My husband just found out that he will be in Amersfoort for 10 days in July where he will be on business and I have decided on the spur-of-the-moment to join him. There will be a few days (2 weekends) that we can travel together, and would like full-day trip ideas using Amersfoort as our home base. There may be a few days he can split between work and sightseeing nearby, and there will be more days when he will be at work and I will be alone looking for something to do. I have never been to Europe and admit to being a bit daunted by striking out on my own. We will have a rental car, but I'm not sure how comfortable I would be driving alone. I would appreciate your suggestions of escorted day trips (good tours/operators) as well as independent travel - where to go, what to see, and (for me) how to get there and back safely & easily (driving vs. public transportation). We are interested in a broad range of sightseeing to appreciate the different aspects of the culture, scenic vistas, castles, museums, art, history, etc. Thanks in advance for your help!
Day Trips from Amersfoort/Utrecht?
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I live just down the road from Amersfoort. Amersfoort itself is a nice town with some interesting buildings and history. You could take a boat trip through the canals with the Waterlijn. Not a big boat like you get in Amsterdam or Paris but a little boat and an intimate tour.
Visit Spakenburg, especially if you are here on the 18 or 25 July as they have special days then and you will see the local costume being worn. Many older women wear it daily still but on those days there is so much to see and do. You can get a bus there from Amersfoort if you don't want to drive.
Utrecht is of course worth a full day.
Apeldoorn is just a short train ride away and is interesting - you can visit het Loo for instance.
You could visit Paleis Soestdijk in Baarn too, though you may not get much from the guided tour, which I believe is only in Dutch. The gardens are worth visiting for an afternoon, and you don't need to book those in advance.
Naarden Vesting is another interesting village to visit.
Amsterdam is an easy train ride away.
Hoge Veluwe is also not far away so you could visit the Kroller Muller museum there.
For other day trips, given you have a car go up to Overissel and over to Friesland maybe.
If you would like to you can e-mail me at hetismij@gmail.com.
Oops that should be hetismijnl@gmail.com. Sorry! Do get in touch if you want to though. I'd be happy to meet up with you and maybe show you around a bit.
We really enjoyed a day trip to the Kröller-Müller Museum and oge Veluwe National Park last fall
see my trip report--day 5
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/10-days-in-belgium-plus-a-day-in-the-netherlands.cfm
Welcome to Amersfoort! "Hetismij" already provided lots of good suggestions I guess but are there any things in specific you're looking for? As said by Hetismij, Friesland could be interesting to visit, especially if you like lakes. Giethoorn is a quite unique little town (the "Venice of the North", except it doesn't have the grandeur from the large cities). The polders (Flevoland) is quite unique as well. All flat, under sea level. Lots of flower-fields and endless views.
Driving to, from and in Amersfoort should not be a problem at all. The city is flanked by two major freeways, the A1 (going east-west) and the A28 (going north-south). Driving in the city is easy and parking can be found on huge signs where it even mentions how many parking places still are available.
Driving a car really isn't any different from driving in the US except for the fact you'll probably have to deal with a manual gearbox. Try not to drive during rush-hour or you may find yourself in heavy unforgiving traffic and traffic jams. Speed limits (note: there are many hidden speedtraps everywhere!) are 50 km/h in the cities, 80 km/h on rural roads, 100 km/h on motorways and 120 km/h on the freeway unless posted otherwise. Speeds shown on overhead electronic signs are mandatory signs. No keep-your-lane but keep right system (though one couldn't tell just from looking at multi-lane freeways...). The one thing against driving yourself: fuel is pretty expensive here. Regular gas ("Euro 95") at the moment costs €1.66/liter (which translates to ca. $8/gallon) but prices are expected to rise during the next few weeks (rising oil prices!).
Trains: Amersfoort features 3 trainstations: Amersfoort central station (just south of the inner city), Amersfoort Schothorst and Amersfoort Vathorst on the north. Amersfoort CS offers direct connections to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Apeldoorn and Zwolle. In addition several milk-lines are available to small towns in the neighborhood. Other destinations usually via Utrecht. Trains are not very cheap either, but it'll be cheaper than going by car (driver only).