8.45am Meet and greet with your English-speaking guide in the hotel lobby, from where you will be taken for a 45-minute drive by luxurious private vehicle to the historical city Haarlem.
Upon arrival, there will be a guided tour of the Corrie Ten Boom House. During the Second World War, the Ten Boom family home became a refuge and hiding place for fugitives and those hunted by the Nazis. By protecting these people, the family Ten Boom including Corrie and her sister Betsie, risked their lives. www.corrietenboom.com
11.15am We continue with an interesting walking tour of the historical city center. With Amsterdam close by, Haarlem remains undiscovered. You'll get see this historical city in a delightful way. Haarlem is the capital of North Holland and this task fulfills Haarlem with dignity. Not only the remarkable facades along the Spaarne river, beloved squares, old alleys and lots of ancient courtyards - make Haarlem extremely attractive. Haarlem is also a Burgundian city, with several of starred restaurants as well as countless cozy taverns, world restaurants and cafés.
This city tour of Haarlem brings history and taste together and that makes this route memorable and above all delightful! The walk shows you the most beautiful places. You discover the most beautiful courtyards and special churches, but also modern buildings are not skipped. All kinds of amazing stories come to life. Why was the Holy Land holy? Who offered courageous resistance to a well-known grand department store? Major plans, major failures, real celebrities and unbelievable legends. Everything will get clear during this city tour through Haarlem. When the town's 750th anniversary was celebrated in 1995, a group of enthusiasts re-created an original Haarlem beer and brewed it again. The beer is called Jopenbier, or Jopen for short, named after an old type of beer barrel. So, a visit to the Jopenkerk (Jopen church), should certainly not be missed!
You will also visit the St. Bavo Church (Reformed Protestant Church, former Catholic Cathedral), on the central market square. This church is an important landmark for the city of Haarlem and has dominated the city skyline for centuries. The organ (the Christiaan Müller organ) is one of the world's most historically important organs. Many famous musicians played this organ, including Mendelssohn, Händel and the 10-year-old Mozart, who played it in 1766. https://www.bavo.nl/en/
During the walk, there is leisure time for lunch.
2.45pm The walk will end at the Frans Hals Museum, for a guided tour. The museum was established in 1862. In 1950, the museum was split in two locations when the collection of modern art was moved to the Museum De Hallen (since 2018 called Hal). The main collection, including its famous 17th-century Frans Hals paintings, for which the museum is named, is located in the former Oude Mannenhuis on the Groot Heiligland. The museum was founded in 1862 in the newly renovated former Dominican church cloisters located in the back of the Haarlem city hall known as the Prinsenhof, and when it needed more space, it moved to the recently vacated location of the town orphanage in 1913. The collection is based on the large number of paintings owned by the City of Haarlem, which includes over 100 artworks seized from Catholic churches in the 1580s after the Protestant Reformation, and Haarlem art rescued from demolished local buildings from the 15th century onwards. In 2018, the museum re-merged with Museum De Hallen to form a single museum called the Frans Hals Museum with two locations: Hof (located on Groot Heiligland) and Hal (located on Grote Markt). www.franshalsmuseum.nl
4.15pm From here, you will be taken back to your hotel in Amsterdam, where you will have the remainder of the day for your own leisure. You will arrive back around 5pm.
