Textile Tour of the Netherlands & Belgium with Cyndi McChesney

Tour Info

OVERVIEW 

The Textile Tour of the Netherlands and Belgium provides fabric lovers everything they could desire: a major quilt event, quilt shops, fabrics steeped in history, and museums whose stories begin and end with textiles.

Early on the tour, attend the popular Patchwork & Quiltdagen. This quilt show offers quilt exhibits, specialized vendors, and enthusiastic attendees. You will also shop at several quilt shops, each with a unique perspective. The stops include Dutch Quilts, where reproductions of antique Dutch prints by Den Haan & Wagenmakers are the focus. Next door, explore Birdblocks, a shop for modern quilters. Plus, you will find a treasure trove of Dutch wax prints at Vlisco. Founded in 1846, Vlisco has created more than 350,000 original fabric designs inspired by Africa. Plus, throughout the tour you will enjoy visits to museums that display the finest examples of regional fashion and lace.

Much-loved attractions include Amsterdam and its canals, the vast Keukenhof Tulip Park, the Royal Delft Museum, and Rijksmuseum, whose extensive holdings include masterpieces by painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Stops at a village with working windmills and a chocolatier round out this richly designed journey. 

START & FINISH

The tour begins at 6.00 p.m. in the lobby of our hotel in Amsterdam, on Tuesday Day 1. The tour concludes after breakfast in our hotel in Brussels, on Thursday Day 10.

Itinerary

DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1   Tue          Arrive Amsterdam

Meet your tour leader in the hotel lobby at 6 p.m. for welcome drinks and the chance to get to know your fellow travelers.      

Day 2   Wed        Amsterdam

See Amsterdam in style as you glide through the city's canals aboard a glass-top boat. In the afternoon, explore Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, home to a magnificent collection of art and history that spans 800 years. Work by Dutch masters such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt are here, as is a staggering collection of atworks and artifacts that date from the city's Golden Age all the way to recent creations. Enjoy a dinner as a group. (B, D)

Day 3    Thu         Amsterdam

Enjoy a morning visit to the world’s largest flower park, Keukenhof Tulip Gardens. With 7 million flower bulbs planted every year across 79 acres, Keukenhof Gardens is a colorful sea of 800 varieties of tulips and other spring flowers, attracting visitors from around the globe. Next visit the Den Haan & Wagenmakers quilt shop. Known in English as Dutch Quilts, this company stocks an amazing range of Dutch reproduction fabrics. Next door is Birdblocks, a quilt shop that specializes in supplies for modern quilts. (B)

Day 4    Fri            Amsterdam

Following breakfast, visit the Dutch Costume Museum, housed in a beautiful 17th-century canal house. The museum showcases the history, fashion, design, crafts and local storytelling of Amsterdam. Then visit the Albert Cuypmarket, a busy cosmopolitan food and clothing market, and by far the most famous daily market in Amsterdam. The market provides hours of shopping and browsing entertainment, with stands selling everything from shoes and luggage to fresh vegetables and fish. There are plentiful opportunities to find unique textiles from the many fabric vendors.  (B)

 Day 5    Sat          Amsterdam-The Hague-Rotterdam

Attend the 2023 Patchwork & Quiltdagen. This lively event draws visitors to enjoy quilts created in all styles and a large vendor mall. It is a high point on quilters' calendars, and offers a chance for inspiration and sought-after notions, tools and textiles. Travel to Rotterdam for overnight. (B)

Day 6   Sun          Rotterdam

Enjoy a city tour of Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands. Learn about the history and production process of the world-famous Delft pottery and visit the original Royal Delft Museum which dates back to the 17^th century. Also visit the quilt store Moni Quilt in beautiful Kethel. (B, D)

Day 7    Mon       Rotterdam-Tilburg

After breakfast, visit Kinderdijk Windmill village where to learn about Dutch Water Management. Here, discover a total of 19 working windmills at the intersection of two rivers. They are the reason why most of the Dutch people were able to live in polders under sea level for many centuries. Continue to Tilburg where we visit the TextielMuseum. It is the only place in the world where textile design, art, fashion, industrial heritage, and innovation come together. The combination of inspiring exhibitions, educational programs and the TextielLab, which is specializes in textile research and production, makes the museum. Overnight in Tilburg. (B)

Day 8    Tue         Tilburg-Helmond-Brussels

After breakfast, travel to Brussels, Belgium, with an en route stop in Helmond to visit Vlisco. Vlisco has designed and manufactured distinctive fabrics since 1846. Their varied fabric lines, which include Wax Hollandais, Super-Wax, Grand Super-Wax, and Wax Glitter Glam. are made using time-honored, wax-printing techniques. Next stop is Hasselt Fashion Museum (Modemuseum Hasselt). This museum is one of the few museums in the Low Countries which is dedicated exclusively to dress and fashion. It opened in May 1988. In its atmospheric seventeenth-century architectural settings, it promotes the understanding and relevance of fashion by sharing critical and engaging stories in an innovative and surprising context. (B)

Day 9     Wed      Brussels

Take a morning tour of Brussels to experience the many sights of Belgium's wonder-filled capital city. Explore art deco taverns, unique Flemish art, towering Gothic cathedrals, and quaint guild houses. In the afternoon, see the Fashion & Lace Museum, where themed exhibitions reveal the history of fashion through rare and significant pieces. Time permitting, head to the famed Choco Museum, where you’ll learn about Belgian chocolate-making traditions and enjoy some decadent samples. Enjoy a farewell dinner. (B, D)

Day 10     Thu      Depart Brussels

Tour concludes today after breakfast at the hotel. (B)

Tour Leader

CYNDI MCCHESNEY

Cyndi McChesney’s 40-year career in the quilting industry includes time as quilt shop owner, custom quiltmaker, and instructor throughout the United States and Canada. She is a National Quilt Association Certified Teacher, and was also named a Teacher of the Year by that organization. Her never-ending quest to find new techniques underscore Cyndi’s passion for quiltmaking. She freely shares her discoveries so that quilting is a fun, enjoyable lifelong endeavor for her students.
She has won numerous awards in competitions including the Hoffman Challenge and the Colorado State Fair; most recently she won the award for Best Longarm Machine Workmanship in Mancuso’s Visuals #1. Be sure to check out her new book on creating unique quilts and projects from preprinted panels, due out in early 2022.

View Bio and Upcoming Tours

Inclusions

TOUR INCLUSIONS

What is included in the tour price?

• 9 nights twin-share accommodation at well-appointed hotels with private bath or shower
• Private group coach from Day 2 to Day 9
• Daily breakfast, other meals as stated in the itinerary
• Visits and admission fees as stated in the itinerary
• English-speaking guides throughout the trip

What is not included in the tour price?

• International airfares
• Arrival & departure transfer
• Travel insurance
• Gratuities & porterage
• Personal expenses and anything not mentioned

Due to the constant changes in the COVID restrictions worldwide, we highly recommend that passengers wait to purchase air tickets until the following:

1. The tour reaches the minimum number to travel.
2. Prior to the due date of their final payment (three months before departure), we will notify passengers the travel status and the requirements for travel to their destination. At that time they may choose to proceed with the tour or not. If they choose to cancel they may apply their non-refundable deposit to any other Opulent Quilt Journeys Tour within 18 months.

Please note: If passengers purchase tickets and the tour is cancelled or moved to a new date, we are not responsible for any loss regarding their ticket purchase.

Hotels

HOTELS

Pleae contact us for hotel details.