My husband and I want to go to Amsterdam in September. From Fodors' postings , I am interested in Bruges and Brussels. We usually go to an area for about three weeks so I am trying to figure out where else we should look into going. I feel more comfortable on trains than flying to another country. We have done Germany ( Rhine, Mosel, Romantic Road, Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Koln, Nuremberg ) and just two years ago the United Kingdom (North Wales, Scotland, York, Costswalds,Cambridge and London).We have been to Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice. Ideally, I wish there were some interesting places on the train lines. We love art, outdoors, wine, food, architecture theater, music. Any suggestions would be appreciated. If we have to fly, I was considering Ireland.
I am also concerned about renovations in Amsterdam. Are any of the museums radically compromised due to renovations.
Amsterdam
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Why not spend the 3 weeks doing the whole of the Benelux countries? This would allow you an in-depth view of the three countries. You can do Belgium mostly really well by rail - it's a very dense network, with the exception of the Ardennes, which is a rural area probably best explored by car. You could probably just do one or two places in the Ardennes by rail, such as Dinant or La-Roche-en Ardenne, to get a feel for the countryside.
I would probably divide it up into 1 - 3 days Luxembourg, about 7 days for Belgium, and about 10 for the Netherlands. Start off here and see what other posters can suggest.
Lavandula
Sadly, two of my favories will be closed or partially closed.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Closed-for-business-on-Amsterdam-s-Museumplein/24495
September begins an iffy period for weather in the Benelux countries.
Maybe this trip, something a bit more Southerly?
The entire collection from the Van Gogh can be seen at the Hermitage from 29 Spetember to 25 April next year.
There is more and more of the Rijksmuseum to see, and the Stedelijk reopens on September 23rd.
You can explore more of the Netherlands - it is so much more than Amsterdam. And I mean go north, east, south - get away from the usual places. Rent a car for a couple of days and get out into the real country.
September is usually a lovely month with cool nights and warm days. It is one of my favourite months.
I've been to Netherlands for 2nd time in October 2011. I really feel that 3 days max enough for Amsterdam and spend the remainder of your time in the rest of The Netherlands. Unique architecture (quite different to rest of Europe) wonderful art galleries and museums. Amsterdam is a lovely experience, but if you want to meet and experience real Dutch people you'll have to look outside the city.
If you are interested in ships and maritime commerce, a visit to Rotterdam's famous harbour is well worth a day.
We found it very easy to travel in Belgium by train. We took a trip last fall based in Brussels taking many day trips. See my trip report for some ideas. Gent is also very close by train. Brugge is a little further but doable as either a day trip or a separate stay.
Aachen and Cologne are interesting German cities that are easy to visit from Brussels by train.
A report from my Belgium/Amsterdam/Cologne trip in December. It might help:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/trip-report-benemany-belgium-amsterdam-cologne.cfm
Thanks
I'll look into the suggestions.