Belgium and Holland in Spring

•   Gratuities to ship staff, drivers, local guides, Tauck Directors and Tauck Cruise Director

Day 1: Arrive Brussels
A transfer is included from Brussels Airport to the Conrad Brussels. Your grand hotel is ideally located on fashionable Avenue Louise. We invite you to join us this evening for a welcome cocktail reception followed by dinner.
Overnight: Hotel Amigo, Brussels, Belgium
Meals Included: Dinner

Day 2: Bruges or Ghent / Embark your Riverboat
You have a choice of guided sightseeing excursions today. Travel with us to Bruges in the heart of Belgium’s Flanders region. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bruges is renowned for its extraordinary medieval Gothic architecture and its reputation as the birthplace of Flemish painting. Enjoy a tour before exploring its flower-rimmed canals, cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and ancient arched bridges on your own. Or visit the Flemish city of Ghent, where a visit to St. Baafskathedral reveals a maze of Gothic architectural details and one of Europe’s most remarkable paintings, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, painted in 1432 by Jan van Eyck. Everyone meets in Antwerp this afternoon for embarkation on Tauck’s riverboat. A Belgian beer reception and Belgian-style dinner aboard the riverboat tonight introduce a buffet of regional delights.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, dinner

Day 3: Antwerp / Albert Canal
A half-day sightseeing tour of the port city of Antwerp includes the 1905 Centraal Station, the opera house and Grote Markt. Visit Antwerp’s historic Jewish quarter – one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities. Return to the ship and set off on a cruise through the Albert Canal to Maastricht in the Netherlands. Join your fellow shipmates at the Captain’s welcome reception, followed by a discovery briefing and a shipboard welcome dinner.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 4: Maastricht / Château Neercanne
Maastricht is said to contain more than 1,400 historic buildings and monuments. An Old Town walking tour includes the remains of the city’s medieval fortifications and Helpoort, a steep-roofed gateway built in 1229. On lively Vrijthof Square, visit the 16th-century Spanish Government House and the 1,000-year-old, Gothic-style Basilica of Saint Servatius. Your sightseeing continues with a poignant visit to Margraten’s Netherlands American Cemetery, the only World War II cemetery for fallen U.S. troops in Holland. Lunch today is a Tauck Exclusive, a memorable culinary experience at 17th-century Château Neercanne, the only terraced castle in the Netherlands and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where you’ll don a chef’s hat and enjoy an extraordinary meal in the castle’s Roman grottoes. Return to Maastricht and dine onboard ship tonight.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 5: Venlo and the Magnificent Floriade
Nature speaks in a universal language at Floriade, held only once every ten years. You’ll have an opportunity to “be a part of the theatre in nature” as you spend the entire day in this floral wonderland, strolling through green-inspired pavilions and garden exhibits from over 25 different countries. An optional afternoon excursion explores its host town of Venlo on a walking tour, followed by a scenic Yellow Roads drive along the fragrant “route of the roses.” Everyone meets back at the riverboat this evening for a discovery briefing and dinner.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 6: Airborne Museum / De Hoge Veluwe
Your riverboat will be docked in Arnhem today for a choice of sightseeing excursions. Choose a visit to the World War II Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek and a tour of Arnhem’s battlegrounds, or travel to De Hoge Veluwe National Park, Holland’s largest nature reserve and home to scenic forests, drifting sand dunes and grassy plains. Your tour includes a visit to the park’s Kröller-Müller Museum, where you will find over 275 works by Vincent van Gogh, including his famous Café Terrace in Arles; outside, the sculpture garden entices with works by Rodin and other renowned sculptors. Rejoin the ship at Deventer and continue cruising to Schoonhaven, where you’ll enjoy a special on-board music performance by La Strada.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 7: Porcelain in Delft & Cheese in Gouda
Iconic images of Holland come to life today in villages where Dutch cheese, pottery and The Hague take center stage. A walking tour of Gouda introduces you to a pretty little town that takes its name from its home-produced cheese. Visit a cheese-making facility and taste this traditional food favorite, before exploring on your own. After lunch, we’ll travel to Delft for a tour of the porcelain factory where this distinctive blue and white tin-glazed pottery is made. This town has changed little since Vermeer painted the View of Delft in 1660. Quintessential sights continue to delight on a drive along the Yellow Roads to coastal Den Haag (The Hague) to see its impressive sand dunes. The Hague, best known as the seat of Dutch government was a city originally built on the dunes. Chart a course for Amsterdam tonight.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 8: A Day in Amsterdam
Arrive in Amsterdam, where your riverboat will dock for two nights; the Netherlands’ lively capital is a vibrant blend of the historic and the contemporary, from its medieval core and 17th-century canals to the bustling shops, cafés and rich cultural life of a 21st-century European metropolis. Open only until May, Keukenhof Gardens in nearby Lisse blooms with millions of tulips from hundreds of varieties, narcissi, daffodils, hyacinths, bluebells, crocuses, lilies, amaryllis, and many others every spring. Cruise departures through May will have an opportunity to visit the gardens; other departures will continue on to Haarlem via the scenic flower route through Holland’s bulb country. A true Yellow Roads experience, drive past impeccably manicured villages, yards and gardens bursting with colorful flowers from May through October. Spend the morning in Haarlem, home to one of Holland’s premier art museums. Free time enables you to explore this quaint town as you wish; Amsterdam’s little sister city in history and charm, this is where Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Pieter Saenredam painted many of their famous portraits, landscapes, and church interiors. Spend the afternoon in Amsterdam and join us tonight for our farewell dinner.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 9: Private Canal Cruise and Visit to the Rijksmuseum
Early morning risers may want to take the opportunity to see the colorful sights and sounds of the Aaslmeer Flower Auction (closed weekends). The largest of its kind in the world, more than 20 million flowers and plants are auctioned here each weekday. The day continues with a guided city orientation tour of Amsterdam, including a private canal cruise through Amsterdam’s network of centuries-old waterways. You also visit the Rijksmuseum, one of the world’s most beloved museums, to see works by the Dutch Masters. World-famous art housed here includes Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, as well as paintings by the Old Dutch Masters Jan Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen. There are more than 400 17th-century masterpieces on display in the museum, along with a wealth of antique Delftware and silver.
Overnight: Cruising aboard the Riverboat
Meals Included: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Day 10: Journey Home
Tour ends: Amsterdam, Netherlands. Disembark ship at 8:30 AM. Fly home anytime; a transfer from your riverboat to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is included. Allow 3 hours for flight check-in. For additional hotel nights in Amsterdam (or Brussels), inquire at time of booking.
Overnight:
Meals Included: Breakfast

Touring Date	Land Only	Land + Air	Single (Land Only)	Single (Land + Air)
7/1/2012 - 7/11/2012	$3,890
8/10/2012 - 8/20/2012	$3,890
Note: Departures appearing above in green are guaranteed to operate by the tour operator.
Airfare Disclaimer A NOTE ABOUT AIRFARE: We encourage you to buy your airfare from the tour operator, because if your tour cancels then your airlines tickets will be covered. Purchasing flights separately at a lesser rate and incorporating it with a Non-Guaranteed Departure Date can result in loss of total cost of your flight investment. Depending on the fare rules, flights may be Non-Refundable and/or Non-Transferable. Neither the tour operator and/or Atlas Cruises & Tours will be held responsible for loss if a tour is cancelled for Lack of Participation. If you would like to check for discounted fares on Guaranteed Departures or for competitive pricing on air and hotel packages, we invite you to follow this link. Documents TRAVEL DOCUMENTS: Necessary Travel Documents such as Passports and Visas is the responsibility of the traveler. Passports must be valid six months from your return travel date.

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