Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Belgium and Holland: Flemish and Dutch Masters, Bruges to Amsterdam
9 days from Bruges to Amsterdam with an art historian where museums allow: Van Eyck and Memling in Bruges, the Ghent Altarpiece, Rubens in Antwerp, Vermeer in Delft and The Hague, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Van Gogh in Amsterdam and Haarlem.
9 days · Bruges to Amsterdam · up to 12 guests
The KMSKA, Antwerp's Royal Museum of Fine Arts, visited on day 5 Photo: Fred Romero from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antwerpen_-_Koninklijk_Museum_voor_Schone_Kunsten_Antwerpen_(2).jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 9 days, 8 nights
- Start and end
- Bruges to Amsterdam
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Moderate
Museum and city days on foot: about 5 to 8 km a day on cobbles and brick paving, and two to three hours standing in galleries most mornings, with benches and cafés along the way. One climb you can skip, the Belfry of Ghent (about 250 steps, with a lift to part of the tower). No train day with luggage: the bags ride in our vehicle. Every afternoon visit can be swapped for a rest at the hotel.
- Meals included
- 8 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 2 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 915 (estimated price)
- Season
- April to October
Highlights
Why this trip
- Van Eyck's Madonna with Canon van der Paele in the Groeninge Museum, as it opens, then Memling's paintings in the medieval wards of St John's Hospital
- The Ghent Altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral at the visitor centre's 10 am opening
- Evening on the Graslei after a night in Ghent, not a day trip
- Rubens's Elevation of the Cross and Descent from the Cross in Antwerp's cathedral, after his house and studio
- The KMSKA, from the Flemish primitives to James Ensor
- The spot on the Hooikade where Vermeer painted the View of Delft, then the painting itself in the Mauritshuis
- The Night Watch and the Gallery of Honour at the Rijksmuseum's 9 am opening
- Frans Hals in his own town of Haarlem, and the Van Gogh Museum on the last morning
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 915 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive and on to Bruges
Brussels Airport to Bruges, then an evening walk through the old town
- Dinner
- Stay in Bruges
- Drive about 1.5 h
Fly into Brussels Airport (BRU) at Zaventem. A driver meets you in arrivals and takes you to Bruges, about 110 km and an hour and a quarter by road. Plan to land by about 2 pm so you are settled before the walk; if you arrive early, leave your bags at the hotel and head out. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the week: which mornings start at a museum's opening and why, how the bags move, and where the art historians join us. Then we walk out while the day visitors leave: the Markt under the belfry, the Burg with its Gothic City Hall, and the Rozenhoedkaai, the bend of canal in so many photographs. Bruges grew rich on cloth and banking in the 15th century, when Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling worked here, and tomorrow is for them.
Evening
We end at a welcome dinner of Flemish dishes.
Included
- Pick-up at Brussels Airport (BRU) and transfer to Bruges
- Welcome briefing with your guide
- Evening walk: the Markt, the Burg and the Rozenhoedkaai
- Welcome dinner
Free time: Free until the late-afternoon briefing
Activity: The walk is about 3 km on cobbles and level.
Bruges: Van Eyck and Memling
The Groeninge Museum, St John's Hospital and the Church of Our Lady, then the Begijnhof
- Breakfast
- Stay in Bruges
We are at the Groeninge Museum as it opens at 9:30, with an art historian, and go first to the Flemish primitives while the rooms are quiet: Jan van Eyck's Madonna with Canon van der Paele, painted in 1436, his portrait of his wife Margaret, and Gerard David's Judgement of Cambyses, painted for the city's aldermen. A few minutes' walk away, St John's Hospital is one of Europe's oldest surviving hospital buildings, and its chapel holds the paintings Hans Memling made for it, including the St Ursula Shrine and the altarpiece of the two St Johns. Next door, in the Church of Our Lady, is Michelangelo's marble Madonna and Child, the only one of his sculptures to leave Italy in his lifetime.
Morning
We finish late morning in the Begijnhof, the walled court of white houses by the Minnewater.
Afternoon
Lunch and the afternoon are yours.
Included
- Groeninge Museum at opening with an art historian
- St John's Hospital and the Memling paintings
- Church of Our Lady and Michelangelo's Madonna and Child
- The Begijnhof and the Minnewater with your guide
Optional experiences
- Canal boat, about 30 minutes (price shown at booking)
Easier option: Sit in the Begijnhof's garden while the group walks the Minnewater, or rest at the hotel after St John's.
More active option: Climb the Belfry of Bruges in the free afternoon (366 steps), or cycle about 7 km along the canal to Damme.
Free time: Lunch, afternoon and evening free
Activity: About 5 km on foot and about three hours in galleries. The Bruges city museums close on Mondays; small-group departures start on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, so day 2 is never a Monday.
Ghent and the Mystic Lamb
Bruges to Ghent by train; St Bavo's Cathedral, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Graslei
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Ghent
- By train
Our vehicle takes the bags to the hotel in Ghent while we take the intercity train, about 25 minutes. We walk into St Bavo's Cathedral as the visitor centre opens at 10 am to see the Ghent Altarpiece, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, finished by Hubert and Jan van Eyck in 1432 and restored panel by panel since 2012. One panel, the Just Judges, has been missing since it was stolen in 1934.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal of Ghent waterzooi, the city's creamy stew. In the afternoon we take the tram to the Museum of Fine Arts, the MSK, with an art historian, for Hieronymus Bosch's Christ Carrying the Cross and the conservation studio where the altarpiece's restoration has been carried out.
Evening
The evening is free on the Graslei and the Korenlei, where guildhouses face each other across the river Leie, and which you have to yourselves once the day visitors leave.
Included
- Intercity train from Bruges to Ghent, with the bags in our vehicle
- St Bavo's Cathedral and the Ghent Altarpiece, timed entry at opening
- Sit-down lunch in Ghent
- Museum of Fine Arts (MSK) with an art historian
- Tram tickets for the day
Easier option: Skip the MSK and rest at the hotel, or take a canal boat past the guildhouses.
More active option: Walk out to the MSK through the Citadelpark instead of taking the tram, about 2 km each way.
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free
Activity: About 6 km on foot. The Ghent Altarpiece visitor centre opens at 10 am Monday to Saturday and at 1 pm on Sundays, and the MSK closes on Mondays; a Tuesday or Wednesday start puts day 3 on a Thursday or Friday.
Ghent's Belfry, then Rubens in Antwerp
The Belfry of Ghent, then by train to Antwerp; the Rubens House and the Snijders and Rockox House
- Breakfast
- Stay in Antwerp
- By train
We climb the Belfry of Ghent as it opens, before the queues: the 14th-century tower that kept the city's charters, with the carillon's playing drum, a great brass cylinder of pins that sounds the bells on the hour, and a view over the three towers of the old centre. A lift goes part of the way. Our vehicle takes the bags on to Antwerp while we take the train, about 50 minutes, arriving in the domed hall of Antwerp-Centraal.
Afternoon
Lunch is your choice near the hotel. In the afternoon we visit the Rubens House, the house and studio where Peter Paul Rubens lived and worked from 1610, with its Baroque portico and garden; it has been under a long restoration, and we confirm which rooms are open for your dates. Then the Snijders and Rockox House, two merchants' houses with Flemish paintings hung as a collector would have hung them.
Evening
The evening is free.
Included
- Belfry of Ghent, entry at opening
- Intercity train from Ghent to Antwerp, with the bags in our vehicle
- The Rubens House, or the parts open during its restoration
- The Snijders and Rockox House
- Antwerp tram tickets
Easier option: Take the lift in the Belfry, or wait in a café on the Emile Braunplein while the others climb.
More active option: Walk the St Anna pedestrian tunnel under the Scheldt to the left bank for the skyline view in the free evening.
Free time: Lunch and evening free
Activity: About 5 km on foot and the Belfry stairs. The Rubens House closes on Mondays; day 4 is a Friday or a Saturday on small-group departures.
Antwerp: the KMSKA and the cathedral
The KMSKA in the Zuid, then the Cathedral of Our Lady and the old town
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Antwerp
We are at the KMSKA, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, as it opens, with a museum guide. It reopened in 2022 after more than ten years of renovation, with new white galleries built inside the 19th-century building, and runs from Jean Fouquet's Madonna and Van Eyck's small Saint Barbara through Rubens and Jordaens to the largest collection of James Ensor's work.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal in the old town. In the afternoon we walk into the Cathedral of Our Lady, whose spire is the tallest in the Low Countries, for the two altarpieces Rubens painted for it, the Elevation of the Cross and the Descent from the Cross, and his Assumption over the high altar. We finish on the Grote Markt among the guildhouses. The rest of the afternoon is yours, perhaps for the Plantin-Moretus Museum, the printing house listed by UNESCO in 2005.
Included
- KMSKA at opening with a museum guide
- Sit-down lunch in the old town
- Cathedral of Our Lady and the Rubens altarpieces
- The Grote Markt with your guide
Optional experiences
- Plantin-Moretus Museum (price shown at booking)
Easier option: Take the tram between the KMSKA and the cathedral, and rest at the hotel after lunch.
More active option: Walk out along the Scheldt quays to the MAS museum and climb its free spiral of escalators to the roof for the view over the port.
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free
Activity: About 5 km on foot and about three hours in galleries. Tourist visits to the cathedral are limited around Sunday services, so we visit it in the afternoon.
Delft and the Mauritshuis, on to Amsterdam
Antwerp to Delft by our vehicle, then The Hague and on to Amsterdam
- Breakfast and lunch
- Stay in Amsterdam
- Drive about 3 h
Morning
Our own vehicle and driver collect the group and the bags after breakfast, and it is about an hour and a quarter north over the border to Delft. We walk the town where Johannes Vermeer lived and worked: the Markt between the Town Hall and the Nieuwe Kerk, where William of Orange is buried, and the Hooikade, the quay where Vermeer stood to paint the View of Delft across the water.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal in Delft. Then it is about 20 minutes to The Hague and the Mauritshuis, a 17th-century palace by the Hofvijver pond with an art historian: the View of Delft you stood in front of this morning, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Fabritius's Goldfinch and Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp. In the late afternoon it is about an hour to Amsterdam, about two and three-quarter hours of driving in all, split into three legs.
Evening
The evening is free.
Included
- Our own vehicle and driver from Antwerp to Delft, The Hague and Amsterdam, with the bags
- Delft walk with your guide: the Markt, the Nieuwe Kerk and the Hooikade
- Sit-down lunch in Delft
- The Mauritshuis with an art historian
Optional experiences
- Royal Delft, the last 17th-century Delftware factory, instead of the Nieuwe Kerk (price shown at booking)
Easier option: Sit at a café on the Delft Markt while the group walks to the Hooikade.
More active option: Climb the Nieuwe Kerk's tower in Delft for the view to The Hague, where it is open.
Free time: Evening free in Amsterdam
Activity: About 4 km on foot. The Mauritshuis opens at 1 pm on Mondays, which is why it is always the afternoon visit. We confirm the Nieuwe Kerk's hours, as it does not open on every day.
Amsterdam: the Rijksmuseum
Museumplein, then the canal ring by boat
- Breakfast
- Stay in Amsterdam
- By boat
Evening
We are at the Rijksmuseum when it opens at 9 am, on a timed ticket, with an art historian, and go straight to the Gallery of Honour while it is still quiet: Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's Milkmaid and Little Street, Frans Hals's portraits and the Jewish Bride. The Night Watch has been under restoration in a glass chamber in the gallery, so you may see conservators at work; we tell you what is on view for your dates. After two and a half hours we leave the paintings for lunch at your choice of the cafés around Museumplein. In the early afternoon we board a canal boat for an hour on the canal ring, listed by UNESCO in 2010, past the merchants' houses with hoist beams under their gables, the kind of houses whose owners sat for these portraits. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are yours.
Included
- Rijksmuseum, timed entry at opening, with an art historian
- One-hour canal boat
- Public transport tickets for the day
Optional experiences
- The Rembrandt House, his home and studio from 1639 (price shown at booking)
Easier option: Leave the Rijksmuseum after the Gallery of Honour and rest before the boat.
More active option: Walk back from the boat through the Nine Streets and the Jordaan, about 3 km.
Free time: Lunch, late afternoon and evening free
Activity: About 5 km on foot and about two and a half hours in the museum.
Haarlem and Frans Hals
Amsterdam to Haarlem by train; the Frans Hals Museum and the Grote Kerk
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Amsterdam
- By train
A 15-minute train from Amsterdam Centraal takes us to Haarlem, Frans Hals's town, and we walk through the centre to the Frans Hals Museum as it opens, with a museum guide. It sits in a 17th-century almshouse for old men round a garden court, and holds the great group portraits of the civic guards and the regents of the almshouses, painted with the quick, loose brushwork that later painters from Manet to Van Gogh admired. Then the Grote Kerk of St Bavo on the Grote Markt, where Hals is buried, and its Müller organ of 1738, played by the ten-year-old Mozart in 1766.
Afternoon
Lunch is a sit-down meal on the Grote Markt.
Evening
We are back in Amsterdam by mid-afternoon with time to rest, and in the evening we meet for a farewell dinner near the canals.
Included
- Train from Amsterdam to Haarlem and back
- Frans Hals Museum with a museum guide
- The Grote Kerk of St Bavo and the Müller organ
- Sit-down lunch in Haarlem
- Farewell dinner in Amsterdam
Easier option: Stay on the Grote Markt for coffee while the group visits the Grote Kerk.
More active option: Stay on in Haarlem after lunch for the Teylers Museum, opened in 1784, and take the train back on your own before dinner.
Free time: Late afternoon free before the farewell dinner
Activity: About 5 km on foot. The Frans Hals Museum closes on Mondays; day 8 is a Tuesday or a Wednesday on small-group departures.
Van Gogh Museum and home
The Van Gogh Museum, then Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 30 min
Morning
On the last morning we are at the Van Gogh Museum for its 9 am slot, on timed tickets, with your guide. It holds the largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's work, kept by his family: the early dark paintings from Nuenen such as The Potato Eaters, the bright colours he found in Paris, the Sunflowers and The Bedroom from Arles, and the last wheatfields from Auvers, with his letters to his brother Theo. It is the right place to end, where this trip's line of Netherlandish painting reaches the modern world. We are back at the hotel by about 11:30 to collect the bags. Our driver then takes you to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), about 20 km and 30 minutes by road, at a time set by your flight. Your guide checks that everyone's transfer is arranged before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm to join the museum visit.
Included
- Van Gogh Museum, timed entry at 9 am, with your guide
- Drop-off at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)
Easier option: For a morning flight we go straight from the hotel to the airport.
Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 3 pm to join the morning visit. If you want more time in Amsterdam, we can add hotel nights.
- Bruges2 nights
- Ghent1 night
- Antwerp2 nights
- Amsterdam3 nights
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: The sea keeps the weather mild and changeable: summer highs of about 20 to 23 °C, spring and autumn around 12 to 17 °C, and rain possible on any day, which matters less on a trip spent largely indoors. April and May bring tulip season and the busiest weeks in Amsterdam and Bruges, which is why the big museums are booked at opening. June and September give long evenings and smaller crowds.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want to see Van Eyck, Memling, Rubens, Vermeer, Hals, Rembrandt and Van Gogh in the towns where they worked
- Museum lovers who would rather be at the door at opening than in a queue at noon
- Travellers who want art explained by specialists without a 14-day lecture programme
- Solo travellers who want a small group and a fair single price
Not for you if you want
- Step-free access: cobbles, belfry stairs and old buildings without lifts are part of every town
- Travellers who want Brussels, Waterloo or the tulip fields; our Benelux trip covers those
- Anyone who finds two to three hours standing in galleries most mornings tiring
- Travellers who want a trip of bars, nightlife or cycling
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
8 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Bruges2 nights
- Ghent1 night
- Antwerp2 nights
- Amsterdam3 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 8 nights in central hotels of at least a 3-star-plus standard: 2 in Bruges, 1 in Ghent, 2 in Antwerp, 3 in Amsterdam
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
- We name each hotel when we confirm your dates
Transport
- Pick-up at Brussels Airport (BRU) and drop-off at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS)
- Intercity trains from Bruges to Ghent and Ghent to Antwerp, with your bags carried in our vehicle
- Our own vehicle and driver from Antwerp to Delft, The Hague and Amsterdam
- Train from Amsterdam to Haarlem and back
- A one-hour canal boat in Amsterdam
- Public transport tickets on city touring days
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group for the whole trip, who handles the tickets, the trains and the bags
- Art historians or museum guides at the Groeninge Museum, the MSK, the KMSKA, the Mauritshuis, the Rijksmuseum and the Frans Hals Museum, where each museum allows group guiding
- Licensed local city guides where local rules require one for groups
Activities
- Groeninge Museum, St John's Hospital, the Church of Our Lady and the Begijnhof (Bruges)
- St Bavo's Cathedral and the Ghent Altarpiece, the Museum of Fine Arts and the Belfry (Ghent)
- The Rubens House or its open parts, the Snijders and Rockox House, the KMSKA and the Cathedral of Our Lady (Antwerp)
- The Markt, the Nieuwe Kerk and the Hooikade (Delft)
- The Mauritshuis (The Hague)
- The Rijksmuseum, the canal boat and the Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam)
- The Frans Hals Museum and the Grote Kerk (Haarlem)
Meals
- 8 breakfasts
- 4 lunches: in Ghent, Antwerp, Delft and Haarlem
- 2 dinners: a welcome dinner in Bruges and a farewell dinner in Amsterdam
Not included
- International flights to Brussels and from Amsterdam
- Travel insurance
- Visa or travel authorisation fees, if any apply to your passport
- Meals not listed
- Drinks
- Tips
- Optional activities, such as the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Royal Delft or the Rembrandt House
- Personal expenses
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 915 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
What does the price include?
Eight nights in central hotels, 8 breakfasts, 4 lunches and 2 dinners, airport transfers, the trains in Belgium and to Haarlem, our own vehicle for the bags and the Delft day, your See Sight Tours guide throughout, art historians where museums allow, and about 15 museum and church entries, from the Groeninge Museum to the Van Gogh Museum.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests. That is small enough for everyone to stand close to a painting and hear the art historian, to fit around one table at lunch, and to walk into a museum at opening without a long group check-in.
Who leads the trip, and is there an art historian?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from Brussels Airport to Schiphol. At the Groeninge Museum, the MSK, the KMSKA, the Mauritshuis, the Rijksmuseum and the Frans Hals Museum an art historian or museum guide leads the visit, where the museum allows group guiding. We name your guides when we confirm your dates.
How fit do I need to be?
Moderately. Expect about 5 to 8 km a day on foot, often on cobbles, and two to three hours standing in galleries most mornings. The Belfry of Ghent climb is optional and partly served by a lift. You never carry your case onto a train, and each afternoon visit can be swapped for a rest.
I am travelling solo. What does a room of my own cost?
A room of your own is from CAD 915 more, about 17 percent of the trip price, and it is the same standard and location as the twin rooms. If you would like to share, ask when you book and we will try to match you with another solo guest of the same gender.
When is the best time to go?
June and September give long evenings and smaller crowds. April and May are tulip season and the busiest weeks in Amsterdam and Bruges, and July and August are busy too, which is why the main museums are booked at opening. The trip runs from April to October, and rain is possible in any month.
How does booking work?
Choose a start date and request to book. We check availability and provide the final quote, itinerary and booking terms before you accept. No payment is taken when you send the request. The small group starts from CAD 5,395 per person sharing, with taxes included.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. The trip also runs as a private trip for your party only, on a date you choose, with your own guide and vehicle. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote the same hotels, trains and timed museum tickets without a guide.
Do I need a visa for Belgium and the Netherlands?
Not if you hold a Canadian, US, UK or Australian passport: both countries are in the Schengen area, which allows visa-free stays of up to 90 days in any 180. Since October 2025 your fingerprints and photo are recorded at your first entry. We check whether ETIAS pre-travel authorisation is in force for your dates when we confirm.
Will the Night Watch and the Rubens House be on view?
We confirm both for your dates. The Night Watch has been under restoration in a glass chamber inside the Rijksmuseum's gallery, where visitors can still see it, and the Rubens House has been under a long restoration. If parts are closed, we tell you before you travel and show you what is open.
Why do departures start only on Tuesdays or Wednesdays?
Because many of these museums close on Mondays, including the Bruges city museums, the Ghent Museum of Fine Arts, the Rubens House and the Frans Hals Museum. A Tuesday or Wednesday start keeps every museum day on an open day. Private trips can start on any day; we reorder the visits to fit.
How is this different from your Benelux trip?
Our Benelux trip covers Amsterdam, Bruges, Ghent and Brussels with Keukenhof or Zaanse Schans and Waterloo. This one is built around the paintings: it adds Antwerp, Delft, The Hague and Haarlem, includes art historians at the main museums, and leaves out Brussels and the countryside.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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