m_anne17

Hi there. I'll be in Amsterdam April 1 (flight arriving 7:00 am) until April 4 (taking Thalys train to Paris in the morning) and I know this is very little time, but I would like to see as much as I can. Some of the places I would like to see is Zaanse Schans, Keukenhof, Utrecht, Gouda and of course the city of Amsterdam including the Anne Frankhuis and Van Gogh and Rijksmusuem. Is this possible? If so, in which order should I do it? Am I better off just signing up for a bus tour? Though the bus tours don't make stops to Gouda, Utrecht or Keukenhof.

I'll be staying in a hotel within a 10 min. walking distance from Centraal Station in front of the Herengracht Canal. I'm also a 26 yr. old female traveling alone to Europe for the 1st time. Thank you!

Travelnut

You can take a train to Leiden, the Bus 54 to Keukenhof:
http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/156/Route.html

You can take Bus 91 from Ams Centraal Station to Zaanse Schans:
http://www.zaanseschans.nl/

You can probably do one of the above the first part of the day, then one of the Amsterdam museums you've listed in the afternoon. Take a boat canal cruise, and otherwise just enjoy the town. If you find you still have a day free, then choose one of the other towns you've listed.

hetismij

That's an ambitious amount to see in 3 days. I think something will have to give.
You an either get a tour to Zaanse Schans or do it yourself by public transport, the same with Keukenhof. Either one could be combined with some time in Amsterdam of course. Try to get to Keukenhof early. You can buy your ticket online to save a bit of time.
Utrecht is about 30 minute away by train and depending on what you want to see there you could go there for a morning and then continue on to Gouda, or return to Amsterdam. A direct train to Gouda takes about 50 minutes from Amsterdam, a train from utrecht to Gouda takes about 20 minutes from Utrecht.
For the Van Goghyou must pre-purchase your ticket for a timed entry as there is a special exhibition on then. You can buy your ticket on the Museum website. It is also worth buying your ticket for the Anne Frankhuis online, to jump the queues.

dandj2

Less is more.

1 day trip is about all you may want to do. We did the 1/2 day bus excursions to Volendam and Marken.

There is plenty to do in the city itself for 2 days.

I have been to Amsterdam 3 times and am going again in Sept. for 3 days.

My schedule looks like this..

day 1)
Jordaan, westerkerk, city center,
redlight at night

day 2)
Van Gogh Museum, Albert Cuyp Market, night canal cruise

day 3)
9 streets, Rembrandtplein,
back to city center, St Nic, Leidsiplein in evening.

iris1745

Hi anne; Treat yourself at this fine French restaurant. It's on the inner ring at 210 Singel, called d'Theeboom. www.theeboom.com ENJOY Iris

hpeabody

bookmarking, I will be there in late May 2009

suze

I was in Amsterdam once solo for five days & enjoyed it very much. But I just stayed in the city.

I am not familiar with the places you want to add on that will require taking the train & bus to get to... but my first thought reading your posts is, it doesn't seem like you've left any time for exploring in Amsterdam itself except going into 3 museums?

hetismij

hpeabdy you should note that Keukenhof closes on 21 May at the latest.

m_anne17

Thanks for all the tips everyone! I will probably cut either Zaanse Schanse or Utrecht because I definitely want to see the tulips- and the time I'm going will be perfect for that. I will just have to see all the other places on another trip. Sigh.

I've decided to break it down to this:

Wed. 4/1: arr. AMS 7:00 am
-take train to Centraal and get settled in hotel
-take a canal tour
-have lunch
-see dam square and some museums
-dinner
-take a walking tour of red light district then head back to my hotel

Thurs. 4/2: take train/bus to keukenhof and spend half day there
-go back and do more exploring around Amsterdam, see more museums
-dinner

Fri. 4/3: Do either half day at Zaanse Schans or Gouda. Can someone help me decide?
-Head back to Amsterdam for some more exploring
-Take a night canal cruise

Sat. 4/4: Just enough time for breakfast and head to Centraal for Paris (train leaving 8:30 am).

Does this sound more realistic?

hetismij

That sounds much better! I can't help you with whether you should go to Gouda or Zaanse Schans though.

suze

Getting better ;-) but I probably wouldn't do a canal boat twice.