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 Explore the beautiful Netherlands and find out more about the gay scene in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and more. Tradition and innovation intertwine here: artistic masterpieces, centuries-old windmills, tulip fields and romantic candlelit cafés coexist with visionary architecture, cutting-edge design and phenomenal gay nightlife. The Netherlands (or sometimes called Holland) is a very liberal country. It was the first to legalize gay marriage in the world.
• Individual & Small Group suggested tour
• Featuring: Amsterdam - Aalsmeer/Keukenhof - The Hague - Delft - Rotterdam - Utrecht - Alpedoorn - Staphorst - Groningen - Zaanse Schans - Volendam
• Enjoy the romantic atmosphere of Amsterdam's Canals and the seductive soul of the Red Light District
• Explore Keukenhof, the most beautiful spring garden in the world
• Admire the Renaissance style building in Delft
• Take a photo to the worldwide famous striking Cube Houses in Rotterdam
• Jump into the tower of Utrecht's Cathedral
•Take a walk into the magnificient city center of Groningen
• LGBT Friendly Tour Guide for Gaily Tours and Excursions
Day 1 -
• Arrival transfer from airport to your hotel.
• Accommodation and free time for shopping and dinner.
• Overnight at your hotel in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has frequently been named one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world, and gay travelers will quickly enjoy the freedoms of living in one of the world's most culturally liberal countries.
There is a lot more to love in Gay Amsterdam than the many many gay bars, saunas, cruise clubs, dance parties and LGBT events – travelers can marvel at the golden age canals, iconic tilting gabled merchant houses, intriguing museums, vintage shop, creative design studios and the infamous Amsterdam coffeeshops.
Hotel: The Exchange Hotel, Amsterdam, 3* (or similar)
Day 2 -
• Buffet Breakfast and discover the vibrant city of Amsterdam together with our LGBT Friendly Tour Guide and explore some of its most famous symbols like the Red Light District, the spectacular charming Jordaan District and the hidden Begijnhof.
• Learn more about the birth of the city on the river Amstel to the glorious Golden Age.
• Observe Amsterdam's Canals which became a UNESCO World Heritage in 2010 and they are formed by draining swampland to create a canal network of concentric arcs.
• Reach the breathtaking Dam Square, home to the Royal Palace and 15th-century Nieuwe Kerk where many Dutch naval heroes are buried.
• Lunch on your own.
• In the afternoon free time for individual visits and shopping.
• In the late afterrnon enjoy a beautiful Canal Cruise.
• Dinner on your own. • Overnight at your hotel in Amsterdam.
Rainbow Tips: One of the main gay streets in Amsterdam. Reguliersdwarsstraat is home to excellent gay bars, restaurants and shops. More authentically Dutch gay venues and cafés can be found around at the nearby Amstel area.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Hotel: The Exchange Hotel, Amsterdam, 3* (or similar)
Day 3 -
• Buffet Breakfast and departure by Car or Minibus to Aalsmeer to take a look to the vibrant flower auction and see the vividly hued blooms for which Holland is so famous.
Alternatively, during the flowering season (April until mid-May), we'll enjoy an included visit to the tulip fields of Keukenhof - the mesmerising sight of several million flowering bulbs planted across a 70-acre will leave you in absolute awe.
• Lunch on your own.
• In the afternoon, travel through The Hague and to the historic town of Delft to visit the Royal Delft Pottery workshop for a Cultural Insight into the manufacturing of this delicate hand-painted blue and white porcelain.
• Continue to edgy Rotterdam.
• Free time in Rotterdam.
• In the evening enjoy a special River Cruise Tour.
• Dinner on your own. • Overnight at your hotel in Rotterdam.
Rainbow Tips: The bars and café’s in ‘pink’ Rotterdam are globally located in the ‘gay triangle’ of the city (areas of Churchillplein, Westblaak, Mauritsweg, van Oldebarneveldtstraat, en KeerWeer)
Meals Included: Breakfast
Hotel: Holiday Inn Express Rotterdam Central Station Hotel, Rotterdam, 3+* (or similar)
Day 4 -
• Buffet Breakfast and be ready for an extraordinary walking city tour of Rotterdam with your LGBT Friendly Tour Guide.
• Take a look to one of the most fascinating projects in post-war Rotterdam, the captivating cubic houses of famed architect Blom. Blom considered his designs as an abstract tree and the entire 38-cube complex as a dense urban forest, and his imaginative architectural approach is one of the highlights of this tour.
• Continue your walk through Rotterdam's old harbor and pass the central shopping area.
• See the few historic building that survived the war: the post office, townhall and Laurens Church.
• Another highlight is the impressive Market hall, which is the first covered market in the Netherlands. It is a place where good food and unique housing are harmoniously combined in a spectacular arch. This iconic fresh market opened for business on 1 October 2014, after five years of construction.
• Lunch on your own and continue to Utrecht by train.
• Accommodation at your hotel in Utrecht.
• Afterwards, enjoy a special LGBT Friendly Tour of Utrecht.
• Stroll through Utrecht and get to know its main attractions and hidden corners.
• Visit the cathedral tower, the tallest church tower in the Netherlands, the cathedral and the picturesque cloister next door, where the history of Utrechts began with a Roman fortress.
• From the famous Utrecht church cross from the Middle Ages parts are preserved and Utrecht has the city palace of the only Dutch pope, Hadrian VI. The court of the Abraham Dole convent awaits you with its peculiar history.
• The oldest canal of Utrechts, the Oudegracht, has been an important life-line since 2000 years and is characterized by more than 700 dockyard. Wise neighbors let the vaults here, thus providing for a still alive variety on the canal.
• Be amazed at the history of the hermit Suster Bertken at the Buurkerk and learn about the importance of trade across the river with areas up the Rhine and far out of town.
• Listen to the role played by Vredenburg and why the brewer's wife Trijn van Leemput became a heroine of the city.
• Near the Mariaplaats, where the tour ends, there are, as well as remains of a Romanesque cloister, a hidden corner where Catholics secretly exercised their faith in times when it was officially forbidden under a Reformed regime.
• Dinner on your own. • Overnight at your hotel in Utrecht.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Hotel: NH Centre Utrecht Hotel, Utrecht, 3+* (or similar)
Day 5 -
• Buffet Breakfast and departure by train to scenic Apeldoorn and Het Loo Palace, the former royal residence built in 1685 with its immaculate Baroque Dutch gardens.
• Our next stop is the traditional village of Staphorst, where you will have an opportunity to experience first-hand the traditions of Holland and see the locals walk by in their traditional dress.
• Lunch on your own during the itinerary.
• Afterwards travel to Groningen once one of the most powerful cities in the Netherlands.
• Free time int the city for individual visits and shopping.
• Dinner on your own. • Dinner on your own and overnight at your hotel in Groningen.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Hotel: Flonk Hotel Groningen Zuid, Groningen, 4* (or similar)
Day 6 -
• Buffet Breakfast and be ready for an amazing LGBT Friendly walking Tour of Groningen with a cultural insight thourgh its medieval centre.
• Ramble along the city's picturesque ring of canals like a local.
• Continue then to Volendam where you will have time for lunch on your own, a former fishing port on the edge of Ijselmeer.
• Learn about the craft of wooden clog making and Dutch cheese during a fascinating Cultural Insight.
• Afterwards stop in Zaanse Schans, an open-air museum full of traditional Dutch handicrafts and culture.
• Finally back to Amsterdam.
• Free time in the city.
• Dinner on your own. • Overnight at your hotel in Amsterdam.
Meals Included: Breakfast
Hotel: The Exchange Hotel, Amsterdam, 3* (or similar)
Day 7 -
• Breakfast in the hotel and transfer to the Amsterdam airport.
Meals Included: Breakfast
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