Amsterdam and Beyond - 7 Days

Old Jan 16th, 2017, 01:03 AM
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Amsterdam and Beyond - 7 Days

Dear Friends,

Me and my wife are attending a Conference in Amsterdam in the 1st week of November '17. The conference is in Amsterdam and it is a SIX day conference. Barring 2 days, the remaining 4 days, we can do day trips/ sightseeing around Amsterdam as we have conference schedules only in the evenings.

I request suggestions for the following :

1) Things to do in and around Amsterdam - On the touristy sightseeing and places, i will google and get info...what i request is any "Must not miss" places that you would suggest.

2) After the 6 day conference, we wish to extend by a week and see places outside. The issue is we have seen Germany, Paris and Brussels. Hence confused what else we can do....What we have not seen yet is Copenhagen, Bruges, Ghent, Luxembourg etc..(Have mentioned nearby famous cities)...Can you please help with what we can see and doable in a week. Bruge we hear is a lovely place ...

We both love Culture & History....

Thanks for the help ...

Nitish
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 01:29 AM
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Hi
A copy paste from a recent post - maybe you rent a car, maybe not.

Driving in Belgium is easy - I have driven about half a million Kms in that gorgeous country.

This being said : cities are a nightmare. The peripheric roads (we call them 'rings') are always congested and forget about rush hour. Bruxelles intra muros is crazy. Just try to avoid or drive at 2 am.

Rush hour in Antwerpen starts at 6 to ? in Bruxelles from 7 to 9 30.

The Ardennes are spectacular by road. Beautiful - try to follow some valleys (Molignée has my preference, or ourthe or Lesse).

Bruxelles is a beautiful city if you know where to go - get a book and don't bypass it whatever people tell you. La Grand Place is superb, le Sablon is fantastic, les Galeries (reine et roi) very nice, Place SainteCatherine is cool etc etc.

Charleroi was mentioned : Don't ever go there. I am the biggest specialist on this town and can tell you all in one word : avoid. Nothing there.

Cities and towns are gorgeous : Mechelen was mentioned, Leuven is fantastic, Ieper, Oudenaarde, Lier (Lier !) Dinant, Huy (less...) are great small cities.

Koeln is a beautiful city - quite big. Aachen is smaller and friendlier and splendid. I love Germany quite a lot. They don't really have good beer but the Koelsch is ok. For women that is. Highways are always under construction. Been doing Liège - Koeln for years now and never seen it without roadworks. First word of German I learnt was 'Stau' - congestion.

There is nothing in the Netherlands. Not even beer (Belgian beer is far better) nor cheese (french cheese is far superior). Yeah maybe some tulips but who eats tulips ?
(Maastricht is splendid and so are a few small towns but the food is always mediocre). Even by non Belgian standards. In case you doubt me, just read history books : we were ruled by these guys for some decades and kicked them out with 4 people in rags in 1830. They tried to come back but the French gave them a beating - sometimes these guys are useful. Since then the Low countries are made of 2 parts : Belgium and Netherlands. Like black and white : everything great in Belgium and - yes, you got it.

Some tips about driving :
- lots of speed cameras in NL, Flanders and we start to see a lot of those in Wallonia too.
- don't turn on red, that is a rule for non civilized people (like those in SoCal ;-) )
- stick ALWAYS to the lane the most at the right and NEVER, EVER take over from the right - that is criminal.
- Belgians are probably by far the worst drivers in all Europe. And albeit we are raised with beer we drive even worse when drunk.
- some cities ask for a sticker to prove they are not polluting too much (esp in Germany).
No tolls on roads for private cars neither in NL, B or D.

Whatever you do you can't do wrong - the whole area is great (even some parts of NL ... small ones) .
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 01:34 AM
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I don't know what you meant by "we have seen Germany". Does that mean you have seen several cities in Germany so now you can conveniently take the country off your must-list?

There are infinitely options other than Paris and Brussels. Copenhagen, Bruges, Ghent, as you mentioned, yes, they are all lovely; but also Antwerp (a city of fashion and arts), Rotterdam, and of course, London.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 01:44 AM
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Please do not believe WoinParis and his comments on the Netherlands. He may be joking (or maybe not) but what he says is untrue.
BTW there are more independent brewers in the Netherlands than in Belgium nowadays, brewing excellent beer.

He also forgot to add to his tips of driving that the speed limit in Belgium is now 70km/hour outside built-up areas and motorways.

If you want to get away from the general Benelux area 9and there is easily enough to do within that area for your remaining days) then perhaps combine Copenhagen with Stockholm if you want cities, though that will involve a flight to Copenhagen. Or fly south to Italy or Spain or Austria or ... Look at cheap airlines and see where they fly to from Amsterdam or Eindhoven and see if anything takes your fancy.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 05:41 AM
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Hetismij I'm bascially joking but am serious about beer. I am pretty sure there are nice things in NL, but I mostly go south on holiday and I have no professional contact in NL (for the anecdote, when I had, it nearly always ended in disaster).

However the speedlimit of 70 is only valid in Flanders (and thanks for telling me, I didn't know!) but not in Wallonia.
Welcome in the federal nightmare of Belgium.

http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/92535/art...ndres-et-90-en
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 09:51 AM
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I just got back to Germany from Ghent, and about 1/3 of the beers I schlepped back from De Hopduvel in Ghent were Dutch.

That said, the Dutch craft brewers seem to be eclectic in style, including things like IPA's and imperial stout, as well as 'Belgian' clones; whereas the Belgian brewers tend toward the distinctive native styles (saison; blond; dubbel; tripel; quad; fruit sours) - - in incredible variety.

A great beer bar in Holland will tend to have a big range of brews, from California to Germany, to, um, Belgium. Whereas a great beer bar in Belgium till tend to have a knockout selection of Belgium varietals, including whisky/rum caskings.

Here's me haul just now - - in the middle of this page: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...32348894/page2
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 10:13 AM
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Trains are great- driving in Belgium and NL is tedious IMO - once in cities cars are useless.

Bruges is a real gem

Maybe base there and take day trips to Gent or Antwerp. For lots on trains check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Or you could take the train to Germany - Cologne but a few hours from Amsterdam and then go down to the Rhine Gorge area and Mosel Valley - ending in Luxembourg or from there to Amsterdam.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 11:34 AM
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Wo, I know you are joking, but not everyone on this forum is familiar with your style, and it could put people off.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 12:21 PM
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Yeah maybe some tulips but who eats tulips ?>

the Dutch during WW2 occupation - at least bulbs.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 12:44 PM
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hehe. We ate fries... another proof of our supremacy !
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 12:52 PM
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London is but about 4 hours all told now by train from Amsterdam via Eurostar - to have direct Amsterdam-London service soon I think-this spring?

easy to stop in Bruges on the way-then go to nearby Lille, France by train to hop Eurostar trains.

fly home from London.

<hehe. We ate fries... another proof of our supremacy!>

you thought those were potatoes!
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 01:43 PM
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You could also take a ferry cross the North Sea to Newcastle and bop up to Scotland -leaves from Ijmuiden, near Amsterdam -may go at night so a cruise!

Or boats from Hook of Holland to Harwich to London -day or night with special cheap fares for early bookers.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 11:38 PM
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Thanks for all your replies and suggestions...We will not be driving , but using public transport.
Our Itinery is getting more defined now...Request your suggestions if this is fine :
- 5 days conference in Amsterdam - during this, we can do day trips to Rotterdam, Utrecht and Hague

- Day 6, 7 - Maastricht

- Day 8,9,10,11 - Antwerp..From there , see Ghent, Bruges, Brussels

- Day 12 - Amsterdam

- Day 13 - Fly Back

On Day 8 to 11...
a) Is the option good to set base in Antwerp and see all these places OR should we actually move place to place changing hotels (We can extend one more day)..OR should we set base in Brussels.

b) We both love culture and would live to explore quaint restaurants too...In case we set up base in Antwerp/ Brussels, we will have to return back in the night from Ghent/ Bruges etc..and may not get to experience these places in totality.

c) Should we split the day 8 to 12 into 2 days in Antwerp and 2 days in Bruges?
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 05:32 AM
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Of the four cities, Ghent is actually the most central - - it's at least 90 minutes each way Antwerp-Bruges, and the train goes through Ghent. Similar with Brussels-Bruges -- the train passes through Ghent. You'd save some travel time, with repeat journeys over the same lines, if you based in Ghent.

Or, 1 night Brussels, 2 nights Ghent (with daytrip to Bruges only 1/2 an hour), 1 night Antwerp; if you don't mind breaking camp three times.

Or, get into Brussels early, check bags at the station, spend the day, or the afternoon (you might not need much more than that), continue on to Ghent for three nights (1 full day Ghent; 1 daytrip to Bruges), then 1 night in Antwerp.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 05:38 AM
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Hello

One base in Belgium is good enough, distances are short.
Days are relatively short in November and I imagine you will stop sightseeing around the time restaurants open (I think around 7 pm) so you can eat at a leisure pace in any city you are in, then get on the train back to your base in less than one hour.

Or you can switch bases - some dislike it, some like it - your choice.

I would personnaly choose Gent over Antwerpen, I find Gent quainter. Bruxelles is superb (whatever peole may say) but more difficult for newcomers. If you choose to stay in Bruxelles DO NOT stay around the south station (Bruxelles Midi or Brussel Zuid in Flemish). You don't want to stay there at night - it is not unsafe but gritty, ugly and stinky.

I find Brugge dead in the evening - you'll be off season. But some love it.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 07:42 AM
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Yes Gent is the most centrally located base for those day trips though many folks love Bruges after the day tripping hoards have departed -nice to be there at night.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 02:22 AM
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Thank You all once again for your replies...this has definately helped us plan our itinerary. We just thought that we will prepone our belgium tour keeping in mind the weather and do belgium first and then end with our conference..I have chalked out our itinerary...request inputs please to certify this....and if any suggestions please...

End of October - Day 1 - Arrive by 11 a.m. to Amsterdam - and take a train to Ghent..Reach Ghent by 3.30 p.m....Stroll in the evening around Ghent

Day 2 - Day Trip To Bruges and return in evening

Day 3 - Day Trip to Antwerp and return in evening

Day 4 - See around Ghent

Day 5 - Proceed to Luxembourg and spend second half of the day

Day 6 - Luxembourg

Day 7 - Leave in the morning to Maastricht and spend second half of the day

Day 8 - Maastricht

Day 9 - Proceed to Amsterdam for Conference - evening Conference

Day 10 to 13 - Conference

Day 14 - Fly back to India....

We are two couples....would this itinerary be fine...

Thanks,
Nitish
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 03:08 AM
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Have you rented a car ? Luxembourg city is worth a few hours at top, so haf a day suffices.
The region of Grand Duché de Luxembourg nice but needs a car - a little bit late in the season but still ok.
Namaste.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 10:28 AM
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Excuse me for saying it so bluntly, but this is even wilder and more unfeasible than your other plans. You're simply trying to cram in too much. Especially the two day trips into Belgium are crazy. And Luxemburg? Why?

Brussels is much better as a base and from there it's easy to travel to Amsterdam on the regular international train. Getting to Luxemburg is a waste of time imo

Luxemburg to Maastricht by train is nearly a half day's travel. So start early and otherwise good luck. Travel from Maastricht to Amsterdam tacks on almost 4 hours.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:26 PM
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Yeh Luxembourg unimpresses most for very long -physically gorgeous city divided by a deep gorge but nearly bereft of things to see -that is major sights - I would day trip from Gent to Brussels and then head north to Amsterdam

and pre-conference use it as a base to day trip by train to any of oodles of sweet Dutch regional towns - Delft, Haarlem, The Hague,
Leiden, etc.

Or from Brussels take the direct few-hour train ride to Cologne and its great cathedral and spend the night there then go up to Amsterdam.
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