Viking River Cruises: Tulips & Windmills
April 3 - 13, 2023
Way back in the fall of 2015 Kim and I were on board a Royal Carribean cruise ship for a "Fall Leaves" cruise itinerary. At dinner that first night we had a table for two, and less than four feet away was another table for two. The couple sitting there, Claudia & Gary Wanlin became fast friends of ours and ever since we've kept in touch and tried to see each other & travel together. Kim and I visited their home when we went to Napa Valley and then we all enjoyed a cruise-tour to Alaska in 2019. And now, here we go again. This a preview of our daily itinerary!
April 3 - 4 - Air Confirmation #G7WKJL
Depart Fort Lauderdale International 11:54 am
Delta Flight 2978 - Arrive Atlanta 1:52 PM (Seats 16 E-F / Delta Comfort Plus)
Depart Atlanta 5:35 pm
Delta Flight 72 - Arrive Amsterdam (+1) 8:15 am (Seats 21 A-B / Delta Premium Select)
Transfer from airport to the Viking Longship Einar and check into Veranda Stateroom #209
April 5 - Amsterdam After breakfas, embark on a canal tour by glass-toped boat. Discover Amsterdam in the most leisurely manner, via one of the city's famous glass-topped canal boats. This famous Dutch city is home to 165 canals that wind their way through the cityscape, spanning a total of 31 miles. 1,281 bridges cross the canals. With a local guide, you will see some of Amsterdam's oldest and loveliest buildings, from narrow-fronted gabled houses to gilded mansions adorned with riches during the height of Holland's Golden Age. Take in some of Amsterdam's interesting waterborne sights as you pass by a variety of vessels, including many charming houseboats moored canalside. See the city from the Golden Bend to the Overhoeks, the city's newest quarter, and from the Music Building to the replica of the 18th-century ship Amsterdam moored outside the maritime Museum. You will also pass the wooden double drawbridge known locally as "Skinny Bridge," familiar from many paintings. Return on board for lunch. The ship is docked in Amsterdam overnight (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
April 6 - Hoorn
Early this morning, sail across the Zuiderzee to the ancient shipping village of Hoorn. After breakfast, enjoy a guided walk through Hoorn's cobblestone streets; see age-old cheese warehouses on the town's main square, which dates back to Holland's Golden Age. Lunch is served on board; you have a free afternoon to explore Hoorn, visit a local bakery and shop for souvenirs. Or, take an optional excursion into the countryside to a tulip farm and see how windmills have changed over the years. Depart during dinner and cruise through the night. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Excursion #1: Experience the charming city of Hoorn in full when you explore by foot and visit with a local family. Known for its seafaring and maritime heritage, Hoorn is the birthplace of Dutch mariner Willern Corneliszoon Schouten, the first to round South America's Cape Horn, and Abel Tasman, who discovered Australia's island of Tasmania. At the city's height, the streets of Hoorn were alive with the bustle of trade and the excitement of exploration. you will see some of the town's many historic buildings, like it's colorful Westfries Museum and the magnificient Waag, the blue stone public weigh house dating to 1609. After admiring old merchant houses, cheese warehouses and charming harbor, you will be given a genuine Dutch welcome in a local home. Enjoy this unique opportunity to get acquainted with daily life in this richly historic city with strong ties to the sea and to the world.
Excursion #2: Drive through the dreamy Dutch countryside to a tulip farm and witness how windmills have changed over a the years, all on one fascinating excursion. Along the way, learn about the importance of tulips to the local economy. Upon arrival in the charming village of Slootdorp, a local hub for farming and a burgeoning "green" movement, visit one of the area's leading tulip farms. Its fields produce more than 25 million tulips every year, blanketing the landscape each spring with a rainbow of colors. You will be greeted with coffee and pie and then proceed to the tulip nurseries, where you will learn how the nation's most popular flowers are bred and cultivated and see a number of tulip varieties. later, continue to a modern Dutch farm and see how windmill technology has evolved from its simpler days of wind-driven sails.
April 7 - Arnhem
We arrive early today in Arnhern, a relaxed city bursting with inviting green parks and gardens. Still more famous than its much admired green spaces is Arnhern's wartime history. Join us on an included excursion to delve into the city's role in Operation Market Garden, an ill-fated Allied World Warr II operation. Witness a battle reenactment during your visit to the Airborne Museum, and pay your respects at the Airborne Cemetery. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today's Excursion: See the sites of a crucial wartime operation, and the basis for a 1977 Richard Attenborough film, during the fascinating excursion. On September 17, 1944, Allied paratroopers landed near Arnhem; the plan called Operation Market Garden, was to take the main bridges at Arnhem, Nijmegen and Eindhoven, push into Germany and defeat Hitler. But the Germans were waiting and the operation failed, costing many lives and Arnhem proved to be "A Bridge Too Far," as in the epic war film. Join your guide for a ride along the fields where John Frost's paratroopers landed. Then, visit the Airborne Museum to learn about the fateful events of 1944 and witness a reenactment of the Battle of Arnhern. You will pay homage to the Allied soldiers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Poland, as well as Dutch civilians, buried at the Airborne Cemetery at Oosterbeek.
April 8 - Kinderdijk
Arrive this afternoon in Kinderdijk and disembark for a tour of this ingenious 18th-century community. Learn why the windmills were built and see how they work to help control flooding, then tour a working windmill to see it's pumping mechanism and living quarters at this UNESCO World Heritage site. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today's Excursion: Go beyond the usual visitor experience on a Viking exclusive boat tour and visit the oldest Kinderdijk windmill. Board the Jantina, a 125-year-old restored cargo vessel, adapted to carry passengers to the Blokker Windmill, which dates back to 1630. Meet the miller and his family and tour the windmill. Take a peek at the vegetable garden and see the traditional outbuildings, such as the cooking shed and the outhouse. learn everything there is to know about the life of a miller's family in days gone by and also what it takes today to preserve these mighty machines. On your way through the canal and back, your expert guide will explain the history of water management in the region and vital role of the magnificent mills in this endeavor. Return to the visitor center for more information or a memento of your visit.
April 9 - Antwerp, Belgium
This morning enjoy a half-day tour of Antwerp featuring the Cathedral of Our Lady with its three monumental altarpieces painted by Peter Paul Rubens; the Grote Markt (Grand Square) surrounded by the Golden Age Town Hall and guild halls; and Het Steen (Steen Castle), Antwerp's oldest building. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today's Excursion: See Antwerp's dazzling historic quarter up close as you explore by foot. Join your guide for a short walk to the Cathedral of Our Lady, a vision of Gothic beauty, the largest church in Belgium and a UNESCO World Heritage site. One of it's spires stands 404 feet high. Continue to the historic Old Town along crooked streets to Grote Markt, where the incredible Renaissance Town Hall stands. With both Flemish and Italian influences, it too is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Nearby, you will see the medieval Het Steen castle, built after the Viking incursions as the city's first stone fortress. At tour's end, you may spend time pondering the famous Brabo fountain statue, commemorating the legend of how Antwerp got its name.
April 10 - Ghent & Bruges, Belgium
From Ghent, travel to Bruges, one of the oldest towns in Flanders. Your city walk takes you through it's cultural and artistic center, home to important Flemish painters such as Eyck and Memling. Also see the Beguinage, a hidden courtyard inhabited by nuns, and the town's scenic network of canals. Stay in Bruges for lunch on your own, or return to Ghent for lunch on board and an afternoon exploring this exceptionally charming, canal-filled capital of East Flanders. Enjoy a beautifully lit evening departure from Ghent as we cruise through the night (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today's Excursion: See the highlights of Bruges and pay a sobering visit to one of World War I's hallowed battlefields as part of this full, 10 hour day. Walk with your guide past Bruge's medieval treasures, including the Church of Our Lady, 11th-century St. John's Hospital, which houses the memling Museum, Gruuthuse Palace and gardens and the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Drive to neo-Gothic Loppem Castle, the Belgian king's seat during the war. After a guided tour, continue to the Flanders Fields. Visit Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest around Ypres; the restoredYorkshire Trench with its deep dugouts; and Essex Farm Cemetery, site of the beloved John McCrae Memorial to the poet who wrote "In Flanders Fields." Stop to view the Menin Gate at Ypre's entrance. The names of 50,000 missing soldiersare carved on its walls. Here, the Last Post Ceremony takes place each day at 8pm. After browsing the atmospheric market square of Ypres, return to your ship.
April 11 - Zeeland, The Netherlands
After breakfast travel to the region of Walcheren, formerly an island of the southwest Netherlands. Stop in Veere and enjoy a walking tour of this engaging, time-honored town. From here, travel to the Delta Works, the ingenious sytem of enormous doors that can be lowered during spring tides to protect the area from floods while allowing the tides to ebb and flow. Rejoin your ship for lunch. Enjoy an afternoon of scenic sailing along the Dutch waterways as you cruise toward Amsterdam. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today's Excursion: During this coastal excursion, explore the remarkable Delta Works and the fascinating landscapes that they have forever altered. Drive with your guide into the region of Walcheren in the southwestern corner of the Netherlands. It was formerly an island until the dam across the Oosterschelde helped connect it to the mainland. you will stop in Veere and enjoy a walking tour of this engaging, timeless town with a rich history tied to the tides. After taking in its seaside charms, travel to the Delta Works, a massive storm surge barrier of enormous doors. This ingenious system protects the area from floods while still allowing the tides to ebb and flow through the Oosterschelde. While here, visit its modern museum that tells the story of the last great flood, which occurred in 1953. The museum is housed in three Phoenix caissons that were used to close dike breeches during the castrophe.
April 12 - Keukenhof
After breakfast, visit the picturesque Keukenhof Gardens, the world's largest floral park. Admire the stunning beauty at both indoor and outdoor exhibits of millions of vibrant blooms including tulips, hyacinths, crocuses and daffodils. You may choose the option of spending a full day at the gardens, with lunch on your own, or heading to explore historic Haarlem. Alternatively, return on board for lunch, then use the rest of the day to discover Amsterdam's hidden treasures. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
Today's Excursion: Walk the flower-lined footpaths of one of the most renowned flower gardens in the world. Every spring, a vibrant, multihued carpet blankets the 70 acres at Keukenhof Gardens. Some 7 million flowers are said to bloom here: tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, lilies, bluebells, crocuses and countless others form graceful ribbons along pathways and brooks and fill greenhouses and fields to bursting. Stroll among 100 varieties of tulips on these 15th-century hunting grounds. Breathe in glorious scents as you loop through Gerbrand's circular garden and mingle among sculptures and statuary. Admire Keukenhof Castle, where a countess once sorted herbs in her "kitchen garden." You can also step back in time in the historical garden, where old tulip varieties and 17th-century daffodils grace a castle's garden.
April 13 - Depart for home.
Air Confirmation #G7WKJL
Depart Amsterdam 8:35 am
Delta Flight 71 - Arrive Atlanta 1:52 PM (Seats 22 A-B / Delta Premium Select)
Depart Atlanta 3:30 pm
Delta Flight 1619 - Arrive Fort Lauderdale 5:22 pm )Seats 16 E-F / Delta Comfort Plus)
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