wanderful

The Kroller-Muller Museum looks like a very worthwhile day trip, but I'm concerned about the circuitous route a traveler based in Amsterdam would need to take to get there — a combination of train and bus options, not to mention, a possible bike ride or even a taxi. I'd like to do it in May, but not if it's too tough to get to and get back from in the course of a day.

What was your experience at the Kroller-Museum? Any tips on the best way to get to the museum from Amsterdam? Or did you pass on it while in Amsterdam, for one reason or another?

PalenQ

I did it recently - a snap - took at train to Wenegen-Ede (sp?) and then just outside hopped a bus that went right to the Kroler-Museum. On return I took a bus to Arnhem, looked around that neat city and took a train back to Amsterdam from there.

Takes about two hours tops each way - buy bus tickets inside the Wenegen-Ede train station. Note National Museum Cards I found out are not valid at the Kroller-Muller even though they are at the Van gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

wanderful

PalenQ:

My reference point is Steves's Amsterdam guide: His preferred option is taking the train to Ede-Wageningen, which you did. Then catch the #108 bus to Otterlo. (That sounds like the bus you took.) Then get off the bus at the Otterlo Rotonde (a roundabout at the edge of town). Then some walking or a bike ride to the museum. You seem to be saying that the Otterlo bus from the E-W train station is more direct to the museum (or involves just a little walking.)

hetismij2

You need bus 108S to the Rotonde Otterlo 9a roundabout), then the 106 to the museum. it takes an hour and threequarters if you go direct to Ede-Wageningen from Amsterdam. It is only 1h 30mins if you go via Utrecht station.

Note that any public transport card you buy in Amsterdam, with the exception of the anonymous OV chipcard (which costs €7.50 and needs money putting on it) is not valid on the buses to the Kroller Muller. You will need to buy tickets on the bus. Check with the driver of the first bus weather you need to buy another ticket on the second bus - I am not sure how they work nowadays.

hetismij2

Meant to say - it is a long day but I think it is worth it. There is also the sculpture garden, the chance to ride bikes for free through the park and just it's just a nice day out of the city.
The white bikes are for anyone to use so be prepared for yours to have gone if you leave it somewhere - you just take another one, alternatively you can reserve a bike for a small fee which is then yours for the day.

PalenQ

Well yes I did make a simple transfer at Otterloo roundabout - but going to Arnhem it went straight I believe from the museum area.

Steves idea is to just take the bus to the Otterloo Roundabout then hop on the free bikes that are stabled there and roll over the flat several miles or so thru the wild Hooge Veluwe National Park - basically a sand dune dotted with trees - the bike ride to me is not much and would take time - the bike path paralleled the bus it seems. I used one strip card, which I think does not exist anymore to cover both buses and also used it in amsterdam - but things have changed - simply the driver what is the best deal for coming and going. anyway not a whole lot.

wanderful

PalenQ & hetismij2:

Many thanks for your information about visiting the Kroller-Muller.

I'm definitely going.

TravelingMan76

Hope your experience is better than ours. We got of at the wrong stop, walked through a forest ( no path) for what seemed like hours; when we finally got to the museum, we learned that the bulk of the Van Gogh art was on tour. Bad planning,I know.

greg

Tagging along, here is a more ambitious plan. I have a long layover at Schiphol, in fact all afternoon plus overnight. I have been to Amsterdam several times before, and Kröller-Müller Museum always got postponed to a future trip. This time I want to go there provided that most of the major works are still there.

I have computed public transport options, and it takes too much time, so I am thinking of taking a taxi -- time is more valuable for this trip. I would like to make it a flat rate proposition to go there, wait, and come back, but I don't know if taxis operate on a negotiated price basis instead of by the meter.

I have found some online operators who would operate on a fixed price basis, but if I can do on the spot negotiation, I rather want to do it that way. If I don't like the price, I have enough other things to do in Amsterdam.

LSky

We're planning a second trip to the Kröller-Müller because we only gave ourselves an afternoon. It's a huge place the sculpture garden alone can take up an afternoon.

Go early and plan to stay all day. Actually, the rest of the park looks very interesting.

hetismij2

greg - a taxi would cost a fortune! You need need a service which is allowed to pick you up at Schiphol, pay for the travel to and from, plus waiting time, and the park entrance fee for two people and a car.
Assuming there are no traffic jams (which there could easily be) it takes over an hour to drive from Schiphol to the Kroller Muller. The museum is only open until 5 pm so if you are arriving in the afternoon you will not have any time to get there and appreciate it.

tarquin

I am just back from Genova where I saw the exhibition Van Gogh and il Viaggio di Gauguin (until 15th April) with lots of Van Goghs from the Kroller-Muller, so you might want to check what will be available to see on your proposed date.

LSky

Catch the early train.

PalenQ

Greg should take a train from Schiphol to Ede-Weningen and then take a taxi from there and save perhaps a few hundred euro that way. But I guess if you got unlimited funds to spend then ...

hetismij2

It still takes an hour to get to Ede-Wageningen by train, then find a taxi, go to the museum, (probably another 30 minutes) pay entrance for the taxi and 2 people, pay for taxi to wait, and then take him back, in which case he may as well go by train and bus.

Given the museum closes at 5 I just can't see it is worth the time and expense.

PalenQ

Well to get from Schiphol to Kroller-Muller in a day is a snap - there are frequent direct trains to Ede-Weningen that take 1 h 02 minutes and there will be taxis IME waiting out front and buses as well that with a simple change - most tourist types get off one bus and on another - never have to bike, etc.

Max two hours each way with several hours there - more than enough for the average tourist. What could be simpler than that. In Holland the Trein + Taxi program, which I assume still exists, lets you book a taxi to be waiting at any train station I believe - ask about it anyway.

Vttraveler

This museum and the surrounding park are well worth visiting. We were fortunate enough to have friends who could drive us there. See my TR from last fall, Day 5 for a little more detail
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...etherlands.cfm

greg

I have just visited Kröller-Müller Museum, and I was glad I did it, and I was not rushed.

I ended up spending 3 hrs at the Museum. Spent 90min looking at outdoor sculptures. Unless one is mobility impaired, this was sufficient to cover the main path and many side paths of the entire ground. I spent 90min to view the inside exhibit. Since it was mostly an hour before closing, I spent as much time as I cared in front of painting without anyone else being bothered.

I had a taxi pick us up at Schiphol, drive us to the Museum, wait 3 hrs, then drop us at Leidseplein in Amsterdam. The metered charge would have been 210EU if I had not negotiated a 150EU fixed price.

If I was to go back there as a full day trip using public transits, that would have required a separate trip to the Netherlands, and that would be at least $2400 for two of us. Hence, even though at prima facie, the taxi appears to be expensive, it was less than 1/16th of the cost of doing it the way recommended by others who might have more fund for trips.