jpargament

We will be in Amsterdam for 5 days at the beginning of Jan. Any suggestions for the best day trips? What trains would we use and about how much do they cost? How long would it take to get to the various places? Thanks. (This was to correct the previous message w/incorrect e-mail address.)

DellVecc

I was in Amsterdam in March of 2001 and I'm going again in Feb 2002. The first time I went we took a day trip to Brussels. We took the Thalys and it took about 3 hours. You could also go to Paris and it will take 4 hours. When I go in Feb. I'm either going to go to Cologne or Dusseldorf for the day. I think it takes 3 hours by train.

Sjoerd

Ideas for day-trips from Amsterdam:<BR>1. Haarlem (20 minutes from Amsterdam central Station)<BR>2. Leiden (35 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station)<BR>3. Den Haag (The Hague - 45 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station)<BR>4. Delft (55 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station)<BR>5. Rotterdam (65 minutes from Amterdam Central Station)<BR><BR>You could buy a round-trip ticket from Amsterdam to Rotterdam and stop and spend time in all the cities listed above. In my opinion, all these cities are worth between half a day and a full day. You are free to leave the train and re-board a later train. There are at least two trains an hour from 6 AM until after midnight. <BR><BR>Other ideas:<BR><BR>6. Hoorn and Enkhuizen (about 40 minutes from Amsterdam)<BR>7. Utrecht (30 minutes from Amsterdam)<BR><BR>Information about most cities can be found at: www.visitholland.com or at the cities' websites at www.&lt;name of city&gt;.nl<BR><BR>Have a nice trip. <BR>

Kay

Depending on your interests--we took a Saturday trip to Delft for the local market, visit to the porcelain factory, stroll through town, etc. then went to Gouda as well for a look at the town before returning to Amsterdam. Sunday we went to Zaanse Schans for a couple of hours to do the tourist visit for windmills, wooden shoes, cheese, etc. and then caught a train on to Hoorn--an OK town, but we didn't spend much time there.<BR><BR>You can get timetables and fares online at www.ns.nl/domestic/index.cgi<BR>I remember our one-way tickets Amsterdam to the airport were about $2.50 each. You can buy sameday return and weekend tickets at discounts. The trains ran from ontime to slightly late--a news story said the operator was trying to reach 80% ontime performance.

wes fowler

Consider Aalsmeer. It's a town about 9 miles from Amsterdam where every morning millions and millions of cut flowers are trucked into a mammoth warehouse and auction rooms, auctioned off, then shipped all over Europe for sale the same day. You can get there by bus from the Centraal Station. You can tour the whole proceedings on a catwalk high above the warehouse floor and look down upon millions of cut flowers arrayed in two tiers on carts that are pulled into the auction rooms then linked to other carts and trucked to loading docks. The colors are overwhelming and the fragrances are truly breathtaking. <BR>It's an early morning event but well worth every minute of the experience. <BR><BR>Check the website: www.user.netland.nl/~hanns/klok.html for more information including times.<BR><BR>Don't discount a trip to Giethoorn and a bicycle ride or stroll there. (Other than walking or biking, boating is the only way to get around; there are no roads for auto traffic.) The town is small, laced with canals and perfect for strolling. You really don't need a bike there. One of the places to look for is the Museum De Speelman with its collection of antique street organs. A really small but interesting museum quite close to De Speelman is the Museum De Oude Aarde with its collection of semi-precious stones, minerals and crystals, all dramatically lit. To get there, take the train marked for Groningen to Meppel. It's about an hour and a half ride. Leave the Meppel train station, turn left to the bus departure area and take NWH bus number 79 for the 20 minute ride to Giethoorn. You may have to change buses somewhere along the way; ask the driver. The bus does not run on Sunday so plan this trip for either Saturday or Monday. Since both Amsterdam's museums and the Kroller-Muller museum are closed on Mondays, Giethoorn is a good Monday alternative. The VVV office by the way, is near the bus stop. <BR>Plan to have lunch at Smit's Paviljoen. It's at number 29 Binnenpad, a peninsula that juts out into Bovenwijde, the town lake. The pavilion offers a fine view and very inexpensive food. <BR><BR>

April

I can't remember the cost but we got a day pass on the trains that allowed us to go anywhere we wanted. It was great. The trains are so efficient and the country so small that you can get anywhere within a short period of time.

AC

When I was there this past summer, we took a couple of day trips by bus with Lindbergh tours. One was an all day trip to different cities in Amsterdam. Aalsmaar, Rotterdam, Schiervingen, Delft etc. We had a great guide and driver. We also used them for a day trip to Antwerp and Brussels, Belguim. We ended up with the same guide and had an even better time the next day! Not for everyone but we loved it!

Kay

Be sure to check websites for opening days and times for January. We were just at the Amsterdam museums on a Monday--they were not closed even on Christmas Eve. Some industrial tours and other events were taking holidays.