From Golden Age to Global Stage: Treasures of the Low Countries

March 8 and 21 

We gather at the Pulitzer Amsterdam, perched picturesquely along the Prinsengracht, one of the city’s iconic canals. The hotel is composed of interconnected 17th- and 18th-century canal houses in a graceful blend of traditional and modern Dutch craftsmanship, design, and décor. We are welcomed by architectural conservationist Frederik Franken, who provides an introductory lecture and walking tour, sharing insights about the city’s history and built environment. The evening includes welcome drinks and dinner at the Pulitzer’s Saxenburg Galleries, set within a 1615 canal house, and featuring a grand salon with a stunning hand-painted ceiling and romantic views of the garden below.

Overnight: Amsterdam
Included: R, D

March 9 and 22 

Our morning begins with a visit to the Rijksmuseum, the renowned national museum of the Netherlands with glorious displays of fine and decorative arts. A thorough introduction is orchestrated by Femke Diercks, Head of the Decorative Arts Department, and Alexander Dencher, Curator of Furniture. We then depart for a countryside lunch at a privately owned farmhouse. Our afternoon focuses on the Museum Van Loon, an impeccably preserved 17th-century canal house offering a glimpse into the lives of one of the city’s elite merchant-class families. The lavish interiors contain a remarkable assortment of porcelain, silver, and lacquered cabinets befitting a founding family of the Dutch East India Company.

Overnight: Amsterdam
Included: B, L

March 10 and 23 

Venturing down the coast to The Hague, the capital city of the South Holland province, we delve into the city’s own rich global history. The small but mighty Mauritshuis features a formidable collection of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, including Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Its namesake, Count Johan Maurits, was deeply involved in the transatlantic slave trade, and the museum dedicates itself to connecting people with the past and present through art. We continue to the Kunstmuseum Den Haag for a dazzling jaunt through period rooms packed with delftware, glimmering displays of locally made silver, and impressive Dutch furniture. Our next stop is a casual luncheon at a private townhouse in Wassenaar. This affluent residential suburb of The Hague is dotted with royal and ambassadorial residences. In the late afternoon, we venture back to Amsterdam and enjoy dinner together in the city.

Overnight: Amsterdam
Included: B, L, D

March 11 and 24 

We greet the morning with a walking tour of Centrum, Amsterdam’s historic city center, a beautifully preserved borough with a skyline of stepped gables and delicate spires. Along the way, we stop at the Our Lord in the Attic, a residence-turned-church commissioned by wealthy Catholic merchant Jan Hartman in 1663. Prohibited from practicing their religion publicly in the Protestant city, many Catholics created spaces for worship behind closed doors. The attic church is furnished with a glorious collection of manuscripts, liturgical garments, and sculpture. We also pause at the Portuguese Synagogue, the largest in the world when it was built in the 17th century. Its magnificent halls are still used for worship. During renovations in 2022, a hidden storage space in the hechal (holy ark) was discovered, revealing 18th-century linen wall hangings, which are now on display alongside an impressive selection of historic books and silver. Lunch is served aboard a boat as we cruise along the canal system to the National Maritime Museum for an afternoon of aquatic history. Harboring one of the largest maritime collections in the world, the museum shares 500 years of seafaring stories. In the early evening, we are welcomed for drinks in a private home along the canal.

Overnight: Amsterdam
Included: B, L, R

March 12 and 25  

Expanding our horizons, we depart southward to explore the charming canal-ringed city of Delft, home to the House of Orange and the birthplace of the eponymous earthenware. The Royal Delft Museum and Manufactory offers a showcase of craft and innovation. Founded in 1653, this is the last remaining pottery factory that creates wares using traditional methods with handmade molds and careful brushstrokes. The museum collection traces the evolution of Delftware, from early imitations of Chinese porcelain to richly detailed modern designs. We then enjoy a private lunch at a country estate built on the foundations of a former castle outside of Rotterdam. Travelling west to Bruges, we settle into the Hotel de Tuilerieen, an elegant 15th-century patrician house mere steps from the historic market square. Dinner is served at an acclaimed restaurant nearby.

Overnight: Bruges
Included: B, L, D

March 13 and 26 

The coursing canals, cobblestone streets, and rich architecture of Bruges create a picture-perfect Medieval city, which we admire during a canal cruise and walking tour. The market square, which features the famous Belfry, sits near the Begjinhof, a convent and UNESCO World Heritage Site treasured for its intangible heritage of silence and serenity. The 12th-century Hospital of St. John, with a captivating collection of 15th-century hyperrealistic masterworks by Hans Memling. The Groeninge Museum includes 600 years of Belgian visual arts. In the afternoon, we investigate the celebrated Gruuthuse Museum, home to majestic tapestries, colorful stained-glass windows, Burgundian manuscripts, and Chinese porcelain, each telling a unique story about Bruges. Our day concludes with an intimate dinner at a stylish restaurant.

Overnight: Bruges
Included: B, D

March 14 and 27 

Taking our leave of Bruges, we travel inland to Mechelen, an affluent center of patronage and artistic production during the Northern Renaissance period. De Wit Royal Manufacturers, founded in 1889, is a global leader in the conservation of tapestries for museums and private collectors. The royal tapestry workshop promises a spectacular peek behind the curtain of this world-class operation. A classic Belgian lunch awaits at Groot Seminarie, a charming brasserie. We continue to our accommodations at the Hotel Amigo, a luxury hotel in the heart of Brussels, constructed in the 1950s to host royalty and nobility who flocked to the city for the 1958 World’s Fair. Upon arrival, we are whisked away for a walking tour to include the Grand-Place, a UNESCO recognized hub of culture and commerce. This iconic plaza is an architectural treasure trove, and its crown jewel is the Hôtel de Ville, designed in the Brabant Gothic style unique to the Low Countries.

Overnight: Brussels
Included: B, L

March 15 and 28 

Our day begins at the Horta Museum, dedicated to the life and work of Victor Horta and the Art Nouveau movement he helped pioneer in the 1890s. The style’s innovative use of new technologies and materials, light and airy feel, and emphasis on the natural form quickly radiated into the rest of Europe. The movement’s ethos shines forth through the museum building’s masterful diffusion of light and brilliant joining of curved lines. We continue to the Parc du Cinquantenaire to appreciate the dazzling decorative arts section of the Museum of Art & History, which features a magnificent collection. We pause for lunch at a café on the museum campus before continuing to the Museum of Fine Arts, with its vast collection of artwork from the 15th to 18th centuries, including precious examples by Hans Memling, Hieronymous Bosch, and Pieter Breugel the Elder. Concluding an unforgettable exploration of the Low Countries, we bid each other farewell during a celebratory closing dinner.

Overnight: Brussels
Included: B, L, D

March 16 and 29 

Guests depart from the Brussels Airport for stateside connections or enjoy an independent morning before commencing the Optional Extension (Tour 1 only).

Included: B

March 16 

In the afternoon, we convene at the Hotel Amigo in Brussels before departing for the Musée Charlier, a historic house and treasure trove of Dutch culture. Victor Horta, hired in 1893 to remodel and extend the building, transformed the house into a museum using his signature Art Nouveau style. We enjoy a welcome dinner together at Maison Le Cygne on the Grand-Place.

Overnight: Brussels
Included: B, R, D

March 17  

Upon reaching Maastricht, we dedicate a momentous day to The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF). Exclusive tours led by dealers and experts make the world’s leading art fair even more memorable and meaningful. Complementing the traditional array of Old Master paintings, antiques, and Classical antiquities, we also examine a remarkable assortment of Modern and Contemporary art, photography, jewelry, and works on paper. In the evening, we leave for the elegant Hotel Château St. Gerlach in Valkenburg. This historic country estate’s buildings include a historic farmhouse, convent, and grain lofts, and features a highly regarded restaurant.

Overnight: Maastricht
Included: B, D

March 18 

We spend the morning giving Maastricht its due with a walking tour of the old city. Developed from a Roman settlement that evolved into a military fortress and religious center, the city is now a thriving cultural hub. We admire the beautiful Vrijthof Square in the center of town before ducking into the Romanesque Basilica of Saint Servatius. Considered the oldest surviving church in the Netherlands, the expansive basilica houses a magnificent treasury of reliquaries, religious art, and archaeological finds. At the Bonnefantenmuseum, we take our leave of the Old Masters in favor of the decorative arts wing to learn about the lesser-known artists who shaped the material world of the Netherlands and beyond. After an independent lunch, we return to TEFAF to continue our study of the extraordinary art on display. We then depart for an exclusive dinner at Kasteel Amstenrade, one of the best preserved examples of Neoclassicism in the Netherlands.

Overnight: Maastricht
Included: B, D

March 19 

Just outside of Maastricht await the rolling hills and valleys around Valkenburg, where we take a walking tour of this fairytale town. Crossing back into Belgium, we reach Liège on the River Meuse, the former industrial backbone of the Wallonia region, which is celebrated today for its Medieval and Renaissance art and architecture. The Curtuis Museum is housed in a late-16th-century palace built for wealthy arms and gunpowder merchant Jean de Corte. Several independent collections have been brought together here, offering an exceptional array of archaeological finds, arms, religious art, and local Mosan art. After lunch, we duck into Germany for an introduction to Aachen, a city of hot springs and rich Medieval history. The Cathedral was constructed as the royal chapel of Emperor Charlemagne’s palace and continues to host services in its magnificent interior. The treasury includes priceless artifacts befitting Charlemagne’s final resting place, which served as the ecclesiastical home of the Holy Roman Empire. After the day’s international romp, we return to the hotel for dinner.

Overnight: Maastricht
Included: B, L, R, D

March 20 

En route to Amsterdam we pause at the tiny village of Thorn, with a history reaching back to the 10th century when an imperial abbey was established there along the River Meuse. The 12th-century Gothic St. Michael’s still dominates the skyline with its Romanesque façade soaring above romantic streets of whitewashed brick buildings. Hidden away on the River Dommel, we enjoy lunch at Kasteel Maurick, a 15th-century castle with romantic riverside terraces, scenic views, and a delicious selection of local foods. Traveling on to Utrecht, we reach the Rietveld Schröder House, a UNESCO World Heritage Site notable for its exquisite expression of the De Stijl movement in modern architecture. The design is characterised by fluid transitions between interior and exterior, clean horizontal and vertical lines, and the sparing use of primary colors alongside crisp white, gray, and black. In the evening, we reach the Pulitzer Amsterdam before gathering for a celebratory dinner at an excellent nearby eatery.

Overnight: Amsterdam
Included: B, L, D  

March 21 

Guests depart from the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol for stateside connections or remain in Amsterdam for the start of Tour 2.

Included: B