RR41360
Discover the stunning beauty of Belgium & Holland in the springtime, when the fairytale countryside blooms with vibrant new life.
Starting from | R41 360 |
Package Validity | Set departure date: 09 APR 2017. *** Book & pay by 28 FEB 2017 & SAVE up to 20%, discount already included in the price *** |
Duration | 7 nights |
Destination | Belgium & The Netherlands |
Starts in | Brussels |
Ends in | Amsterdam |
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- All transfers on arrival & departure days
- 7 nights cruise in a riverview stateroom on-board the River Ambassador
- All dining & unlimited beverages on-board including fine wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks, specialty coffee & tea & bottled water
- Captains Welcome & Farewell Receptions
- Welcome & Farewell Gala Dinners
- Visit 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites
- 6 excursions, including "Choice is Yours" options
- Assistance of an English-speaking local expert & experienced Uniworld Cruise Manager
- Guided " "Do as the Locals Do," "Village Day," & "Gentle Walking" programs
- On-board local entertainment
- Cultural enrichment, including a Signature Lecture: "'A Unified Modern Europe: From Maastricht to Brussels''
- Port charges & upgrade fee
** SAVE 10% on the following departure dates : 16 APR 2017 & 23 APR 2017. Please enquire with your Travel Agent regarding the prices
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Brussels
Arrive at Brussels Airport, where you will be transferred to the ship.
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Brussels
FEATURED EXCURSIONS:
Brussels city tour with choice of Planet Chocolate demonstration & tasting OR Floralia Brussels at Castle Groot-Bijgaarden
Brussels, the capital of Belgium, offers a treasure trove of historic architecture, along with a rich culinary tradition—chocolate!—& a vibrant culinary capital. After a panoramic tour of Brussels, you’ll have two choices of excursions. Food lovers will be lured by the divine aromas drifting from delightful cafés & chocolate shops, as your destination is Planet Chocolate. A creative chocolatier will show you how cocoa beans are transformed into decadent chocolates, offering you samples in the process. If you prefer a sweet & aromatic treat of a different kind, visit Castle Groot-Bijgaarden, a magnificent Renaissance castle just outside Brussels. Open only one month in spring, the multicolored festival of tulips, daffodils, hyacinths & roses attracts some 50,000 plant lovers annually, & you are among them. End your day with the Captain’s Welcome Reception & Gala Dinner. Note: The Spring Show at Castle Groot-Bijgaarden is only offered for cruises that depart after March 26.
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Antwerp
Featured Excursions :
Choice of Antwerp walking discovery tour with Belgian brewery tasting or Antwerp city tour with Rubens House visit
Experience Belgium’s golden age with a walking tour of Antwerp’s stunning Renaissance-era City Hall, Market Square & UNESCO-designated Cathedral of Our Lady, which houses four extraordinary works by Peter Paul Rubens. At the old riverside dock area, there is a 19th-century warehouse that has been transformed into a restaurant & brewery, where you can taste Pakhuis’s unfiltered blond beer. Art lovers will want to participate in the panoramic city tour with a visit to the palatial home in the heart of the city where the native Rubens once lived and worked. An art expert will guide you through the studio where Rubens & his assistants worked—the master generally painted the figures himself but left the backgrounds to others.
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Maastricht
FEATURED EXCURSIONS:
Choice of Maastricht walking discovery tour OR Netherlands American Cemetery & Memorial visit
The oldest city in the Netherlands, Maastricht—known as one of the most beautiful & romantic cities of Holland & loved for its convivial lifestyle & historic centre, has long played a strategic role in European politics—most recently hosting the 1992 signing of the treaty that gave the European Union the euro. Choose to see the historic core of the city or visit a reminder of more recent history at the Netherlands American Cemetery & Memorial.
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Venlo, (Nuenen), Heusden
FEATURED EXCURSIONS:
Van Gogh “Village Day” in Nuenen with countryside lunch & Heusden “Village Day”
Vincent van Gogh produced 195 paintings & numerous watercolors & sketches, including The Potato Eaters, in the two years he lived in Nuenen, & you can follow in his footsteps as you stroll through the town that provided inspiration. After lunch in a historic water mill, which was even painted by Van Gogh, visit picture-perfect Heusden, where you’ll explore either by bike or on foot to see a working mill or learn how to make bread at the local bakery.
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Schoonhoven (Schoonhoven or Kinderdijk)
FEATURED EXCURSIONS:
Choice of Schoonhoven walking discovery tour OR Kinderdijk windmills
Known as Silver City, Schoonhoven has been a centre of silversmithing since the 17th century, when craftsmen produced beautiful & useful pieces for wealthy merchants in neighboring cities. If you prefer exploring the Netherlands’ engineering marvels in their long quest to hold back the sea, join a local as you discover 19 astonishingly well-preserved windmills, a UNESCO World Heritage-designated site. Should you wish, you’ll even have a chance to climb inside one of these historic structures.
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Amsterdam
FEATURED EXCURSIONS:
Choice of full day at Keukenhof Gardens* OR exclusive “Do as the Locals Do” Amsterdam walking tour
Gardeners will want to spend all day at the Keukenhof Gardens, one of the most impressive public gardens in the world with millions of tulips & other flowers—an extraordinary & limited sight in the spring. For authentic, insider encounters & discoveries, “Do as the Locals Do” while in Amsterdam, with a guided stroll through the historic canal district including a look inside the Museum Van Loon, a restored 17th-century canal house. Spend your last night on the ship enjoying the Captain’s Farewell Reception and Gala Dinner. *Note: Lunch is not included with the full day at Keukenhof Gardens.
*Note: Lunch is not included with the full day at Keukenhof Gardens
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Depart Amsterdam
Disembark the ship & transfer to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for your flight home.
Note: Order of sightseeing may change throughout the itinerary. Substitute visits to other sites may occur during your trip due to water levels or other uncontrollable factors.