Kröller-Müller Museum
8.45am
Meet and greet with your English-speaking guide / driver in the hotel lobby, from where you will be taken for a 75-minute drive (depending of traffic) by luxurious private vehicle to the picturesque village Otterlo, for a guided tour of the Kröller-Müller Museum, one of the nicest museums in the Netherlands within a spectacular surrounding.
Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum and Sculpture Garden are located in the National Park Hoge Veluwe, which covers more than 5,400 hectares (13,500 acres). The museum houses a world-famous collection of fine art, mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries like for example Monet, Picasso, Isaac Israel, Mondrian, Latour, Toorop and many others. The focal points are the extensive range of works by Vincent Van Gogh (92 paintings and the second largest collection in the world!) and the amazing sculpture garden that covers 50 acres and is one of the largest in the world. You will see works by Rodin, Moore, Jean Dubuffet, Hepworth, Serra, Pan and others.
The Kröller-Müller museum and the Hoge Veluwe national park, the legacy of Mr. and Mrs. Kröller-Müller form a monumental ensemble of art, architecture and nature. www.krollermuller.nl
11.45am
After this exciting tour, there is leisure time for lunch. At Restaurant Waldhorn, in the village center they serve fresh food made with local products.
Airborne Museum
1pm
Fully refreshed, we continue with a 20-minute scenic drive to the picturesque village Oosterbeek, for a guided tour of the Airborne Museum.
The Airborne museum, located in the original Villa Hartenstein, reopened in 2020 after a large renovation. It shows the course of events during the Battle of Arnhem, which took place in September 1944. The “Battle for the Rhine Bridge” was part of the operation “Market Garden”. British, American and Polish airborne forces were to capture the bridges over rivers and waterways from the Belgian border to Arnhem. There is an interesting video presentation where the course of the battle is set out. There are a large number of photographs, video with footage of the battle, authentic uniforms, equipment, weapons and other objects present a picture, both from the Allied and from the German point of view.
Airborne Museum
The awarded underground Airborne Experience showcases the war in all its intensity. Here you will feel the impact of the violence on the young boys who were desperately fighting for their lives. You will follow in the footsteps of a British parachutist. You are briefed on the mission, board a glider and through the windows you can see it taking off from England and fly to the occupied Netherlands. Suddenly, you are amidst the bitter fighting in the streets of Arnhem. You wander through imposing war scenes created with authentic footage, surrounded by cleverly constructed dummy buildings. Light, and the lack of it, is used ominously against an audio backdrop of the annihilating war: gunshots, explosions, shouting in English, orders in German, frightened people in hiding. You approach the Arnhem Bridge and follow the retreat to the perimeter around Hartenstein Hotel. Finally, you retreat back down the Rhine River. It’s an intense experience.
The guide will also take you through any must see ‘temporary’ exhibits. If none are available, you will be taken to the nearby Arnhem/Oosterbeek War Cemetery where 1684 English (mostly), Polish and Dutch soldiers are buried. www.airbornemuseum.com
3.30pm
From here, you will be taken back to your hotel in Amsterdam, where you have the remainder of the day for your own leisure. You will arrive back around 5pm.