Group Travel Tour Operator and DMC for the Netherlands

Travel to Holland

Drive to Dover and take the short sea ferry crossing to Calais.  From here continue over the border into Belgium and then via Ghent and Brussels and across into Holland and to Rotterdam for the next 3 nights.  After check-in at the hotel the rest of the evening is at leisure.

Maritime Museum, & The Keringhuis

On a guided tour we will see where the port of Rotterdam began and visit historic ships and special guest ships that are moored at the Maritime Museum. Here, you can smell the diesel fumes, experience the cramped working conditions, feel the wind through your hair and feel the swell of the Maas beneath. It all takes you back in time to the beginning of the 20th century, when the port of Rotterdam was still in the centre of the city.  Afterwards, we will visit the Keringhuis, the information centre for flood risk management in Zuid-Holland and the impressive Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier. The Delta Works construction is unique and therefore receives a lot of international attention. The Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier is the last part of the Delta Works. It is the largest movable flood barrier in the world. This impressive construction can’t be described in words, only experienced!

Spido Cruise & SS Rotterdam

Spido sails the whole year round from the foot of the Erasmus Bridge, offering day tours and theme cruises on the water. Spido is one of Rotterdam’s biggest attractions. Founded in 1919 as a water transport service, the company reinvented itself after the Second World War as a cruise operator. Today it is a five-ship fleet offering a variety of tours. The Port of Rotterdam tour (75 minutes) sails year-round and gives passengers a short but powerful impression of Rotterdam’s container ports. The route also passes sights like the Hotel New York, the Euromast, and the SS Rotterdam.

Then, get up close and see the SS Rotterdam and visit to the Steamship Rotterdam, the biggest ocean-going steamer ever built in the Netherlands. As the former flagship of the Holland-America Line, this cruise liner has sailed many of the world’s seas since 1959. The ship is now moored permanently in the Maashaven in Rotterdam, by Katendrecht. The ship’s history is palpable at every turn once you come aboard. The 1950s interior and the many artworks were restored to the closest possible approximation of their former glory between 2005- 2008.

Rotterdam at leisure

Today, discover Rotterdam’s innovative side, landside. Known for as the architecture city of Holland that stimulates innovation. Its skyline is always changing and there are many things to do amid Rotterdam’s skyscrapers. So enjoy some free time to have a shopping spree, enjoy some excellent food, or visit a range of many more of the museums and attractions in and around the city centre. Perhaps, visit the Cube Houses (Kubuswoningen) in Rotterdam are one of the city’s most iconic attractions. Or see the sights from above, by visiting one of the highest towers in Holland: the Euromast.  Visitors can take an elevator up and enjoy the spectacular view.

Return to UK

Depart Rotterdam and head back to France via Belgium, and to the port of Calais for the ferry crossing back to Dover.