ART & ARCHITECTURE OF THE LOW COUNTRIES

• Enjoy exceptional museums, including The Hague’s Mauritshuis, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, Brussels’ Museums of Fine Arts, and Bruges’ Groeninge Museum

• Understand the history behind the art, with visits to beautifully preserved Gothic and Golden Age towns, including Ghent, Gouda and Leiden

• Discover gems of modern architecture, including the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Rietveld-Schröder House and Rotterdam’s Cube Houses and Boijmans van Beuningen Museum’s Depot

• Enjoy four-night stays in less crowded centres, where local life still flourishes: Ghent, The Hague and Utrecht

• Gain insight into great artists and their masterpieces, from van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece to Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s Night Watch

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER – ARRIVAL (D)

A group transfer is available in the early afternoon from Brussels International Airport to our hotel in Ghent; contact us for more information. After time to settle into the hotel, we meet in the lobby at 4pm for an orientation walk in Ghent, a peaceful university town very well located between Bruges and Brussels. In the evening we enjoy a light dinner together. Overnight Ghent.

FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER – GHENT (B, L)

In the late Middle Ages, Ghent flourished as a major commercial centre and a leading town for the production of the fine textiles for which Flanders was renowned. But the town was also riven by conflicts between its burghers and local counts, whose economic and political interests were at loggerheads, especially during the ongoing wars between France, England and Burgundy. Today we explore this fascinating history and the artistic treasures of the city. We begin with a lecture at the hotel followed by a walking tour of the historic centre of Ghent, culminating with a tour of St Bavo’s Cathedral where Jan and Hubert van Eyck’s monumental Adoration of the Mystic Lamb altarpiece is displayed. This landmark masterpiece demonstrates the artists extraordinary handling of light and texture, and a level of detail made possible by the technique of oil painting developed by the Van Eycks. We then enjoy a welcome lunch at a fine restaurant. In the afternoon, we visit Ghent’s Museum of Fine Arts, whose collection of northern European art includes works by Hieronymus Bosch, Van Heemskerck and Rubens. This is also where we can witness the ongoing restoration of the Mystic Lamb. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Ghent.

SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER – BRUGES (B)

From the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, Bruges was among northern Europe’s wealthiest cities. It was also, from the later fourteenth century, the residence of the Dukes of Burgundy, masterful politicians who played the French and English off against each other for their own advantage, and leaders of one of the most sophisticated courts north of the Alps. Today we travel the short distance by coach to Bruges, where we explore the artistic and architectural heritage of the city. After strolling through the tranquil Beguinage at the edge of the old town, we visit the Church of Our Lady, home to Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges – the artist’s only work to travel north of the Alps in his lifetime – and then continue exploring Bruges’ history on a walking tour in the historic city centre. After a break for lunch and time to enjoy the ambience of the old city surrounding the Grote Markt and Belfort, we visit the Groeninge Museum. This small but excellent museum contains numerous masterpieces by Flemish artists from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, among them Jan van Eyck’s spectacular Virgin and Child with Canon Van der Paele, a tour-de-force of the technique of oil painting, as well as works by Hans Memling and Gerard David, leading artists in Bruges in the decades after Van Eyck. Returning to Ghent in the later afternoon, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Ghent.

SUNDAY 13 SEPTEMBER - BRUSSELS FINE ART (B, L)

Although Brussels is a byword for bureaucracy in Europe, the Belgian capital boasts excellent collections of fine art, a well-preserved historical centre and many excellent chocolatiers. Today we take the short trip by coach to Brussels to explore its art and history with time between to enjoy its culinary delights too. We begin with a walking tour of the historic centre, from the Gothic Notre Dame du Sablon and its antiques market to the iconic Grand Place. After lunch together, we visit the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, where we have a guided tour of its fifteenth- and sixteenth-century masterpieces by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rogier van der Weyden and Hugo van der Goes. In the late afternoon, we return to Ghent by coach. Overnight Ghent.

MONDAY 14 SEPTEMBER – ANTWERP (B, D)

Today we depart Ghent by coach for The Hague, visiting Antwerp on the way. Following the decline of Bruges – the entry to its port silted over in the later 1490s – Antwerp boomed and was transformed from a secondary port to become the largest port in Northern Europe. The influx of merchants to the burgeoning city, and the desire to redecorate church interiors after the iconoclasm of Protestant uprisings in the region, saw it become a centre of artistic production. Our day in Antwerp begins with a walking tour of the city and a visit to its Cathedral, which houses four altarpieces by Rubens. After a break for lunch, we visit Antwerp’s recently renovated and expanded Royal Museums of Fine Arts whose collection includes paintings by Jan van Eyck and Memling and works by local artists such as Rubens and Van Dyck, as well as a fine collection of modern masterpieces by Dutch and Flemish artists, notably James Ensor. After a guided tour and time to explore the collections at leisure, we continue to The Hague. After checking in and time to relax in the hotel, we have dinner together. Overnight The Hague.

TUESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER - THE MAURITSHUIS (B)

After a lecture at the hotel, we visit the wonderful collection of paintings in the Mauritshuis, a highlight of any art tour to The Netherlands. The seventeenth-century has housed part of the Dutch Royal collection of paintings since the 1820s. Its beautifully restored interiors are the perfect backdrop for appreciating paintings such as Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and View of Delft, Rembrandt’s last self-portrait, Carel Fabricius’ Gold Finch and numerous other iconic works from the Dutch Golden Age. After a guided tour there is time to enjoy the collection at your leisure and have lunch at the museum’s brasserie. The afternoon is free, and there is the option to to visit the Mesdag Panorama with your tour leader. This 114.5m long and 14m high painting inside was completed in 1881 inside a cylinder, and beautifully captures the nineteenth century landscape of the area. Overnight The Hague.

WEDNESDAY 16 SEPTEMBER – LEIDEN (B)

At its height, the Dutch Republic was the centre of a commercial and colonial empire that stretched from Brazil to Japan, and its trading companies, notably the VOC (Dutch East India Company), are estimated to have shipped more than half of all global trade. Today we visit Leiden, a city that yields great insight into life during the Dutch Golden Age, from its role as the home of the country’s oldest university (founded in 1577) and as a staging port for migration to the Dutch American colonies such as New Amsterdam (now New York), to the development of unique styles of painting by the young Rembrandt and his pupil Gerrit Dou. After travelling to Leiden by coach, we have a guided walking tour of the city focusing on the lives of ordinary people as evident also in its ‘hofjes’ (almshouses). After a break for lunch, we continue with a visit to the historic mill ‘De Valk’  (1743) and then the Lakenhal Museum whose permanent collection includes early works by Rembrandt, Jan van Goyen and Jan Steen, which reveal much about life in the Golden Age. After these visits we return to The Hague by coach where the evening is at leisure. Overnight The Hague.

THURSDAY 17 SEPTEMBER – ROTTERDAM & GOUDA (B, L)

Rotterdam’s industrial heritage and cutting-edge architecture have made it a vibrant, modern city. We make the short journey to the city by coach this morning, where our first stop is an icon of modern architecture, the Cube Houses designed by Piet Blom in 1984, which create a modern village while maximising living space above the ground floor. We then visit the Boijmans van Beuningen Depot, a six-floor, publicly accessible art storage facility designed by the world-renowned Dutch firm MVDRV and completed in 2020. Here we explore the museum’s storage areas and see highlights of its old and modern masters before having lunch together in the rooftop restaurant with its views across the city. After lunch, we take the short drive to Gouda, a delightful town best known for its cheese, but equally famous within the Netherlands for its wonderfully preserved historic centre and its famous stained-glass windows at the church of St John. Returning to The Hague, the evening is at leisure. Overnight The Hague.

FRIDAY 18 SEPTEMBER – KASTEEL DE HAAR (B, L)

We leave The Hague this morning for Utrecht, visiting Kasteel De Haar on the way. A castle had been here since the thirteenth century, and had been significantly rebuilt by the Van Zuylens, a leading Catholic family in a majority Protestant country. The castle had fallen into ruin in the nineteenth century, however, until Etienne van Zuylen married Hélène de Rothschild. The couple employed Pierre Cuypers, the architect of the Rijksmuseum and Amsterdam Central Station, to completely renovate and expand the castle, which today is a museum that preserves the tastes of the Van Zuylen-Rothschilds. After a guided visit of the sumptuous yet elegant interiors, and time to explore the extensive grounds independently, we have lunch at the castle’s restaurant. We continue to Utrecht arriving in the mid-afternoon. Although the majority of the Netherlands population were Protestant, Utrecht retained a large Catholic community and the city became the centre for the minority religion. This afternoon we explore the city’s history on a walking tour of the old town including the now Protestant St Martin’s Cathedral whose mighty Gothic tower dominates the city skyline. The evening is at leisure. Overnight Utrecht.

SATURDAY 19 SEPTEMBER – UTRECHT AND DE STIJL (B)

This morning have a lecture at the hotel before we continue exploring Utrecht, starting with a guided visit to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Rietveld-Schröder House, a landmark of the De Stijl movement of the 1920s designed by Gerrit Rietveld, which perfectly expresses in architecture the aesthetic ideals of the modernist movement. After a break for lunch, we visit the new archaeology museum beneath Dom Square, where we discover the remains of the Roman Castrum built here in the first century CE as a key fort on the limes, the Roman defensive line along the frontier of Germania. The later afternoon is at leisure and you may wish to visit some of Utrecht’s other attractions, such as the Centraal Musem for its fine art, the Speelklok Museum for its collection of carillons and music making machines, or the idiosyncratic museum dedicated to Utrecht’s most famous export, Miffy. Overnight Utrecht.

SUNDAY 20 SEPTEMBER – HET LOO PALACE AND THE KRÖLLER-MÜLLER MUSEUM (B, L)

Today we visit two extraordinary monuments in the Dutch countryside. Our first visit is Het Loo Palace, the summer residence of the House of Orange first inhabited by William of Orange and Mary Stuart, rulers of the Netherlands and later King and Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. The palace remained the Orange dynasty’s residence until Princess Margriet moved out in 1977, and the palace and estate were converted to a museum. After visiting the palace, where we learn about the fates and fortunes of the family and their role in Dutch political life, we have lunch together. We then continue by coach to visit Museum Kröller-Müller for its exceptional collection of modern art, including the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world. Here we enjoy the afternoon in the museum and its extensive sculpture park, in which works by artists from Henry Moore to Richard Serra are displayed. Returning to Utrecht, the evening is at leisure. Overnight Utrecht.

MONDAY 21 SEPTEMBER – THE RIJKSMUSEUM (B, D)

The Rijksmuseum has a truly magnificent collection, and its extensive collections can’t be covered in a single guided tour. Today, we travel by coach to the Rijksmuseum, where we begin with a guided tour of its masterpieces in the Gallery of Honour, including Rembrandt’s Nightwatch and works by Vermeer, notably his Milkmaid. After this first guided tour there is time to explore the collection at leisure and enjoy lunch at the museum café. In the afternoon there is an optional guided tour of the medieval and renaissance collections on the lower floor of the museum where we learn more about its masterpieces and the stories behind them. Returning to Utrecht in the mid-afternoon, there is time to relax before we enjoy a farewell dinner together. Overnight Utrecht.

TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER – DEPARTURE (B)

The tour concludes this morning with a group transfer from Utrecht to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. For those continuing their travel by rail, Schiphol is on the Eurostar rail network.

Hotel Marriott 4* Ghent, 4 nights

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/gnemc-ghent-marriott-hotel/overview/

Hotel Voco 4* The Hague, 4 nights

https://www.ihg.com/voco/hotels/us/en/

Grand Hotel Karel V 5* Utrecht, 4 nights

https://www.karelv.nl/en

NB: hotels of a similar standard may be substituted.

• 12 nights’ accommodation at 4* and 5* hotels

• All breakfasts and 8 lunches or dinners

• All ground transport, guided tours and entrance fees to sites as mentioned in the itinerary, and tipping

• A group transfer is included from Brussels airport to commence the tour

• A group transfer is available to Schiphol airport to conclude the tour

• Commentary by and expertise of an expert Dutch art historian and tour leader throughout

• Services of an English-speaking Europe-based tour manager throughout

A $1,500pp deposit is required at the time of booking to hold your place on tour.

A second deposit of $1,500pp is due on 13 May 2026.

We will invoice you for final payment for the tour, due on 27 June 2026.

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