Wine/Garden Cruise/Tour in the Netherlands?

[BQEC]

Looking on information for wine and garden cruises and or land tours in the Netherlands. Thank you.

[Fouremco]

I heartily recommend https://thatdamguide.com for tours in and around Amsterdam. The Windmill Tour is excellent and includes far more than windmills. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

All the major river cruise lines do 'Tulip Time' cruises in April that include the amazing gardens at Keukenhof.  AMA also took us to Floralia, a castle and gardens outside Brussels with over 1 million bulbs.  And everywhere in Holland and Belgium at that time of year is full of blooms.

 

Check out the 'sticky' threads at the top of this forum for helpful information on choosing river cruise lines, itineraries, etc.

 

One cruise company that is little known in the US is the British company Noble Caledonia.  Their cruises and tours often have a major focus on gardens.  Here is the link to their 2023 Tulip Time cruises:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/tour/2930/spring-flowers-&-the-golden-age-of-dutch-art/?search_url_id=73

 

I haven't heard of wine cruises in the Netherlands.  Holland and Belgium are known for beer, not wine.

[BQEC]

Thank you Host Jazzbeau.

[BQEC]

45 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I heartily recommend https://thatdamguide.com for tours in and around Amsterdam. The Windmill Tour is excellent and includes far more than windmills. 

Thank you Fouremco.

[Canal archive]

I bet somewhere in Holland they are producing excellent wine. Many years ago we spent an absolutely wonderful holiday in Canada well the Canadians kept really quiet about their superbly excellent wine. Plus although South Africa is known for its wine some of it on offer in tasting around Stellenbosch is so so much better.

[pontac]

7 hours ago, Canal archive said:

bet somewhere in Holland they are producing excellent wine

 

I'll take that bet!

 

The Netherlands certainly do grow some grapes and make wine; I’ve had some but, with the best will in the world, let’s say they have some way to go.

 

Both Ontario and British Columbia produce some first rate wines. Not much gets to the UK because it’s expensive, although Lidl (of all places) have stocked Pilliteri Ice Wine at Christmas at very reasonable prices and sold remaining stocks at ridiculous give-away prices afterwards.

 

South Africa produces more than 8,000 different wines from more than 900 wineries all, but a handful, in the Western Cape Province (i.e. the southern tip) so the UK doesn’t get it all*. But it’s a major export market and gets lots of the good stuff, plus a lot more sold by price. Which Stellenbosch wineries took your fancy?

 

*much much less gets to the USA and distribution of what gets there is patchy. There are a number of reasons; among them are there’s so many good home produced wines, and it’s easier to export wine to the UK, Germany and Belgium (the traditional and major markets) than to the USA with 50 different state laws and the byzantine three tier system)
 

[Canal archive]

Yes found the ice wine well actually my husband did and had to get it to compare with the German ice wines as he knows these very well. South Africa was many many years ago but those particular wines and the Canadian we seriously considered shipping some home but at the time it was prohibitively expensive we did discover the vintner in London who stocked both they specialised in difficult to find wines. Sadly we stopped doing that some years ago but by then the wines from around the world were more readily available.

[pontac]

14 hours ago, Canal archive said:

South Africa was many many years ago

 

Wines have improved incredibly aver the past 10 years, and are nothing like the pre 1995 ones.

 

If you go again let me know and I can point you to shippers I have used. If you buy the wine you want from them you don't pay RSA VAT.