geetlily

Hi ,

Can anyone please help me on deciding which option would be better , my trip would be like :

Friday : Rijksmuseum , The hague ,van gogh museum (open on fridasy till 10 pm ) ,
Saturday : Keukenhof (tulip garden and windmills )
Sunday : Canal cruise , madam tussads , hop on hop off , red light district

As we would b visiting only 3 museums and hotel is near Airport (free shuttle from hotel to airport ) , need local transport only from airport , would it make sense to buy individual tickets for museum and then buy i amsterdam card or holland pass 2 would be better ??

I am visiting ofr the first time and cant decide to see which one would be work better

Thank you for you replies as always

Tulips

Sorry can't really help; we have a Museumkaart which is great value - I don't know the cost of these other options and what they cover.

But can I just say that visiting the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and The Hague in one day is a too much. The Hague is a daytrip.
On Saturday you are visiting Keukenhof. That leaves you with hardly any time in Amsterdam. Are you not visiting the Hermitage in Amsterdam, the Anne Frank Huis? I would skip Madame Tussaud in favour of those.

Is the hop-on-hop-off a bus or boat? You're already doing a canal cruise. Amsterdam is very walkable - you don't need a hop-on-hop-off.

And why are you staying near the airport and not in town? Stay in town if you can!

geetlily

sTAYING IN TOWN : i just booked the hotel this week , almost everything was booked

yes saturday is only for Tulip gardens

Hop on and hop off are off the list now .. thanks for this diea and yes i can skip tussads also

PalenQ

No Anne Frank House - I'd skip the Tussauds thing myself and substitute that sobering place. the House is now covered by the Museum Pass.

hetismij2

Unless you are a fan of famous Dutch people I would skip Tussauds, an expensive and boring option imho.
You can't do The Hague with the museums. You could possibly do it after Keukenhof, if you get there early and don't want to spend all day there.

Tulips

When are going to Amsterdam - if you say everything is booked. April 26?

PalenQ

Saturday : Keukenhof (tulip garden and windmills>

by public transit take the train to Leiden and then constant shuttle buses right to the Keukenhof entrance.

If you want to see more than one windmill - I think there is one huge wooden windmill at The Keukenhof - you could take the train from Leiden back to Amsterdam and change at Amsterdam-Sloterdijk station before going into the heart of Amsterdam and take a short train ride from there to Zaanse Schanse - the second largest groupings of windmills in Holland - take train to Koog Zaandijk station and then it is a short walk from there.

https://www.google.com/search?q=zaan...=1600&bih=1075

PalenQ

If you want to tiptoe thru the flowers you can walk on a minor road to the north of the gardens and be surrounded by miles of undulating pulchritudinous blooms - even if tulips have wilted away. Or you can take bus #100 from the Keukenhof to Haarlem and this goes right thru the heart of the fields.

Haarlem is a great old regional town only 20 minutes or so from Amsterdam by train - get off the bus at the south end of the pedestrian zone and walk about a mile thru the town center via the Grote Markt - mammoth town square lined by stately facades - to the train station (or stay on the bus to it).

scrb11

I'm going for 3 and a 1/2 days, arrive Sunday afternoon, fly out Thursday morning.

I Amsterdam City Card is 47, 57 or 67 Euro for 1, 2, or 3 days.

If you just get the transport passes, they are 7.50 12, 16.50 or 21 Euro for 1, 2, 3, or 4 days.

But the I Amsterdam City Card offers admission only to certain museums, including Van Gough but not the Ann Frank House or the Rijiksmuseum (only a $2.50 Euro discount):

http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/expe...ty-card-offers

Van Gough and Rijiksmuseum are 13 Euro each, so I don't understand the value of the I Amsterdam City Card unless lesser-known attractions and the 25% discounts for bike rentals and some restaurants make up the difference? I don't know if the restaurants listed are worth dining at.

Holland Pass offers free entry to the major museums but seems to be only of benefit if you also want to visit some second-tier (their Silver tickets) attractions?

http://hollandpass.com/pdf/FOLDER_overzicht.pdf

I'm leaning towards a 3 or 4 day transport ticket and paying directly for Rijiks, Van Gough and Ann Frank. Though if you have to buy passes to get fast track entry to these venues, I would like to hear about which way?

I see a 1-year Museum Card for all of Holland. But unless I want to visit at least half a dozen venues during 3.5 days, it doesn't seem worth it? Anyone know if you can visit the Rijiks and Van Gough more than once with the Museum Card? Does it offer fast track entry?

scrb11

Okay, according to this, you can enter multiple times and fast track in most places:

http://www.amsterdamtips.com/tips/mu...-amsterdam.php

But beyond the Van Gough, Rijiksmuseum and Ann Frank House, are there other museums worth visiting during a 3.5 day visit, my first to Amsterdam?

Unless the weather is bad -- will be going there end of this month -- I'd rather spend time outside.

I understand the Keukenhof isn't worth visiting after April because the tulips are no longer in bloom?

anyegr

scrb11 wrote: "are there other museums worth visiting"

Well, it really depends on if you like museums or not. I found myself going into some museums I wouldn't have even thought of if I hadn't had the museum card. I'm also the sort of person who gets bored after about an hour in most museums, so paying full price would feel rather wasteful.

On the day I bought the card I walked into and through four museums. The Jewish Museum, Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum and Van Gogh. If I'd paid for all those separately it would have been more than the cost of the card. I also went to Ann Frank's House and the Amsterdam Museum on later days. But I was there for eight nights (in June 2013), so I had more days than you do and had time for both outdoors and indoors things.

The weather can be unpredictable. Some days were nice, some days it rained and I thought it was too cold for an icecream when I was in Delft.

Gulmira

Hi

could anyone give me an advice, what should I see in 1 day in Amsterdam? Arriving on friday night, leaving sunday morning. Is it better to buy a separate tickets for museums or some card, which will safe me some money. I have never been in Amsterdam before.

Thank you in advance

menachem

Better to start a separate thread than revive an old one. You'll get more replies that way

janisj

Welcome to Fodors Gulmira. Re menachem's post, perhaps you didn't notice this thread is more then 4 years old. See the 'Post a New Topic' button? Click that and start a new thread of your own.

PalenQ

Re menachem's post, perhaps you didn't notice this thread is more then 4 years old>

New math?

But yes start a new thread.

In one day hit the Anne Frank House, do a canal boat tour and visit one major museum if those strike your fancy.

Walking around the Jordan - cute canals is a nice as any single sight IMO.

janisj

oops . . . 2.5 years old.

Not new math . . . another member had just topped a 4 year old thread and I was in a groove . . .