Day trips from Amsterdam

Enjoy the picturesque Dutch countryside on a day trip by comfortable coach. Encounter the famous windmills, and learn about Dutch traditional crafts. Take advantage of free wi-fi on board the coach before your first stop at the quaint village of Zaanse Schans. Stroll around at your leisure and admire the well-preserved historic windmills and houses.  Next, head to the fishing village of Volendam. Visit a cheese shop that still makes cheese using the traditional Dutch method and take in a demonstration. Enjoy lunch at a traditional fish restaurant at your own expense, before visiting the Volendam Museum and the Old Dutch Bakery. Select the all-inclusive tour option for more activities including a boat ride, visit to an operating windmill, and clog-making demonstration. In Volendam, try to spot the recognizable Dutch traditional costumes often featured on tourist postcards and posters. Afterwards travel back in time to the quaint island community of Marken.

Immerse yourself in the culture of the Netherlands on a tour through the jewels of the Dutch countryside. Visit a cheese producer, a clog factory, a fishing village, and see the iconic windmills. Start your tour at Amsterdam’s Central Station and head in the company of your guide to the first destination of the day, Zaanse Schans. Admire the typical Dutch windmills of the town, and learn about how they are still used today. Next, drive to the Waterland area to arrive at the second stop of the tour, Edam. Walk around some of the town’s most historical sites, including the town square where the famous cheese market used to take place. Then, head to Volendam to visit a local cheese producer, learn about the production of Edam and Gouda cheeses, and try a cheese tasting. Head towards a clog factory next to discover the secrets of this typical Dutch shoe. Finally, travel back in time to the 17th century as you wander through the fishermen’s houses in the Marken, and explore this quintessential fishing village.

Climb aboard an air-conditioned coach and travel through a typical Dutch landscape for 1.5 hours en route to the picturesque town of Giethoorn. Experience how the Dutch people live with, and on, the water upon arrival, and set off to explore on foot and by boat. Enjoy the peace and quiet of a town where cars are forbidden and little has changed over the centuries. Admire the many types of boats in the town, from gondolas to punters and flat-bottom vessels used as transportation on the canals. Cruise past the skillfully restored farmhouses on a 1-hour boat trip, and get some free time for lunch and to explore on your own. Get tips from your guide on what to see and where to eat. The tour will continue to the Enclosing Dike (Afsluitdijk), the 32 kilometer dike connecting the provinces of North Holland and Friesland. The Netherlands is famed the world over for the way it deals with water management. The Afsluitdijk, built to tame what was formerly the Zuiderzee (now the Ijsselmeer lake) is a prime example of Dutch water prowess.

Depart Amsterdam by luxury bus on this exciting tour and head north of the city to see the historic windmills of Zaanse Schans on the banks of the river Zaan. Explore the traditional 17th-century houses and a collection of beautifully preserved windmills from the nation’s industrial heritage. Continue on to visit Edam, a beautiful town known worldwide for its cheese. Before the end the day, go to Volendam and Marken, passing many authentic polders, the name given to land reclaimed from the sea. Wander down narrow streets, past colorful houses and visit the harbors full of fishing boats. You will have some free time to shop for souvenirs and sample the local fish specialties. Back in Amsterdam, you will be dropped off at the meeting point.

You will begin with to a trip to the enchanting village of Giethoorn in the north of the Netherlands for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Known as the “Venice of North”, the village is notable for its many canals and complete lack of roads. You will explore this fairy tale village, where less than 3,000 people live, throughout a 1-hour guided boat tour. Explore the preserved village on foot, and see how each farmhouse is built on a small man-made island. Wander the narrow footpaths to discover hundreds of bridges, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the village. Your trip will continue to the village of Volendam, where you can admire brightly painted wooden houses and see locals wearing their colorful regional attire. Your guide will take you on a short walk through the Volendam harbor, which has been one of the most popular tourist attractions in the village since 1875. This is a great place to pick up souvenirs and gifts for those at home or for yourself, and to have photos taken in traditional Dutch costume in one of many photo studios of the village. Your last destination is to explore the most picturesque traditional 17th-century Zaanse Schans village which contains houses and a collection of beautifully preserved windmills from the nation’s industrial heritage. In Zaanse Schans village you can stroll past the charming greenhouses and visit a factory where the clogs popular in this part of the country are made. There’s also nothing more Dutch than cheese, and whilst there you can try some at the Catharina Hoeve Farm where you will also learn about its production.

Leave Amsterdam for half a day on this guided tour of the rolling Dutch countryside. Sit back and travel comfortably in a coach to the rural village of Edam. Take a walk through the quaint streets of Edam. En-route to Volendam, stop to visit an old cheese farm to see how authentic Dutch cheese is made. Indulge in trying some of these huge spheres of delicious cheese. Upon arrival in Volendam, follow your guide on a journey through the fishing village’s winding streets. Hear about how this bustling place was once the harbor for neighboring village Edam. Enjoy some free time to eat lunch. Next, move on to visit the windmill village of Zaanse Schans. Once used to ground spices, dyes, lumber, oil, cocoa powder, and many other items, the mills are still in use today. Some are now living museums where you can learn about the ins and outs of milling. Visit a wooden shoe factory and behold how traditional clogs are created using antique machines. Afterward, go inside a windmill and take a look at all the mechanisms and go out onto the platform for a remarkable view over the surrounding area.  Filled with newfound knowledge and a taste of the traditional Dutch ways of life, relax and reminisce about your trip while on the journey back to Amsterdam.

Your experience begins as your guide meets you near Amsterdam's Central Station, from where you travel to the typical Dutch windmill village of Zaanse Schans. Zaanse Schans is an open-air museum complete with a cheese farm, clog factory, diamond museum, bakery museum, and Kuiperij, where barrels were made to transport goods, green timber houses, traditional crafts, and windmills. Following noon, be transferred to the unique Dutch village of Giethoorn, heading further north out of Amsterdam. As you travel, listen to nice stories including the history and significant elements in the region of Giethoorn throughout the roughly 2-hour bus ride, with a break included to ensure a pleasant journey. Giethoorn is beautiful in all seasons, and contains a simple beauty which hardly seems real. Discover this as you glide gently through its small canals, passing old but pretty thatched-roof farmhouses. Throughout this 1-hour boat trip around town, be accompanied by a local guide who also doubles as your captain. Get to know everything about Giethoorn throughout your boat trip, with extra time included to walk along a narrow footpath by foot or by bike, or to learn how to operate the ''whisper boat'', an electric-motor boat. In the evening, arrive back to Amsterdam's center with the rest of your night to look forward to.

Start your bike tour by taking the ferry to the north side of Amsterdam. See the Amsterdam Tower and the Eye Film Museum, a unique introduction to Amsterdam's Old Holland area. Afterwards, cycle through the natural area of Waterland. This flat landscape offers views of moments that feel lost in time, as you encounter expansive fields and traditional Dutch farmers going about their daily lives. Cycle through the ancient villages of Broek, where time seems to have completely stopped. The land is protected by kilometers of dikes and pumping stations, allowing picturesque villages to blossom, and the region to become a hot spot for outdoor activities on land and on water. Finally, you will visit a windmill, and a local farm that produces cheese that is exported around the world.

Climb aboard an air-conditioned coach for a full-day tour of Bruges in the West Flanders region of Belgium, and discover the Belgian capital of chocolate and canals, with plenty of free time to amble. Depart Amsterdam in the morning and drive across the Dutch border. Upon arrival in Bruges, admire scenic streets and the canals that gave Bruges its nickname, "The Venice of the North." A guide will take you on a 3-hour driving tour of the city center, revealing highlights such as the Church of Our Lady on the banks of the Dijver Canal, Sint Salvator’s Cathedral (one of the few buildings to have survived the onslaught of the ages without damage), and Burg Square with its impressive City Hall. Continue on foot for approximately 30 minutes, and enjoy an optional 1-hour boat ride along some of the canals, before your return transfer to Amsterdam.

A great impression of Holland that starts with a drive to Rotterdam, famous for its modern architecture. During the city tour you will drive along the banks of the river Maas, to the old port and the remarkable yellow cube houses. Embark on an amazing 1-hour river cruise and then visit the famous food market. Continue on to Delft for lunch (not included) and a visit to the ‘Royal Delft Manufactory’, the last remaining Dutch ceramic factory from the 17th century. Take a city tour of The Hague, where you will see the beautiful Houses of Parliament, the working palace of the Dutch king and the Peace Palace. The last stop, before heading back to Amsterdam, will be at the miniature town Madurodam.