Holland is known for many things: its green spaces and parks, spring rainbows of tulips, old-time windmills, and of course, its waterways. Amsterdam is known for being a city of water, and canals zigzag through this beautiful city. Locals travel the canals on their daily commutes, and visitors navigate them while sightseeing.

 Of course all that water requires its fair share of bridges. There are 1,281 bridges you can use to cross over the canals. The most well known—a double wooden drawbridge called the Skinny Bridge—crosses the Amstel River and was built in 1670.

To keep the canal cruise spirit alive a little bit longer, this is the perfect trip to combine with Belgium’s medieval city of Bruges and cosmopolitan metro of Antwerp. There is no better way to arrive to these lively European hubs than via their stunning waterways.

A European canal cruise around Holland and Belgium can start in Amsterdam, Holland, heading to Antwerp, Belgium, or vice versa. In Amsterdam, you will traverse three main canals—the Gentlemen’s, King’s, and Prince’s Canal—in a glass-topped boat. A cruise in one of these special boats will show you the city’s ancient gabled houses as well as architecture of the Golden Age, while you pass many quaint houseboat communities on the way.

Be prepared to while away an afternoon sipping beverages in canal-side cafes or enjoying the green lawn in one of Amsterdam’s several parks. But before you settle in to your plot of grass for the day, be sure to do some museum hopping. Immerse yourself in the swirling beauties of the self-taught painter Vincent Van Gogh. Visit the Van Gogh Museum to see more than 200 paintings and 500 drawings by Vincent and his contemporaries, including Gauguin, Monet, and Bernard. The stories told via the audio tour are especially beautiful and help bring the paintings and painters behind them to life. Other museum must-sees are the Museum Het Rembrandthuis, Rijksmuseum, and Anne Frank Huis. Try to order museum tickets online to avoid standing in long lines. These places are popular!

Of course, if you’re lucky to visit Holland when the flowers are blooming, you must check out the world’s largest floral park: Keukenhof Gardens. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and crocuses bloom for about two months every year, and they crop up perfectly placed. Even if you don’t make it during the height of spring when these bulb flowers are blossoming, you’ll be awed by the rainbows of other delicate varieties growing in the large stretch of greenhouses.

From Amsterdam, you’ll sail to the Golden Age shipping town of Hoorn, set in a rich horticultural region. Walk along its cobbles streets, visit cheese warehouses in the village’s main square, and enjoy its lovely harbor. Then you’re off to Arnhem, the Dutch royal family’s summer home for more than 300 years, and Nijmegen to witness one of Holland’s oldest cities. Continue on to the squat windmills of Kinderdijk to see perfect examples of Dutch cuteness and functionality. There are more than 1,000 mills in the Netherlands, and these—dating from 1740—line the waterfront.

From Kinderdijk, you leave the Netherlands and cross the waters into Antwerp, Belgium. Start by visiting the country’s most impressive cathedral, the Cathedral of our Lady with its three huge altarpieces painted by Peter Paul Rubens. Mosey through the cobbled backstreets to find all kinds of shopping, restaurants, bars, chocolate shops, antique shops, diamond shops, and boutique stores. Making your way to the Grand Square (Grote Markt) is like stepping back to the Golden Age. You can also see Steen Castle (Het Steen), which is Antwerp’s oldest building.

Before you can completely break the bank, you’ll head to the medieval city of Bruges, where you will visit the Church of Our Lady to see Michelangelo’s famous sculpture: Madonna and Child. Enjoy its pretty market squares, age-old canals, and whitewashed almshouses. Enjoy reminiscing of days gone by, as you visit the begijnhof, a seemingly hidden courtyard formerly housing a Catholic order of nuns.

And so ends or begins, depending on the direction and route you choose, your peaceful getaway through the plentiful canals of Holland and Belgium.