Custom Private Tour of the Netherlands and Amsterdam

Welcome!   You will be met at the airport and taken to our hotel in central Amsterdam.   Once you have checked in, please join us for a welcome drink.

Once everyone has arrived, we will take a stroll in the heart of Amsterdam starting with Dam Square.  After making our way through the Red Light district, we will check out the Westerkerk and the HomoMonument.  We’ll walk along the famous canals and end our walk near the Little Nine Streets (negen straatjes), before heading to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

After dinner, we will take a leisurely stroll to Leisdlesplien - my favorite of the entertainment areas of  Amsterdam - to continue our walk around this magnificent city.

Airport Transfer/UNESCO World Heritage Site Amsterdam Canals/ Orientation Walk/ Dam Square/ Red Light District/ Westerkerk & HomoMonument/ Welcome Drink/ Dinner Together/ Overnight Amsterdam

This morning, we will start with the famous Anne Frank House. We will have a local guide give us an introduction to the museum and the life of Anne Frank.

After the museum, we will explore the world famous Amsterdam canals by private boat. Captained by your tour leader, you can sit back and relax as the city floats by.

In the afternoon, you will have free time to explore Amsterdam. We will have  “skip the line” tickets ready for you so that you may visit many of Amsterdam museums. 

Join us this evening for dinner together as we experience an Indonesian Rijst Tafel (or Rice Table).

UNESCO World Heritage Site Amsterdam Canals/ Anne Frank House with introduction by Local Guide/Skip The Line Tickets For 41  Amsterdam Museums/ Dinner Together/ Overnight Amsterdam

Today we’ll travel like locals and take the tram and train to nearby Haarlem. Some people call Haarlem “Amsterdam without the tourists”.

We’ll start with a walking tour on the Grote Maarkt - Haarlem’s  central square.  We will see the Grote Kerk (Great Church) and its famous pipe organ, the Christiaan Müller organ, one of the world's most historically important organs. You'll have the opportunity to enjoy several museums (for example, De Hallen Haarlem modern and contemporary art, Frans Hals Museum, Museum Haarlem, and the Teylers Museum - Museum of Wonder). Nearby are the Haarlem windmill, secret courtyards, and shopping opportunities.

We’ll have lunch together in a former church converted into a brewery.  You will have the afternoon to explore Haarlem, see the surrounding countryside or enjoy the beach.  You will return to Amsterdam at your leisure.    

Your choice of dinner in Haarlem or Amsterdam with recommendations from us.

UNESCO World Heritage Site Amsterdam Canals / Tram and Train Transportation/ Haarlem Tour/ Your choice of Museums included in Your Skip-The -Line-Tickets/ Shopping Opportunities/ Exploring and Time On You Own/ Lunch Together/ Overnight Amsterdam

This morning feel free to catch up on some sleep, walk the canals or just take your time and sip a drink in a sidewalk cafe, the choice is yours.

Be ready mid morning as we join our favorite locals for a food walking tour of Amsterdam. They will take us around to original Dutch food stalls and restaurants to discover both the sweet and savory tastes of Amsterdam like stroopwafels (caramel waffles), poffertjies (sweet little pancakes),  herring, croquettes, frites (Belgian fries), and much more.

During our foodie tour we will also sample these delicacies to our heart's content so you might not be too hungry for dinner. So, we’ll go to a fun bar that also has good food!

UNESCO World Heritage Site Amsterdam Canals /Free Morning/Foodie tour/ Lunch Together on Tour/ Local Bar Stop With Dinner on Your Own/Overnight Amsterdam

Today we leave Amsterdam to explore more of the Netherlands.   We’ll take private transportation to Delft.  Delft is known first and foremost for its signature blue-and-white Delft Blue pottery, but is also one of the original cities of the Dutch Republic and burial spot of the Dutch Kings and Queens and Johannes Vermeer, painter of The Girl with the Pearl Earring.

We’ll tour Delft and visit a Delft Pottery factory where we will see how Delft Pottery is made with an opportunity to buy it directly from the source.  You’ll have time to explore Delft and have lunch on your own with our recommendations.  

Then, we’'re off to Alkmaar.  We’ll have dinner there and will stay 2 nights in this cute little town.

Delft Tour/ Delft Pottery Factory Tour/ Dinner Together/ Overnight Alkmaar.

If it's Friday morning,  that means it’s time for the Alkmaar weekly traditional cheese market!   We’ll have a local tour guide give us a VIP  tour of the cheese market, where you will see, smell, and taste why the Dutch are so famous for their cheese.  Afterwards, we’ll enjoy a guided tour of the town of Alkmaar.

We’ll have lunch together and then you’ll have the afternoon to explore by foot or by bicycle the local countryside and nearby ocean.  Alkmaar is surrounded by polders, nature, dunes and beach.  You will also have skip-the-line tickets to the Dutch Cheese Museum, Nationaal Biermuseum De Boom (National Beer Museum), and  Stedelijk Museum (History of Alkmaar).

Dinner will be on your own with recommendations from us.

Alkmaar Cheese Market/Alkmaar Cheese Museum/Alkmaar City Tour/Lunch together in Alkmaar/ Dutch Cheese Museum/ Nationaal Biermuseum De Boom/ Stedelijk Museum/Overnight in Alkmaar

Enjoy a relaxing morning and check out the local Alkmaar market.  You won’t find any tourists at this market, just happy locals.

After lunch, we are off to the Enkhuizen Zuiderzee Museum with our skip-the-line tickets.  This wide ranging, open-air museum shows what it was like to be in a Dutch person in a fishing village in 1905.  There are actors recreating life as it was then.

You’ll have plenty of time to explore the museum and/or the town of Enkhuizen.  We’ll eat in Enkhuizen together before going to Giethoorn for the night.

Zuiderzee Open-Air Museum/ Dinner Together Enkhuizen/Overnight in Giethoorn.

We will spend the morning exploring beautiful Giethoorn.  Giethoorn is a picturesque, mostly car free, canal-filled village that is very popular worldwide.  It is called the “Venice of the North”.  Most people think that’s Amsterdam, but it’s actually Giethoorn.  We will explore the canals by whisper boat before the day trippers arrive. 

After our guided canal tour, you can also explore the waterways with a canoe or whisper boat.  This includes nearby Nationaalpark Weerribben-Wieden, the largest peat bog in Europe.   If you prefer to do some walking, you can hike some great routes.  For example, you could take the ‘Weerribben Walking Route’ to hike along unpaved roads, through quaking bogs and past the duck decoys. Pure enjoyment!  

You'll have dinner on your own with recommendations from us.

Giethoorn Explore by Boat/Lunch in Giethoorn/Overnight in Giethoorn

Today we will visit the UNESCO Wadden Sea Area.   We will go to Texel Island in the Wadden Sea and check out the famous mud flats and visit the Ecomare Wildlife Refuge.  Originally created as a refuge for sick seals from the Wadden Sea, Ecomare has developed into an impressive nature center devoted to the preservation and understanding of the Texel wildlife.  The highlight is the zeehonden (sea dogs, ie seals). Their playful water ballet will delight even the most jaded visitor.

In the late afternoon, we head south to The Hague and will be staying in Scheveningen.  Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort that is a district of The Hague (Den Haag)

UNESCO Wadden Sea Area/ Texel Island/Ecomare Wildlife Refuge/Dinner Together in The Hague/Overnight in Scheveningen

We explore the Hague this morning.  Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but the Hague is the seat of government and the home of theInternational Court of Justice(ICJ) and  the International Criminal Court(ICC),

We will also have a tour of Rotterdam.  Rotterdam was destroyed by the Nazis at the beginning of WWII.  The Dutch surrendered a few days later, so it was the only Dutch city destroyed, so it’s the only completely modern city in the Netherlands.  It is also has the largest and busiest port in Europe.

You will have plenty of time to explore further in the afternoon with guidance from us or just relax on the beach.

Dinner on your own with guidance from us.

Tour of The Hague/Tour of Rotterdam// Overnight Scheveningen

Today, we will visit 2 places that show how the Dutch battle the sea.  First, we will visit the  Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier which protects South Holland from flooding.  The Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier is the last part of the Dutch Delta Works and is the world’s largest moveable barrier. This impressive construction cannot be described in words, only experienced.

Next, we will visit UNESCO World Heritage Site Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout Here we can see how the Dutch reclaimed the land from the sea over the centuries using windmills to create polders and make their country bigger.

We will enjoy our last dinner together along the beach in Scheveningen. 

Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier/UNESCO World Heritage Site Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout/ Overnight Scheveningen