s1a2r3

OK. Let's say you're spending five days in Brussels at the Royal Windsor Hotel, whiling away the time while husband is in meetings. We arrive on the 7th of July, H has a few hours free time next day, Sunday, then he has meetings Mon. Tues. Wed.(11th). We then have Thurs 12th till july 18th (booked to fly home from Amsterdam) to play! Never been in this part of Europe before.

Any and all suggestions for a) my free time in Brussels or b) where to go and where to stay in our free time would be greatly appreciated. No particular interests --- just to see the not-to-be-missed sights. Thinking Brussels, Brugge, maybe Delft and then Amsterdam. Looking for charming hotels --mid-range I guess. Trip has come up suddenly as usual, so I'll begin my research tomorrow. Probably terribly annoying to help one so unprepared!! THnx

cmeyer54

would you be game to travel to Brugges and spend a night or two there on your own? If so, that would be my recommendation; its not really day trip to do it justice. If you decide to go there, search on Brugges here and you'll find many ideas for sites, restaurants, hotels, etc. and, allow a day to take the tour down to Ipres and the Western Front. I used quasimodo tours and loved it. I met DH in brussels as well and then took the train to brugges where he met me a day or so later. You will love Amsterdam - its one of my favorite cities! I stayed at bryghia in brugges - lovely, safe, midpriced and well located.

s1a2r3

Thank-you so much!! I had been thinking that Brugges would be a great place to visit together, after meetings end. Maybe two days there -- a day in Delft and two days in Amsterdam? WE're booked home on the 18th but we could extend....open to any and all suggestions! I so appreciate the hotel suggestions in Brugges --- I'm one who loves to live day to day without too much planning, but I suppose I should be booking hotels? Suggestions for Amsterdam?

ronkala

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dfr4848

Would absolutely suggest Brugge. Very, very interesting, fun and a great respite from larger cities. A favorite town of ours. Very walkable. Would definitely suggest at least an overnight - it takes on an entirely different atmosphere once the "crowds" leave late afternoon. We stayed at the De Tuilerieen, very nice (fantastic breakfast buffet) and was a couple of blocks from the main square.

Also would suggest Ghent - very charming and easy to navigate. Beautiful town.

Delft would also be a good choice, although I'd put it after Brugge and Ghent if I had to make a choice.

And certainly Amsterdam.

DejaVu

Delft is pretty but a little touristy. I preferred Haarlem, which is a short short train ride from Amsterdam and can be easily done as a daytrip from there. On Sat mornings Haarlem has a nice market, and the Frans Hals Museum is excellent.

In Amsterdam I stayed at Hotel Fita, which is a block away from the Van Gogh Museum and a few minutes walk beyond that to the Rijksmuseum. Thought it was great--very close to tram line so it's easy to get around. They're very popular and may be booked up for your dates, though. Room rate includes an excellent breakfast, and it's so clean! Non smoking too, which I liked.

If you do end up at Delft, do not go to the new Vermeer Center (or whatever it's called). Major rip-off. I knew going in that they had no original paintings, but I expected some kind of accurate (as much as can be discerned) reconstruction of his studio or something of educational worth. Nope. It's cheesy and not worth the money.

DejaVu

Oh, and I meant to say that there are some great museums in Brussels. The Musee des Beaux Arts is first-rate and right downtown: look for David's magnificient painting, The Death of Marat. Further outside town but accessible by Metro are the museums of the Parc du Cinquantenaire--I love the Royal Museums of Art and History (Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire), too often overlooked by tourists. I hear the museum of music and musical instruments (sorry, I don't know the name) is excellent, but I haven't been there.

s1a2r3

Thank you all so much! I'm getting myself confused, partly because I'm pressed for time and partly because I did terribly in Geography!!

Husband's meetings finish in Brussels on the Wed. Thought we'd then train to Brugge for Wed. night and Thurs. night...will try to book into one of the two hotels suggested...tuilerieen or bryghia. Train to Amsterdam on Friday and have booked into Hotel Fita (THankyou!! Hans sounds delightful!!)

Not sure if this makes sense. If we train on Friday morning to Amsterdam can't see Ghent and it doesn't look sensible to try to see it from Amst. I've booked at Hotel Fita in Amst. for all remaining nights leading up to our departure from Amsterdam on the 18th. Will we have lots to do from there? One of you suggested Haarlem and that sounds wonderful...also Delft appears close by.

Can I wait until we arrive in Brussels (July 6th to book trains?) Lots of questions I know, and you are all too kind and very patient with me!

Should we instead be renting a car on Wed. as we leave Brussels??

THANK-YOU!

tyedye33

Brugges is wonderful and I am so glad people on this site encourage a 2 night stay. It is indeed small and you can see everything on foot. But is as if time stood still there. The train ride from Brugges to Amsterdam will be around 3 hours (I would skip the car but that is also a preference). I would advice spending the other nights in Amsterdamn and if you want to, take a tour bus to Delft. Delft is "cute" but you may find Amsterdam to be a place you want to dedicate that time too.

hetismij

There is plenty to do in and around Amsterdam. Nowhere in Holland is more than a couple of hours away so if you want to see somewhere else get on a train, hire a car, go explore - maybe hire a car and drive round the Ijsselmeer (Zuiderzee) for a day visiting some of the lovely villages around it, visit Utrecht, or Apeldoorn, go to the coast (if it's not too hot - otherwise it will be full!) or on a bike ride.

DejaVu

There's lots to do in Amsterdam itself, however, Holland is small so you can take the train to a lot of places easily. If you like Vermeer, it's worth taking the train to The Hague (Den Haag) and visiting the Mauritshuis, a beautiful museum that is home to the original "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and many other beautiful things besides. The Mesdag Panorama (google it for details) in the Hague is also worth seeing, and if you like modern art, so is the Gemeentemuseum.

If you're hard-core art fan and particularly like Van Gogh, then the Kroller Muller Museum in Otterlo is amazing. It's not the easiest to get to and requires persistence (do a search here to find threads on the subject...). But it can be done as a daytrip from Amsterdam.

No need to take a tour bus to Delft. Take the train. Actually, you could probably go to Den Haag in the morning if you get going early, then either take the train or the tram from there to Delft. Train back to Amsterdam.

Here's a tip that I myself learned here on this board: at the first museum you visit in Holland, ask about the "Museumkaart." At 30 Euro plus a handling fee, it's good for a year and gets you in free to most museums in Holland (save the Kroller Muller Museum, the Mesdag Panorama, and the wretched Vermeerzentrum, I learned). Since it's 10 Euro just to get into the Van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum, it's a deal if you plan to go to multiple museums. I ended up going to the VGM three times during my week's trip this May since I was a handy block away at the Fita and my card got me in free and easy. You might not see a sign for it since it's not heavily advertised, but the Museumkaart definitely exists, and you don't have to be Dutch to get one. It gets you past the ticket lines at the major museums too. Just ask at your first ticket booth.

Glad you got into the Fita! It's quiet and peaceful, just what I was looking for in can-be-crazy Amsterdam!

DejaVu

Oh, and I meant to say--in Amsterdam I *loved* the Rembrandthuis. Definitely worth seeing if you like Rembrandt's art. It's fun to go after the Rijksmuseum when you've seen his masterpieces there, and then with your handy dandy Museumkaart, go back to the Rijksmuseum and look again with fresh eyes.

I did nothing my whole week in Holland but visit museums, it seems.

Travelnut

I found Haarlem to be more enjoyable than Delft. We took the train to Delft - the station is very close to the old center. We took the canal boat cruise - always fun and informative but can't compare to Amsterdam's cruise, of course. Nice town square, church, little streets on the perimeters of the square, blue Delftware in the shop windows...

On a previous trip, we took the train to Haarlem (about 15 minutes? Delft takes over an hour). Walked into the center from the train station - the Saturday market was in place and those are always fun to browse. Went inside St Bavo church, walked until we came to the river, and circled back around, just enjoying the buildings and all. We did not take time to go inside the museums there but have heard they are interesting.
www.corrietenboom.com
www.teylersmuseum.nl
www.franshalsmuseum.nl

Illustrated walking tour of Haarlem:
http://web.inter.nl.net/users/PvdKam...m/haarlem.html

amyb

Deja, I never saw a trip report from you, what was the story with the Vermeer Centrum? It opened the day after we left, but I'm curious....

Highly, highly recommend the Rembrandthuis, I loved it as well!

DejaVu

Hi amyb--you're the one who wants to see all the Vermeers, yes? I haven't written a trip report because I'm too lazy. ;-) The Vermeerzentrum in Delft might have been ok had it not cost 8 Euro (not covered by Museumkaart). Downstairs from the entrance was a short film, repros to scale of all attributed Vermeer paintings with some info about each, and some multimedia little posts with info about Vermeer's possible teachers, his family, etc. Upstairs from the entrance was this weird supposed recon of the studio but with modern geometric looking furniture, and thus not a real reconstruction at all, and more multimedia posts about Vermeer's use of light and color. I found the whole thing to be all style and little substance--it's flashy, but I didn't learn anything new. Kids might like it, I dunno.

Since the building it's in housed the St Luke painter's guild back in the day, I really expected something much more historically based, like the Rembrandthuis. Instead, it's cheesy, it took no time hardly at all, and I left grouchy & feeling ripped off.

hetismij

The Vermeercentrum (note the spelling) is a contemporary hands on style exhibition. It is not a museum. It has no original Vermeers - they are spread around the world and much to valuable to show there. You can read about it at www.vermeerdelft.nl.

DejaVu

Vermeercentrum. Sorry about the spelling mistake.

"Contemporary style exhibition" or not, it's still IMHO an overpriced attempt to cash in on the Vermeer craze. Save the admission for the Rijksmuseum or Mauritshuis.

amyb

Thanks, DejaVu, that's interesting. I wonder if there are plans to make it more robust or add more of a historic angle. If it as as you said, I'm not too sad we missed it.

Yes, the Quest for Vermeer continues now, my sister is in full planning mode to see them all in Germany and Vienna next spring....with a healthy dose of Klimt as well!

Thanks for the info!

hetismij

DejVu, I didn't say I liked it - just explaining the thinking behind it. More and more museums are going down this route. I think it is in the vain attempt of attracting younger people, some of whom seem to have the attention span of a fruit fly unless a computer or flashy videos are involved.

s1a2r3

Well we are off tomorrow -- haven't been able to access the site for several days...thank you all for thoughtful advice. Now the dreaded packing begins!!!