Kay2

I'll be in Delft for business in late June. Flying into AMS on Sunday at 11:00 and need to be in Delft noon on Wednesday. I've been to both Amsterdam and Delft several times, so want to spend my time elsewhere.

I made a wish list of what I think would interest me and came up with an impossible combination of number of destinations and timing (Monday closings), so I need some help to choose and then schedule using the handy 9292.nl website (using public transit, not driving).

My list contains:
Aalsmeer Flower Auction
Kroller-Muller Museum which led me to Paleis Het Loo
Maurithuis Museum

If K-M and PHL were not closed on Mondays I would have many options, but they are both closed, so Tuesday is my only option there. So, I have come up with a straw man for you to consider:

Sunday - train to Den Haag Centraal, leave bag at nearby hotel (check in if possible), then visit Maurithuis (open until 18:00). Early night.

Monday - De Haagse Markt, train to Amersfoort (it is en route), leave bag at station and wander old town, train on to Apeldoorn for night. [options--more time in Den Haag for Escher or similar]

Tuesday - buses to Kroller-Muller for a couple hours, then buses to Paleis Het Loo for couple hours, night in Apeldoorn. [options--skip PHL, visit Jachthuis Sint Hubertus on tour if possible]

Wednesday - train to Delft

This plan leaves out the flower auction.
Do you have suggestions of what to skip or add to make the plan more reasonable?
I added Amertsfoort because it is a stop enroute and I enjoy architecture. Is there someplace I should go instead on Monday?
I added Paleis Het Loo because I do like to see furnishings as well as seemingly reasonable to see in conjunction with the K-M, but the art museum is of higher priority (not as interested in the sculpture garden or the natural park).

I travel with one 22 inch rollaboard and a daypack and walk at least 5 miles a day at home, so the pace is OK for me. The logistics/order of visits as well as the opening/closing times are more complicated than I would prefer, though.

Tulips

Hi Kay,
In Den Haag, don't miss the Panorama Mesdag!
I don't know about the Haagse Markt? If you have an interest in food markets. Not the nicest part of town. I would do Lange Voorhout, Dennenweg, Noordeinde - perhaps Vredespaleis. Definitely Panorama Mesdag.

When visiting Kroller Moller, pick up one of the bikes at the entrance. You may as well visit Sint Hubertus while you are in the park - I think there are limited opening hours for seeing the inside. It's been a while since we were there.

I don't know Amersfoort, perhaps others here can comment.

menachem

Haagse Markt is just a large food market. Don't know about it not being "the nicest part of town", presumably because it's in Schilderswijk where the poorer and more foreign people live? That being said, it's not that interesting a market. But as a window into the other Netherlands it is very interesting. Thing about The Hague is, that its demarcation lines are based on class, and have been, since centuries.

I'd go straight to Apeldoorn, and leave Amersfoort out.

So that gives you an extra night and time to visit Het Loo and roam the gardens and park. I was especially impressed with the park, with its "play" villas that a number of royal personages built, the old shooting range and the horse graves that members of the royal family dug for their horses (and dogs). A feature of the park are the natural sources and the canalised brooks that crisscross the park.

You would then also have a full day for Kroller Muller and Hoge Veluwe. That could include lunch at the village of Otterlo. The natural park is very beautiful and interesting, as is the St Hubertus hunting lodge, but you knew that already.

Kay2

Thanks for feedback on the market.
I've substituted Lange Voorhout. Panorama Mesdag looks bizarre enough to be interesting.

Being in the Apeldoorn area on Monday does not allow me to spend more time at Het Loo or the Kröller Müller--both are closed. That is my problem. I only have Tuesday to visit one or both.

My husband suggests I reconsider my plan, choose a town/hotel near a train station convenient to Schiphol, Den Haag, and Apeldoorn. Then travel to Den Haag either on Sunday evening or on Monday (Maurithuis open in afternoon). Do long day trip to Apeldoorn on Tuesday. Stay in same hotel 3 nights instead of Den Haag 1 and Apeldoorn 2.

The train connection hubs along the line with reasonably priced hotels close by the station appear to be Amersfoort or Utreicht. (Schiphol of course would be on the lines, but staying near airport not usually pleasant.) Would one of these make a pleasant base--relatively quiet, pleasant place to walk in evenings?

PalenQ

Wednesday - train to Delft

This plan leaves out the flower auction.
Do you have suggestions of what to skip or add to make the plan more reasonable?>

Well en route to Delft you could first take the bus from Amsterdam to Aalsmeer Flower Auction (I did it 0 arrive early for best show) then bus from there to Schiphol and hop train to Delft.

Bus to auction takes about 45 minutes or so - 15 mins to Schiphol.

<The train connection hubs along the line with reasonably priced hotels close by the station appear to be Amersfoort or Utreicht. (Schiphol of course would be on the lines, but staying near airport not usually pleasant.) Would one of these make a pleasant base--relatively quiet, pleasant place to walk in evenings?>

Utrecht with its popular canal walk would be sweet - Leiden is just as close to Schiphol as any town and is extremely walkable and relatively quiet away from the university area -like in the town center after store closings.

hetismij2

Utrecht is the centre of the Dutch railway network, so it is a reasonable place to choose for your three nights if you can find a hotel close to the station. It is a lively city and certainly worth a visit in any case.
Alternatively stay in Amersfoort. There are a couple of hotels not too far from the station. The station is a bit of a hie from the centre though. You could always get a bus in. Amersfoort has some good restaurants and a lot of old buildings, some of it's city gates and walls too You can take a boat tour through the city on a tiny boat! http://www.amersfoort-rondvaarten.nl...els/index.html


If yo manage to fit in the flower auction try and get the combined ticket for the Aalsmeer historic gardens, where you can listen to my DH's dulcet tones giving you the audio tour in English.
https://www.royalfloraholland.com/en...tion/aalsmeer/

PalenQ

Aalsmeer historic gardens>

did not know about these when I went - sounds neat.

PalenQ

Sunday - train to Den Haag Centraal, leave bag at nearby hotel (check in if possible), then visit Maurithuis (open until 18:00). Early night.>

easy to do Aalsmeer Flower extravaganza this day as well.

Or you could easily do The Hague sights when going to Delft - you can take a tram there instead of train -nice slow route along canals.

PalenQ

Be sure to research the Netherlands Museum Pass if visiting enough museums and palaces, etc. Delft has several nice ones covered.

Not sure Kroller-Muller is covered - they would not honor mine several years ago but think it is supposed to be now. Gives priority entrance at times.

http://www.dutchmuseums.com/museumcard.php

Kay2

Oh my. I hadn't planned on the Aalsmeer historic gardens, but if hetismin2's DH recorded the audio tour, I think all Fodorites should go!

I will have to do further research on Utrecht and Amerfoort--hotels and access.

If I decide I must see the auction, I will book near AMS for arrival night, planning for rest once I can check in and early night. Get up early on Monday and get to the auction via bus or taxi, then go back to hotel and pack up, head down to Den Haag for afternoon museums, then up to Apeldoorn for two nights. I'm thinking that is too much, so I should skip either the auction or Den Haag.

Once I get to Delft, it is all work and no play.

PalenQ

Once I get to Delft, it is all work and no play.>

Umh -Your in Holland and IME few Dutch subscribe to that motto but the contrary - especially Friday and Saturday and yes Sunday evenings Dutch, at least of a certain age, love to go to pubs around town squares - many have Monday morning off - twinned with partying Sunday night.

Well you may not be into party-atmosphere pubs but there is no such thing tolerated in Holland as 'no work and no play' - savor the opportunity to do like the Dutch and relax as well - lots of nice short day trips from Delft- Kinderdijk Windmills a nice bike and boat ride from Delft via Rotterdam to the mills:

https://www.google.com/search?q=kind...w=1745&bih=864

Don't let your sightseeing end upon your solitary at hard labor situation perceived but travel around on weekends, etc. Antwerp, Brussels even Bruges easily got to in a few hours or Paris for the weekend.

Play is as important as work unless you are the rare persona who thinks work is play!

Cheers!

Kay2

There are hotels near the Hoofddorp station near Schiphol where bus goes to the flower auction plus train to Den Haag, etc., so that is an option, but a commercial district not too pleasant for the evening unless I am just sleeping.

hetismij2

I don't know many Dutch who have Monday morning off. Even shopkeepers tend to open up on Monday morning now. The rest have always had a Monday to Friday 36 or 40 hour work week.

Tulips

' many have Monday morning off - twinned with partying Sunday night'

That's absolutely not the case.

PalenQ

OK -twas once that way in Amsterdam but times have changed...Sunday used to be a big party night in Amsterdam and I was told because many had Monday mornings off- wrong now I guess. Thanks for the correction.

dwdvagamundo

I believe the K-M is covered by the Museum Pass, but there is a separate entrance fee for the Hoge Veluwe Park in which the Museum is located. If you are going to visit more than a couple of museums, the Museum Pass is a great value, IMO.

menachem

No, Pal. It never was that way in Amsterdam. Everyone works monday mornings. The reason that shops used to be closed on monday morning was so shopkeepers could do their bookkeeping, ordering etc, because sunday used to be a day of strict rest (we're calvinists)

PalenQ

My museum pass was declined at K-M ticket window- nothing about park entrance fee.

menachem- why are cafes in squares like Rembrandsplein in A'dam packed on Sunday nights- like Friday and Saturday?

Again I do not doubt you are right.

Kay2

Don't worry--I like the people I will be working with the rest of the week. I enjoy it. No hard labor except so much socializing, which I find tiring at the group dinners, etc.

Once I finish in the Netherlands, I will board a plane (have to book ticket) to meet my husband in Switzerland/Italy for a week of play. I prefer hiking the mountains to partying in pubs.

The two-bus, museum, and park ticket process to K-M sounds cumbersome, but I am sure I will figure it out with the help of locals in Apeldoorn. It must be common confusion for tourists.

PalenQ

The two-bus, museum, and park ticket process to K-M sounds cumbersome, but I am sure I will figure it out with the help of locals in Apeldoorn>

Naw -simple -at least from Ede-Winnegen station where I took the train to from Amsterdam- get off one bus on another -drivers and many passengers will speak English. I paid no park admission by bus - it may be for private vehicles only?