Best of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg Reviews

A good value Trafalgar trip showcasing the cities of Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Bruges (who could not love this charming medieval city?) and Brussels. There were shorter stops in other interesting, lesser-known and less-busy places: Rotterdam, Maastricht, Orval Abbey (delightful, many left with beer samples), Trier (optional tour and dinner excellent value), ...read more Dinant (splendid views along the Meuse River from the cable-car ride to the citadel above), Ghent (busy) and Antwerp (optional, much less so). Waterloo was also a worthwhile optional extension.

I found the optional excursions overall good value except for the Muiderslot castle which was expensive given the very limited time we had there. The hotels were very comfortable and the included meals very good. A criticism I had was that the Kinderdijk trip was an optional excursion, it really should have been part of the tour as if you decide not to do it, there is literally nothing to do nearby for 2 hours. Perhaps the Euromast in Rotterdam (with amazing views of this extensive port city) could be the optional excursion instead - I noticed many did not want to take the ride right to the top, but admission was paid anyway.

The tour in Amsterdam included the Rijksmuseum (wonderful) and a canal cruise with dinner. One optional excursion did not go ahead due to lack of numbers. Not a problem as there is so much to enjoy, but some travellers on the tour were not aware that two main attractions in Amsterdam require pre-booking and so they were disappointed they did not get to see them in their free time: The Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank's House. Travellers need to know that it is necessary to book online at least a few days out to ensure a visit to these very popular museums which are not included on the tour.

The start of our tour in Amsterdam was amazing, especially the welcoming dinner on the night canal cruise. We were really surprised to see the old town centres in Belgium, that were saved from damage during WWII. The architecture of the old majestic buildings and large churches and cathedrals with very tall steeples were astonishing.

In each town ...read more we were given lengthy history by the local guides. The old town of Bruges especially took our breath away. This little old town was forgotten, left neglected, until history of old townships became appreciated by tourists. This is one town that should never be left out of your itinerary when visiting Belgium.

We enjoyed good company of people joining this tour from other parts of the world. The hotels were always in a good position and we will be taking another Trafalgar tour next year, booking it through Global Journeys again.

Our tour guide was particularly efficient and sensitive to individual needs. When we claimed that a particular option was poor value for money she negotiated a discount.

Tour was well-organised, comfortable and excellent itinerary. It was a pleasure to deal with Georgie Walpole of Global Journeys who handled our booking. She was always available to communicate with by telephone or email and very prompt to respond to queries and requests.

The service from Georgie at Global Journeys was first class and your advice to use the fast Thalys train from Brussels to Amsterdam's Schipol airport was exactly right. The tour was quite good; we were aware in advance that Trafalgar is not a top end tour operator so we did not set our expectations too high. The places visited were all excellent; apart ...read more from Amsterdam 42 years ago we had never visited any of them; always nice to visit new places. Ananda the tour director was only average but this did not worry us; she made an over the top call for generous tips! All the hotels were really good, although the one in Luxembourg was undergoing renovations and was some distance from the city. In summary quite a good tour and a suitable itinerary but suggest make your clients aware that it's not top of the range, but the price is reasonable and good value for what we received. There were 43 in the bus versus a capacity of 56 so it did not feel crowded. The comparison between Ananda and the excellent tour director on the preceding Scenic river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam, had made us realise what a high standard director can achieve. Hope this helps.