Amsterdam Experiences

Tailor-made private tours in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Belgium

Amsterdam Experiences is a tourism company based in Amsterdam that designs private tours in the city, across the rest of the Netherlands and in Belgium. Its approach revolves around personalised itineraries rather than fixed routes, and around local guides who adapt the pace and content to each group. The company presents itself as a provider of experiences for individual travellers, small groups and travel advisors from around the world.

The website states that the company began in 2016 with a single guide showing visitors around his own neighbourhood at weekends and that it has since grown to more than thirty guides. Among them are art historians, journalists, musicians and photographers, profiles the company uses to assign the most suitable guide to each group.

What the company organises

The service catalogue includes private tours in Amsterdam, private tours across the Netherlands and private tours in Belgium. In addition, there are private canal cruises, shore excursions for cruise passengers arriving in Amsterdam and Dutch ports, and airport transfers with a private chauffeur. The company also has a dedicated page for travel advisors, with commission and booking terms.

The website organises its offering into several categories: private tours, canal cruises, bespoke trip planning, guides, small groups, locations, cruise planning, river and ocean cruise calendars, shore excursions, Rhine and Danube water levels, travel planners, transfers and private chauffeur, Anne Frank House tickets, calculator, flower bloom calendar, events calendar, museums in the Netherlands, Christmas markets and corporate travel.

Examples from the private tour catalogue

Among the private tours featured at the time of analysis are the following:

• Private Jewish History & Anne Frank Walking Tour in Amsterdam: three hours long, from €515. It covers the historic Jewish quarter, tells Anne Frank's story, includes a pause for apple pie and ends at the Westerkerk and the Anne Frank House, where the company helps secure tickets.
• The Ultimate Amsterdam in a Day Tour: from €990, starting at six hours. It combines seeing Amsterdam by land and water, with stops at hidden courtyards such as the Begijnhof, the Rijksmuseum and a luxury canal boat ride.
• Brews and T'Ales, Private Craft Beer Tour: 3.5 hours, from €500. It includes award-winning Dutch beers, such as stouts, IPAs and Trappist ales, in some of Amsterdam's oldest and cosiest bars, accompanied by classic snacks and brewing tales.
• Flowers and Windmills Tour: available all year round, it is a private full-day tour that takes in gardens across the Netherlands and the historic windmills of Zaanse Schans.

Guide profiles and traveller care

The company insists that its guides are locals with real stories and that they do not follow a set script. The website states that each group is assigned the guide who fits best and that this guide adapts the visit as it goes, speeding up, slowing down or skipping stages according to the group's needs. The testimonials collected on the website mention guides such as Kaleigh, Michael, Stephan, Chris, Guido, Laszlo and Christian, and describe experiences at the Rijksmuseum, Haarlem, the Anne Frank House and beer routes, as well as a virtual reality experience about the Anne Frank House.

The company declares an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on 3,458 reviews, according to the data shown on its own website. The comments highlight the constant communication with the company, flexibility regarding physical or scheduling limitations and the possibility of customising the content according to the group's interests.

Resources for planning your trip

The website offers travellers planning tools such as river and ocean cruise calendars, information on Rhine and Danube water levels, a flower bloom calendar, an events calendar and a calculator. It also offers content on museums in the Netherlands and Christmas markets, and a dedicated section for corporate travel.