What better place to start your jaunt through the Netherlands than Amsterdam! Spend your day strolling through its pretty streets beside tree-lined canals, stopping to enjoy coffee and speculaas along the way. Join your Travel Director and fellow travelers this evening on a scenic canal cruise, including a light meal and welcome drinks, admiring the centuries-old gabled façades of canal houses.
Delve into the Dutch Golden Age and its extraordinary art, architecture and history. Dive into Culture as you join a small group sightseeing tour of the Rijksmuseum, where you’ll see the works of great Dutch masters, including Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Spend the rest of the day exploring Amsterdam your way, perhaps visiting the floating flower market or strolling along the canals past its gabled facades. This evening, you could choose to join an Optional Experience for dinner.
Rise with the birds this morning to visit Aalsmeer and its vibrant flower auction, filled with the vividly-hued blooms for which Holland is so famous. Alternatively, during the flowering season (late March until mid-May), we'll enjoy an included visit to the tulip gardens of Keukenhof. The mesmerizing sight of millions of flowering bulbs planted across 32 hectares will leave you awestruck. This afternoon, travel via The Hague to the historic town of Delft and Dive Into Culture at the Royal Delft Pottery workshop where you'll gain insights into the production of this delicate hand-painted blue and white porcelain. Continue to edgy Rotterdam, which was rebuilt from the ground up after being destroyed during World War II. Your orientation tour will reveal an innovative city with architectural treasures worth capturing on camera and a vibrant multicultural scene around every turn.
Enjoy a morning at leisure, or perhaps consider joining an Optional Experience to visit the UNESCO World Heritage-listed village of Kinderdijk, famous for its 19 monumental windmills. Later we travel east to Arnhem to see the John Frost Bridge, so named as a tribute to the commander of the British forces that held the bridge for four days with a mere 750 soldiers, during the World War II Battle of Arnhem. Learn about this famous battle, inspiration behind the film 'A Bridge Too Far', on an included visit to the Airborne Museum at Oosterbeek.
Today we head north to the beautiful Hanseatic city of Zwolle, where we'll join our Local Specialist for a walking tour through its historic center. Later we continue to Friesland where our Local Specialist will reveal the delights of Leeuwarden on a guided walk around this vibrant city full of art, beautiful architecture and medieval canals and streets.
Embark on a beautiful drive through Friesland en route to Volendam, a former fishing port on the edge of IJsselmeer. Dive Into Culture and learn about the craft of wooden clog making and Dutch cheese. Then meet Tom, miller of Katwoude, for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience. Visit the mill and learn about the important role the mill plays in managing rising water levels. This evening, enjoy a celebratory Be My Guest experience with the Pauw family as you connect with locals over a traditional Dutch meal.
Say a fond tot ziens to Amsterdam and your newfound friends, closing the door on a memorable Dutch experience.
