Day 1 :
Embark on your Conservation Trip to the Netherlands
- Departure from home:
Relax and enjoy your scheduled flight from North America.
Day 2 :
Arrive in Amsterdam
- Upon arrival:
Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. A private coach will be waiting to transfer you to the hotel in Amsterdam, which will be your group’s base for the next seven nights. Breakfast will be included at the hotel.
- Amsterdam:
Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ largest city and capital, is a major European center of commerce and culture as well as a lively combination of old and new—with picturesque canals, beautiful 17th-century architecture, world-renowned museums, and an international harbor and airport.
- Getting around:
In Amsterdam, the cost of public transport is included for all group sightseeing. Escorted by your Tour Director, you can experience the city in the same manner as the locals.
- Canal cruise:
Cruise the canal and view the Royal Palace, built on 13,000 piles and dominating the Dam in the heart of the city.
- Group dinner:
Dine together in a local restaurant.
- Daily reflection and group discussion:
"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey
Every evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.
Day 3 :
The Sustainable City
- Local expertise:
During your tour, you’ll gain the knowledge and insights of four half-day local guides in the Netherlands.
- Educational bike tour:
Take a bike tour introducing the historical and modern innovations that make Amsterdam a healthy, livable city. Examples will be illustrated in four key areas: renewable energy, clean air, a circular economy, and climate resilience. This tour also explores Amsterdam’s first car-free neighborhood, the conversion of a brownfield into a cultural park, and the city’s first climate-neutral district.
- Group dinner:
Dine as a group in a local restaurant.
Day 4 :
Climate Change Solutions
- Morning educational bike tour:
Today's bike tour showcases Amsterdam's strategies for dealing with climate change, including spatial and nature-based solutions like green roofs and permeable public spaces. Learn about the city's policies to scale renewable energy projects and the role that businesses and citizens play in the energy transition.
- National Maritime Museum of Amsterdam:
Explore the National Maritime Museum of Amsterdam, one of the largest and most notable maritime collections in the world, with approximately 400,000 objects, including paintings, models of ships, navigation instruments, and maps of the world. Discover 500 years of Dutch maritime history as well as its strong links to society today and in the future. After visiting the museum, step outside to tour the East Indiaman Amsterdam, a replica of the ship that wrecked in 1749 during its first voyage.
- Group dinner:
Dine together in a local restaurant.
Day 5 :
Smarter Social Spaces
- SmartR City:
While Smart City enthusiasts typically limit their attention to technological solutions, Amsterdam's spatial and social infrastructure complements and even replaces technology to improve quality of life and accelerate economic growth, making it a SmartR city.
- Anne Frank House:
See where Anne Frank hid during the Nazi occupation of Holland during World War II. During her two years in hiding, she kept a diary, which her father had published after she died and the war ended. This diary has made Anne an international symbol of the children who were murdered in the Holocaust.
- Rembrandt House:
Explore Rembrandt House, where the artist lived and worked between 1639 and 1658. The house has been redecorated with furniture, art, and objects from the 17th century. Enjoy daily demonstrations of etching and paint preparation that show how Rembrandt worked in that time.
- Group dinner:
Dine as a group in a local restaurant.
Day 6 :
Revitalizing the City
- Educational bike tour:
Take a bike tour and witness the transformation from post-industrial, polluted landscapes into sustainable communities for living, working, and recreation.
- Rijksmuseum:
Explore the wonders of the Rijksmuseum, featuring the largest collection of Dutch master artworks in the world. In addition to works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Jan Steen, the museum exhibits Delftware, silver pieces, and 17th-century dollhouses.
- Group dinner:
Dine together in a local restaurant.
Day 7 :
A Livable City
- The Livable Cities campaign:
Visit the most successful transformations illustrated in Amsterdam's Livable Cities campaign. Study the evolution of Dutch urban design, and how it makes streets complete for people, not cars.
- Van Gogh Museum:
Visit the Van Gogh Museum, which houses an unrivaled collection of 200 paintings and 400 drawings by the famous Dutch artist.
- Museum Our Lord in the Attic:
Museum Our Lord in the Attic (previously called Museum Amstelkring) is one of the most cherished museums in Amsterdam. The attic of this bourgeois house conceals a secret Catholic Church, known as Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Dear Lord in the Attic), originally built in 1663, when Catholics lost their right to worship. Among other artifacts, the museum house contains heavy Dutch furniture, table clocks, and two kitchens with Delft tiles. The lower floors of the building became a museum in 1888 and today contain refurbished rooms, a collection of church silver, as well as various religious artifacts and paintings.
- Group dinner:
Dine as a group in a local restaurant.
Day 8 :
Transformations
- Waterfront project:
Amsterdam's waterfront redevelopment projects are among the most well-regarded in the world. By bike, visit from the Easterdocklands developments in the 1990s to current day developments, such as Houthaven.
- Zaanse Schans:
Take a bus from Central Amsterdam to the historic windmills of Zaanse Schans. The colorful structures were used as sawmills and to mill such varied products as oil, paint, and cocoa.
The museums will show how raw products were processed and how Dutch people lived more than a century ago.
- Final reflection and discussion session:
This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape throughout your Climate Change and Conservation tour to the Netherlands. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.
Day 9 :
Departure from Amsterdam
- Goodbye, beautiful Amsterdam:
Your rewarding and enjoyable Sustainable Amsterdam program comes to an end as your Tour Director accompanies your group to the airport on your final day.
VIEW FULL ITINERARY
HIDE FULL ITINERARY
