HOLLAND & BELGIUM IN SPRING RIVER CRUISE ITINERARY:
1. Arrive Brussels
Tour begins: 6:00 PM, Hotel Amigo. A transfer is included
from Brussels Airport to the Hotel Amigo. Your five-star hotel,
a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, is ideally located
in the heart of Belgium’s capital, adjacent to Grand Place, one
of the most beautiful squares in Europe. We invite you to join
us this evening for a welcome cocktail reception followed by
dinner. Hotel Amigo ~ Meals D
2. Medieval Bruges / Embark Ship
Travel this morning through the Belgian countryside to
beautiful Bruges, a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned as the
birthplace of Flemish painting. A sightseeing tour and canal
boat cruise reveal the 13th-century architecture featuring
half-timbered houses, flower-rimmed canals and ancient arched
bridges of this lovely medieval city, one of the best-preserved
in Europe. Explore on your own before traveling to Antwerp for
embarkation on the riverboat – join us for a Belgian beer
reception and Belgian-style dinner tonight. Aboard the
Riverboat ~ Meals BD
3. Antwerp / Albert Canal
A sightseeing tour of Antwerp, one of Europe’s most
important ports, includes the city’s majestic 1905 Central
Station, the opera house, and city park. Visit the Peter Paul
Rubens House – a museum in the reconstructed Renaissance-Baroque
home and gardens of the famed 17th-century Flemish painter,
displaying his works and those of some of his Baroque
contemporaries – and a local chocolatier to see how fine Belgian
chocolate is made. Return to the ship for a cruise through the
Albert Canal to Maastricht in the Netherlands. Join the ship’s
Captain for a welcome reception tonight.
Aboard the Riverboat ~ Meals BLD
4. Visit Maastricht in the Netherlands
Rivaling Nijmegen as one of the oldest towns in the
Netherlands, Maastricht is said to contain more than 1,400
historic buildings and monuments. A walking tour of Old Town
includes Vrijthof Square, Basilica of Our Lady, and the Spanish
Government House. Tour Sint-Servaasbasiliek before a poignant
visit to the Netherlands American Cemetery, the only World War
II cemetery in the country. Have lunch at the 17th-century
Château Neercanne, the Netherlands’ only terraced castle, whose
restored garden terraces are protected by UNESCO. Aboard
the Riverboat ~ Meals BLD
5. Maas River Cruising / Nijmegen
Spend the morning cruising the Maas River through the scenic
Dutch countryside to Nijmegen, the Netherlands’ oldest city,
whose roots go back thousands of years to Roman times. Ancient
ruins and intact historic buildings alike document Nijmegen’s
storied past – from the 8th-century Valkhof, once the stronghold
of Charlemagne, to the 14th-century church of Sint-Stevenskerk
and the well-preserved Grote Markt. Visit the Museum Het Valkhof
to see artifacts such as Roman coins, glassware and jewelry, as
well as Nijmegen silver and guild objects. Your riverboat docks
in Arnhem tonight.
Aboard the Riverboat ~ Meals BLD
6. Airborne Museum / De Hoge Veluwe
From Arnhem, travel by land to Oosterbeek for a visit to the
World War II Airborne Museum, housed in a former Allied command
center during the 1944 operation depicted in the film A Bridge
Too Far. You’ll also explore the well-preserved streets of the
old Hanseatic town of Deventer. Or you may choose to visit De
Hoge Veluwe National Park in Arnhem – the largest nature reserve
in the Netherlands – and the Kröller-Müller Museum, home to over
275 works by Van Gogh. Rejoin the ship at Deventer, and spend
the afternoon cruising. Aboard the Riverboat ~ Meals BLD
7. Enkhuizen / Seafaring Hoorn
Cruise to Enkhuizen, considered one of the Netherlands’
prettiest towns, a former center of herring fishing laced with
canals and historic buildings. A walking tour features a visit
to the open-air Zuiderzee Museum, recreating life in a Zuiderzee
(south sea) fishing village between the 1880s and the 1930s.
Your riverboat continues on to the bustling port town of Hoorn,
birthplace of explorer Willem Schouten, who named South
America’s southern tip Cape Horn in honor of his hometown. You
have a choice of a walking tour of Hoorn to discover its many
intact 16th- and 17th-century house facades, or a journey to the
Alkmaar region in the Schermer polder. There, you’ll visit the
Schermer Museum Windmill, dating from 1634, for a look at how
windmills created the polder, and the Zeezicht cheese farm for a
tour and a cheese-making demonstration. Aboard the Riverboat ~
Meals BLD
8. Discover Vibrant Amsterdam
Arrive overnight in Amsterdam; the Netherlands’ lively
capital city is a vibrant blend of the historic and the
contemporary, from its medieval core and surrounding network of
17th-century canals, to the bustling shops, cafés and rich
cultural life of a 21st-century European metropolis. Have
breakfast aboard ship before departing for Keukenhof Gardens in
Lisse, where millions of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are in
various stages of bloom at this time of the year. Following
lunch aboard your riverboat, you’ll enjoy a relaxing afternoon
in Amsterdam that’s spent as you please. The Captain and crew
bid you farewell at a reception and dinner aboard ship tonight.
Aboard the Riverboat ~ Meals BLD
9. Disembark Ship / Canal Cruise
After disembarking the riverboat, begin an overnight stay in
Amsterdam with an inspiring visit to the famed Rijksmuseum, home
to myriad works by the Dutch Masters, including Rembrandt’s The
Night Watch. The Netherlands’ capital was designed around a
network of concentric, tree-lined canals dating from the 17th
century; enjoy a luncheon canal cruise for a different view of
the city. Your accommodations tonight are at the unique Hotel
Pulitzer, A Luxury Collection Hotel, comprised of 25 restored
17th- and 18th-century canal houses. Please join us this evening
for a farewell dinner.
Hotel Pulitzer, A Luxury Collection Hotel ~ Meals BLD
10. Journey Home
Tour ends: Amsterdam, Netherlands. Fly home any time; a
transfer from the Hotel Pulitzer, A Luxury Collection Hotel, to
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is included. Allow a minimum of 2
1/2 hours for flight check-in. For additional hotel nights in
Amsterdam (or Brussels), inquire at time of booking. Meals B
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