9-Nights Best of Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg

Luxembourg City

Beautiful Luxembourg, Luxembourg (sometimes known as Luxembourg Ville or Luxembourg City), was founded in AD 963. It is filled with museums, old churches, ruined fortresses and lovely parks. Much of the city is built on top of hills and cliffs overlooking the Alzette and Petrusse rivers and steep ravines.

The best way to see the city is on foot. The tourist office runs guided walks, and it also has self-guided walking-tour maps. Be sure to crisscross the beautiful bridges and stroll the Promenade de la Corniche—you'll see wonderful views of the city.

Luxembourg City was once one of the most fortified cities in Europe—it was called the Gibraltar of the North. A series of tunnels and passageways, called casemates, are just under the Corniche. They were extensive enough to shelter the entire city during times of siege. Many are still open to the public during the main tourist season, and they're fun to explore. The elegant Spanish turrets and the towers of Rham are other examples of the city's former defenses.

We also enjoyed visiting the National Museum, which has displays on minerals, archaeology, painting, natural science, history and industrial art. Modern art can be found at the architect I.M. Pei-designed MUDAM building.

Other points of interest include the 11th-century Abbey of Munster (now a cultural center), the 17th-century Cathedral of Our Lady of Luxembourg and Casino Luxembourg (a forum for contemporary art). An afternoon can be spent looking at the 10th-century St. Michael's Church, the Renaissance-style Grand-Ducal Palace and some of the government's ministries, housed in elegant belle epoque buildings.

The Place d'Armes is the city's main square. It's at the center of a pedestrian area, where you'll find many restaurants and open-air cafes. Gourmet dining is an integral part of life in Luxembourg, which has the most Michelin-star restaurants per capita in the world.

For shopping, visit the Grand Rue, home of big-name designers and jewelry stores. More affordable items and souvenirs can be found in the area around the central train station.

We recommend a two-night visit to Luxembourg City. Day trips can be taken to any point in Luxembourg.

Amsterdam

Cosmopolitan Amsterdam is most famous for its narrow, gabled houses lining the canals. Interesting attractions include the medieval weighhouse, Royal Palace on Dam Square, and New Church. Its most glamorous industry is the diamond trade. Not too far from Amsterdam are the flower centers of Aalsmeer, the picturesque fishing villages of Volendam and Marken, cheese markets at Edam and Gouda, and historic Haarlem, the main center of the bulb-growing industry. Enjoy the city’s sights from a glass-topped sightseeing boat which passes characteristic gabled houses and negotiates picturesque arched bridges. Facing Dam Square, the Royal Palace was built in 1648 and is still officially the royal residence, although the royal family resides in The Hague. The marbled Citizens Hall with inlaid maps of the world is worth seeing. One of Amsterdam’s most visited sites is historic Anne Frank House. Rijksmuseum, the city’s most prestigious museum, houses the largest collection of Dutch paintings in the world. Van Gogh Museum houses a striking collection.

Bruges

Because of the export of high-quality cloths, Bruges became prosperous and rich. The remaining buildings still let you feel how rich Bruges was. Museums house a lot of fabulous paintings from this time. At the end of the 15th century Bruges was prosperous because of the silting up of the coastal area in Zwin, now a natural park near Knokke that can be discovered by bike during the summer. Walking in the city you can feel Bruges's history. Bruges became poor and was put back in the spotlight by Georges Rodenbach's novel "Bruges la Morte". Bruges was reborn as an Art City, well preserved, never severely damaged. The city is admired every day by thousands of tourists from all over the world. In 2002 Bruges was been chosen together with Salamanca in Spain as culture cities of Europe.

Brussels

Brussels's Upper and a Lower Town conjure up images of important buildings and long avenues and small, dark streets. Lower Town, the old Flemish quarter, contains the city's most famous sites, including its greatest landmark, Grand Place, and the Manneken Pis. It's also the location of around ten churches relatively close to each other; most of them from the Flemish Renaissance and Baroque periods. In Upper Town, you'll find King's palace, royal squares and various palaces from the eighteenth-century neo-classical Austrian period. The built-up business and residential areas are scrupulously broken up by frequent patches of green parks, which help account for the city's sedate, unfrenzied atmosphere. Around the city center are congregated many small, carefully laid-out parks that provide settings for statues and national monuments.