Day One

Welcome to Brussels! Our tour begins in a beautiful abbey-turned-hotel in the heart of the city. Yes, you’ll hear monks chanting in the elevator and have access to incredible Trappist beers everywhere you turn. Meet your Cheese Journeys team for a morning gathering on velvet couches, then hit the cobblestones with a local guide for a walking tour of the city’s best specialty food shops. Along the way, you’ll sample warm waffles, Belgian frites, and the world’s finest chocolates before meeting the top Belgian cheesemongers, who happen to be a mother-and-son team. Véro and Léo will share the story of their exquisite shop, La Fruitière, and prepare a fondue lunch for you in their tasting room where several rare beers are on tap. You’ll have all afternoon to explore the boutiques in their neighborhood before returning to La Fruitière for a happy-hour tasting of Belgian beer and cheese. Tonight, you’ve got the evening to yourself. Hit a brasserie, grab some street food, or find a bar stool in one of the many beer cafés around our hotel.

Day Two

You’ll enjoy breakfast in the abbey courtyard, then we’re off to the train station with tickets to Bruges, the charming capital of West Flanders. This medieval city is famous for its picturesque town square and canal-lined walking paths. You’ll tour a family-run brewery, De Halve Maan, and enjoy a tasting of Straffe Hendrik (“Strong Henry”) – the delicious beer made on site. After a brewery lunch, you’ve got the afternoon to explore. Check out the historic district, enjoy sips along the water, or take a photo walk across bridges and past gingerbread-like houses. In the evening, you’ll return to our luxurious abbey-hotel in Brussels for the night.

Day Three

Get ready for a deep dive into chocolate and beer, Belgian’s most beloved delicacies. You’ll spend the morning with a renowned couple who has perfected unique bean-to-bar chocolates. We’ll take over their shop and learn all about sourcing beans and creating the most coveted bars. After a light lunch and tasting, we’ll whisk you off to legendary Cantillon Brewery, where traditional lambic, gueuze and kriek have been made since 1900. If you’re a beer nerd, you know that very few people still produce traditional Belgian fruited beers. Once you peer into the wooden alcove where Cantillon practices open-air fermentation in their “koelschip” right under the sky, you’ll have a new appreciation for the process of small-batch Belgian beer production. Enjoy a tour and tasting, then we’ll finish the evening dining in one of our favorite restaurants in Brussels – a night of local hearty Brasserie cuisine.

Day Four

After an abbey-hotel breakfast, our cheese chariot departs for the Wadden Islands, a stunning coastal area in Northern Holland that has been deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Expect to see rainbows of color as we pass through tulip fields, and of course, you’ll be able to spot windmills in every direction. After a lunch, we’ll arrive at Wierschuur, our home for the week: a beautifully restored seaside home with a traditional thatched roof. Once you settle into life on the North Sea, you’ll be treated to an afternoon “Tea and Gouda tasting” with cheese educator Madame Fromage who will give you a primer on Dutch Cheese. Then, it’s cocktail hour and time to meet Cheese Journeys’ private chefs, Sylvain Jamois and Milo Waterfield.

Day Five

After morning coffee, we’re off to a seaside brunch with Betty Koster, Holland’s “Julia Child of Cheese.” You’ll learn all about how Betty travels the countryside selecting Holland’s best wheels to age in her caves. A dynamic speaker and much-loved figure in the European cheese world, Betty’s port-side cheese shop, L’Amuse Fromagerie, is a dairy destination. Check out the wall of Goudas and peruse her tea room. In the afternoon, you’ll be transported to Keukenhof Gardens – one of the great gardens of the world – for a visual feast of tulips, orchids, and exquisite landscaping, then return home for a cocktail and dinner.

Day Six

Prepare for a relaxing day in our light-filled farmhouse, which was once used for drying seagrass. After a buffet breakfast, you’ll grab your aprons and notebooks, then spend the day cooking with chefs and learning how to build the ultimate cheese board with Anna Juhl and Jilly Sitch. Have you ever dreamed of publishing a family cookbook? Author, educator, and well- published expert, Tenaya Darlington, will walk you through the nuts- and-bolts of recipe structure, writing steps, and creating a table of contents! For dinner, you’ll feast on all the treats we prepared today. Plus, there’s a special cocktail.

Day Seven

After breakfast, we’re back in our cheese chariot for an adventure with local guide, chef, and culinary herbalist Naomi Nieuwenhuis, owner of Country Home Cooking.   Tour a renown Dutch garden nursery specializing in edible flowers, plants, and herbs before arriving at Naomi’s farm as she and Chef Sylvain prepare to join you in the kitchen for a hands-on culinary experience you can recreate at home with local foods and flora. After a delicious and beautiful spring lunch, you’ll depart for De Rijp to learn about village life in Holland and to explore its famous waterways, windmills, classic Dutch wooden houses, and historic herring trade. You’ll also hop on a boat to see up close, the famous Beemster Polder (a UNESCO site and a geographic curiosity), then settle back in at the farmhouse for a tasting of Dutch gins, followed by a hearty family-style dinner.

Day Eight

After breakfast, you’ll set off for Den Oever, a small fishing village on the Wadden sea. Pack your windbreaker – we’ll be hopping on a sailing vessel and carrying picnic baskets for lunch- brimming with cheese, fresh seasonal options, and a few of Chef Sylvain’s favorite Dutch beers. After a walk on the beach, you’ll return home for a relaxing afternoon -- enjoy free time or a special chef demonstration (your choice) -- followed by cocktail hour with Madame Fromage. This evening, sit back and relax as Chef Sylvain and Milo offer a sumptuous meal featuring local specialties.

Day Nine

Today we’re off to learn about sustainable dairy farming from one of Holland’s most forward-thinking farmstead cheesemakers. Grab your boots and prepare to meet some beautiful cows with enormous horns. You’ll spend the morning at Remeker Farm, walking the pasture, talking to the cows, and learning to make butter and cheese in their new state-of-the-art classroom – bring your apron! And, of course, you’ll taste the farm’s award-winning wheels straight out of the cave. Then, kick back for a chef-prepared lunch overlooking the pasture. We’ll roll back to our farmhouse in the afternoon with free time to walk or rest before happy hour. Tonight’s farewell dinner promises to be extra special.

Day Ten

Did you know that Holland’s canals were famous for transporting and trading cheese? This morning, you’ll experience Alkmaar’s famous cheese market. We’ll meet our guide from Beemster Cheese Co. who will walk us through the weighing of wheels and explain other rituals carried out for centuries by the local brotherhood of cheese traders. You’ll have time for shopping and lunch on your own, then join the group for an inside peak of a historic windmill as you imagine life for a large family living in the cramped space of a 2nd floor windmill! During the 1700’s, there was once over 10,000 windmills in the Netherlands, some used for grinding grain and most to pump water out to reclaim land from water and marshland below sea level! With windmill souvenirs in hand, we’ll head to Beemster HQ for one last tasting of various Goudas and purchase cheese at Beemster’s shop to take home. After arriving at our hotel in Amsterdam, you’ll have the evening to explore the area around our hotel, which is full of restaurants and walking paths, or grab a taxi and head into the heart of the city.

Day Eleven

Pack your chocolates and your cheese, then prepare to catch a flight home or keep exploring! We’ll have one last breakfast at the hotel, then bid good-bye – don’t worry, you’ll be sure to have some new cheese pen pals!

TOUR PRICE INCLUDES

Lodging for ten nights, breakfast provided ten mornings, eight noon meals, and eight evening meals (alcoholic beverages served with meals and events) and additional food events and tastings. All transportation during the tour, all classes, tour tickets, and day trips provided by local hosts, cheese educators, and chefs. Alcoholic beverages and food, other than those served at meals and tasting events, may be purchased separately from the host or at locations during the tour.

TOUR PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE

Transportation to Brussels, return flights from Amsterdam airport to home country or return to Brussels airport from Amsterdam after the tour. Hotel accommodations before or after the tour, a couple optional lunch and dinner meals, personal shopping during the tour, or any activities during free time, shopping, and personal sightseeing.

DISCLOSURE

To the best of our ability, this tour itinerary is final. However, if, due to unexpected extreme weather, a schedule emergency with hosts, or limitations due to imposed travel restrictions, etc., Cheese Journeys reserves the right to substitute an event if needed. During the tour, you have the option of declining a particular excursion or tour, but we are unable to make refunds for any missed meals, classes, or events. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details.