Benelux - Netherlands

Gathering at Macedonia airport for our direct flight to Brussels. Arrival, board our bus and immediately we will start our tour of the city centre. We will see the beautiful Grand Place, one of the most impressive squares in Europe, with its impressive City Hall, the building that houses the City Museum, the Flemish Renaissance buildings, and the statue of Maneken Pease which is the symbol of the city depicting a small child urinating and is said to be the son of a duke urinating over enemy troops before a battle. Then we will visit the Royal Palace, the Belgian Parliament, the Gothic Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudoulis, the buildings of the European Union, the Arc de Triomphe in Park Senkadener and finally the Atomium which is the trademark of Brussels. Then departure for our hotel. Check in.

Breakfast and departure for picturesque Ghent, one of the oldest cities in Belgium and capital of the Province of East Flanders. A city that was during the Middle Ages a major trading port of Europe . On our tour of the medieval city centre, we will admire the Knights' Castle and the Cathedral of St. Boniface where works by the famous painter Reuben, Hieronymus Bosch and the magnificent triptych attributed to the Van Eyck brothers are on display. We continue to the capital of the province of West Flanders, one of the most beautiful cities in central Europe, Bruges. We will walk through the historic city centre and see the park with the "Lake of Love", the oldest hospital in Europe of St. John, the Church of Our Lady, the much-photographed St. Boniface Bridge, the Palace of the Lords, the Arends Gardens and finally the College of Europe, the first stock exchange in the world, a unique jewel of the city. Free time. Then we will return to Brussels.

Breakfast and departure for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Arrival in the city which is largely built in a ravine. We begin our tour where we will see the Grand Duke's palace, the Cathedral of Our Lady, the impressive red bridge and the walls of the City of Banks. Stop at the medieval castle in the area, with a setting reminiscent of a period film. Free time to enjoy the capital of the Grand Duchy as it should be. We will then return to Brussels.

Breakfast and we depart for the city of "Peace", The Hague. In The Hague we will encounter the beautiful International Court of Justice in The Hague as well as the Binnenhof which is a cluster of buildings including the Dutch Parliament. The Binnenhof is next to a small lake named "Court Lake" and is the most important part of the city as it is where the heart of the country's politics beats. At the lake you will have the opportunity to take some magical pictures and see all the flags of the kingdoms of the federation of the Netherlands. Following the itinerary, we depart for the city of Rotterdam, a hugely important port and trade channel of northern Europe. We continue on to Belgium's second largest city, a world centre of diamond trading and a major port on the River Scaldes, Antwerp. Arrival and immediately follow the tour of the city starting with its trademark 123m high almost floating lace tower made of white stone that rises above the Cathedral of Our Lady Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal. We will walk through the pedestrian streets of the historic centre with its quaint little shops and the carefree life of the local people. Also the whole town looks like an architectural museum, from the medieval castle by the river to the modern creations on the waterfront. The Gothic and Flemish Baroque architecture is prominent, with the house of Pieter Paul Rubens, the greatest Baroque artist in northern Europe, being a prime example. Free time in the bustling Grote Market, with its open-air cafés and restaurants and with the fountain in the centre recalling the legend of the Roman Centurion Brabo who rid the city of the tyrannical Giant. We will then depart for Amsterdam. Arrival and check-in at our hotel.

Breakfast and then we will start our panoramic tour of the city. We will admire the Royal Palace which is one of the four palaces of the country and is located in the central square of Dam. It was later converted into a royal residence for Napoleon and later for the Dutch Royal Family. The central square of Dam, built in 1400, is a focal point of the city. On our panoramic tour of the centre of the city famous for its canals we will see the famous Rijksmuseum (National Gallery of the Netherlands) one of Amsterdam's magnificent museums with a design and style similar to Central Station, the Vangog Museum, the Music Hall and the impressive Central Station with its gothic and renaissance architecture, so that the façade resembles a palace. Because Amsterdam has the peculiarity of canals and the prohibition of vehicle traffic in the city centre we have to move on foot to enjoy the historic city centre with excellent sights such as the house-museum of the famous painter Rembrandt, the Mint, the historic temples. In order to enjoy even better the famous and special city and immerse ourselves in its character, we recommend an enjoyable cruise (own ticket) on the canals of the city, which is essentially the most complete way of guiding in Amsterdam, giving the visitor the opportunity to gain an overall picture and details of the extraordinary 17th century magnificent megaliths of the golden age of Amsterdam that are on the canals. Free time. For those who wish, we recommend an excursion to the picturesque fishing villages of Marken and Völendam, which have preserved their traditional character and are located on the banks of the former Zuidrzee lagoon. In Marken we will start our walking tour by seeing the rustic harbour up to the adorable wooden stilt houses where fishermen lived and were also used for smoking eel. We will then visit the Wooden Shoe Factory to learn how a piece of poplar wood can be made into a comfortable clog. The factory also has souvenirs where you can purchase souvenirs to remember the experience. Next we will see an important landmark of the city the Paard van Marken lighthouse which dates back to 1893. On the way we will come across the Flood Monument which was built due to the fact that Marken before the Afsluitdijk dam was built was at the mercy of floods causing constant destruction with the biggest one being in 1916 resulting in some islanders being lost and many being left homeless. Then a visit to a small house in the harbour the Kijkhuisje Sijtje Boes which is a small museum of souvenirs. This is named after the founder Sijtje Boes who was the one who made Marken a tourist destination. We then depart for Voldam which is so beautiful that it has been painted by the great painters Renoir and Picasso. We will tour the elegant harbour leading to the beautiful wooden houses and several canals. Then we will return to Amsterdam.

Breakfast followed by free time in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. Then we will depart for the airport for our return flight via Athens.