Private Christmas Road Trip: Amsterdam to the Brussels Christmas Market

How the day works

What a private December day with us actually looks like

The Brussels market is the easy part. Anyone can point a van at Belgium and press play. What makes this day worth doing privately is everything around it: who is guiding you, what happens in the van, and who you call if something goes sideways two countries from your hotel.

• Door to door from your hotel

  Private days start at your address in Amsterdam and end back at it. Our group tours meet in front of Centraal Station. This one comes to you.

• New cars and mini-vans

  You are on the road for most of a December day, there and back across a border. The vehicles are new, and Antonis is a licensed guide, VOG screened and first aid certified. That is the first decision we make, before anything else about the day gets planned.

• The most authentic route we can find

  The straight motorway run is not the interesting one. We look for the roads and the stops that show you something, like the border puzzle at Baarle-Nassau, where the line runs through cafes and front doors.

• Guiding on the road, not just on foot

  The hours on the road are part of the tour. We talk about the past, the present and the future of the country you are crossing. We laugh a lot. Nobody is reciting dates at you.

• The programme bends to you, and to the weather

  December in Belgium does what it likes. Rain, wind, a market heaving at three o'clock. We move the order of the day around it, and around what your group actually feels like doing.

• We know where to eat and drink

  Ask where the good waffle really is, which bar pours the beer properly, what is worth queuing for and what is not. In Brussels, in Amsterdam, in whatever city the day takes us to. You get the local answer, not the review site answer.

• The greenest option that actually works

  Car, mini-van or bus, we look for the greenest feasible choice for the group and the route every time. Not the greenest thing we can put on a website. The greenest thing that can genuinely do the day.

• Water and books on board

  Water is provided on every trip. There are books in the van if you want the quiet stretch of motorway to yourself. Some people talk the whole way, some people read. Both are fine.

• VR and wifi, if you ask for them

  Antonis has VR and will bring it if you ask when you book, and wifi in the van is free to anyone who wants it. Neither is part of the standard tour, so tell us in advance.

• Tastings at family places, not tourist stops

  When a tasting fits your day, Antonis arranges it himself, at family run places where somebody's name is on the door. Never at a farm built for coaches.

• If something goes wrong, we are local

  A lost phone, a lost bag, an ankle gone on wet cobbles. Antonis is local, first aid certified, and knows who to call and where to go. You are not standing in a Brussels side street with a translation app.

• A short film of your day

  Antonis films along the way: the van, the road, the Grand Place, the lights coming on. You get a short edited video afterwards. It is not an upsell and you do not have to ask for it.