Madurodam winter scene
DELFT MAIN SQUARE
TRADITIONAL BAUBLES FROM DELFT
WINTER IN AMSTERDAM
AMSTERDAM
AMSTERDAM
DELFT
WINTER IN AMSTERDAM
Lovely canal side Delft - a wonderful, atmospheric place to spend Christmas
Amsterdam and the incomparable Rijksmuseum
Charming Haarlem
The Hague's magnificent Mauritshuis - home to Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'
Lovely towns of Gouda and Leiden
Following in the footsteps of Vermeer and Rembrandt, you’ll visit the atmospheric childhood towns of Delft and Leiden which inspired these great painters along with world class galleries such as the Mauritshuis in The Hague and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, as well as the lovely towns of Haarlem, Utrecht and Gouda. Delft is a lovely base to spend time at Christmas with a festive Markt Square adorned with twinkling lights and some of the main sights illuminated to add to the charm, a towering Christmas tree and the scent of hot chocolate and mulled wine wafting through the streets to add to the festive cheer.
Available Departures |
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| 22 - December - 2025 | £ 1899.00 | Travel Info Book Now |
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Provisional Timings St Pancras Departing: 22nd December 2025 at 11:04 Returning: 29th December 2025 at 14:28 |
Day 1: Travel by Eurostar direct from St Pancras to Rotterdam. On arrival, transfer by coach to Delft (approx. 20 mins) and the Hampshire Delft Centre Hotel. Welcome drink and dinner is included this evening at the hotel.
Day 2: Morning walking tour of Delft, afternoon visit to Leiden.
It isn’t hard to see why Delft is one of the most popular attractions for visitors to the Netherlands – firstly there’s Vermeer, then the town’s famous blue and white ceramics and last but certainly not least the gorgeous centre – a jumble of old tiled houses, tree-lined canals, and lovely little bridges, though it’s the feeling of the place that holds most of the appeal. Wandering the narrow streets is a must, and the Prinsenhof, one of a few fascinating old buildings, has a collection of Golden Age paintings. Home to the birth place of Rembrandt, Leiden is a vibrant and appealing city. Its beautiful and historic old town, crisscrossed by ancient canals and full of lovely antique buildings, is best explored on foot. The Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal houses some 17th century Dutch paintings. En route back to Delft we will stop for a short visit to Madurodam which showcases the whole of the Netherlands in miniature. At Christmas time it is decorated with thousands of lights, decorations and snowy scenes which should hopefully get everyone into the Christmas spirit.
Day 3: Full day tour to Haarlem with return to the hotel mid afternoon, with Christmas Eve festive dinner at the hotel.
A relaxed pace of life and lovely historic centre makes Haarlem a delightful town to explore. A former centre of clothmaking, in the 17th century Haarlem became the place to be for a flourishing school of painters, much of whose work is displayed in the excellent Frans Hals Museum. Housed in a former almshouse, where Hals himself lived the last years of his life, the museum’s collection consists of works by Hals and a sample of Dutch paintings from the 15th century to the present day. Return to the hotel mid-afternoon to have some time to get ready for a special Christmas Eve dinner.
Day 4: Full day free to explore the lovely streets and canals of Delft with festive Christmas Day dinner at the hotel.
Day 5: Full day tour to Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum.
The largest city and capital of The Netherlands, Amsterdam started life as a small fishing village and became one of the world’s most important ports during the Dutch Golden Age. Wander the narrow atmospheric lanes and canals lined with 17th century merchant’s houses and view some of the many cultural and historic sights. Fully reopened in 2013 after extensive renovation, the Rijksmuseum is one of the world’s greatest art galleries with a large collection of Dutch works, particularly Rembrandts, several excellent Vermeers and a huge cache of sculptures and applied arts.
Day 6: Full day tour to Utrecht and Gouda.
Canal-lined Utrecht is a delightful town with a wealth of sights including the picturesque almshouses, 15th century St Catherine’s Convent, Oudegracht canal and – for lovers of modern architecture - the Rietveld Schroder House (limited opening, please check for details). A typical Dutch country town, Gouda is charming, its old buildings surrounded by quiet canals, known for its cheese. Although it is a fairly small town, Gouda’s Markt square is the largest in the Netherlands, an echo of its days at the centre of the medieval cloth trade and you’ll also find some of the world’s best stained glass in St Janskerk.
Day 7: Full day tour to The Hague.
The Hague is the home of the Dutch government and Parliament and is a pleasant, spacious seaside town. With its multitude of parks, squares and gardens interspersed with elegant boulevards lined with mansions; it is a stately place with an air of being well kept and well moneyed. The Hague has plenty of excellent museums and entrance is included to the Mauritshuis collection which has reopened with a new exhibition space and reception area. The museum retains its intimate atmosphere and has an outstanding collection of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck and Rubens.
Day 8: Free time and return to the UK.
This morning we will have some free time to spend in Delft before transferring by coach to Rotterdam station for the return Eurostar to St Pancras.
NB: Exact order of excursions may vary according to local conditions and tour manager's discretion.
Please note the maximum group size on this tour is 35 passengers.
INCLUDED
NOT INCLUDED
Hampshire Delft Centre
The family-owned three-star Delft Centre Hotel is located - as its name suggests - in the heart of Delft just behind the New Church, so within a few minutes' walk of the main square and all the main sights. Facilities here include bar, restaurant, waterfront terrace, wi-fi and comfortable bedrooms with private bath/shower, air-conditioning, TV, telephone and tea/coffee making facilities.
Hampshire Delft Centre Hotel Website
OUR VIEW
The Hampshire Delft Centre Hotel has been welcoming Travel Editions’ guests for nearly a decade now and they continue to look after us very well. They are promising to pull out all the stops for this tour at Christmas and have received great reviews from previous years tours. The hotel is stylish, modern and in a superb location. Offering a lively bar, sometimes with live music and an elegant restaurant serving excellent local cuisine, we think it’s a great place to stay for exploring Delft and the surrounding area.
There were 27 but the previous number recorder only goes up to 10 !! We very much enjoyed our trip to Delft. The Giude Gerard was excellent his knowledge regarding Holland and its Art Museums and Masters was phenomenal . His care of us all was so good he is a gem. Take care of him.
Review by Robinson who travelled 20-December-2018
Gerard the tour manager was working very hard to make sure that the group had a lot of information about the visits. He is very knowledgeable and highly cultured, well organised, friendly and helpful. We enjoyed all our outings. We were less impressed with our hotel room, however. No drawer units, which are quite essential in our view. We also expected a small fridge - fairly standard in 3 star hotels. Some of our food was undercooked and not hot enough. -Less elaborate menus would have been perfectly fine, but with more attention to the finishing, I e. no half raw cod, please.
Review by Szeri who travelled 20-December-2018
Good hotel (Hampshire) catering excellent, staff polite, efficient, friendly. Courier suited us - informative, fluent, but very brisk-moving even in inclement conditions!
Review by Frame who travelled 20-December-2018
Review by Anonymous who travelled 20-December-2018
Review by Anonymous who travelled 20-December-2018
Good company, I've learnt some things about art and was surprised to learn that Schipol airport is 15' below sea-level! Gerard, our tour manager was very informative and looked after everything very well.
Review by Thornton who travelled 20-December-2018
There was one very unacceptable part of the trip - the arrangements for eating on Boxing Day. We did not realise that no food at all would be available at the Hotel on that day, meaning that we had to find our own restaurant for this last evening meal of the holiday - even if we might have preferred to eat at the hotel - it was not an option. The problem was, that though we had found excellent restaurants for the other evenings on which we were free to eat away from the hotel - when it came to Boxing Day, many were closed or full. This was a difficult situation - especially for the more elderly members of the tour group. Foraging for a restaurant at the last minute, on holiday is not fun When I raised the issue with Gerard, our tour manager, he said it had been the same situation the previous year - so Travel Editions were aware of the issue, and should have forewarned travellers about it - so that we could have found a restaurant at the beginning of our trip. After I raised it with Gerard, other members of the group - who were also not aware of the situation - also voiced their concerns. Gerard then set to work for us, and managed to find three restaurants that were open and had some availability. Our group had to split up between them - which was a shame on the last night, when we had all got on so well - but at least we were sure of a meal, although one restaurant was so packed that guests waited a considerable time for service. The actual tour itinerary itself, was superb - very enjoyable - and the hotel and staff there were excellent.
Review by McWilliam-Fowler who travelled 20-December-2017
Tour Manager was very knowledgeable and helpful - even leading an interesting walk on his 'free' day. The various tours were excellent, but it was a bit worrying to be always travelling in the same damaged coach with a large windscreen bearing two huge cracks across it!
Review by Macleod who travelled 20-December-2017
Delft a great base, and good trips, especially if you are interested in Dutch Golden Age Art. Hotel very convenient and staff helpful, breakfast and Christmas meals good, with an opportunity to sample the local restaurants in this lovely town on other nights.. Our concern with the hotel for a winter break was the heating system, which was duel air conditioning/warm air. I am not a fan of this type of system because in my experience it isn't efficient for heating, and consequently room was cold at times. We requested room with double bed, for which we had to pay extra for a "superior" room. We got twin beds made up as a double, which was ok, but surely could have arranged this without having to pay for the superior room?
Review by Harvey who travelled 20-December-2017
Excellent hotel in perfect location., very friendly staff, good food. Enjoyed the visits (despite damp gloomy weather - but only to be expected in December) especially to the smaller places such as Delft itself and Haarlem, and the wonderful art in the museums/galleries. Tour manager Gerrard was friendly and helpful.
Review by Pimpernell who travelled 20-December-2017
The walk between stations at Brussels was longer than anticipated and lift to platform not working. Boarding Eurostar at St P was improved as we were fast tracked. At Brussels it was a nightmare, beyond your control but maybe if tour operators made a fuss it might be better than as a solitary individual.
Review by Bentley who travelled 20-December-2017
Review by Mr John Lipscombe who travelled 20-December-2016
Review by Mrs Anne Ridgway who travelled 20-December-2016
I enjoyed another well-organised tour, and Delft makes a very good base. The hotel staff were all kind and helpful, and our tour leader (Gerard) coped well with a large group of 48. I would just like to make a suggestion for the walking tour of Delft; it was a morning with a bitterly cold wind, and our guide apologised that our tour was entirely in the open. For future Christmas tours, perhaps the walking tour could include a visit to one or more of the churches. This would result in a slightly higher price, as the New and Old Church charge for admittance (at present one ticket covers both) but would make the walking tour more comfortable.
Review by Miss Elaine Muirhead who travelled 20-December-2016
The long, stopping train journey from Brussels to the Hague. was tedious & made for a long days travelling
Review by Mrs Paula Cannell who travelled 20-December-2016
Hotel was very good particularly the provided meals, but the bedroom was rather cold despite their being a thermostat in the room which didn't seem to work. No heating at all in bathroom. Very good staff
Review by Mrs Penelope Weaire who travelled 20-December-2016
we arranged our own flight to and from Rotterdam and our journey was quick and easy.
Review by Mrs Jacqueline Hardie who travelled 20-December-2016
Review by Dr Jean Sampson who travelled 20-December-2016
It would be nice to have local guides in cities even if it cost a little more.
Review by Mrs Blanca Gilhome who travelled 20-December-2016
Review by Miss Jennifer White who travelled 20-December-2016
Hotel comfortable and clean but room was chilly.
Review by Mr C Cook who travelled 20-December-2016
Hotel was very good with efficient and friendly staff. Brochure and itinerary sent before could have included more detail / timings of the trips. Gerard is a very knowledgeable guide and a affable man. However, I feel his communication could be improved so that everyone on the trip got the same information at the same time.
Review by Mr John Lipscombe who travelled 20-December-2016
Review by Mrs Linda Corkill who travelled 20-December-2016
A most enjoyable break. Lots to see-quite exhausting at times. Gerard was a very professional guide. Coped well with 40'people. The hotel put on a very good show- particularly for breakfast on Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Review by Mrs Sheila Borwick who travelled 20-December-2016
Review by Ms Suzanne Burge who travelled 20-December-2016
Outstanding tour leader.Nothing was too much trouble for him,and he gave his attention to everyone in a very large group.
Review by Ms Judith O'Shea who travelled 20-December-2016
