My wife and I have signed up to take this tour a second time. We originally took this tour in 2007. This will be our 4th Rick Steves tour and after some thought we decided to take it again instead of a new tour. This will probably be our last trip to Europe and since we had so many WOW experiences we decided to repeat it. Let us know if you have booked this same tour date so we can say an early hello share thoughts.
Posted by
Boise, Idaho
1258 posts
Best of travels! Please consider posting a brief comparison of the two adventures when you get home.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14656 posts
What a wonderful time to visit too!
I'd recommend going a few days early and going to Keukenhof Gardens. There has been a bus from Haarlem to Keukenhof which would make it easy if you wanted to stay in the tour hotel.
I'll also call your attention to the Vermeer Exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam if that might be of interest to you. It starts in February and runs until June so you're in the sweet spot. I've signed up for their newsletter to be notified when tickets go on sale.
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/vermeer
Also, if you want to visit the Van Gogh Museum (not on the tour) you'd need to book ahead of time for it and I'd do it on a day ahead. That venue usually sells out and when I was there in May they were not selling tickets at the museum, you could only buy online.
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/visit/tickets-and-ticket-prices
Do you remember your guide and bus driver for your tour? I had Dimitri for my guide who previously was a bus driver! He is so excellent!
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Pam,
Thanks so much for your suggestions. I can not remember the bus driver but the tour guide was Ben. He was wonderful and it would be great to have him guide us again. We have children and grandchildren in Boise and we have learned about Coeur d’Alene and its beauty. Lucky you.
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6508 posts
We took this tour twice, the first time in 2011 because Stan saw the promotional video and said "That's the one. That's the one I want to take," and the second in 2018 to celebrate a milestone anniversary - his choice again. We had different guides and bus drivers on the two, and enjoyed the differences. We had Jennifer as a guide for the first one, and Dimitri on the second. (I'll have to go back and look up the bus drivers, but they were both great.)
Jennifer and Dimitri were both excellent, but so different! They had different interests and different life experiences, and we profited from both.
This is indeed a great tour, as you already know.
Posted by
Lewiston, Idaho
30 posts
So excited, we are doing this trip 8/20/2023. I will be anxiously awaiting any notes from you after or during 😊