Gouda - Archeon Museum Park - Leiden - Castle of Leiden - American Pilgrim museum - Duivenvoorde Castle

Route: Hague - Gouda - Archeon Museum Park - Leiden - Castle of Leiden - American Pilgrim museum - Duivenvoorde Castle - Hague
Duration: 8 h
Our first stop will be at Gouda, the city of cheese in the Netherlands. However Gouda has much more to offer than cheese alone. There are plenty of things to do and discover in this beautiful historic city full of trendy hotspots and passionate people. From The Markt, the central square with its iconic town hall to the beautiful stained-glass windows of the Sint-Jans church and from street food to the first Fairtrade street in the Netherlands, old and new meet and merge in Gouda. Our next stop will  in Archeon Museum Park  which is a large museum park where you can find different edifices from Prehistory, Roman and Medieval time. They have brought them there from all over the Netherlands, so people could learn about those parts of history. There you will can walk around, explore different houses and learn about them this way. But, Archeon isn’t just a place where you can learn about history. It’s a place where you can become a part of it. From baking your own bread on the open fire, crossing the river on a pontoon bridge, trying the knight’s armour and many more. There are many guides – interpretors around, dressed in historical clothes, that will interestingly tell you their stories. The next place of our tour will be city Leiden where you see the old part of town and the area where the Pilgrim Fathers during their stay in Leiden lived. We will also see  the Town Hall, the remains of the Church of Our Lady, the William Brewster Alley, St. Peters Church, Pesijnshof (where John Robinson used to live), the steps down the canal where the Pilgrims embarked, the Adriaensz. van der Werff monument , the Pilgrim Fathers Museum and the Botanical gardens is where the first tulip was planted in Holland.  The Castle of Leiden, better known as “Burcht van Leiden” in Dutch, is an 11th century shell.  This stunning park is a great spot for a gorgeous, panoramic view of the city . The castle itself is known for its fantastic architecture and you will see it. In Leiden we will also visit to  American Pilgrim museum located in a beautifully preserved house built ca 1365-1370 near the clock tower of the Hooglandskerk, the Leiden American Pilgrim museum tells the stories of the founders of New England, the Pilgrims. Furnishings from Pilgrim times show aspects of daily life, while events involving the Pilgrims themselves are illustrated with a remarkable collection of sixteenth and seventeenth-century maps and engravings by such artists as Gerard Mercator, Adrian van de Venne, Adriaen van Ostade, and Jacques de Gheyn. Our last stop in this tour will be at Duivenvoorde Castle where you will listen many stories. Make a visit to the castle museum, take a walk through the park, and be amazed by the rich history of the castle and the estate.  The castle itself is originally Medieval, but now has more of a seventeenth and eighteenth century style. Duivenvoorde Castle dates back to the early 13th century, making it one of the older castles in Zuid-Holland. The castle is remarkable in the way that it was never sold; it was inherited by several different noble houses, sometimes through the matrilineal line, something that can be said of very few Dutch castles.  A guided tour passes through the castle's stately rooms, furnished as though they were still in use. The estate also boasts an exceptional collection of 17th and 18th century family portraits, silver, Delftware, Chinese and European porcelain. After we will return to Hague.
Price: Per person