Holland & Belgium – Brussels & Bruges to Amsterdam Aboard Magnifique III

Depart for Brussels on an overnight flight.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel for immediate check-in and some rest. Leisurely exploration of Brussels. Stroll past antique shops, art galleries, Art Nouveau brasseries, and chocolatiers that dot the area’s famed cobblestone streets. Private tour of Maison Hannon. Experience an Art Nouveau masterpiece in an enclosed, dreamlike environment. Within breathtaking interiors furnished by French Art Nouveau master Émille Gallé, admire contemporary works by James Ensor, Victor Rousseau, and Émile Claus. Gaze upon splendid frescoes conceived by celebrated French painter Paul Baudoüin. Gather for a welcome reception and dinner this evening.

BRUSSELS / BRUGES / EMBARK MAGNIFIQUE III

Check out of the Brussels hotel and transfer to Bruges, a medieval gem known as the “Venice of the North” for its canals and gardens. Guided walking tour of the Béguinage. Upon arrival in Bruges, join our guide for an insightful look at the city’s UNESCO-recognized Béguinage (women’s living community), which dates back several hundred years. Private tour of the Church of Our Lady. Stand in awe of the church’s imposing, nearly 400-foot brick tower, the world’s second-highest of its kind. Inside, witness Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child, an early 16th-century marble masterpiece and his only sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. Walking tour of Central Bruges. Continue through the medieval core, where Gothic guildhalls and stepped gable façades line winding streets and quiet canals. Special-access tour of the Adornes Domain. Enter this private 15th-century family compound still owned by descendants of its founders. Visit the estate’s Jerusalem Chapel, modeled after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Conclude in the Scottish Lounge, which honors Adornes’s diplomatic ties to King James III of Scotland. Transfer to Magnifique III in the port of Bruges and settle into your cabin before gathering for dinner on board.

BRUGES / GHENT

Tour of the Hans Memling Museum. Begin the day at one of Bruges’s most important museums, housed in the 12th-century Gothic St. John’s Hospital complex. View the St. Ursula Shrine, Hans Memling’s intricately carved and painted reliquary, widely considered one of the great devotional works of the Northern Renaissance. Return to the boat and cruise to Ghent, a medieval metropolis and powerful trading hub once second in size only to Paris. Private tour of St. Bavo’s Cathedral. Step into a 1,000-year-old sanctuary built over the foundations of a Romanesque church and now dominated by Gothic spires. Inside, encounter The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (Ghent Altarpiece), one of Western art’s most important works. View this brilliant polyptych—painted by the Van Eycks in 1432—in its newly restored glory, returned to its original home. Enjoy dinner at leisure with an optional guided walking tour.

GHENT / SINT-AMANDS

Special before-hours tour of Hotel d’Hane Steenhuyse. Enjoy exclusive access to this stately 18th-century residence, once the seat of Ghent’s aristocracy and a diplomatic stopover for Louis XVIII, Tsar Alexander I, and John Quincy Adams. Stroll through its gilded Louis XV salons and austere Louis XVI galleries featuring paintings by Rubens and Van Reysschoot. Walking and canal tour of historic Ghent. On this guided exploration on foot and by boat, stops include the 12th-century Gravensteen, Flanders’s only medieval castle with a near-intact defense system. Revel in dinner and a private concert aboard Magnifique III while the ship is docked in Sint-Amands. Afterwards, enjoy free time in this peaceful town on the Scheldt River, discovering its Roman-era roots.

SINT-AMANDS / ANTWERP

Expert-led tour of Antwerp’s Cathedral of Our Lady. Ascend into Belgium’s largest Gothic church, featuring a 404-foot tower once likened by Napoleon to lacework. Inside, view Peter Paul Rubens’s most noted altarpieces in their intended context: The Raising of the Cross, The Descent from the Cross, and The Assumption of the Virgin. Guided tour of St. Paul’s Church. Inside this late Gothic structure, admire masterpieces by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens, including their contributions to the famed 15 Mysteries of the Rosary cycle. Guided tour of the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library. Go behind the scenes in one of Belgium’s most atmospheric library spaces, the 17th-century Nottebohm Room, normally closed to the public. View priceless treasures from its vast library collection spanning five centuries, including a 3,000-year-old Egyptian funerary papyrus and a pair of 17th-century Blaeu globes. Gather for a refined Flemish dinner at Sir Anthony Van Dyk. This 16th-century patrician home offers a rare dining experience inside one of Antwerp’s most protected historic enclaves.

ANTWERP / DORDRECHT, HOLLAND

Spend a leisurely morning on board as the vessel cruises toward Dordrecht, Holland. Lunch is served en route. Private Look at the 15th-century Grote Kerk of Dordrecht, the city’s largest church, built in the Brabantine Gothic style Exclusive visit to the only historic country estate in the Rotterdam region, an 18th-century, Rococo-era mansion still owned by descendants of its original family and normally closed to the public. Enjoy light refreshments in this splendid space, taking a private look at its intact family collection of paintings and tapestries. Outside, stroll through one of Holland’s oldest English landscape gardens. Return to the barge in Dordrecht for dinner aboard. Afterwards, take a slow walk through Dordrecht, Holland’s oldest chartered city.

DORDRECHT / KINDERDIJK / UTRECHT / VIANEN

Visit to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk through one of the most extraordinary feats of Dutch engineering: 19 monumental windmills, built in the 1730s. Savor lunch at a country estate along the idyllic Vecht, a river once lined with the summer homes of Amsterdam’s merchant elite. Guided Tour of Museum Catharijnecovent. This former convent-turned-museum holds Holland’s most exquisite collection of medieval Christian art. Golden reliquaries shimmer alongside manuscripts and masterpieces by Rembrandt, Jan van Scorel, and Saenredam. Exploration of Utrecht. Explore hidden inner courtyards, beautiful gardens, and narrow alleys in Holland’s former religious capital. Rejoin Magnifique III in Vianen for dinner on board.

VIANEN / AMSTERDAM

Approach Amsterdam the way 17th-century merchants once did—by water. Canals stretch like ribs from the old port in Europe’s wealthiest city during the Dutch Golden Age. Guided tour of the Rijksmuseum. Enter the country’s preeminent museum, designed like a cathedral in 1885 by Pierre Cuypers. Stand before Rembrandt’s Night Watch, the quiet glow of Vermeer’s Milkmaid, and the bold strokes of Van Gogh’s early works. Inside look at the Rijksmuseum’s Cuypers Library. Gain insight into Holland’s oldest and most extensive collection of art history texts. Brief Highlights Tour of Amsterdam. Take in the canals, arched bridges, and gabled houses of the UNESCO-listed center. Return to Magnifique III for a celebratory farewell dinner.

AMSTERDAM / DISEMBARK / RETURN