Chelsea Flower Show & Floriade 2022 London to Amsterdam

Day 1  Overnight flight

Day 2  Windsor Castle – London

Day 3  London

This morning you will enjoy a guided city tour of London. Highlights of this tour will be the Tower of London, the Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square with the Lord Nelson Column and Piccadilly Circus. The tour through this captivating city ends at Buckingham Palace. Every day at 11:30 am the Changing of the Guard ceremony is being held here. Witness this colourful spectacle of British pageantry.  In the afternoon you will visit Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. Discover the secrets hidden beneath the streets of Westminster in the underground nerve centre where Winston Churchill and his inner circle directed the Second World War. Conclude your day in London with a typical British Afternoon Tea.
Overnight in London.

Day 4  London Chelsea Flower show        

Today enjoy a full day at the world famous Chelsea Flower Show, a real delight for the eye. The annual Chelsea Flower Show has been the main show of the English Royal Horticultural Society for over 100 years. Over the years it has been eradicated to a major event with more than 600 exhibitors. Highlights to the Chelsea Flower Show include the avant-garde show gardens and the many smaller gardens such as the Artisan and Urban Gardens. These gardens are designed by top designers and landscaped in a sublime way. Everything is prepared at nurseries and then put together on site two weeks before the show. A major achievement. After this bright and colourful day you will return to London.
Overnight in London.

Day 5  London – Chartwell House – Sissinghurst Castle & Gardens – Canterbury

ter breakfast you will depart London and head into Kent, the ‘Garden of England’. A few kilometers south of London, you will visit Chartwell House , the home of Sir Winston Churchill. Admire the house and garden that remains practically in the same condition as he left it. The red stone manor is a time capsule brimming with insights into 1930s family life. Afterwards you will travel through Kent’s countryside to the renowned Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens. The gardens created by the poet and writer, Vita Sackville-West, and her husband Sir Harold Nicolson are a must for garden lovers.Stroll through the colourful cottage garden and the rose garden, which surround the Elizabethan Mansion. Your next and last stop for today is Canterbury, famous since the 14th century when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales. This university city is the proud owner of some gems of medieval architecture and one of the oldest cathedrals in the country. Overnight in Canterbury.

Day 6  Canterbury – White cliffs of Dover – Calais – Bruges

This morning a local guide will show you Canterbury Castle, the historic Westgate the streets with timber-framed houses in the medieval city centre. The guided tour will end at grand Canterbury Cathedral. The oldest working church in England and UNESCO World Heritage listed. Travel onwards to Dover, where you will see the impressive white cliffs before crossing the channel. The ferry will take you in less than two hours to Calais, France. Your journey continues into Belgium, towards the town of Bruges, also called the ‘Venice of the North’. Overnight in Bruges.

Day 7  Bruges – Amsterdam

This morning enjoy a guided walking tour of Bruges. You will see the Holy Blood Cathedral, the Belfort, the Lake of Love, the Church of Our Lady with Michelangelo’s Marble Madonna, the UNESCO World Heritage listed Beguinage and the historic centre with its canals, lace workshops, ancient buildings. The tour ends at the ‘De Halve Maan Brewery’ where you will have a guided tour, followed by lunch and a beer tasting. Afterwards you will travel from Belgium to Netherlands, you will arrive in its capital Amsterdam in the late afternoon.
Overnight in Amsterdam.

Day 8  Amsterdam     

This morning enjoy a guided walking tour of Amsterdam to discover the capital of the Netherlands. Amsterdam was founded in the Middle Ages and has many historical buildings. You will see the most important sights such as the Dam Square with the impressive Royal Palace and New Church, the canals with the arched bridges, the Rijksmuseum and Waterloo Square. Afterwards visit the Rijksmuseum with an expert guide. This museum features famous paintings such as Rembrandt’s `Night watch’ and `Jewish bride’. Paintings by Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael are on exhibit as well. In the afternoon you will visit the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. In the garden and the greenhouses a staggering 4,000 types of plants from all over the world. An expert guide will show you around in this haven of tranquillity in the busy city.
Overnight in Amsterdam.

Day 9  Amsterdam – Floriade Expo – Amsterdam

After breakfast you will depart to Almere to visit the Floriade, World Horticultural Expo, which has become the largest public event in the Netherlands. The theme of the Floriade Expo 2022 is ‘Growing Green Cities’. During the Expo, different countries, cities and companies will offer inspiring ideas about the Green City of the Future. As a visitor, you can participate and contribute to four relevant sub-themes: green, food, energy and health. Return to Amsterdam, remainder of the day free for independent activities.
Overnight in Amsterdam.

Day 10  Amsterdam – Aalsmeer Flower Auction – Zaanse Schans – Amsterdam

In the early morning you will travel to Aalsmeer. Here you will see the trading in action at the world’s largest flower market, the Aalsmeer Flower Auction. In a building approximately the size of a 100 soccer fields, many different kinds of flowers are traded and packaged directly for shipping to destinations throughout world. Afterwards, you will depart to the recreated Dutch village dating back to 1850, the Zaanse Schans. Wander about the unique village, full of wooden houses, windmills, and workshops, and step back in time. Visit one of the mills that are still in operation, the bakery museum, see the cheese factory, tin foundry and view a range of traditional Dutch crafts such as cheese and clog making. Enjoy a typical Dutch Pancake lunch together. Afterwards, you will travel through the unique polder landscape (UNESCO World Heritage listed) of the Beemster Polder to Amsterdam.  Remainder of the afternoon at leisure in Amsterdam. Farewell dinner and overnight in Amsterdam.

Day 11  Departure

After breakfast you will depart for Amsterdam Schiphol Airport for your flight back home.