🌍Unusual tour of Holland: 7 artists for 7 days

From Vermeer to Van Gogh, in the Netherlands there is a beautiful tour that retraces the places of the famous Dutch artists

Vermeer, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Mondriaan, Escher, Bruegel, Hieronymus Bosch. They are all Dutch artists. For those who are passionate about art - but also neophytes who are fascinated by it - in the Netherlands there is a beautiful tour that retraces the places of these famous artists. Places linked to their private lives or which inspired them in the creation of their works, some of which are very famous and, today, of inestimable value.

The itinerary retraces the footsteps of some Masters of Dutch art up to the finished paintings exhibited in museums, for a total immersion in the life and works of some great artists. Not only Amsterdam, the itinerary also includes the town of Leiden, Delft - a small Amsterdam -, Rotterdam with its unmistakable architecture, The Hague and Dutch nature, national parks and canals, windmills and of the tulip fields.

The itinerary of Dutch artists

Most tourists arriving in the Netherlands land in Amsterdam. And it is from here that the tour to discover the Dutch Masters starts. The first unmissable stop in the city is a visit to the Stedelijk Museum. Not the Van Gogh Museum nor the more famous Rijksmuseum. It is, in fact, the most important museum of modern and contemporary art in the Netherlands, where, among the thousands of works by international artists, those of Piet Mondriaan are also exhibited.

Only at a later time do you visit the other two museums. The Museum dedicated to Van Gogh is one of the most tourist places in Amsterdam and even those who don't particularly appreciate the crazy artist never fail to go there. Some works on display have become a must, from “The Potato Eaters” to “Vincent's Room in Arles” to the self-portraits. For an overview of the so-called Dutch Golden Age (1584-1702), the right place is the Rijksmuseum, where the main works of Rembrandt and Vermeer are exhibited, including the famous "Milkmaid".

In Leiden on the trail of Rembrandt

After leaving Amsterdam, we go to discover those places that inspired Dutch artists. The first town, reachable in half an hour by train, is Read. This delightful location is home to the oldest university in the Netherlands. Overlooking the Oude Rijn river, it is also a city of canals but also of delightful courtyards inside the houses called "courtyard” where in the 15th century rich families used to host less wealthy people. It was at the Latin school in Leiden that Rembrandt studied and it is in the Lakenhal Museum that some of his most important paintings can be admired.

Vermeer's The Hague

The tour continues by taking the train to Den Haag (The Hague), home of one of the country's most important artists: Johannes Vermeer and his “Girl with a Turban” (and not “Girl with a Pearl Earring” which is the title of the film inspired by the story of this work). It is exhibited inside the Mauritshuis, a museum which also houses works by Rembrandt and other Dutch artists. Even The Hague doesn't lack water, on the contrary, it overlooks the North Sea and even has a huge beach where the Dutch flock in the summer. This city is not the Capital, but it is here that all political institutions are based, including the Royal Family. Speaking of art, the permanent exhibition of another brilliant Dutch artist is also unmissable, Maurits Cornelis Escher, the master of optical illusions, which is held in an ancient palace of the Royal Family, in the historic center of The Hague.

Dutch art and architecture in Rotterdam

The next stop on the art tour is Rotterdam. This city is famous for the port and its unusual architecture. Around the Museumpark are many of the city's museums, including the Kunsthal Rotterdam, considered an icon of contemporary architecture. The main museum in Rotterdam, however, is the Boymans van Beuningen, where works by many Dutch artists are exhibited, including Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and the inevitable Rembrandt.

Zundert, Van Gogh's hometown

An hour from Rotterdam, there is the town of Zundert. For Van Gogh fans it is an unmissable stop because it was the birthplace of one of the most famous - and highly regarded - artists in the world. There Vincent van Gogh House it is located in the place where the artist's childhood home stood, in the historic city center.

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In the house-museum, in addition to the permanent exhibition "Vincent van Gogh - The roots of a master", temporary exhibitions of artists of the 1936th and XNUMXst centuries are organised. This town is world famous for another reason; every year, since XNUMX, the largest "flower parade" in the world takes place here, with floats decorated and covered with splendid dahlias.

Delft, little Amsterdam

Canals that cross it, crossing each other and flowing into the main one, the Delft, which gives its name to the city. This is the home of Vermeer, who is buried in the Oude Kerk, the old church. Among the artist's most famous paintings there is also "Small street in Delft” and, for centuries, experts have been trying to understand which street it is. According to a recent theory, the street today is Vlamingstraat between numbers 40 and 42, recognizable by two side-by-side entrances: it is the only house in Delft still built in this way today. Furthermore, coincidentally, one of the two homes belonged to Vermeer's aunt. Small boats that sail slowly and pass under the bridges crossed by the inevitable bicycles. Shops, bars, clubs and even gardens that overlook and sumptuous historic buildings that are reflected in the waters. A beautiful postcard of Holland, in short.

Dutch nature, artistic muse

You can reach it in an hour's drive (or two by train) from Amsterdam The Hoge Veluwe National Park, one of the largest forests in the Netherlands. It was once a hunting reserve for the Royal Family. In the nearby town of Otterlo, just outside the park gates, is the Kröller-Müller Museum which houses the second largest collection of Van Gogh's works in the world, with around 90 paintings and over 180 drawings. Among these, the drafts of “The Potato Eaters”, “Cafe Terrace in the Evening, Place du Forum, Arles” and the “Night Path in Provence”.