Recommendations

My family was on a cruise that had a stop in Amsterdam.
I wondered how we could experience the varied sights of this wonderful city in less than a day. I didn't think that a cruise excursion would be adequate for our group so I started looking for a private guide.

I came across several references to Raymond VandenBurg at Private Holland Tours. We exchanged several emails, with me expressing what I would like my family to see and Ray making several suggestions. The result was hiring Ray and I couldn't have been happier.

We had a wonderful full day spent touring Zaanse Schans, Marken, Volendam, the Red Light district of Amsterdam, and dinner at Leidseplein. We drove the small roads outside Amsterdam to experience life in the countryside as well as driving canal side in the city. We took a boat ride from Marken to Volendam.

There were nine of us in our group, folks from 50 to 81 and we all had a wonderful time. We were accommodated in two vehicles with Ray and his son giving knowledgeable commentary. When we left Amsterdam and went on tours of other cities, there were several comments from my family that wished that Ray was there to give his personal tour instead of having to go on the cruise excursion.

I would suggest that if you are going to be in Amsterdam and would like a personal guide to anywhere in the Netherlands, don't hesitate to contact Ray.

Our family greatly appreciated the personalized tour you gave us of Amsterdam and the surrounding area in June. We were very much impressed with your city and all of the sights we experienced in our short stay.

We got to see all of the things we wanted to see; windmills, wooden shoes, and the city itself. We have never seen so many bicycles in our life.
We especially enjoyed the Alsmeer Flower auction and the countryside.

My daughter and husband especially enjoyed the museums and just walking around the city. We hope to make it back to that area again in a few years and will definitely look you up and suggest your name to anyone looking for a tour guide in that part of the world.

Thank you again for the personal tour and also for getting us to and from the airport on time.

For those of you who have been unable to find a private tour in Amsterdam that can accommodate less mobile individuals, I wanted to let you all know that there is an option available to you.
I am a single woman who has Rheumatoid Arthritis and was going to be in Amsterdam for 1 day. As I had never been in Europe and was traveling alone, I was concerned about trying to tour on my own.

I found http://www.privatehollandtours.com to be an excellent solution for me.
When I called the office, Raymond VandenBurg answered. He is the owner and operator. He was very pleasant and spoke English (which was a strong requirement for me). We setup a pickup time at the airport and I gave him some information about the things I would like to see. I had wanted to see the countryside and such places as Zaanse Schans and the Keukenhof Tulip gardens were of interest.

My flight to Amsterdam was delayed and I was concerned that Raymond would not have realized that I would be late. I was very happy to see him waiting for me dressed very neatly in sports jacket, dress shirt and tie. He was holding a sign with my name and was very easy to find.

The rest of the day was a wonderful experience. We first went to the Keukenhof Gardens (http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html) and saw the tulips and spring bulb flowers in full-bloom. As I was traveling alone, I greatly appreciated having Raymond with me and providing education about the gardens and the flowers.
We had coffee and pastries at a small cafe in the gardens and chatted about many things. Raymond was very affable and it was a pleasure to talk about his life in Holland.

After the Keukenhof gardens, we proceeded to a small village called Zaanse Schanse (http://www.zaanseschans.nl/). Once again, Raymond was very informative and stayed by my side for the entire visit. We also enjoyed a local lunch of Dutch Pancakes (Do not think these are covered in maple syrup!).

Once we left Zaanse Schanse, Raymond drove toward the fishing town of Volendam. We traveled many small local roads and the view was dotted with small farms along the way.
Once in Volendam, Raymond and I walked throught the town and I was amazed by the local architecture and the clean, well-kept aura about the town. We then stopped at a local pub and were treated to some snacks from the barmaid as we drank some Amstel Light.

By this time I was very tired from Jet Lag and a wonderful touring day. Raymond deposited me safely to my hotel.
I want you all to know that this day TOTALLY exceeded all of my expectations and I feel that I saw more of Holland than I would have seen in 3 days on my own.

I also feel that I have a better sense of the "real" Holland, not just the "tourist" Holland
For those of you who have not been able to get an exclusive tour... THIS IS THE ONE!!

Hello Raymond. Thank you again for the very nice day we spent with you. It was wonderful to be out in the country and to visit the beautiful towns.We appreciated your professionalism, knowledge and reasonable price. I have already recommended you to my brother who will be visiting soon. Feel free to use this testimonial.
Sincerely
David Gross MD

We had 2 layovers in Amsterdam while awaiting the trip to & from Egypt and Tanzania, Africa. You were prompt each time which is very important during a layover tour! You were also very knowledgable about your amazing country! You shared with us your flower shows, windmills, cheese, wooden shoes, amazing countryside, beaches, pubs....well the list could go on and on!

You made our trip wonderful & we were able to see many vantage points! We left the states for our trip stating to everyone that we were "going to Africa" (not really giving Amsterdam credit because we viewed it as "just a layover with a tour scheduled").

Upon return, we were just as excited about the tour of Amsterdam as we were Cairo, Egypt/pyramids and the Nile & the Serengetti/safari in Tanzania!!! Thanks for making our trip one that we will never forget!

Thank you for your time. I found my trip to the Netherlands most enjoyable.
This would not been possible for me without your help. Being in Utrecht for work and also having you as a knowledgable guide in Amsterdam made the work trip really
worthwhile.

Even though it was December I still got to get a good taste of the Netherlands.
Best wishes for the New Year to come. If I come back in May with my family you'll be hearing from me again.

Private Holland Tours offered me a wonderful day in Amsterdam first of all.
The sightseeing program gave me the opportunity to explore most of the interesting places in Amsterdam plus professional service.

I would recommend to all of the people who are going to visit Amsterdam but don’t want to go with big travel group, by taking this service you will be able to see more in deep which the group travel doesn’t offer.
Thank you very much Raymond.

Testimonials

John Hood, Texas, USA

A group of 4 of us commissioned Ray VandenBurg, the owner of Private Holland Tours, to escort us around the Amsterdam area for an 8-hour personal excursion. He drove us to many of the historic Dutch Villages, Windmills, a Cheese Factory, and many other very unique tourist venues.

We had just completed a 14-nt Trans-Atlantic voyage on Royal Caribbean International’s ship, “The Jewel of the Seas” on 13 Apr 2008. After completing a good deal of research via the Internet, we setup the excursion with Ray and immediately received a firm confirmation of the date that we requested.

He expeditiously communicated with all of us via email on numerous occasions and completely answered each of our queries in great detail. One couple in our group had booked a 3-nt stay at the Ramada Inn in Amsterdam. Without any notice whatsoever, that hotel was sold to another chain, Tulip Hotel!
They requested Ray to stop by the address and verify that the reservation was still valid! Ray immediately not only checked out the hotel problem and quickly sent the email id whereby communications could be initiated with the new hotel owners.

This extra bit of extraordinary quality service is typical of our excursion adventure conducted by this very intelligent, caring, knowledgeable man who gave us the tour of a lifetime and one that we all shall forever remember! He not only hit all of the highlights that we wished to see, but added many small stops to some extremely interesting and colorful locations that one would have never been able to visit and enjoy by most tourist agencies.

He set up individual demonstrations of how wooden clogs are made; cheese making techniques; a visit to a unique spot where Emperor Napoleon spent some time investigating the area for a troop encampment; costumed ladies at a very old Dutch church and a tour of the premises; and, many other outstanding locations too numerous to mention.

Ray has excellent command of the English language which greatly enhanced our personal tour of the outer peripheries of Amsterdam. He is an extremely agile and safe driver which is another major plus in the very busy areas of Amsterdam. He provided us with a complete hour-by-hour itinerary that he personalized just for our purposes to maximize our time for the excursion!

Not only was this exciting and colorful excursion well worth the money, all of us thoroughly enjoyed making Ray's acquaintance and would highly recommend him to future visitors.

Dear Raymond,
Many thanks for all.You are very friendly.
I love Amsterdam. It’s beautiful,really beautiful.It’s a nice place to live,very organized.
Maybe the thing I like most was the typical dutch polderland and the oldest Windmills of the “Zaanse Schans” – region..

The interesting thing about this area is that the windmills are still in use.
I also liked fishermen village of Volendam.A very typical and triving village.

Once again I want thank you for these wonderful two days.
As little present I am gonna send you some pictures about Romania.
Bye, bye.
Ligia.

Alkmaar...Amsterdam... Delft...Edam... Elburg...Gouda... Hoorn... Marken...Monnickendam... The Hague... Volendam

Private Amsterdam and Holland Tours

I'm sitting here watching the Giants and Cowboys game, and thought about writing you. I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to respond to our VANTASTIC time with you. You made our visit to Holland extremely special.

It became a trip of a lifetime for us and you made it all possible, in spit of the weather. When I got back to my travel agent, I told her, we had taken 10 tours, but when the tour guide spoke, I miss about 70% of what she said because of the size of the group + when she translating, it was very difficult understanding what she said.

That was not our experience with you, because I clearly heard everything you said. It's hard for me to express the highlights, because I enjoyed everything. I think the countryside was special. We both enjoyed visiting your home and meeting your family.

Thanks a Million for the wonderful visit. Ruby and I want to wish you and you family a very Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thanks again, Ruby and Ray Singleton

Dear Raymond,

Thank you so much for touring my daughter, Tia. She had an absolutely wonderful time. She said that she had so much fun. I can hardly wait for her to return so that we can see all the pictures. She is now in Norway and skiing today for the first time. She is having an awesome Christmas vacation.

Ray,

We enjoyed our time with you in Amsterdam very much and appreciated your willingness to “be flexible” and go the extra mile.
Thank you. I will definitely recommend you in the future.

Ginny