Luxury holidays in the Netherlands
Glide past tulip fields and windmills in spring on a barge moving between old towns. Share your dates, and we book the cruise, your cabin and any Amsterdam nights.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Netherlands
7 days · 6 nights
Alkmaar → Zaandam → Haarlem → Oude Wetering → Leiden → Delft
You board in Alkmaar for its cheese museum, then visit the windmills and wooden houses of Zaanse Schans. The barge carries you to Haarlem for Keukenhof and the Frans Hals Museum, then on to Leiden, Rembrandt's birthplace. The week ends in Delft, home of its blue and white porcelain.
Netherlands
7 days · 6 nights
Haarlem → Zaandam → Amsterdam → Gouda → Rotterdam → Delft → Oude Wetering
You board in the heart of Haarlem and visit Zaanse Schans before cruising through Amsterdam itself. Gouda and a cheese farm come next, then Delft's hand-painted porcelain. You spend an afternoon at Keukenhof and an early morning at the Aalsmeer flower auction before a farewell dinner in Haarlem.
Netherlands
11 days · 10 nights
Amsterdam → Leiden → Cologne → Cochem → Koblenz → Heidelberg → Strasbourg → Lucerne
You begin in Amsterdam with the Rijksmuseum and a canal cruise, then sail through Leiden, Cologne and up the Moselle to Cochem. The Rhine Gorge, Heidelberg and Strasbourg carry you south to Basel. You finish on land with Mount Pilatus above Lucerne and a chocolatier in Zurich.
Travellers are often surprised by how compact and easy the Netherlands is. Amsterdam's canal houses, the flower fields and old towns like Delft and Haarlem sit close together, so a barge or river ship can carry you between them while you unpack only once.
In Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum holds Rembrandt's Night Watch and the Van Gogh Museum sits across the square. Keukenhof's gardens open for about eight weeks each spring, and windmills still turn at Kinderdijk and Zaanse Schans. Delft is known for its blue and white pottery, and Rotterdam's modern architecture makes a sharp contrast with the old towns.
Art, food and easy cycling, arranged around your days.
Explore the home where Rembrandt lived and worked, with his etchings and studio, then sit down to dinner in the museum.
See Delft's canals and hand-painted blue and white pottery, then visit The Hague and the Dutch masters of the Mauritshuis.
Walk the canals and lanes of the Jordaan with a guide, stopping at specialty shops and local favourites to eat.
Cycle through the old harbour, take the ferry north and ride out into flat farmland, dikes and small villages.
Delft and Haarlem suit a quieter day, while Rotterdam suits modern design.
The canal ring, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh, with the green wooden houses and windmills of the Zaanse Schans close by.
Delft's blue pottery and market square, and Leiden's university canals, both small towns best explored on foot.
A golden-age town with a great market church, close to the tulip fields that flower from late March to early May.
Tulip-season sailings sell out first, so we hold cabins early.
Cold, grey and short days, cruises are out of season.
Winter on the canals, a quiet time for Amsterdam's museums.
Tulip cruises begin as the first bulb fields flower.
Peak tulip season and King's Day celebrations on the 27th.
The last of the tulips, mild days and long evenings.
Long days and warm afternoons along the waterways.
Warmest month, the cities busy with summer visitors.
Warm and lively, ideal for cycling between towns.
Calmer streets and mild weather for cruising.
Cooler and wetter, cruising season winds down.
Grey and damp, few cruises running.
Christmas lights in Amsterdam, cold on the water.
Amsterdam's airport is a short train ride into the city and has direct flights from across the world.
River ships carry on to Cologne and the Rhine gorge, and German cities are a few hours away by train.
Munich, the Bavarian Alps and the Danube from Passau.
Tell us when you want to go, for how long and who is travelling. Your travel expert replies in writing with a trip shaped around you.
