The Best of The Netherlands (port-to-port cruise)

We’ll leave for an excursion along the banks of the IJsselmeer, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Holland. Our first stop will be Edam. Although its name conjures up the delicious cheese, Edam is a small, lively city that is great to explore. Fishermen and farmers were drawn to this fertile area back in the 12th century, and the city grew steadily up to the 17th century. We’ll visit the cheese warehouses that date back to the 13th century and enjoy a tasting of its famous namesake. After, we’ll continue on to Volendam, which you can explore on your own. The village is quaint, colorful, and bursting with history. Enjoy a stroll along its streets or have a seat at the port and take it all in.

PLEASE NOTE

• The order of the excursions can change.
• Times are approximate.

We all know about the cheese, but let’s discover the city it comes from. Gouda is full of fascinating things to see, including the 15th-century town hall and the brilliant stained glass windows in the Gothic Sint Janskerk.  At the end of our tour, we’ll have a tasting of the city’s namesake.

PLEASE NOTE

• The order of the excursions can change.
• Times are approximate.

We'll leave Rotterdam for The Hague, the seat of the Dutch parliament and the only major city with a beach on the North Sea. We’ll take a brief panoramic tour to see the important monuments and impressive sites, including the historic Binnenhof, where the government convenes. We’ll then head over to the Mauritshuis for an audio tour of the most renowned Dutch painters. The collections include Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring,  Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, and Fabritius’ The Goldfinch, as well as works by Rubens, Steen, and Hals.

PLEASE NOTE

• The order of the excursions can change.
• Times are approximate.

We'll visit the Rijksmuseum, Holland's ultimate national museum retracing the country's history from the Middle-Ages to the present day. The collection contains more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, among which you'll get to admire Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" as well as Johannes Vermeer's "The Milkmaid".

PLEASE NOTE

• Headsets are included.
• The order of the excursions can change.
• Times are approximate.

We’ll leave by coach to visit the windmills of Kinderdijk. It’s the only place in the world where we can see so many windmills in one place, and that’s one of the reasons why they were listed as a prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The mills were built in the 18th century to remove water from the polder as everything is below sea level. The Dutch are masters at water management, and this attraction is the best place to learn how they have dealt with their struggles against the sea over the centuries. The area was also the inspiration for a familiar children’s game. Legend has it that after a flood in 1491, as someone from the local village was inspecting the damage, they saw a cradle floating in the water. As the floating cradle came nearer, a cat was seen trying to keep it balanced by jumping back and forth so that no water could get in. When the cradle came close enough for someone to pick it out of the water, they saw a baby quietly sleeping inside. This folktale is now well known as "The Cat and the Cradle."

PLEASE NOTE

• The order of the excursions can change.
• Times are approximate.