?
Would you like to pay by bank transfer or by card? (we will send all payment details on Monday)
Is there anything we should know to make your trip more pleasant?
We cannot accept online payments anymore due to technical issues with our current old site (we are working on a new website). Please register at your earliest convenience, but before Monday is preferred and gives you €50 discount. On Monday morning we will confirm the trip from our site if we have enough participants (15 minimum). Once confirmed, we will send all participants an email with the payment details. Please be aware that your reservation is binding and that payment is required once we can confirm the trip as well. If we cannot confirm the trip, of course you will not have to pay. The process is a bit cumbersome, but the best we can do due to the last-minute character.
Information for single female travellers
You can either opt for a single room, which has a €95 surcharge. Or you can share a room with another lady who also travels alone. This avoids that you have to pay for a single room. Gentleman can request sharing a room, but we cannot confirm this since we usually don’t have many men interested in sharing a room.
Program
As with any Expat Club trip, we have carefully designed the program for this Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe trip. The below program is still in development, some things may be added while some things may be taken out, but it gives you a good impression of what we will visit. One thing is for sure, we are going to see and explore a lot!
NOTE: we may extend this trip also to include Saturday during the day itself. However, this depends on the return rules in Belgium.
Saturday 22 May
18h30 – Departure Place Schuman, Brussels
19h30 – Highway stop
22h30 – Check-in hotel
Sunday 23 May
09h00 – Departure Friesland tour
Lemmer / Wouda Pumping Station (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Stavoren (historic town)
Hindelopen (historic town)
Harlingen (historic town)
Leeuwarden (Friesland Capital, hotel)
Monday 24 May 09h00 – Departure Friesland tour part II, Groningen & Drenthe
Dokkum
Wierum / Wadden Sea (Unesco World Heritage Site)
Moddergat
Groningen
Hunnebed in Drenthe
21h30 – Return Brussels (earlier in Belgium, so within 48 hours!)
Our route
There is so much to discover in this part of the Netherlands, that making a proper route is not even necessary. Of course we will do so, but what we’re trying to say here is that even an unorganized visit to Friesland will lead you to many interesting and beautiful places. During this trip we definitely see the best: villages, sights, the cities, the panoramic views, the lakes, the canals, the large IJsselmeer lake, and the special Wadden Sea that falls dry on low tide. For a first impression, have a look at the below pictures.
The largest steam-powered water pumping station in the world, the Woudagemaal. We will visit it from the outside only since it’s closed for visitors at the moment due to the corona measures.
Groningen, possibly the Netherlands’ most lively student town in the North of the country.
Hotels
At this moment we cannot yet tell you which hotels we are staying at. Due to the last minute character of this trip we would have to immediately reserve and pay for rooms, so the risk of full cancelation, not having enough rooms or having some open rooms is too high. Therefore we can only confirm the hotels upon the final confirmation of the trip on Monday morning 09h00. Still, rest assured we always pick good hotels and won’t be staying in a youth hostel 😉
We stay in good 4-star hotels on both nights (possibly the same hotels. Breakfast buffet will be included, although you have to eat it in your room unfortunately (corona rules). For the afternoon we arrange nice lunch bags, so you will not have to look for a scarce open spot on a terrace.
Transportation
We will be in principle be traveling with a private double-decker coach with 78-seats. This means that there will be plenty of seats to spread out the group through the bus since we will definitely not go with a huge group on this trip. The bus has nice reclining comfort seats with footrests, a tray table, and arm rests. A toilet is available for emergency use only. If we cannot travel by double-decker we will take an equally comfortable 50-seater, which still means we can spread out since we expect a relatively small group for this trip.
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