Yonkers79

My boyfriend and I are taking a trip to Europe, and I couldn't be more excited. My mom's side is Dutch (Frisian on my Grandpa's side). Well, after a lot of shuffling of the itinerary (not wanting to arrive in the Netherlands ON The Queen's Day/Prince William's wedding in London), I ended up with the Dutch portion of my stay from May 6th through the morning of the 9th with a possible one night stay in Friesland on the 9th to the 10th. I know I found a cousin in Makkum, and that is the area where my family was from.

Now...after boring you with my life history, can anyone recommend a CHEAP, clean place with an ensuite bathroom in Amsterdam. I KNOW that it's right after a holiday weekend, and I KNOW that it's tulip time, but after finding great finds in Paris and London, I really want to make my Dutch excursion the best. I would essentially like to do all 4 nights for $450 dollars. I will probably end up doing Priceline, but somewhere that is already vouched for would be better!

Dank U Wel

Arie

jkbritt

We did priceline last summer and got the Movenpick for $80.00 per night. The year before, we got the NH Hotel, beside the flower market for 65.00 per night. Used priceline for both.

Yonkers79

How can I assure that we get a large bed and ensuite bathroom? I heard that the star system isn't set up that way... ...and thank you for your response!

DeborahAnn

In 2009 we stayed at the Nh Amsterdam Centre, a 4 star hotel that we got with an $85 bid on Priceline. It was a short walk to Leidseplein and Museumplein from the hotel. Deborah

LSky

Bid on Priceline and go for the Museum Quarter. Amsterdam isn't that big, the Museum Quarter puts you close to Vondelpark and museums (of course) and not that far from the action.

hetismij

There are a few small hotels in Makkum. Their websites are only in Dutch though.

http://www.hoteldewaagmakkum.nl/ has medium sized rooms with facilities, for €75 a night, including breakfast + €2 pp tourist tax.

http://www.ankerplak.nl/html/home.php has rooms for €85 including breakfast. I assume + tourist tax, though it isn't mentioned.

Or you could consider Harlingen, which isn't far from Makkum and has more hotels and B&Bs. Or even Bolsward, inland from Makkum.
But it depends on how you are planning to get to Friesland - especially as Makkum is close to the Afsluitdijk.hiring a car for a couple of days would give you the freedom to explore the area more and would get you there much faster, but would cost more of course.

The alternative is a train to Alkmaar then a couple of buses, which will take well over 2 hours, and you will need an ov-chipkaart with enough money on it to cover the bus part of the trip, (not the tourist card you can buy for Amsterdam - that is only valid on Amsterdam public transport!).
You can buy a ticket from the bus drivers but that will cost you more - either way it will be around €20 pp single.

GandCT

hetismij, if the bus line is Connexxion, would the Buzzer day ticket work from Alkmaar? I have been reading about that in planning a somewhat similar trip. I believe that it can be bought from the driver, and costs E13 for two adults for unlimited day use. But I may be very wrong about this; I am using Google to translate from the Dutch website. Would appreciate your feedback on this! Thank you!

GandCT

Oops, I think I just answered my own question. In looking at the schedule, I see that it refers to a Qliner, and that the Buzzer is not valid on the Qliner. (What is a Qliner, by the way?) Again, thanks for your advice.

hetismij

A Q-liner is a more luxurious bus, with very limited stops, and which makes use of the motorway system. They are aimed at commuters mostly - yes people do commute from Friesland to Amsterdam .

Yonkers79

For Friesland we decided to go ahead and rent a car in Amsterdam at the end of our time there. Then we can drive into Friesland and see different parts of it. Then we're driving to Germany to meet his family. Another day trip to Berlin (possibly Hamburg). The last day of our trip we are going to Eurovision in Dusseldof. Then we'll drive back to Amsterdam and drop the car off! Thank you for the suggestions. I think anywhere near Makkum would be fine, although Makkum would be preferred as it even has a cemetary where my relatives tombstones are at.

Yonkers79

I found a WONDERFUL site called www.airbnb.com that connects people renting rooms to those needing them. That's how we found our place in Amsterdam!!