8.30am Meet and greet with your English-speaking guide in the hotel lobby, from where you will be taken for a scenic walk to, and guided tour of the famous Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of Dutch art and history and houses in a late 19th century building built on the edge of the famous Amsterdam Canal District. The Rijksmuseum is a masterpiece in itself, both inside and out. Over 800 years of Dutch art and history are on display in 80 recently renovated rooms.
Your guide will introduce you to a time period known as the Dutch Golden Age, a time of great wealth and prosperity but also of unbridled cultural and artistic growth. www.rijksmuseum.nl
10.45am We continue the tour with a short scenic walk to, and guided tour of the Van Gogh Museum, where you will step into Van Gogh’s world. You enter the Van Gogh Museum through the glass entrance building, located on Museum Square that beautifully complements the exhibition wing created in 1999 by Kisho Kurokawa Architect and Associates.
Discover what Vincent wanted to express in the redesigned exhibit of Van Gogh Museum’s collection. www.vangoghmuseum.nl
12.15pm After this exciting tour, there will be a short scenic walk to the historical canal belt area, where you will board a private historic Saloon Boat for a two-hour cruise through the Amsterdam canals. The most relaxed way to get to know Amsterdam with a VIP treatment!
During the cruise a fresh and tasty lunch will be served including coffee and tea. There is a full bar onboard at an additional charge. Your guide will tell you all about the sights you will see along the way.
2.30pm Fully refreshed, we continue with an interesting walking tour of the historic city center.
Amsterdam, the city that was named after the Amstel river, is world-famous for its canals, locks, bridges and well-preserved centuries-old buildings. Most of which can be seen in the ‘canal district’. This unique area was laid out in the early 1600s and would obtain its final shape by the 1660s. Amsterdam, by then, was Europe’s third most populated city and admired for being so well organized, tolerant in religious matters and for the system of aid for the poor it had developed to deal with the needs of the urban poor and sick. An international and accommodating city that forms the splendid embodiment of what has been named ‘The Golden Age’. The architecture of the elegant town homes that were built in the residential sections of the ‘New Town’, continues to impress up to today.
The Van Loon Mansion is housed within the former residence of the Van Loon family and together with its garden and carriage house, constitutes an ensemble that is typical of the ‘Golden Age Grand Town Home’. Today, it is the only remaining architectural ensemble in town. The rooms inside all reflect on fashions associated with wealth and refinement. The walls are graced with family portraits that are grouped so as to showcase the unions between Van Loon and other powerful families.
Since Amsterdam is an excellent walking city, strolling down the paved streets, your guide will point out famous landmarks such as the Royal Palace on Dam Square, the former civic orphanage on Kalverstraat and the neighboring Begijnhof (scenic courtyard complex of centuries-old homes still in use by a community of women, formerly addressed as “begijnen” - a lay catholic sisterhood established in 1389), the Sephardic synagogue in the former Jewish district and the former home of Rembrandt van Rijn. All are within walking distance of most hotels.
De Jordaan or de Pijp neighborhoods are lovely areas than can easily be incorporated in your tour, should you so desire. Both are home to famous street markets and offer plentiful opportunities for a lunch (if during lunch time) or coffee break. The Nine Street district with its local stores and boutiques is also interesting to walk through.
6pm The tour will end back at your hotel, where you have the remainder of the day for your own leisure.
