Ireland and Amsterdam in 11 days

Old Feb 8th, 2017, 03:32 AM
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Ireland and Amsterdam in 11 days

I have booked a round trip to Dublin in May 6-17. I just found out I can fly to Amsterdam and back for free. I have roughly 10-11 days to see both. My husband and I love to bike, hike and experience new sights. Any suggestions?
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Old Feb 8th, 2017, 05:20 AM
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Ireland and Amsterdam in 11 days
Posted by: Ampm on Feb 8, 17 at 7:32am
I just found out I can fly to Amsterdam and back for free. I have roughly 10-11 days to see both. My husband and I love to bike, hike and experience new sights. Any suggestions?


Fly to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, stay in Haarlem, rent bikes, and pedal to Keukenhof, http://www.enjoy-europe.com/travelog/Keukenhof2008.htm. The bike paths in Holland are amazing. They even have their own traffic lights and there is no "right-on-red" allowed for cars.

Use the train to visit Amsterdam. It's about 20 minutes from Haarlem.
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Old Feb 10th, 2017, 10:40 AM
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Near Haarlem there are also the Waterleidingduinen and more to the north you'll find the Kennemerduinen: great areas to walk and bike in.
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Old Feb 10th, 2017, 12:13 PM
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Well spend a few days in Amsterdam -you can take a train to Haarlem-rent a bike at the station and pedal to Keukenhof and back but put fabulous Amsterdam as the focus on your trip.
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Old Feb 10th, 2017, 01:49 PM
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Dutch trains are great - twice hourly or more it seems to every city and many towns in country and you can take bikes on most regional ones though you have to buy a Fiets Card to do so - all day validity - so you could rent a bike in Amsterdam and put it on trains to anywhere and ride to your heart's content - easily returning to A'dam with it on the train.

Check www.ns.nl and www.seat61.com- Dutch Railways for info on trains - for places to go by rail also www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

For a fine bike ride take bike and train to Zandvoort - popping seaside resort (eye popping in nude beach area) and ride thru the sand dunes (on paved bike paths) to The Hague and return from there by train.

I've also enjoyed Amsterdam itself via the free ferries behind Central Station (train) and the ride thru Waterland - and cute old villages.

Or take train to Gouda, fine old regional town famous for its cheese, and ride a flat 10-15 miles to Kinderdijk, NL's largest grouping of behemoth wooden windmills- the take boat with bike to Rotterdam - return from there.

Most advise against biking in Amsterdam itself - kind of like Indy 500 -only for experienced Amsterdam riders- no fun!
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Old Feb 10th, 2017, 02:09 PM
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If you decide how many days you have left for Ireland if any I will be happy to lend a little local knowledge..
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Old Feb 10th, 2017, 02:13 PM
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Any easy biking around Dublin?
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Old Feb 11th, 2017, 02:26 AM
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Oh I think you should ask ur man in 61 or Rick Steves they seem to be your experts on everything everywhere Paulen

You will find lots of cyclists in and around Dublin, Dublin has its own cycle scheme and lets face it I cant book a room for one weekend in May if I want to place folk in or around Clifden because everywhere is booked solid by Cyclists.. (Tour de Connemara)
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Old Feb 11th, 2017, 12:37 PM
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T2phones - no those are experts on rail travel and if you read my posts you'd know I only reference them when someone is doing a rail trip - the best informative sites I know - not sure what your problem is but I'm sorry I asked the question!

Cheers!
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