Overseas Study Tour 6/10 – Dordrecht
The Dordt in Stoom Festival

If it’s 2010, it must be the biennial ‘Dordt in Stoom’ Festival.

We ran tours to Dordrecht in 2008, 2006 and 2004, and we intend to do so again this year. Come and enjoy a wonderful weekend in Holland with lots of steam and vintage transport.

Events kick off on the Friday evening with a grand naval parade on the river.

On the Saturday and Sunday there’s steam of all shapes and sizes, from SSN mainline locos, through numerous steamships, steam tugs, steam pleasure craft, traction engines, road rollers, steam lorries, stationary engines, vintage buses, right down to an amazing variety of model steamers. Add in numerous cafes, bars and street entertainment, and you have a real festival atmosphere.

Admission to everything is free, but to travel on all the various forms of vintage transport you will need to buy a day ticket each day – be warned, a single round trip on the ‘Steam Circuit Dordt’ takes around three hours, such is the scale of the event. The price of a day ticket this year is 15 Euros.

We will arrange outward and return travel to Dordrecht, plus accommodation in a local hotel.

Otherwise you will be free to do as you please! An additional attraction this year, for those who may be interested, will be an option to stay a night or two on board the ‘SS Rotterdam’. The one time flagship of Holland America Line is now moored as a hotel ship, conference centre, and visitor attraction, right in the centre of Rotterdam, less than an hour from Dordrecht by high speed ferry, or just 15 minutes by train.

Various travel options will be available – out and back with Eurostar via Brussels, out and back by air via Amsterdam Schipol, or even out and back by rail and sea via Harwich/Hook of Holland.

I would expect the cost for the weekend to be between £225 and £275, based on sharing a twin bedded room. If you are watching annual leave, you might like to consider the air option, and return to the UK on Sunday evening from Schipol – depart 21.10, arrive London Heathrow 21.25.

If you are ‘connected’, do take a look at the Dordt in Stoom 2010 website to get a flavour of the event –
http://www.dordtinstoom.nl/home_english.html

Although it’s on our doorstep, many LCGB members have yet to experience Dordt in Stoom. I urge you to do so, and I really think that eveyone with an interest in steam, in all it’s various forms, should visit this Festival at least once in their lifetime!

To reserve a place please forward a deposit cheque of £100 per person, payable to LCGB, along with a completed Overseas Study Tour booking form, and a couple of 9 x 4 sae’s. You might also like to contact me asap either by email at colinmiell@hotmail.com , or by ‘phone on 0208 893 6885, to discuss your travel requirements.