See the UNESCO World heritage sites in Holland.

Personalized car tours, academic style, BBC quality

New! Better menu and upgraded web page: Click here.

Subjects: History, Art History and Architecture. Academic tour by scholar-lecturer, art historian Drs. Kees Kaldenbach*

July 2013: Ricardo N and his wife Francis S. live in New York City and are full-time NYC art aficianados, travelling the world and visiting most of the fine art centers in Europe.

In June-July 2013 they toured for three full days with Drs Kees Kaldenbach.

Ricardo: "I would rate you as terrific. It is a great treat being with you - You saved my life in showing me the Mauritshuis collection - I thought it was completely closed!"

Francis N.: "Kees is outstanding... he has a very rare gift among any the great number of professional tour guide we met in our lifetime... in presenting a deep and very specific art history knowledge, and in combining this with passion and and easy going presentation.
My husband and I have spent our lives in the art world of NYC and the West Coast. We have rarely met such a wonderful guide. Kees is an outstanding fountain of visual knowledge and historic insight. He truly is top class within the field of Western art history!"

Presently there are 8 Dutch sites on the official UNESCO list of World heritage sites now spanning about 900 UNESCO heritage sites worldwide.

In Holland (The Netherlands) these sites have been designated by UNESCO as world-class natural and man-made wonders worthy of protection and preservation:

- Amsterdam, the 400 year old Seventeenth Century Ring Area: Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht, Singel. Visit Amsterdam with Drs. Kaldenbach. Get completely up to date with the latest historical and archival research.

- Waddenzee nature area in the north, with islands, water and some flat sandy areas becoming dry at ebb, a vast deserted foraging place for bird wildlife. To be observed from Texel island. Also various ferries from Friesland to Terschelling island and other islands (a pretty long drive from Amsterdam). Harlingen is a fabulously preserved town. About as good as Haarlem, Leiden etc.

- Schokland Island, a former fishing island, which has been swallowed up and is now landlocked by the Noord-Oost-Polder near the town of Kampen.

- Amsterdam Stelling, a mighty ring of strong fortification buildings encircling Amsterdam at some 20 KM radius distance. Built between 1883-1920. Huge.

- Polder the Beemster just north of Amsterdam. Formerly a lake, the water having been milled out. Perfect, rectangualar grid structure of real estate parcels, just like NYC. Farmlands with square farmhouses. Cows and sheep on pastures. Flat as a pancake. The crisp beauty of a Mondrian painting.

- Windmill group Kinderdijk south of Rotterdam. A classic wow- sight to behold.

- Rietveld was the architect of the Schröder House, Utrecht. A marvel of architecture, de Stijl, engineering. Interior can only be visited through appointment with the Centraal Museum ticket desk. Nice combination with a walk in Utrecht.

- Woudagemaal, a still functioning huge steam pump house as part of Dutch water engineering. In the province of Friesland. Restricted entry times. (a pretty long drive from Amsterdam). I visited this one during a study trip in 2012.

You can hire and drive your own car. Or plan B We hire a minibus driven by you. Cost: a professional taxibus service is around E 70 per hour. On the way I will give you a 101 lecture about Dutch history, culture, Key Visits with Drs. Kaldenbach. Get completely up to date with the latest historical and archival research.

As an art historian based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, I can meet you in those places for a personalized guided tour of the natural and man made wonders.

Together we will experience the beauty and history . Enjoy yourself and learn about history while strolling and discussing the country's history, art and culture. In doing so, we may touch many bases - spanning not only fine art and architecture but also the city's history and current social issues. See client testimonials.

Read a biography.

Drs. Kaldenbach is chairman of the Circle of Academic Tour Guides of the Netherlands and Flanders (CATON)

Complete Listing of tours

Starting at your hotel I will take you on a wonderful private cultural walking tour of your choice. My guided itinerary offers you accessable informative conversation in English, Dutch, or German (my French and Italian are more limited).

You may also arrange this VIP treatment for business contacts or friends. Our cultural tour organisation office will take care of a unique and memorable experience.

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach is your private "scholar-lecturer on culture tours" *.

*Martha Gellhorn, Travels with Myself and another, p. 182.

Please contact me for time and fees of the tailor-made tour you ar interested in.

These tailor made tours are available upon request - please contact me to book a date. Minimum group size: 1 person. Maximum group size is limited to about 10 persons. With a megaphone I can also manage larger groups on the streets.

Menu of tours

Endorsements

The Rijksmuseum has done me the honor of linking the main Rijksmuseum site to my website. Start at www.rijksmuseum.nl and select Collection. Then choose 'Digital Collaboration' and the 'Digital Vermeer House'.

I conduct Rembrandt walks in Amsterdam for the Netherlands Bureau of Tourism, London and New York City offices. Their clients include important journalists.

The travel site www.luxurytraveler.com has devoted a main feature to my tours and walks.

Read further client testimonials.

Travel preparation advice specificaly focused on art, culture, museums.

In SPAIN I have visited these towns and can give you very good pointers: Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia, Cordoba, Malaga, Granada.
In ITALY I have visited these towns and can give you very good pointers: Rome, Pisa, Florence, Tarquinia, Napels, Venice, Milan.
In FRANCE I am knowledgeable about high culture in Paris, Versailles, Lyon, Nice, Chartres, Loire castles, Grenoble, Limoges, Bordeaux.
In ENGLAND/UK/Ireland I can give you pointers in the art cities of London, Oxford, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Dublin.
In SWITSERLAND I visited museums of Geneva, Basel.
In GERMANY this Germany page will give you a good overview.

Full tour menu: Menu of tours.

Would you like to enter the Rijksmuseum at exactly 9 AM, bypassing all waiting lines and standing in a virtually empty museum ? Ask me to be your guide!

About Drs. Kees Kaldenbach:

Read a biography.

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach has been featured in television and radio documentaries, including BBC2 TV, NTV Japan, Danish TV and Radio Netherlands World Service. In July 2004 he was interviewed about . artists by Tetsuya Tsuruhara for the leading Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun. In 2004 and 2005 he acted in an advisory role to additional BBC teams. Kaldenbach has written extensively on Vermeer and 17th century ., on Vincent van Gogh and on other art history topics.

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach is your private "scholar-lecturer on culture tours".

Further information is available on his encyclopedic web site: www.johannesvermeer.info

Contact information:

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach , kalden@xs4all.nl

Haarlemmermeerstraat 83 hs

1058 JS Amsterdam

The Netherlands

telephone 020 - 669 8119 (from abroad NL +20 - 669 8119)

cell phone 06 - 2868 9775 (from abroad NL +6 - 2868 9775)

Reaction, questions? Read client testimonials.

Open seven days a week.

Member of the VVV Tourist information and the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel).

Email responses and bookings to art historian Drs. Kees Kaldenbach.

This page forms part of the 2000+ item Vermeer web site at www.xs4all.nl/~kalden

Launched february 2011. Update 17 juli 2016.