16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 11 Amsterdam – Zaanse Schans – Volendam – Amsterdam

16 Days Europe Tour – White Christmas Day 11 Amsterdam – Zaanse Schans – Volendam – Amsterdam

NH Weinheim Hotel

This morning, after breakfast in Radisson Amsterdam Airport Hotel, we departed for Zaanse Schans, Netherlands’ Windmill village. It was very interesting to visit the Dutch wooden clogs outlet and Henri Willig Dutch Cheese Farm.

The Netherlands Windmills

Pretty Dutch Wooden Clogs

Dutch cheese farm

Next we went to Volendam Netherlands, a very quaint fishing village with picturesque Dutch houses. Here we had a 3 course fish meal at Restaurant DeKoe TeaRoom.

De Koe TeaRoom

Check out the holiday travel tips for Volendam Netherlands. ☺


After visiting Volendam, we went into the city to take the hour-long canal cruise of Amsterdam which ended at the Gassan diamonds Amsterdam factory where we were given a brief overview of how a diamond is made.

Boarding the boat for the canal cruise

The Amsterdam canal cruise brought us to the Gassan Diamonds factory which was an interesting experience where we learned more about how the carat, colour, clarity and cut of the diamonds contributes to its price.

Diamonds ...

Whilst waiting for some of our group members to make their Gassan diamonds purchase, we crossed to the next building to try Amsterdam's favorite Stroopwafels.

Stroopwafels Amsterdam

Our tour manager, Ricky from Chan Brothers, then brought us on a walk and we were able to see some tourist attractions in Amsterdam.  We walked around Amsterdam’s red light district before going back to the hotel. As it was almost 2000 hrs, we decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant, The Lighthouse.

One of the tourist attractions in Amsterdam

Vibrant Amsterdam is a maze of small streets and canals and are best viewed from a rented bicycle if you have the time.

Amsterdam houseboats

Anne Frank House

One of the thousands of bridges in Amsterdam

We had a great dinner at the Radisson Blu Amsterdam Airport Hotel.  It was a very exciting day and we looked forward to the remaining few days left of our Europe vacation package.

The Lighthouse

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16 Days Europe Vacation Package Day 10 Heidelberg - Cologne - Amsterdam

16 Days Europe Tour – White Christmas Day 10  Heidelberg – Cologne – Amsterdam

NH Weinheim Hotel Germany

After breakfast, we checked out of NH Weinheim Hotel, Germany in Heidelberg and proceeded to check out some tourist attractions in Cologne.  Cologne is dominated by its magnificent cathedral, 600 years in the making. 

Cologne Cathedral with its twin spires

Holiday Travel Tips:-

Do be extra careful if there’s snow on the ground as we saw a man slip and fall exactly in front of the Cologne Cathedral as he was making his way to pose with the angels (below) and he was in such pain that an ambulance had to be summoned.

Angels in front of Cologne Cathedral

Lunch was in Cologne where we had a quick lunch at McDonalds, after which we spent some time shopping for souvenirs where we just had to purchase the 4711 Eau de Cologne.

Everlasting 4711 eau de cologne

After leaving Cologne, we made our way to Amsterdam where we managed to visit one of the tourist attractions in Amsterdam whilst we were walking to our dinner venue.

Anne Frank House

We then enjoyed an interesting dinner at Amsterdam Pancake House, the Pancake Bakery.

The Pancake Bakery

After a long day, we finally checked into Radisson Amsterdam Airport Hotel. This is a luxury hotel adjacent to the Sas Schipol Amsterdam Airport.

Radisson Hotel Amsterdam Airport

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Gassan Diamonds Amsterdam

Gassan Diamonds

After our Amsterdam canal cruise where we took in the views of this authentic city, we ended up at Gassan Diamond factory.  Located in the centre of Amsterdam, this family owned business is located in a beautifully restored factory building which was originally built as a steam driven diamond factory.

If you are interested in diamonds and keen to see all the facets of the diamond polishing industry, including learning about carats, colours, clarity and cuts as well as some of the history of this Amsterdam craft, feel free to join one of the free guided tours held seven days a week at Gassan Diamonds led by knowledgeable and multi lingual staff.

Gassan Diamonds Carat, Colour, Clarity, Cut chart

Get to see the Gassan 121, a breathtaking diamond cut constituting 121 facets resulting in optimal reflective properties.

Gassan 121, the Amsterdam cut

View the diamond polishers at work and find out how rough diamonds are turned into dazzling masterpieces.

Gassan diamond polisher at work

You can even design your own ring, select the setting you like with the diamond of your choice.

Gassan jewelry

Diamond pendants

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