HOW EASY IS IT TO DRIVE IN THE NETHERLANDS
WONDERING IF A BUS TOUR WOULD BE BETTER
ANYONE BEEN ON A REGIONAL TOUR OF NETHERLANDS/BELGIUM?

First of all - don;t use all caps please. This is considered yelling - and is harder to read.

Driving in the Netherlands is perfectly easy and we have done several road trips including Belgium and the Netherlands with no problems. Just don;t bring a car into the center of Amsterdam - there's really no place to put it.

Thanks for the info nytraveler and also for advising on proper "talk" etiquette.

Driving in the Netherlands is a breeze, but not suggested in Amsterdam.

I agree with the above, especially the part about Amsterdam. Amsterdam was the last stop on our road trip around Europe. When we first arrived into Amsterdam, we spent the better part of the day trying to find a place to park our rental car. We eventually learned that parking was impossible, so we took the car to the airport and turned it in. Too bad there was no Fodors board in those days, it would have saved me a lot of hassle to know all this in advance.

If I were doing only the Netherlands, chances are I would not drive. Most of the country, at least its core, is readily accessible by train from Amsterdam.

I agree with Michael. My wife and I went to the Netherlands and Belgium for nine days and went anywhere we wanted, and had a great trip all by public transportation. Very hassle free and inexpensive.

Thanks for the info everyone...I think we'll skip the car and use the train. We'll probably stay in Amsterdam for 3 or 4 days and then go to a smaller town that still is on the major train route. Any suggestions?

I would suggest an outing to Edam, Hoorn and Enkhuizen, which are all along the Zuiderzee.

Driving in The Netherlands is very easy; the landscape is mostly flat, and sighage is exceptionally good.

We did a self-drive tour out from Amsterdam, easy to do with a guidebook; you can also visit some of the places with a Greyline tour.

Delft, Leiden, Zaandam, Haarlem all have good trainconnections and are not that far from Amsterdam.