ferry site in the 13th century (“Veere” means “ferry”), the city served as a “staple port” receiving trade goods from Scotland for centuries; explore the town and the idyllic Dutch countryside around it, dotted with iconic windmills. Meals BLD
6. ROTTERDAM OR MEDIEVAL DELFT After a morning spent cruising through South Holland, you’ll arrive after lunch in Rotterdam; the second-largest city in the Netherlands, this centuries-old seaport is among the largest and busiest in the world. After most of its historic center was obliterated during World War II, the city slowly rose from the ashes to become the commercial and transportation center it is today. Renowned for its cutting-edge architecture and thriving cultural life, 21st-century Rotterdam has been called the “Gateway to Europe”; explore some of its fine museums or the Delta Works, a series of dikes, levees and dams protecting the area from North Sea storm surges. Alternately, you may choose an excursion to historic Delft, famed for its canals and medieval center. Return to the riverboat for dinner tonight. Meals BLD
7. AIRBORNE MUSEUM / DE HOGE VELUWE Your riverboat arrives in Nijmegen this morning for a choice of shore excursions in Arnhem. Travel with us first to Oosterbeek for an informative visit to the World War II Airborne Museum, then a tour of Arnhem’s history-making battlegrounds from World War II, when its strategic road bridge over the Lower Rhine became the target of a massive Allied airborne assault; you’ll also have some time to explore on your own. Or visit De Hoge Veluwe National Park, Holland’s largest nature reserve and home to scenic forests, drifting sand dunes and grassy plains.
LIFE ON THE WATERWAYS is revealed through snapshots of local cultural gems
Discover Belgian chocolate, “bier,” Grote Markt and other traces of Antwerp’s heyday in the “Age of Exploration” on a day spent in this historic Flemish port
Call your travel agent or Tauck at 877-519-1035
on this springtime riverboat cruise. Much of the Netherlands was under water during medieval times; more than half the country has been reclaimed from the sea since then, and is maintained by a drainage system of windmills, dykes, dams and canals... like those you’ll see throughout Zeeland and among the Delta Works of Rotterdam. Amsterdam, founded as a small fishing village on the mouth of the Amstel River, grew to become the trading center of a massive empire in the 17th century, evidence of which is seen today in its gabled mansions and inspired architecture along its canals. Maastricht, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands, reveals its storied past in medieval fortifications, gateways and buildings, remarkably intact. Pretty Enkhuizen is laced with canals and vestiges of its maritime roots, proudly recreated in the open-air Zuiderzee Museum which showcases life in a Dutch fishing village from the 1880s to the 1930s.
www.tauck.com/river-cruises 89
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