IMPORTANT!READ THIS FIRST!Before you press ‘Start’, please read this Introduction to the audio tour first. You can also listen to it. Scroll down the text: at the bottom you can touch the audio icon. The Introduction will give you a short history of the Hudson Valley and its Dutch roots, and it will provide you with a brief explanation as to how to use this audio tour. IntroductionWelcome to the audio tour “How Dutch Is New York? - The Hudson Valley Tour”.This trip will take you to dozens of places of interest that are all connected to the Dutch past of the Hudson Valley. The Hudson River and its surrounding land between New Amsterdam (now New York) and Beverwijck (now Albany) formed the most important part of the colony New Netherland. Under the rule of the Dutch West-India Company the colony existed for only forty years: from 1624-1664. However, under English rule most of the Dutch settlers stayed here and left clear marks. Many settlers and their descendants even became part of the elite of the English colony and the State of New York. In this area, Dutch was spoken for a long time and services in the Dutch Reformed churches were still held in Dutch up to the 19th century.During this tour you will find an amazing amount of Dutch-American heritage. These are often house museums, but you’ll also come across the oldest church building of New York State, entire streets with houses betraying their Dutch origins, barns with typical Dutch constructions, a centuries old hydro powered grist mill, cemeteries with Dutch names on the old gravestones, wine-tasting in a Dutch barn etcetera!The mansions along the Hudson, and also many of the houses in former Dutch villages and towns like New Paltz, Kingston and Albany still carry the names of their former owners or residents. And there are still many names of streets and landscapes you will recognize as Dutch. This tour has been routed along both sides of the Hudson River. With our directions you will be able to travel to the most important locations of Dutch-American heritage in the Hudson Valley. You don’t need to follow the order of this audio tour: once you are near one of the sites, you will drive into a GPS-zone. This will start automatically giving you the information on what there is to see. If the audio doesn’t start, you can either read the information or tap on the location you are at on the screen. This will set off the audio. For each site you’ll find the address and opening days and hours in the written text. You’ll get audio directions on the way, but with the addresses, you can also use your own GPS-system.  TIPBefore you start this tour, please check each individual website for special events you may want to attend. ‘How Dutch Is New York? - The Hudson Valley Tour’ starts at the Van Cortlandt House Museum at Broadway opposite # 6035 at West 246th Street in The Bronx. Off street parking is available at the Van Cortlandt Park Golfcourse, 115 Van Cortlandt Park,  S. Bronx, NY 1047 and you can also park on Broadway.Press Start now and enjoy this unique tour!