BCHTexas

This is the first time to sight see on my own and would like some help. I'll be spending 3 days in Basel Switzerland and 4 days in Amsterdam before and after a river cruise. I am no longer young and carefree... more like "mature" and cautious, but would love some ideas of fun things to do and see. I enjoy all types of history especially medieval and WW11, trying different foods and local drinks, and like to relax with a glass of wine and just people watch. In Basel I'm staying at the Hotel Spalentor near the old town. Does anyone know about how much a taxis cost from the airport to the hotel I want to be sure I have enough euros when I arrive .I will also be staying in Amsterdam 4 days at the Amsterdam America near the Rijksmuseum. I would really appreciate any suggestions of things I must see or tours I should take. I will be traveling in August and assume the tulips will not be in bloom, is that correct?

Phil

BHCTexas:

As to Basel, you should be aware that Switzerland is not on the Euro but still uses Swiss Francs (CHF). Taxi fare from the Airport to Hotel Spalentor should be around CHF 40 to 45. All taxis accept credit cards, so the currency should not be a problem.

Hotel Spalentor is well situated near the old town and you will be able to explore much on foot, although you will be given a ticket for the free use of public transport in and around Basel during your stay.

One of my favorite Restaurants not too far off Spalentor is "Atelier", the ground-floor restaurant of Michelin-starred "Teufelhof". You may want to check their website at www.teufelhof.com; there is an English version, click on "Sprache" at the top left corner.

August is the ideal month to watch people on the banks of the Rhine from one of the restaurants; there will also be free pop concerts by local and other Swiss groups in the evening on the raft moored just upstream from the Middle Bridge.

If you could tell more about your interests, I will be able to suggest a few thing to do and see in Basel. Also, feel free to ask any questions.

Enjoy your trip

Phil.

PalenQ

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ite-things.cfm

some Amsterdam things I and others think are neat and useful.

What are you interested in - Amsterdam is a multi-faceted town with literally something for everyone. The only must thing to do IMO first off is to take a canal-boat tour - from any of several places including one right near your hotel, in front of the Rijksmuseum.

To satiate your WW2 history appetite check out the Dutch Resistance Museum: http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/...ent_exhibition and of course the Anne Frank House - with 4 days and hitting major museums presumably like Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum near it the National Museum Card will pay off with just going to a few and you also get priority entrance at some crowded ones - also good at Anne Frank House and zillions of museums like the Dutch Resistance Museum and dozens of others literally in Amsterdam.

Dukey1

Are you taking the Viking River cruise between these two cities? If you are, be aware that the dock for those boats in Basel is somewhat removed and a taxi may be your best option to reach it.

In Amsterdam, the boats dock within sight of the Centraal Station and it is an easy walk over to get the trams or a taxi.

If costs are an issue, you may want to consider using the trams/train from Amsterdam out to the airport; much cheaper than a cab. There is also a hotel shuttle transfer service in A-dam you can book in advance.

As to Basel, there are good public transport options and you can also easily walk to some sites. For example, we walked from the RR station in Basel to the art museum in order to view the Rodin works.

In Amsterdam, if your hotel is near the Rijks you are golden in terms of using trams to get around.

menachem

American, or Americain is a great, historic place to stay. Busy though, and Leidseplein is quite touristy. On the other hand, can't be beat for ease of tram stops. Be aware you have the Vondelpark on your doorstep. Nice for a stroll, and the area around it, especially the area surrounding Vondelstraat and Vondelkerk is of special interest, as it was one of the first property developements in the Netherlands, by Alberdingk Thijm and architect Pierre Cuypers, who also drew the Rijksmuseum and the Central Station. Alberdingk Thijm and Cuijpers were both catholics in a nation that was dominatingly protestant. Vondelpark itself and the surrounding area were to be a sign of the resurgence of catholicism in a protestant country. Vondel, poet of the young Dutch republic, converted to catholicism and so was a hero of post-emancipation catholics.

Here's a walk with points of interest in this most interesting, but often overlooked part of town

http://www.gotoursamsterdam.nl/wp-co...GO_West_en.pdf

PalenQ

Vondel Park is neat today to walk around - a surprise at every turn - one of the most popular biking routes in/out of the city and a nice place to rent a bike and putz around this large sprawling park with a very famous rose garden - it used to have cows in it but not sure now!

rncheryl

We are planning a river trip next year and are looking at pre and post trip stays as well.

I found this WWII walking tour in Amsterdam which gets quite good reviews on Trip Advisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio..._Province.html

Could I suggest you go to Cruise Critic, find the River Cruise forum and browse some posts about what people are planning.

www.cruisecritic.com

colonna

Two worth-the-trip-to-Basel museums are the Tinguely (crazy automatons, stabiles, etc in a park-like setting) and the Beyler Foundation (beautiful collection of 20th c art, heavy on Picasso, in a former dairy farm). Both easy to get to on public transit.

I also enjoyed the Pharmacy Museum (especially if you're into medieval/Renaissance life) and the fine arts museum.

Dukey1

EVERYWHERE (of note) is "touristy" in Amsterdam, let's face it, and that will include the OP but so what? Vondelpark? You think there won't be tourists there?

PalenQ

Vondel Park is my years of jogging, biking and walking thru it is surprisingly rather devoid of foreign tourists outside the weekly concerts or flea markets if those are still going on.

Very few tourists put a park on their hit list - and the park in certain places attracts kind the dregs of society or so they would appear.

The park is a main bike route for commuters and folks exercising their dogs, themselves, etc.

So dukey I do not know on what the HECK you base that baseless IME of decades of park watching just WRONG comment.

Indeed the park is a favorite of Dutch mothers who flock to the Milk House - a cafe overlooking a large young kids' play area.

menachem

Dukey, I beg to differ.

NRC, a national newspaper, had tourists gps track themselves and collated the results. Here's the article for google translate (titled "Herd Animals")

http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2015/05/11/over-toeristen/

If you look at the tracking map in the article, you can see where the touristy bits are.

See the one, lone loop someone did around Vondelpark?

Also it demonstrates that once you step outside the boundaries of "tourist Amsterdam", the city is nearly devoid of tourists. They congregate along the routes made visible in the GPS project.

Dukey1

When I was last in Vondelpark there were a LOT of other people there and I would assume that at least some of them were "tourists." So, does that mean I am WRONG about the place just because YOUR experience was different than my own?

If so, then I am sorry but we will have to continue to disagree with each other.

PalenQ

Yes you are wrong overall - read menachem's pos and you would have realized that before making another DAFT comment showing a cursory knowledge of something you seem to lcaim to know.

Vondel Park is one of the least touristed parts of Amsterdam as foreign tourists go - again read menachem's comment before spouting off nonsense again (and again). Or do you think menachem who has lived in Amsterdam and is Dutch is simply wrong and you are right? RIGHT!

Cheers!

menachem

Well, my experience is that usually tourists on bike do the short loop or keep to the area between Kleine Gartman Plantsoen and Van Baerlestraat. The further you go towards Amstelveenseweg (and yes it stretches all the way to there and is a popular commuting route between West Amsterdam and the centre), the fewer tourists you'll see. Already at the Groot Melkhuis and at Blauwe Theehuis, they are curiously absent. The GPS track data, although not representative, would suggest a pattern similar to the one PalenQ and I have observed.

Also, the gps track thing demonstrates that no, not everywhere in Amsterdam is touristy. Once you get outside the tourist area, it's just Amsterdam. Next time, go to Sarphatipark for instance. It will be obvious then. The hordes are only around Dam, Nieuwmarkt, Damrak, Museumplein, Heineken and Anne Frank House.

PalenQ

Ssome tourists obviously visit the Netherlands Film Institute or whatever it is called at the very tip of Vondel Park - but even then I bet most of those patrons are Dutch not foreign tourists.

<When I was last in Vondelpark there were a LOT of other people there and I would assume that at least some of them were "tourists." So, does that mean I am WRONG about the place just because YOUR experience was different than my own?>

You were there once for what a few minutes and jumped to conclusions with not one iota of knowing whether it was true or not - you would assume - well you assumed WRONG - so quit defenidng a simply un-defendable stance - menachem knows what she is talking about and I base my observations on literally hundreds of times in that park over decades - oh well if you want to agree to disagree then do it and continue to be clueless - I suggest you stick to commenting on things you may know something about rather than assuming things to be true that simply ain't.

cheers!

menachem

Film Institute has moved to across the IJ and is now called EYE (get it? very subtle)

There's a fancy cafe in the old Film Museum now.

PalenQ

So even fewer potential foreign tourists than before - which was nearly none. What reason would an everage foreign tourist have to come to Vondel Park - except perhaps to jog or bike and I haven't seen many doing that. If you want to escape the tourists hoardes in Amsterdam go to Vondel Park - sweet walks - nice picnic places - a play to smoke pot... or if gay have legal public sex!

menachem

Smoke Dutch herbs, and of course the Stayokay Youth Hostel is there.

for gay sex we have the banks of Nieuwe Meer.

Tulips

That's a great site Menachem! A good map for tourists wanting to get off the beaten Amsterdam paths.

Palenq, it is not legal to have sex in public in Amsterdam, wether gay or otherwise.
Nor is it legal to smoke pot on the streets. Cannabis is condoned, you will not be prosecuted for having it for your own use, but smoke it in the coffeeshop or in your home.

PalenQ

Tulips - so the reports about it being legal to have gay sex or perhaps any sex in certain parts of Vondel Park are not true - sources I've seen say they are or at least were - not sure you are correct about this - I'll wait to menachem speaks on it.

Yes it is illegal to smoke pot even in coffeeshops - pot is illegal in Holland but condoned as would be smoking a spliff in Vondel Park unless right in front of families, etc - same as gay sex OK if discrete it seems.