Dutch delight

AMSTERDAM

Multifaceted and tolerant. These are the adjectives that best explain the soul of Amsterdam, a city capable of being ancient and modern, artistic and commercial, provincial and cosmopolitan at the same time. The secret, according to many, is the Protestant culture of the merchants and sailors who, starting from the mid-16th century, and then throughout the following century, made the city very rich, making it the crossroads of all commercial traffic between the Sea of North, the Indies and the Americas. Individual wealth, however, had, and makes sense, only if made available to the community.

This is a characteristic that is somewhat the figure of the whole of Northern Europe, without prejudice to the specificities of each country. The city, as is known, is spread over more than 100 canals, crossed by 600 bridges that connect 90 islands. People move mainly by bicycle and by public transport which for years has guaranteed sustainable zero-emission mobility, from taxis to boats that sail along the canal belt. As for its reputation as a tolerant city, it is commonly traced back to the seventies of the last century when thousands of hippies and squatters moved here from all over Europe. In reality, as we said earlier, Amsterdam has always been a multicultural city (just think of the large Jewish community present) but there is no doubt that the alternative wave we have mentioned has profoundly changed the way of life of its inhabitants.

Soft drugs are legal (with very specific stakes), prostitution is tolerated and there is highly advanced civil rights legislation. However, these openings coexist with as many prohibitions which, especially in recent years, have become increasingly strict, to protect public order and the quality of life. Quality of life which is also very high due to the presence of numerous museums (about 40 in a city with fewer than one million inhabitants).Rijksmuseum (National Museum) is the most important Dutch museum and is located in Museumplein (Museum Square), a beautiful and well-kept park-square which also includes the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum, a museum of modern and contemporary Dutch art.

The Rijksmuseum, on the other hand, houses the richest collection of paintings from the so-called Golden Century, the 1600s that saw the commercial and colonial expansion of the Netherlands. The most famous work of all is undoubtedly The Night Watch by Rembrandt (1606 – 1669) a painting, which many critics have taken as a watershed in the life of the Dutch artist marked by a youth of success and, on the contrary, an increasingly problematic maturity up to the misery of recent years. In addition to Rembrandt, the museum exhibits several works by Jan Vermeer (1632 – 1675) including the very famous Milkmaid and Woman in Blue. It is not over, because the museum library (Rijksmuseum Research Library) is also worth a visit, the most complete public library on the history of art in the Netherlands. For more information on opening hours, prices and the works exhibited on the 4 floors of the structure (completely renovated a few years agoFor many, the van Gogh Museum is reason enough to choose to visit Amsterdam.

A museum born thanks to the availability of the heirs who in 1963 donated to the city over 200 paintings and 500 sketches made by the artist during the years of intense activity in Holland, Belgium and France. In 1973, ten years after the donation, the homonymous museum came to life which, in addition to some of the most famous works by Vincent van Gogh (just to mention a few, The Potato Eaters, The Sunflowers, The Wheat Field with Crows) also paintings by Monet, Gaugin, Tolouse-Lautrec and other contemporary artists of the genius of Zundert. The Van Gogh Museum has undergone several renovations and changes over the years. The last, in 2015, with the replacement of the main entrance, now accessible directly from Museumplein.

You can choose a different category and type of hotels and rooms.

AMSTERDAM

3 Stars Hotels
∗ Hotel Espresso – from € 64, https://www.hotelespresso.nl/
∗ Hotel Cornelisz – from € 75, https://hotelcornelisz.nl/
∗ Hotel Atlanta – from € 80, https://www.atlantahotelamsterdam.nl/index.php

4 Stars Hotels
∗ The Manor Amsterdam – from € 90, https://www.themanorhotelamsterdam.com/en/
∗ Park Centraal Amsterdam – from € 105, https://www.parkcentraal.com/amsterdam/
∗ Hotel Amsterdam – from € 113, https://www.hotelamsterdam.nl/

5 Stars Hotels
∗ Grand Hotel Amrath Amsterdam – from € 150, https://www.amrathamsterdam.com/
∗ InterContinental Resort and Spa – from € 268, https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/gb/en/amsterdam/amsha/hoteldetail
∗ De L’Europe – from € 268, https://www.deleurope.com/

ROTTERDAM

Devastated by bombing during the Second World War, Rotterdam has been almost entirely rebuilt, becoming today one of the most beautiful and important cities in the nation, second only to the capital Amsterdam. In the 1990s a large business district was built, the Kop van Zuid, which saw the intervention of famous architects and which allowed the city, in 2007, to be awarded the title of City of Architecture. it develops from the railway station to the port.

Walking through the streets you will notice that the area is almost entirely modern: in fact, very little remains of history, due to the terrible bombing of 1940. Only the town hall, the old post office and the Church of Sint Laurens were saved. The only neighborhood that remained almost completely intact during the bombing is Delfshaven, in the western part of the city. The historic center is also the liveliest part of the city, where there are many attractions, which we will also see later, and services.In the historic center, you should also visit the Willemsbrug bridge, the bridge that leads to the Feyjenoord district and runs parallel to the ‘Erasmusbrug (which we will talk about later).

Also called the Red Bridge, crossing it you can enjoy one of the best views of the Rotterdam skyline!One of the first attractions we recommend to visit in Rotterdam is the spectacular Markthal, the largest food market in Holland! In fact, the structure covers 95,000 square meters, is 40 m high and, in addition to the market, also houses offices and apartments! The market was inaugurated in 2014 directly by the Queen of the Netherlands and, since then, has been one of the most loved and visited attractions in the city!

Inside you can really spend hours and hours! You can find many typical Dutch products, but not only: Rotterdam is a multi-ethnic city and here too you will find places from different parts of the world: from Mediterranean to Asian cuisine, from Greek to South American! Obviously, we advise you to stop in the typical Dutch cuisine!

But the real attraction of the Market is the gigantic mural, called Cornucopia and created by the artists Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam. On this immense wall are represented all the products that you can then find among the market stalls!

You can choose a different category and type of hotels and rooms.

ROTTERDAM

3 Stars Hotels
∗ Grand Hotel Central – from € 90, https://www.grandhotelcentral.nl/en/
∗ Thon Hotel – from € 95, https://www.thonhotels.com/nl/hotels/nederland/rotterdam/thon-hotel-rotterdam/
∗ Hotel the James – from € 98, https://www.thejames.nl/

4 Stars Hotels
∗ Hotel NH Atlanta Rotterdam – from € 73, https://www.nh-hotels.com/hotel/nh-atlanta-rotterdam
∗ Savoy Hotel – from € 95, https://www.savoyhotelrotterdam.com/en/
∗ PS Plus Rotterdam – from € 125, https://www.premiersuiteseurope.com/en/locations/the-netherlands/rotterdam/serviced-apartments-rotterdam

5 Stars Hotels
∗ Rotterdam Marriott Hotel – from € 90, https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/rtmmn-rotterdam-marriott-hotel/
∗ Hilton Rotterdam – from € 99, https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/rtmhitw-hilton-rotterdam/

HAGUE

The Hague is the only big city with a beach directly on the North Sea coast. The city boasts many monuments, chic hotels, and a political heart. The government of Holland is run from the historic Binnenhof and the King’s office palace can be found on the Noordeinde. You can visit beautiful art museums and a day of high-end shopping. The tram will convey you from the city center to Scheveningen and Kijkduin in just twenty minutes, where you can enjoy the sun, beach and sea.The Hague, Dutch ’s-Gravenhage or Den Haag, French La Haye, seat of government of the Netherlands.

It is situated on a coastal plain, with the city centre just inland from the North Sea. The Hague is the administrative capital of the country and the home of the court and government, though Amsterdam is the official capital.The city’s name recalls the hunting lodge of the counts of Holland, which was located in a woodland area called Haghe, or “hedge” (whence ’s-Gravenhage, “the counts’ private enclosure”). Count William II built a castle there in 1248, around which several buildings came to be clustered, and these became the principal residence of the counts of Holland.

These buildings now form the Binnenhof (“Inner Courtyard”) in the old quarter of the city. Among the great halls around this courtyard are the Ridderzaal (Knight’s Hall; c. 1280) and the Armistice or Truce Hall, designed by Daniel Marot in 1697. An artificial lake, the Hofvijver, just to the north of the Binnenhof, was dug about 1350 and still forms one of the many attractions of the cityA commercial district grew up around the Binnenhof in the 13th and 14th centuries, and it survives on shopping streets such as Venestraat, Spuistraat, Gravenstraat, and Hoogstraat. In the 16th century Holland became the chief centre of Dutch resistance to Spanish Habsburg rule, and in 1559 William I, stadtholder of the Netherlands, made The Hague his capital. About 1585 the States-General, along with other bodies of the Dutch Republic’s central government, established themselves in the Binnenhof.

William’s son, Prince Maurice of Orange, soon took up residence in The Hague, and at his initiative in 1616 a web of canals was constructed around the city that continued to define its borders to the mid-19th century. Around this time, imposing aristocratic mansions were constructed on the eastern side of the Binnenhof. To the southeast grew the Spui (craftsmen’s district) and small inner harbours, and to the west the Prinsegracht (home to the wealthy middle class), which was connected to the horticultural area of the Westland by the Loosduinse canal.n the 17th century, when the Dutch Republic played a leading role in Europe, The Hague became a centre of diplomatic negotiation. From 1795 to 1808 The Hague served as the capital of the French-controlled republic of Holland, and, with liberation from the French, the city alternated with Brussels as the meeting place of the States General of the enlarged Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815 to 1830.

After 1850, when the revenues from the Dutch East Indies started to pour in, the city prospered, and many of the older canals were filled in to allow for development. As a result of the international conferences (Hague Convention) held there in 1899 and 1907, The Hague became a permanent centre of international law. After a long sojourn in Amsterdam, the Dutch central government returned to The Hague in 1913.

You can choose a different category and type of hotels and rooms.

HAGUE

3 Stars Hotels
∗ Court Garden Hotel – from € 81, https://www.hotelcourtgarden.nl/en/
∗ Holiday Inn Express the Hague – Parliament, an IHG Hotel – from € 85, https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnexpress/hotels/gb/en/the-hague/
∗ Best Western – from € 95, https://www.bestwestern.com/en

4 Stars Hotels
∗ Novotel Den Haag City Centre – from € 71, https://www.guestreservations.com/novotel-den-haag-city-centre/
∗ Hampshire Hotel – from € 75, https://www.hampshire-hotels.com/en/zuid-holland/the-hague
∗ Carlton Ambassador – from € 99, https://www.carlton.nl/hotel-ambassador-den-haag

5 Stars Hotels
∗ Hotel Des Indes – from € 120, https://www.hoteldesindesthehague.com/

Please Note:

The prices are per person in double room, B&B or only B. The prices are variable according to the season and the demand.
If the hotel choose by you is not avalible. We are happy to offer you the similar hotel.