Any flower to see in Winter Amsterdam
 

I am visiting Amsterdam early Feb. Will there be any flowers to see at all or is still too early? What are the places to visit and things to do in town and nearby towns other than the museums (I visited them last time)?
Please advise. Thanks

It is really too early for most flowers, certainly in the bulb fields. There probably will be snowdrops and crocusses in the parks, and maybe even daffodils - we have had daffodils in bloom since Novemner here, through a couple of hard frosts and still going strong.
For flowers, and something to do, you could go to a flower auction in Aalsmeer, it means an early start, best time to be there is 7.30 am. Or the flower auction in Naaldwijk is also open to the public. www.floraholland.com/

Haarlem is popular with Fodorites. You could go to the coast at Zandvoort ot Bloemendaal, though it may be a bit cold for that.
Take a day trip to Den Haag, Rotterdam, Delft, or Leiden. Utrecht is also worth a visit, and has a big shopping mall to warm you up after wandering the old streets.
They all have museums which are interesting and different to those in Amsterdam.
Zaanse Scans for windmills maybe, or Kinderdijk near Rotterdam.
A bit further afield are ALkmaar and Enkhuizen, or even Zwolle. All intereting places.
If it isn't too cold you could rent a bike and explore the countryside near Amsterdam - or get a train out and hire a bike elsewhere and explore a bit of "unknown" Holland.

The flower market on Singel manages to look interesting at almost any time of year, even if at this time of year it's mainly the pictures on the packets of bulbs.

Something out of the ordinary might be the mechanical musical instruments in Utrecht (about a couple of hours from Amsterdam by train, and a very attractive sity in its own right). Exactly what you see varies from day to day, but you get the opportunity to dance to giant organs playing boogie-woogie:
http://www.museumspeelklok.nl/speelklok/uk/

I usually stroll through the Single flower market as PatrickLondon suggests.

On a Saturday you might want to check out the market at Grote Markt in front of the big church in Haarlem. At about 5 pm the flower sellers will be hustling their products so they don't have to haul them home. You can get a good deal on an armload of blooms.

I guess you have already seen the Frans Hals Museum, the Tylers Museum, and the windmill in Haarlem. For a unique experience visit the Cruquis Expo on the south rim of Haarlem. www.cruquiusmuseum.nl

hetismij

You reminded me of that shopping mall in Utrecht X(

We took the train from Amsterdam to the town and arrived in what appeared to me the middle of the mall. It's enormous. I thought we'd never escape from it!

We enjoyed Utrecht though. It's definately worth a visit.

joe

joe4212, yes it is very confusing when you first arrive there by train, and it is easy to get lost, even for me, and I go there fairly often. But once you find your way out the rest of the centre is worth it, though there is a lot of building work going on right now as well. DOn't be put off though travelanytime, it is a nice city to visit with some interesting museums. Not only the Speelklok museum but also the railway museum is worth a visit.

Travelanytime

Listen to what hetismij says and make sure you visit Utrecht. We did and hope some day we go back.

I really hope I didn't put you off visiting after my comments about the shopping mall.

Follow the folks in front of you to exit the mall, and you will find yourself in a beautiful and unique town.

joe

Thank you all. It looks like the flowerauction and Utrecht are worth a visit. Since Utrecht is about 2 hrs. away, is that by train? How far is Aalsmeer?

One useful site is www.ns.nl .

This gives a train time of about 27 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal to Utrecht Centraal. I am planning to visit Utrecht in March, also.

In the past, I've done three daytrips from Amsterdam (to Rotterdam, Haarlem, and Leiden), all of which were very interesting. I'm nowhere near running out of possible daytrips either - my plans for March are Utrecht, den Haag, and Antwerp.

My memory's slipping. 27 minutes it is, not two hours.

That's the great thing about the Netherlands - most places are quite close and the trains are excellent.

27 minutes....I can do that . It is on my list to visit.
Thanks

Thanks for the great suggestions.
My DH and I are leaving in 2 weeks for 4 1/2 days in Amsterdam so all your suggestions will come in handy for us as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing Zaanse scans, but that was the only place that we put on the itinerary definitely.

I'm just a little confused about what the winter hours may be and what may be closed on Sunday & Monday. We didn't think about that when we made the reservations, we arrive Fri morning and leave Tues afternoon.

As far as Zaanse Schans goes most windmills are only working at the weekend until the end of february.
In Amsterdam everything will be open on Sunday, including most shops. There is an artmarket by 't Spui on Sundays. Other markets are closed on Sundays.
Most museums in Amsterdam are open on SUndays and Mondays, but outside Amsterdam they tend to be closed on Mondays.

Thanks hetismij, that's just what I needed to know. The guidebooks & websites that I have visited had conflicting info.

We usually don't plan in great detail or schedule things too tightly, we like to be free to travel "as the wind blows" as they say. But it is important to know what is available when, so we don't miss something we had our hearts set on because we've been dumb and didn't take into account closing times.

We'll try to plan on Saturday for Zaanse Schans depending on weather, though we love just walking and looking at the architecture and sights so we're really easy to please.

I'm so looking forward to seeing the Netherlands.

Thank you for your help.