Thousands of visitors each year trek to West Michigan for a Dutch experience. However, the public is now invited to travel across the Atlantic to discover the roots of the town’s Dutch identity on a ‘Holland to Holland’ tour. The nine-day trip in October will focus on locations relevant to West Michigan’s Dutch connections.
The tour is being coordinated by the Holland Visitors Bureau, Windmill Island Gardens, and Holland Tasting Tours in conjunction with Witte Travel. Matt Helmus, manager of Windmill Island Gardens, sees value in the trip for both travelers and the community. “Keeping Dutch-American heritage relevant includes knowledge of and connection with the Netherlands. We think those on the trip will come home with a deeper appreciation of Dutch culture in Europe and Michigan,” says Helmus. He will serve as one of the trip’s guides along with experienced tour guide and owner of Holland Tasting Tours Linda Kaiser.
One tour day will center on locations relevant to Holland’s founder Albertus van Raalte. Other highlights include visiting the newly built windmill in Vinkel (the former home of Holland’s de Zwaan windmill), discovering how thousands of bulbs are procured each year for the tulip festival, and touring a Delftware business with locations in the Netherlands and downtown Holland. While there will be some overlap with standard tours of the Netherlands, the new tour will focus on less-visited areas from which many immigrants originated such as Groningen, Drenthe and Zeeland. More information, including a full itinerary, as well as registration details can be found at hollandtoholland.com.
For those interested in learning more, there will be an informational meeting at Windmill Island Gardens on Tuesday, April 14 at 6pm. Potential travelers are asked to register for the meeting at Eventbrite via windmillisland.com.
