Holland & Belgium in Spring May 15, 2022
We are looking to see if any folks who hang around in here are on this river cruise. We are traveling from Ft. Myers, FL to Frankfurt, to Amsterdam arriving on May 14 for an extra day. We are also spending two extra nights in Brussels before taking a train to Paris for the Normandy, Brittany, Paris, and The Loire Valley trip.
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If you are interested in the Anne Frank museum, make sure to buy the tickets before you go as the line is very long if you had to wait. I loved Amsterdam and this river cruise! Enjoy!
The Anne Frank museum is temporarily closed.....how long "temporary" is, I have no idea.
Oh, sorry! Hopefully things change by the time you go.
ndvb. - Or, maybe more people will be smart and follow the science. Yes! Proper masks ARE part of the science!
The Anne Frank house is a very small space. It’s common sense to have it remain closed or severely restrict visitors.
Nvbd, more and more travel companies are requiring boosters, it doesn’t matter what you personally think, if that’s the rule, you are going to have to go with it. Same with masks.
I was doing research for a trip and in Germany some carrier or other entity (unfortunately I don't remember) wanted people to have 3 stabs.
British I get your point, now as before. I know we will have to follow the procedures, but I don't have to either like them, or agree with them. I don't need to be lectured by you. I figure Anne Frank House, along with a number of other activities in Amsterdam, will be closed during winter. That makes sense. I am hoping things will open up in the spring.
Further, I trust Tauck to take care of adjusting the trips if necessary. I've always been impressed with their ability to change things on a dime.
Who’s lecturing, I’m stating facts
We visited Anne Frank house on our Budapest to Amsterdam cruise. We purchased tickets well in advance of the visit, The line was long and it was extremely crowded inside the house to the point of being claustrophobic, The line moved very slowly inside although there was not too much to see, There were a few items that the family and Ann had that were left behind, THe attic space where they hid was not accessible and viewed via a mirror of some sort,
I dont see how they can operate now because it is impossible to social distance in such small spaces and masks are unreliable.
We've been to Amsterdam twice and never went to the Anne Frank house. No regrets. I read the diary years ago and seen the movie. Did not want to be crowded into a small space. We did consider the Dutch Resistance museum but ran out of time. From what I've read it has some very interesting displays.
Thanks Claudia. I may remove it from my list and add the Dutch Resistance Museum. If I get there, I'll let you know if you missed anything.
Sadly, I believe the house and annex are still closed due to COVID concerns.
It will be interesting to see if the Russian invasion of Ukraine will effect European tours.
I expect my Russian Glories, Baltic Treasures tour in June to be cancelled. Tauck send they would be making some announcement in the next day or so. Here is the response I received to my question about the tour, based on the Ukraine situation.
Dear Mr. Gorman,
Thank you for your inquiry. Our Global Response Team and its many members are currently monitoring the situation and will sending a statement within the next day.
Thank you for your patience.
Best regards,
Edel Kollar| Guest Services Communications Specialist|
Tauck
Have already read that many tour companies have cancelled. What a terrible situation!
Sam, a friend just told me that St. Petersburg has been eliminated from the itinerary of his Norwegian Cruise Lines cruise in July. It's disappointing, but I'm happy that Russia will not be getting the benefit of the Western currency that would flow from the trip.
Hi ndvb! ! I realize the conversation herein has diverted to the sad situation in the Ukraine, but for what it's worth - yes, we visited the Anne Frank, and for me, the memories of reading the book were far more powerful. Still if you go, get advance tix. In Amsterdam the tours will take you to the fabulous Rijksmuseum but do try to go again as there is so much to take in. Naturally Van Gogh and the Rembrandt House Museums, and the National Maritime Museum. I also love the "Purse Museum." It's small, quirky, had purses from the burghers of the 1500s to Madonna. Very fun. And there's a Russian Hermitage museum in Amsterdam - not worth your time. I certainly hope your trips will happen, even in modified. Oh, yes -- sharing an idea: when we visited the Normandy beaches, we brought along some small jars to collect sand from each beach. The family is very interested in WW2 and they were really glad to have this.
mazalea,
I, too, loved the Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam. Sadly, however, it closed its doors permanently in 2020 as a result of lost sponsorships and subsidies due to the pandemic. I do not know what became of all the purses. Hopefully they have been relocated to other museums.
This museum was one of a choice of two we had from Tauck at the end of our river cruise. We chose the other option but I took note of this one for a future trip to Amsterdam, what a shame!
Yes, it is a shame. It also had a small courtyard/garden which offered a nice respite.
So as not to detract from the topic of this thread, I will start a new one of lesser known museums that I have been to (not many) with the hope it will be of interest to others and generate participation. But first, I need to ensure they are still in existence.
Wait! At the Anne Frank museum you can't see the attic where they hid? Really? I thought that was the whole point of the museum. That site is now a scratch on my list of Amerstdam sites when we tour in April.
You can see a little of the attic from the bottom of some stairs but not go into the attic as it is very small.
I believe the annex is now open. The best thing to do is to check their website. If open, the hours might be restricted.
Thanks. Unfortunately, the website isn't very specfic. I will try to email.
We are traveling Southbound. On Day 2 "Discover Floriade" , the itinerary says "Return to Amsterdam and spend the afternoon as you please". Can anyone tell me approximately how much time that leaves? I would like to schedule a museum visit but I'm not sure how much time I will have. Thanks!
Give Tauck a call, the reservations sales agents will have more timing details.
david_clark,
Since Floriade only occurs every decade, I doubt you will find an answer here. The brochure states, "spend a good part of the day at ....." I would interpret that at face value. You can always opt out of the excursion and visit the museum. Tauck is swamped with cancelations/rebookings right now so I would advise against calling them with something like this. Moreover, they do not have day-to-day timing details at their fingertips. Perhaps you can call in a few weeks.
Enjoy your trip and please post a review if you can.
Contrary to the previous post, Tauck reservations sales agent often do have hour-by-hour timing for many (most?) tours. The exception being if the tour is the first of a new series that hasn't yet started. I have called Tauck for such information numerous times in the past and just today called about another trip- "After morning touring, what time are we scheduled to arrive back at the Mena House Hotel in Cairo for lunch. I was given precisely the information I needed which appears to be the same type of info you are seeking. I was also told what time the return-to-the-US COVID testing would start which I forgot to ask about, but also needed.
You have paid your money and are entitled to an answer as much as any other Tauck client. Call them, see what they say, but also realize the information can change.
I am on the 4/18 tour and had a similar question. We are going to Amsterdam several days early and will have visited the museums before the cruise starts, We may want to stay longer at Floriade and make our own way back to the boat before it sails. Since it wasn’t an emergency, I emailed Tauck about the timing and logistics. Haven’t heard back yet, but will post here when I do.