bumbleb

Hi all-husband is kindly allowing me to choose a location in Europe for the two of us to spend about 10 days sometime this Spring(just found out that he can get the time away from work). I am fascinated by Amsterdam, in part due to the amazing report done by your own PalenQ(and I still haven't gotten all the way through the report yet). Is late April/early May a good time of year to visit? I would love some advice on the best area of the city to stay in for walking about, catching public transpo, getting to sights easily, suggestions for good restaurants to try & sights we shouldn't miss. We are also thinking of taking the last few days of our trip to visit either Antwerp, Gent, & Bruges or some of the Dutch countryside. Any recommendations for must-see special little towns? Is there some other area that anyone has enjoyed more? I haven't gotten far in my research yet so I'll just ask if we would need a car or could we take trains to most of these areas? Not being too good at planning trips, we are open to any & all suggestions and thank you in advance for taking the time to answer & advise. Oh & some background-we are a "young" 50-something hippie type couple(as our 3 children have dubbed us)who are avid photographers, don't mind walking or biking, love new foods, museums & old churches, local culture, history & anything quirky. Will be flying from East Coast of USA, most likely in & out of Amsterdam. Thanks again!

cmeyer54

Late April/early May is lovely in Amsterdam. You might be lucky enough to be there on Queens Day which is an experience in itself; the tulips at Kuekenhoff will be blooming and the weather should be fine. 3-4 days in Amsterdam will be enough as we did it in a long weekend. Brugges is in Belgium and easily reached via train. We did a 3 day weekend there and it is wonderful as well (especially at night when the tourists have left). Take a full day tour of Ipres and the Western Front while there if at all possible. I still have the trip reports on both of those posted on this board somewhere. The museums, churches, culture, food, etc are great!

hetismij2

There are plenty of lovely places to visit within the Netherlands, away from the tourist route that is Brugge.
If you are prepared to rent a car then you could spend your time exploring the old villages around the Ijsselmeer (former Zuiderzee) for instance, plus maybe northern Friesland towns like Harlingen, and Franeker. You could even maybe include a brief trip to one of the Wadden Islands.

lesliec1

Spring is a great time to visit the Netherlands, but it will still be chilly, and even sunny days often have intermittent rain. For sure you do not need a car and are better off without the huge expense and hassles of traffic and parking. The train goes right from Schiphol to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is very walkable and there are also trams. Do a separate search on Fodors forum or tripadvisor for hotels, I don't know much about that. Queens Day is the last week in April and I have heard that Amsterdam gets incredibly crowded and there may be changes in rail schedules then. Could be a good time to go to another, smaller town for a few days.

In Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum has just re-opened. If you like art, do not miss this. The Van Gogh museum is closed for rehab, but I believe the Stedlijk modern art museum has also reopened, so that should be worth seeing. The Anne Frank museum is also very special.

A canal cruise is a must-do. We prefer the totally noncommercial trips offered by the St. Nicolaas Boat Club, where volunteers take you around on a small boat. In the past you had to book this at Boom Chicago bar in the Leidseplein. There was a sign-up sheet in the bar and you needed to reserve a few days in advance. Price is not expensive. But I have heard that now you have to sign up at Mike's Bikes on Kerkstraat 134, which is also the meeting point for the tour.

If you like biking, the Netherlands is the place for you! You can rent bikes at many shops and also at train stations. The country is basically flat, so you don't need to be especially fit to ride. Amsterdam is a bit too crowded for my pathetic wobbly bike riding, but millions of other people do it!

Other interesting things to do in Amsterdam are walking around, shopping, eating pannekoeken (pancakes, not served for breakfast in NL), eating apple pie, apple cake, or apple anything around 11 a.m., going to a concert at the Concertgebouw, visiting the historic buildings, and (until recently) checking out the famous red light district (which has been officially "cleaned up" and reduced in size).

Take a tour from Amsterdam to Keukenhof to see amazing flowers in bloom. Other excellent day trips: Utrecht-large university town with some great museums, including my favorite, the Museum Van Speelklok tot Pierement (mechanical musical instruments). Haarlem is a short train ride from Amsterdam, lovely cathedral with famous organ, gorgeous main square. Leiden, another university town, has charming canals, nice bike paths past lakes and windmills or to the beach (get a map at VVV office).

If you want to venture out into the Dutch countryside, you could head to the Hoge Veluwe National Park where there is scenery reminiscent of the Yorkshire moors, free white bikes you can borrow, and the fabulous Kroller-Muller art museum.

While in NL, go out for rijstafel for dinner and try to find freshly made stroop wafels and poffertjes (like mini-pancakes, sooooooooo good). Cheeses and all dairy products are great here. If you like black licorice ("drop") you will be in heaven, they have a thousand varieties. Personally, I steer totally clear of that!

You can also easily take a train down to Antwerp (well worth a visit!), and then over to Brugges, which is charming and crowded during the day. You can gain a lot of weight in Belgium, what with the incredible ales, the chocolates, the waffles, the frites with mayonnaise.

Also, nearly every Dutch adult speaks English, which can make travel easier, though somewhat less exciting. And just a heads-up: most US credit cards will not work in NL, where credit cards all use a special embedded security chip. ATM cards will work, however. Have fun!

Rastaguytoday

It can be a bit chilly that time of year, but the weather is, of course, variable.

Amsterdam is a great city to visit.

Don't forget the Keukenhof flower show. It's a must see.
http://www.keukenhof.nl/ Try to go early or during the week as it gets really crowded with German Tour Buses.

All the museums are open again, after what seemed like a forever wait.

My favorite hotel is the Owl Hotel. It's a reasonable priced hotel, that is withing easy walking distance to museums, squares and parks. Quite street but next to the 'action'.
http://www.owl-hotel.nl/gb/

Must try restaurant is the Sama Sebo, a great rijsttafel restaurnt, within easy walking distance of the museums.

Jinky

Nothing to add, but we are a late 40-something hippie couple (also dubbed by our kids) and will be there the 2nd week of April. So, <b>bumbleb</b>, if you two are there at that time, let's go get some stroop wafels and rijstafel

PS: Loving all of these wonderful posts, at it is helpful for us as well!

hetismij2

Hopefully not both at the same time Jinky .

bumbleb

Oh gosh-so many good suggestions! Thank you all for taking the time! @lesliec1-I wish we had you for our tour guide!

And Jinky, still working out our travel details but will let you know-sounds like hippie fun! What hotel are you guys staying at? Will your kids be along? If we end up getting to Amsterdam later in April, maybe you can let me know what we shouldn't miss while there.

Jinky

bumbleb, the two teen girls are coming, and we're staying in a nice canal apartment. I'll be happy to let you know all the can't miss things in Amsterdam. Sounds like we have the same travel "likes" as you and yours

cmeyer54

We stayed at the Ramada in Amsterdam as it was Queen's Day and everything was booked well in advance. I agree that its very crowded but with the right devil may care attitude, its great fun. There are little rummage sales on every block with people marking out their 'area' with chalk the night before, the canals are full of boats, I have never seen so much Orange in my life!! As one british bartender told us 'the brits know how to party, the dutch have made it an art form'! We found a couple of fun places to eat - Der Blonde Hollander, Le Zinc et Les Autres, and one tiny pancake place just off Dam Square, up a flight of stairs that seated about 12 people max. Skip the Green Lantern for fondue. Loved the Ann Frank house, churches, Rijksmuseum and the diamond museum there. We took a canal cruise at night with wine and cheese which was quite fun. Also - see "Our Lord in the Attic' church!!

Jinky

>><i>Hopefully not both at the same time Jinky .</i>

Only if I am feeling adventurous!

PAplumber

OK we have two "hippie couples" going to Amsterdam in April. Let me bring up the coffee shops, when in amsterdam and all that. April 20 is a stoner holiday in the dam, at least for some of us. Do not be afraid of venturing into a coffee shop, ask the budtender for help with the menu if you are overwhelmed with it all. I will be in Amsterdam April 18-20 and back for Queens day April 29 - May 4 if you want to meet for a smoke

bumbleb

Hey PA-thanks for the invite! Will keep those dates in mind. We're leaving our 19, 20 & 24 year olds behind for this trip so they are already worrying about what kind of "trouble" the old hippies might get into!! Meh-we're just trying to experience life, you know?

spaarne

As mentioned above, Queen's Day and Keukenhof are two things not to miss for an end of April to beginning of May trip to Holland. Here are two of my photologs.
Keukenhof: http://tinyurl.com/y8hltjl
Queen's Day: http://tinyurl.com/yln3hrp.

I've lived in Haarlem and recommend it. It's a 20 minute train ride west of Amsterdam. Click my name for more posts on Holland.

isabel

With that much time I would definitely spend some time in the smaller cities/towns - Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Gouda and a few days in Belgium. They are all quite close to each other, easy to do by trains which are a wonderful way to get around. Unless you feel the need to do every museum and spend a long time in each you will have plenty of time for day trips. A lot of people even suggest you stay in Haarlem and day trip into Amsterdam instead of the other way around. In fact I did do that last summer - I'm mixed as to whether or not I would have preferred to be staying in Amsterdam itself (but I had been there before).

Hotel Brouwer in Amsterdam is in one of the most beautiful canal houses in the whole city (http://www.hotelbrouwer.nl/), My guess is it is already booked for spring but if not seriously consider it. I stayed there the first time I went to Amsterdam but it was booked for my dates for my most recent trip (last summer) and each time I walked by it I was sorry I wasn't staying there again.

I also really enjoyed a few days in Antwerpt and Brugge is touristy for a reason!

Here's my trip report with links to my photos - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...etherlands.cfm

tom18

We stayed at the Hotel Aalders a few years ago and loved it. It's located in a little residential district just about a street or two from both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, in the Museumplein. The hotel is also about a block from the major tram stop for the Rijksmuseum. It's also near the Leidesplein. We enjoyed Amsterdam, and loved flying into and out of its airport.

bumbleb

spaarne-i am loving your photos! Puts my excitement about the trip up several notches! Thanks for that!!

PAplumber

bumbled, glad to hear your leaving the young ones at home, they can slow you down when your having fun. I'm allways up for a talk and toke when in Amsterdam

bumbleb

Thanks to all who answered with great advice. DH's business associate has generously offered his family's vacation home in Montreal to us for no charge in the same time period so we are going to take him up on it & save Amsterdam for another trip. Now I just have to go ask for advice on the Quebec forum. Thanks again!