Rotterdam and The Hague: Private Half-Day Tour with Transfer

You will learn about the Father of the Fatherland, Willem van Oranje, and his role in the 80 years war: the Dutch revolt.

We will make our way towards the Mauritshuis museum. I will tell you something about the building and its history. Among others, this museum has the most famous paintings of Johannes Vermeer inside.

We will briefly walk onto the square within the parliament complex and see the Knight's Hall. Here I will tell you about the significance and history of this place. With some luck, we might see some of our ministers (or prime minister) walking by!

The Hofvijver pond is situated in front of the parliament building and the prime minister's office (the little tower!). You will learn about the significance of this place and some funny histoy.

The statue of Thorbecke next to the Hofvijver is quite interesting. This statue has to do with our constitution! You will hear more about it.

This is the Champs-Élysées of The Hague. Quite a classy street! We will walk a bit and pass multiple embassies, an art museum, a famous hotel, the temporary senate building, a statue gallery of the Dutch heads of states and some more interesting (royal) buildings.

We will see the working palace of the Dutch king. Based on the flag, we can find out if he is currently in the country. Let's see!

We will see the Grote Kerk ("Big Church") of The Hague. What is that stork doing on top of it?

Another statue! This is the only head of government of the Netherlands that has been eaten by an angry mob! That sounds a bit weird, but you'll find out what happened.

On our way to Rotterdam Blaak, we will see the city's central station. It opened in 2014 and has quite a spectacular design.

We will also see a peculiar statue from the car, officially called 'Santa Claus', but it is known by another name...

This is the UFO-shaped train station in the market area of Rotterdam, where the city has its origins. You will get out of the car here and start the tour of the city.

This building has become an icon for the city. We will enter the impressive Market Hall (Markthal). The two sides of the building contain many apartments and inside you can enjoy different foods from around the world. We will at least try some Dutch cheese! And don't forget to look up and look at one of the biggest pieces of art on the planet.

Close to the modern Market Hall stands a 14th century church. Its tower miraculously survived the bombing of Rotterdam. Today, it is mostly used as an event location. You will learn of the church's history, as well as that of a famous man who was born here: Erasmus.

You have probably noticed them already: the Cubic Houses. These funny apartments (by Piet Blom) are a product of the 70's, built in the 80's, and they represent a typical way of building a 'village inside a city'. We will view one of the apartments from the inside! The price is included in the tour price.

We are in the Oude Haven (Old Harbour) area. This is now a lively recreational area with multiple terraces. See some more Piet Blom architecture and enjoy the old ships that are anchored here for restauration. Nowadays, the real port of Rotterdam is located many kilometers to the west from here.

We will see the most prominent building in to the Old Harbour area: the White House (Het Witte Huis). This is the oldest skyscraper of Europe, dating from 1898. You will learn about its significance to the city. And if you look carefully, you can see the remnants of German bullet holes! Your guide will tell you all about it.

Before walking back to the endpoint, we will make our way to the river Maas. From here you can truly see the skyline of Rotterdam.