The entire trip was truly spectacular.
The Netherlands
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May 7 - May 14, 2025
The entire trip was truly spectacular. There was one major, glitch, but Mieke responded very quickly. And they even refunded us for the mistake. I thought that was the right thing to do and they responded immediately. That to me is very important My tip is always check the train schedule, apparently they change it without any notice. We missed our first Eurostar train, but the conductor of the second time slot was nice enough to let us on and even gave us free drinks because we were so frazzled.
Other than that , everything went well. We love staying in Haarlem. Such a wonderful little town and everyone is so friendly and accommodating.. The Canal tour was great and the Anne Frank house was extremely interesting, very somber, but something you had to see.
We loved loved loved our grand Dutch Food Tour with Mark, he was amazing. It was so nice that it was private, just the three of us. Actually, all the tours were private, which made it really a lot better than being in a group.We tasted foods I would’ve never tried, and they were quite good,. What we love the most is he took us to places that tourists do not frequent. It was such a treat. I thought four hours would be so long, but he made it go by so quickly. That was truly a highlight of the trip.
Going to Keukenhof was also a highlight, it was so beautiful, you couldn’t help but smile.. love love love those gardens. Even though they were closing in two days, it didn’t matter we saw some absolutely stunning tulips as well as other flowers in bloom.
When we got to Bruges we had a 2 PM walking tour, but we were late because of all the mishaps along the way and the tour guide. Roland was very accommodating and pushed it back an hour for us. For us, the tour guide was a little boring as was the tour. The content was nothing we were interested in. He spoke a lot about the construction of the old buildings and the bricks and stones that they used. It just wasn’t for us. Perhaps someone else would’ve found it interesting. After we were done with that tour, we roamed around the city and had such a good time. We took a horse and buggy ride, we had a canal tour, we loved the Canal tours. We did a beer tasting and got very silly.
Sunday we went to the Choco factory museum, we found that very boring. I wouldn’t suggest going there. We skipped our day trip to Damme so that we could walk around Bruges but little did we know most of the stores are closed on Sunday, but we made the best of it.
Monday we went to Ghent, our tour guide Veerle was wonderful, she was so informative and had a lovely personality. We really liked her.
After that, we went to the Galvesteen Castle.
Part of it was interesting, but we went through it quickly, it was a little boring for us.
We really really loved the Canal boat tours, we actually took four of them during the entire trip.
I’m sure I left some things out but all in all we had an excellent time and beat the Dutch travel and Mieke we’re great. I would definitely use them again.
Activity Reviews
This is a definite must do, a private tour is the way to go. Mark, our tour guide was amazing.
The Private guided walking tour in Bruges was quite boring. The guide, Roland DeShill, focused too much on the construction of the buildings and bricks, which made us lose interest quickly. It could have been much more engaging.
The visit to Gravensteen - Castle of the Counts in Ghent was not very interesting to me or my travel companion. We left relatively early as it couldn't hold our interest, especially given the beautiful weather outside.
The Choco-Story in Bruges was not worth the visit. It was mostly dull, with the only interesting part being the chocolate demonstration at the end. I would not recommend it, as it wasn't enjoyable until then.
Dear Nancy and Nicole,
How lovely to read about the good times you had, and to see these lovely pictures of all your adventures, and especially enjoying good food with Mark.
Again, apologies for the change in train timings - gladly you have managed the stress and made your way to Bruges. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and feedback with us - that is very helpful!
It had been a pleasure hosting you here! Wishing you all the best,
Mieke