New Year’s Holiday In Amsterdam

December 26, 2007 - January 2, 2008





Join tdf’s second Amsterdam New Year Holiday Tour.  This trip includes round-trip airfare, 6 nights accommodations, 2 performances, breakfast daily, 2  dinners, gala New Year’s Eve party and 2 lunches.  
 



A festive holiday awaits you in the charming city of Amsterdam.  Ring in the New Year with a seaside gala New Year's Eve dinner and fireworks.  Begin 2008 with a New Year's Day concert at the Concertgebouw and an evening performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.  On our week-long visit we discover the city's great museums, its gabled architecture, serene canals and graceful bridges.  Museum highlights include a visit to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, Rembrandt House, and the Jewish Museum, plus an optional excursion to the Maurits Museum in The Hague.  
 
 






1.  Wednesday, Decenber 26     
We depart New York/JFK airport on KLM Airlines at 10:20pm.  Dinner is served on board.



2.  Thursday, Decenber 27     
We arrive at Amsterdam Schiphol airport at 11.20am and travel directly into Amsterdam, Our panoramic introduction to the city is aboard a glass-topped canal boat as we leisurely cruise Amsterdam's beautiful canals, viewing the sites, the gabled Golden Age merchants' houses and the many graceful bridges.  After lunch (included) we check-in at our hotel, the 5 star Amsterdam Marriott Hotel, centrally located close to the picturesque city center.  It's only a stone's throw away from the famous Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum.  After time to relax and refresh, we gather for our welcome dinner tonight.  (Breakfast-in flight) (L) (D)  
 



3.  Friday, December 28     
This morning, following our daily breakfast, we visit the Theater Instituut Nederland (Netherlands Theatre Museum), with its miniature theater dating from 1781.  This chamber theater is the only one remaining in Europe.  After a traditional Dutch pancake lunch we visit the Anne Frank House, now a museum and the site of a story that has profoundly moved millions of people from all over the world    It holds the hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her famous diary during World War II.  We continue to the Van Gogh Museum which houses the world's largest collection of works from Vincent van Gogh.  The museum also houses an extensive collection of works of art by other 19th-century painters and sculptors.  The permanent collection is housed in the main building and the exhibition wing houses a wide range of exhibitions related to 19th-century art.  The evening is free.  (B) (L)



4.  Saturday, December 29     
Today we visit the Portuguese Synagogue, restored in the 1950s.  This building was constructed between the years 1671-1675, about 75 years after the first Sephardi Jews arrived in the Netherlands.  We continue to the Jewish Historical Museum, in the heart of the former Jewish quarter. The museum is located in a group of four historical Ashkenazi synagogues at the heart of the former Jewish quarter in the centre of Amsterdam.  We complete the day with a visit to Rembrandthouse, the only existent home and studio of the illustrious artist Rembrandt van Rijn. The interior of the house has been restored to its 17th-century state and the rooms have been refurnished with works of art, furniture and other objects from Rembrandt's time.  A new extension houses a superb collection of Rembrandt's etchings and is the only place in the world where they are permanently on display. Tonight we attend the Dutch National Ballet's performance of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty at the Music Theatre.  More than 115 years since its premiere in St. Petersburg, this ballet, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's sublime music, remains the crown jewel in the classical ballet repertoire.  Even in the 21st century the work is unsurpassed in the demands that it makes upon dancers, with its rich dance vocabulary requiring virtuosic and spectacular execution.  The score is played by the Holland Symfonia conducted by Ermanno Florio.  (B)



5.  Sunday, December 30     
The day is free in Amsterdam for personal pursuits.  Or, you may wish to join our optional trip to Royal city of The Hague, the seat of the government and home of the Royal Family.  A city tour will show you the Houses of Parliament, The Inner court, Queen Beatrix'house, and Carnegie's Peace Palace (now the International Court of Justice).  We tour the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery which is housed in one of the most beautiful examples of Dutch classical architecture.  The core of the collection consists of masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, including paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Potter and Ruisdael and numerous other masters.  We continue to Delft and have time for lunch on own in the centre, followed by a walking tour to visit the New Church where the Dutch Royals are buried.  We return to Amsterdam for a free afternoon and evening.  (B)



6.  Monday, December 31     
The morning is spent at the venerable Rijksmuseum.  Although, the museum has been undergoing a modernization program for several years, the finest works from the 17th century in the Rijksmuseum continue to be on view.  The Masterpieces, which are being shown in the Philips Wing, provides an opportunity to see 400 highlights of the Golden Age in surprising combinations.  The afternoon is free.  In the early evening we depart for the seaside resort town of Scheveningen where we celebrate the New Year's Eve at the elegant Kurhaus Hotel, situated along the beach for dinner and dancing.  The glamorous Kurhaus, established in 1818, was a popular venue for world-famous entertainers.   Festive Fireworks at midnight on the beach cap a glorious evening.   (B) (D)



7.  Tuesday, January 1     
The morning is free to relax.  This afternoon we attend a concert at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.  In 1888, the city's leading citizens decided that the Dutch capital should have a proper concert hall.  Built in marshy fields just outside the city limits, it stood as a wonder of neoclassical architecture.  Now in the heart of the city the Concertgebouw concert hall enjoys a worldwide reputation.  We have tickets for the annual New Years concert of the Dutch Wind Ensemble.  Their repertoire is always a surprise and the performance is a popular sell out!  Tonight we have our farewell dinner.   (B) (D)



8.  Wednesday, January 2     
After breakfast check out and transfer to the Amsterdam Schiphol airport for our KLM non-stop flight departing at 1:30pm, arriving JFK at 4:00pm.  (B) (Lunch-in flight)





This engaging experience includes:

  • • Round trip airfare on KLM New York/JFK-Amsterdam
  • • 6 nights in the 5-star Marriott Amsterdam hote
  • • Daily breakfast buffet, 2 lunches,
  • • Welcome & Farewell dinners
  • • Sylvesterparty at the Kurhaus Hotel, Scheveningen
  • • Performance at the Sleeping Beauty at the Music theatre,
  • • New Year's Day concert in the Concertgebouw,
  • • Entrances as per itinerary
  • • Canal boat tour,
  • • Luggage handling at hotel
  • • English speaking tour guide throughout
  • • Private transfers according to itinerary
PROGRAM PRICES  
Per person (double occupancy) from New York: $3059  
Single Supplement: $599  
Air Taxes: $250