Family Tour of Belgium & the Netherlands

(8 Days - Departs Daily on a Private Basis)
Brussels with Bruges & Ghent, Amsterdam with The Hague & Delft

Families will love this private luxury tour of Belgium and the Netherlands. Stay in the region's best hotels, and enjoy activities suitable for all members of the family: riding boats along canals, touring castles, seeing art masterpieces, learning about cheese and chocolate, visiting an open-air museum, and more.

Begin in Brussels, walk through the iconic Grand-Place, the city's UNESCO-listed main square, to admire the ornate facades of the Town Hall and guild houses and see the renowned Manneken-Pis fountain and interesting street art. See Art Nouveau architecture highlights as well as the European Parliament and other institutions related to the European Union. Opt to tour the Belgian Comic Strip Center or visit the Atomium and Mini-Europe, and take a hands-on private chocolate-making or waffle-making lesson. One evening, enjoy a culinary walking tour through the historic center to sample Belgian specialties such as waffles and frites with mayonnaise. Perhaps also visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts or other museums, or browse antiques districts and open-air markets. Upon request, Artisans of Leisure can also arrange special-interest activities around Brussels such as visiting gardens, Jewish touring, attending a performance at the Bozar or other theaters, a Belgian beer tasting or tour of a local brewery, visiting locations related to Tintin and his animated adventures, or seeing the Chinese Pavilion and Japanese Tower.

One day, enjoy a private excursion to Bruges, stopping en route to tour Ghent, a charming university town. Visit St. Bavo's Cathedral to see the spectacular Ghent Altarpiece (The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb) by Hubert and Jan van Eyck. Also see highlights such as the beautiful waterfront quays of Graslei and Korenlei, landmark Belfry tower, imposing Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) and medieval Patershol quarter. Continue to romantic Bruges, a fairy-tale town of canals and medieval architecture. Stroll through the atmospheric backstreets, city gates and squares of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Enjoy a boat tour along the canals. See ancient monuments, the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the UNESCO-listed Begijnhof housing, and important museums of Netherlandish art such as the Groeningemuseum and St. John's Hospital. Other options include climbing to the top of the Belfry for views over Bruges, visiting a lacemaking studio, sampling locally made chocolates, biking through lesser-visited neighborhoods and touring a local brewery.

Continue to Amsterdam. En route, stop to visit The Hague to see renowned art museums and palaces, and then continue to Delft, where influential artist Johannes Vermeer once lived. Tour the historic center's charming canals, backstreets, churches and antiques shops, and visit Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles (Royal Delft) for a private tour and a private Delft Blue painting workshop.

During private, insider-led touring in and around Amsterdam, enjoy a private cruise through the city's famous canals; tour world-renowned museums such as the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House or Van Gogh Museum; and visit the most interesting neighborhoods to see our favorite markets, courtyard gardens, churches, gabled houses, canals and bridges. Also tour historic houses that evoke the Dutch Golden Age, such as the Rembrandt House Museum or Museum Van Loon, the home of a co-founder of the Dutch East India Company. Other options include visiting the Dutch Resistance Museum and other Jewish sites, seeing interesting contemporary architecture, touring a small local brewery, enjoying the Heineken Experience, shopping for antiques, and dining on culinary treats such as rijsttafel ("rice table"), an Indonesian-influenced meal of many small dishes.

One day, visit the bustling Aalsmeer flower auction, where millions of beautiful flowers are sold and shipped around the world. Continue to Zaanse Schans, an open-air museum of windmills and traditional architecture, to visit a cheese shop, see colorful pigments being ground in a windmill, watch wooden clogs being made and sample typical Dutch baked goods. Later, opt for a leisurely bike ride or barge cruise through the polders (reclaimed land) to see windmills and villages. Depending on your travel dates, we will also arrange a visit to the beautiful gardens of the Keukenhof (mid-March to mid-May) to stroll among thousands of colorful tulips, hyacinths and other flowers.

Upon request, Artisans of Leisure can also arrange a variety of special interest activities in and around Amsterdam, such as attending a performance at the Concertgebouw, biking through the city or countryside, touring museums with an art expert, taking a private excursion to Leiden, a cooking lesson at an organic farm, or seeing a weekly cheese market in a cheese-producing town such as Alkmaar, Edam or Gouda.