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Post by mtbiker99 on Oct 23, 2016 17:15:16 GMT
Hello,
I am planning on doing this 10-day Trafalgar "Best of Holland Belgium and Luxembourg" tour in April 2017. I also plan on adding 2 days before, so I will have 2 half days, and 1 full days in Amsterdam (the starting location of the tour). I would like to fill these 3 days with activities that are not included on this tour.
On Day 2 of the tour, the tour will be visiting Rijksmuseum, a diamond polishing factory, and because it will be between March and May, a visit to the tulip fields of Keukenhof. Also on Day 2, there will be four Optional Experiences: (1) Dinner In A Historic Dutch House, (2) Hidden Amsterdam (Anne Frank House & Begijnenhof), (3) cheese farm, wooden shoe-maker, Volendam and Windmills, and (4) Van Loon Museum.
Because the tour goes to Keukenhof for tours in March, April and May, which optional tours is skipped? I just don't see them fitting all that in one day. I would like to do #3 to see Volendam and the windmills. I think the windmills is Zaanse Schans. Any one been on this tour during Keukenhof season?
Thanks.
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Post by chech on Oct 23, 2016 22:28:12 GMT
Hi The optional tours may or may not be offered at any time. On any tour when multiple optionals are offered, usually you pick one. (Or if one is a dinner, you'd do one in the afternoon and the dinner optional in the evening). If the diamond factory takes all morning and the tulip visit is something that takes all afternoon, no optionals would be offered for the afternoon. The best way to find out how they plan to handle that day and what optionals may be offered (if at all in the spring), go to FB and message Trafalgar with specifics of your tour including name, dates etc. They're usually pretty responsive on this. As well, a lot of tour guides are now contacting their travellers a couple weeks before the tour. At this time, it's too early to say who the guide would be. They're not assigned until a month or so before the tour.  |
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Post by mtbiker99 on Oct 24, 2016 10:17:28 GMT
Thanks chech. I'll message Trafalgar via facebook. Hopefully in the next couple of months someone will see this post that's been on the same tour, and will reply. I'll probably will just rent a car for the day, and do the north area around Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Volendam. And if its a duplicate, I'll either do it again or will not do this optional tour.
One person in my group wants to see Anne Frank House. Reading customer feedback from this tour on Trafalgar's website, it seems they don't obtain tickets far enough in advance, and during busy times, like April, the optional tour is omitted because they didn't get tickets. So on one of the half days, we will be doing Anne Frank House on our own.
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Post by Oz-T on Oct 24, 2016 10:25:01 GMT
Hi MtBiker,
I agree with Chech's advice. Optional tours can never be guaranteed and you might not even know what's offered until the tour director tells you on the first or second day of the tour. Sometimes this occurs on the 'meet and greet' session; other times it might be advised whilst aboard the coach. You will have adequate time to decide which optional tours you prefer. Just don't assume that all you read in the brochure that comes from your travel agent will necessarily be available. I'd recommend that you study what's available and decide according to your budget, but leave home in the knowledge that a final decision won't be made until you start the tour. Usually, optional tours are paid via credit card after the tour starts; sometimes this is transacted on the coach with a mobile credit card device.
That probably doesn't help you much if you're trying to slip in a mini self tour in the couple of days before the tour. However, that's not necessarily bad news. If you do get offered an optional you've already seen, just decline it and use your time to shop or wander around sightseeing.
The other thing I can help you with is my own personal experiences of having visited there in 2014. We did our own private tour which involved driving to many of the places you'll be seeing. I used Trafalgar's Best of Holland as a template and we visited Amsterdam, The Hague, Delft, Zwolle, Gouda, Luxembourg, Brussels, Bruges, Ghent, Liege, and plenty of other places in the Netherlands and Belgium. If you wish, I can guide you on a few places that may be of interest.
Oz-T
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Post by mtbiker99 on Oct 24, 2016 12:54:26 GMT
Thanks Oz-T. I'll probably rent a car for the day, and venture north (Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Volendam) or something northeast of Amsterdam. The Trafalgar tour doesn't go to those areas. I'm looking for something about a 4-hour round trip drive from downtown Amsterdam with multiple stops along the way preferably north or northeast.
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Post by Oz-T on Oct 26, 2016 3:40:06 GMT
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Post by tiffany on Nov 1, 2016 11:42:07 GMT
I went on Trafalgar’s Best of Holland tour a few years ago, and during my extra day in Amsterdam, I went to the Van Gough Museum, and then walked to the New Church and Royal Palace. After that, I went to the Amsterdam Brew House, mainly because everything else was closed by that time. I really enjoyed the Van Gough museum, and if you like museums, I would recommend spending a couple of hours there. I had written a tour tale, but I don’t think it got carried over to this board.
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