Holland and Belgium - European River Cruise Routes

Holland (The Netherlands) and Belgium (Rivers - Ijssel, Schelde & Waal)

Not surprisingly, the most popular Holland Belgium river cruises are in the springtime, which in the Netherlands and Belgium is truly magical with flowers in full bloom, especially, of course, tulips. Cruising through the scenic Dutch and Belgian rivers and canals is really the best way to discover this region. I'm using "Holland" here because it's a familiar name to many people and is frequently used by the tour operators, but the country is actually called "The Netherlands" - "Holland" is just the name of a county or province within it.

River cruises in Holland offer Amsterdam, windmills, tulips and pretty harbour villages, in Belgium character-full medieval towns, great beer and Brussels' cosmopolitan elegance. That's rather an unfair summary, but it's roughly true. Although I did omit great art: Rembrandt, Van Gogh and the rest of the Dutch and Flemish masters. In 2006, Amsterdam will celebrate the 400th birthday of the Dutch master, Rembrandt Van Rijn. View major exhibitions of this great artist at both the Rembrandt House and Rijksmuseum.

Zaanse Schans may be touristy, but it does have magnificent windmills; the Keukenhof in Spring is quite astonishingly beautiful and ablaze with the myriad colours of more than seven million tulips; Bruges (Brugge) really is a medieval gem that is in effect an open-air museum; Belgian chocolate and beer is amazing, and it's fascinating to learn how Dutch cheese and Delft pottery are made.

And everywhere it's green, green, green, with lush countryside and peaceful, bucolic landscapes along the literally centuries-old inland waterways.

Amsterdam, Edam, Hoorn, Schoonhoven (for Kinderdijk Windmills), Gouda, Delft, The Hague, Middelburg, Bruges, Brussels, Antwerp - depending on the cruise all these may be in your itinerary, and more.

Here is a typical Holland Belgium river cruise route

OUR ADVICE: concentrate on the ship you want to travel on and the route you want to travel, rather than the tour aggregator (of course, there's also price!). Be sure to check out our "Things to watch for" page too!

Next page: a typical Holland Belgium river cruise route