Dave

We'll be driving from Amsterdam to Brugge next Sunday afternoon. Does anybody have information on the ferry from Vlissingen to Breskens. Cost and currency? Schedule? Is the ferry operating? Any information is much appreciated.

Ben Haines

The site http://www.oostburg.nl/welkom_engels.htm says that in the summer, the ferries on the Vlissingen-Breskens line depart every half hour. The 'Provinciale Stoomboot Diensten' (PSD) can tell you more about fares and departure times. The site http://www.zeeland.nl/paginas/inform...ttarieven.html gives you fares, and http://www.zeeland.nl/paginas/informatie/westerscheldeveren/tekstinhoud/infodiensttekstvlissbresk.html<BR>Both sites are in Dutch, but are easy to make out.<BR><BR>Ben Haines, London<BR><BR>

BillJ

Took the ferry the other way last year in April. From Brugge side toward Amsterdam. Got there a little early, waited in a car line. There was a cafeteria and a little stand selling Frites (with mayonnaise, another story). The ferry ride itself was interesting if uneventful. You can sit in the car, or ride up top enclosed or out on a deck. Can't recall costs or anything like that. It was not expensive, as I recall.

wes fowler

If you intend to visit Leiden, Gouda or Delft on your way to Brugge, you might continue south towards Rotterdam where you can pick up Route A16/E19 south. Continue a few miles to Route A15 and take it eastward to Alblasserdam. There, at Kinderdijk you’ll find 19 windmills that once drained the Alblasserwaard. The windmills, of various types dating to the early 1700s , line either side of a canal and offer a stunning view. One is open to the public to show a miller’s home. It’s interesting to compare the 18th century means of controlling flood waters with the 20th century’s Delta Plan. Following a visit to Kinderdijk, return to Rte A15 and travel west to route N57 which leads to Vlissingen and Brugge.<BR><BR>In the early 1950s, a massive disaster struck Zeeland. Dikes were breached on over 60 locations as a result of a monstrous North Sea storm. Agricultural crops were destroyed by deposits of silt and sand, nearly 50,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, hundreds and hundreds of people and farm animals were drowned. Within seven years the dikes had been rebuilt. Recognizing the dikes' fragility, the Dutch undertook the Delta Plan, one of the true marvels of 20th century engineering. In less than twenty years, starting in 1957 all but two of the inlets to the river delta were dammed and an enormous storm-surge barrier constructed. This monster consists of two man made islands and over 60 immense concrete piers between which huge steel gates are suspended, to be dropped when tides and storms threaten the Zeeland farmlands. The Delta Expo exhibit on Neeltje, one of the artificial islands is situated in one of the barriers and gives a fascinating insight into this engineering feat. After visiting it, you'll agree with the saying "God made the world, but the Dutch made the Netherlands. Recognize, as you travel N57 (and that is the route to take from N15), you'll drive through the delta lands of Voorne, Goeree, Schouwen, Nord Beveland and Walcheren,Nord Beveland all of which are well below sea level. You'll find Delta Expo just about in the center of the Oosterscheldedam between Schouwen and Nord Beveland. Continue on to Vlissingen. <BR><BR>