yorkshire

I am heading to Rotterdam in October, where I will be joining my husband mid-business trip. After a few days there, we will spend a weekend in Amsterdam. I am planning my arrival day and trying to decide if I should head directly to Rotterdam from Schipol or stop somewhere en route and make a day of it. Since I arrive at 7:30 and will be walking around like a zombie regardless, I was thinking a small town may be more amenable to that than Rotterdam, provided all stations have luggage storage (from this website I think they do: http://www.ns.nl/en/travellers/about...at-the-station).
I am currently sorting out train schedules at http://www.ns.nl. It looks like I could stop in Leiden, Den Hague, or Delft (or more than one of those), have breakfast and/or lunch, explore, and then carry on to Rotterdam in the afternoon.
There have been some really helpful Netherlands posts recently, and I would be so grateful if I could get your tips on train travel: with this day of transit from Schipol to Rotterdam, possibly one other day trip, and a return journey to Amsterdam, and finally from Ams to the airport, should I purchase the chipkaart? If I am stopping at some of those other towns before Rotterdam, do I need the intercity supplement? Thanks in advance for your assistance--after typically going to villages on most recent vacations, navigating public transport has my head swimming. After a while on the website, I think I will be looking for manned ticket counters!

PalenQ

The Hague is a big city like Rotterdam but Leiden and Delft are smaller bit cities and have delightful walks along canals - the iconic Dutch scenes - Delft would be my first choice - Leiden is cool too but not quite so quaint.

yorkshire

Thanks for that. My guide book arrived yesterday, so just getting geared up and excitedly posting before reading thoroughly. Delft is my first choice as well, and I must also consider my husband may be less interested in pottery than me but is a big fan of the Hague so we may squeeze it in later.

greg

Also slightly further away than Delft is Gouda. While Gouda by population is only slightly smaller than Delft, Delft felt more of a metropolis than Gouda.

>>> After a while on the website, I think I will be looking for manned ticket counters!

If you don't have a CHIP and PIN card usable in the Netherlands, you will have to look for a manned ticket counter and pay cash. Even at a manned NS ticket counter, the card must be CHIP and PIN.

sandralist

Den Haag doesn't feel like a big city at all and the Panorama Mesdag might be the perfect attraction for anyone jet lagged. The Maritshuis is an elegant boutique gem, not a slog through a warehouse of art. There are ridiculously elegant hotels (for despots awaiting trial?) where you could go, not to stay, but have a cocktail as you sink into their plush armchairs. Having an international profile means being able to find some interesting foods of the world and not just meat and 2 veg. Easy to get to from Schiphol.

yorkshire

Thanks very much for that chip and pin tip, as I have not had occasion to deal with that thus far.
I am VERY interested in eating some gouda, but I think I will try to stay on that direct train line from Schipol to Rotterdam--with only a few hours sleep, the less taxing the better.
hi sandralist, always great suggestions. (I look forward to planning my next Italy trip with you, if I return in 2016.)
I may keep an eye on the weather and play it by ear. Leiden has some great museums if it's dismal.

sandralist

I forgot there is the Escher Museum too -- although if one is jet lagged, it might be a bit much, especially as it is a very popular place to take children.

http://www.mygola.com/best-attractio...-museum/q18901

PalenQ

Thanks for that. My guide book arrived yesterday, so just getting geared up and excitedly posting before reading thoroughly. Delft is my first choice as well, and I must also consider my husband may be less interested in pottery than me but is a big fan of the Hague so we may squeeze it in later.>

http://www.royaldelft.com/index.asp?lang=2

Though there are plenty of shops in Delft centrum that sell authentic Delftware there are only a couple of authentic factories or workshops that actually produce the 'china' called Delftware - the biggest one and best one to tour is the Royal Delft Factory about 1.5 miles out of the centrum - I walked there along a large canal but buses go to - of course taxis.

Delft if much more the old-world charmer than Den Hague though the latter has more famous museums, etc. Delft to me is one of the prettiest canal-laced cities in Holland - along with Leiden, Haarlem and of course Amsterdam.

A neat way to get to Rotterdam is to go by tram from Delft to Rotterdam's center - not that far and you go right thru town centers - train of course quicker.

I like The Hague a lot - it is easy to combine a quick look at Delft with a less quick look at The Hague unless doing the Porcleian Fles - Royal Dutch pottery and museum tour - that would take a few hours in itself and I would not forego a look at Delft's neat old canal-streets - the VVV tourist office has a neat walking tour that made it all more meaningful to me - the old almhouses for instance.

You can't go wrong with any of your choices.

hetismij2

The main problem with the OV chipcard on trains is that you need a minimum of €20 on it for every journey you take by train. The difference between the €20 deposit and the actual fare is refunded to the card when you check out.
It may be worth your while if you are likely to use buses or metro a lot in Amsterdam and can get the balance down that way, since reclaiming the money on the card is a time consuming affair. If you do that then you must buy a paper ticket for your return journey to Schiphol, or you will have to top up the card again with €20.

Eventually there will be a tourist card but I don't know when it is going to be introduced.

If you are happy buying paper tickets and have cash then that could be easier, though the tickets cost more. Maybe you can do a few sums and work out which loses you the least amount of money.

A logical place to visit, since some trains require you change there for Rotterdam, is Leiden. You could easily spend a few jet lagged hours there.

Do make sure you don't get a Thalys or Intercity Direct train from Schiphol.

yorkshire

Thank you--I think the paper tickets may be easier, even if I lose some money, it is more simple. I like simple, and it is a brief trip, no time to fuss about for a return of €20.
If I do manage to get a chip and pin card, can I purchase paper tickets with it from a machine?
The thalys and intercity direct do not stop until Rotterdam, plus they require a supplement, and I want to look for intercity (NS) trains, some of which require a transfer at Leiden--I think I've about got it now.
Thanks again for all of your help. I do live in a city and use a metro, etc. but I do get a bit nervous about a journey with no sleep, hence the over eager planning!

menachem

>>>A neat way to get to Rotterdam is to go by tram from Delft to Rotterdam's center - not that far and you go right thru town centers - train of course quicker.

There is NO tram from Delft to Rotterdam: you'll have to take a train.

Supplement for intercity direct is 2.30, not really an immense amount.

If you have the right chip, you can get one time chipcard tickets, with a pre determined itinerary from any machine.

If it were me, I would take IC direct from from Schiphol to Rotterdam, hang out a bit there, store my luggage at the hotel, and see the Markthal, have lunch there.

Tip. The public library right opposite Markthal as an incredibly comfortable reading room on the second floor, with wonderful chairs. Pick up a book, and pretend to read, even if you have a tiny nap, no one will mind.

There's a nice cafe downstairs too, or on the roof terrace if the weather is nice.

Where's your hotel in Rotterdam?

annhig

Delft is lovely - we stayed there for 3 nights a few years ago. we didn't go to the porcelain museum but enjoyed looking at the china in the shops, though the only place that we could find the cereal bowls that we wanted was shop in the Oude Kerk; all the other bowls had fancy cut-outs in the sides which would let the milk out! So we think about our trip to Delft every day as we eat our cornflakes.

sorry for that diversion.

if you decide to go there for a day trip watch out for the cyclists - they are silent, ruthless and potentially lethal.

PalenQ

>>>A neat way to get to Rotterdam is to go by tram from Delft to Rotterdam's center - not that far and you go right thru town centers - train of course quicker.>

Oops I were talking about The Hague and stupidly for some reason put in Rotterdam - trams do run from Delft to the center of The Hague - we were talking about The Hague and brain malfunctioned (again)!

Thanks for correcting that.

menachem

No problem. And yes, the tram ride from The Hague to Delft is very nice, along the Vliet.

There is a light rail connection now from The Hague to Rotterdam, along the old Hofplein track, via Nootdorp, Pijnacker, Berkel-Rodenrijs. This is an extension of the Rotterdam metro network and gets you to Beurs Metro direct, ie directly to the Rotterdam city centre. We almost exclusively use this connection from Rotterdam.

PalenQ

There is a light rail connection now from The Hague to Rotterdam, along the old Hofplein track, via Nootdorp, Pijnacker, Berkel-Rodenrijs.>

I took that as a train - kind of weird - goes thru modern high-rise flats and newish looking cities and terminated in Rotterdam at a little used station right in the town center. thanks for the update on that.

yorkshire

Thanks again everyone.
I am a bicycle commuter so hope I can manage to avoid a problem, but just curious--is there a local etiquette for passing pedestrians? (In DC area, we ring a bell or say "on your left.")
I don't know where I will be staying in Rotterdam yet, waiting for the husband's assignment. I booked the Hotel Parkview near the Vondelpark in Amsterdam, as the pickings were getting slim for a month away.

PalenQ

In Holland there are usually separate bike paths for pedestrians and those for 'fiets' or bicyclists - marked by a picture sign of a man walking with a child for the former and of course a drawing of a bicycle for the latter. One should never ever ride on a pedestrian path but in the road if there is no bike path.

and know bike path etiquette too - slow bikes keep to the right or incur the wrath of more speedy ones - in cities at rush hours it can be very chaotic.

menachem

Rotterdam is easier by cycle than Amsterdam, simply because it's not that crowded on the bike paths (smaller modal share of cycle movements, because the city is so car adapted). Through routes through the city all have segregated bike paths, much more so than can be the case in Amsterdam where there isn't room for those, along the canals.

The Park is a nice place to visit (if you have time, have a peek inside the Norwegian Seaman's Mission there) as is the Kralingse Plas in the northern part of the city.

Hotel New York is nice, although it's South of the river, and of course, you could stay on the old Rotterdam cruise liner, but it's a bit out of the way if you want easy access to the center.

In fact, the Hilton to me seems quite OK and it acquired two good restaurants recently: Stadshal for casual dining and the ambitious Joelia by Michelin star chef Marco de Ridder.

Katendrecht is the emerging hip place to be and the area where I live, Laurenskwartier, around Hoogstraat and Binnenrotte is now in a lot of glossy magazines too.

PalenQ

Rotterdam has the unfortunate case of being blitzed to bits in WW2 and thus have wider broader streets in the centrum - Amsterdam is much more congested due to many narrow streets in the centrum that have to accommodate both cars and bikes and pedestrians.

menachem

Yes, exactly, which is also a function of conscious decisions of the reconstruction architects, as far back as 1941! It is a well hidden secret that far more iconic buildings survived than is generally assumed. The first reconstruction plan, by Witteveen ordered the demolition of all of them in order to create the rational infrastructure we know today. I live in the area that was first reconstructed, a friend lives in the very first block of apartments that was built even during the war. Recently people have started to pay attention to this area of reconstruction and fortunately so, because Rotterdammers tend to want to demolish what they don't like, and then build something new on top of it