The Low Countries of Holland and Belgium embrace the North Sea which over the centuries has become a vital part of their cultural and even physical fabric. These two small countries in Northern Europe are bursting with cultural and artistic riches, offering a journey through the Old World that is unlike any other part of Europe. The region is home to innumerable quaint towns with gravity-defying houses built on top of labyrinthine canals, golden cities with celebrated museums featuring some of history’s greatest masterpieces, fairy-tale castles, unspoiled farmland cut with waterways and dotted with windmills, and picture-perfect countryside carpeted with millions of flowers, all straight from the pages of a storybook. Fabulously historic, filled with the cutting-edge art, both old and new, the cities of Amsterdam and Bruges are full of unexpected riches: romantic canals, watery landscapes which inspired Vermeer and his contemporaries, imposing architecture and creative cuisine (topped with the world's best chocolate!), and getting to know this part of Europe offers unforgettable rewards of having truly experienced the Old World.