RCLCOLPB

hetismij,

Back in 2007, you recommended what sounds like a great day trip in Noordoostpolder (copied in below). We will be renting a car for the day in Amsterdam on Saturday, 18 April, and were hoping to drive around this area, as well as going to the Kroller-Muller Museum. Do you think that would be doable in a long day? Do you think are likely to see tulips in bloom on that date? Anything else you would recommend for the same day trip in terms of lunch, route, etc.?

Thanks very much,

Len




• hetismij on Oct 23, 07 at 09:56 AM
Hiring a car will give you the opportunity to go and see more of the Nehterlands than you can by public transport. The bulk of the commercial tulip fields are actually away from the Keukenhof area, around the Noordoostpolder in Flevoland. If you go there to see the bulbs you can also visit Blokzijl- a lovely old village, Schokland- a Unesco world heritage site, Staphorst-(though not on a Sunday!) to see local costumes still worn, or Urk- a former island where the local costume is also still occasionally worn. Again I don't recommend Urk on a Sunday. Also in that area is the Weerribben national park.
Or you can drive up to the Alkmaar area for bulbfields, and maybe go across the Afsluitdijk to Friesland for a day.
• hetismij on Oct 23, 07 at 10:59 AM
It is absolutely doable in a day - it will take about an hour to get there from Amsterdam if you go directly. You take the A1 and then the A6 through Flevoland. Once across the Ketelbrug into the Noordoostpolder you will see signs for Urk, then with the help of a good map you can find your way to Schokland, through the bulbfields, to Blokzijl for lunch, try a piece of Blokzijlerbrok (a sort of cake), then on to Staphorst via Meppel.
Staphorst and Urk are both deeply religious villages, and do not like outsiders gawking on Sundays. Also please ask before taking any photos of the ladies in their costumes. From Staphorst you can get on the A28 back towards Amsterdam.
If you have time and the inclination Giethoorn is also well worth a visit while you are in the area - it has no streets, just footpaths and canals through the old part of the village.

hetismij

It seems like it would be a very long day to me. You will want to spend quite some time at the Kroller Muller and maybe even ride a free bike through the National park.
However it could be done I guess.
From Otterloo you need to head for Apeldoorn and the A1 towards Deventer, then take the A50 towads Emmeloord. Then take the A6 towards Lelystad and take exit 14. follow the signs to Espel and you will pick up the route - it will be signposted. It is about an hour and a half drive from Otterlo to Emmeloord.

http://www.tulpenfestival.nl/content/route.pdf is a map of the route. It is signposted from 18th April so you will be amongst the first to follow it.
There will be tulips and other flowers to see.

Have lunch in Otterlo or in the national park. Divert off the bollenroute to Blokzijl, have a look around there, maybe have an early evening meal there. Kaatje bij de Sluis is a very posh restaurant with a Michelin star and prices to match, (my DIL works there) but there are other places to eat in the village.
If you follow the purple dotted route as well you may spot a lighthouse surrounded by land at Kraggenburg, and the former island, and Unesco world heritage site at Shcokland. If you have time visit Urk as well, another former island. You may be lucky enough to see some ladies in the traditional dress, but they are increasingly thin on the ground.
Then get back on the A6 toward Lelystad, Almere and Amsterdam.

RCLCOLPB

Thanks very much, hetismij! That is very helpful. One of our party cannot ride a bike, and we tend to spend less time in a museum than may be typical, so I am hoping we have time for one other destination that day.

I know they are totally different, but if you had to choose, would you suggest that we go to a city that we have never been to (perhaps Utrecht, de Haag, Leiden, or Rotterdam), or go up to Noordoostpolder? We plan to go to Keukenhof (probably by bus, or perhaps taking the train to the stop 3 km away) on Monday.

By the way, is there a similar website/route map for tulip fields near Keukenhof to the one that you sent a link for regarding Noordoostpolder?

Do you think our timing will be ok re tulips in Keukenhof and elsewhere?

Len

hetismij

If you are going to Keukenhof then maybe you would be better off going somewhere else than the NOP. The NOP is new land (well from during WW2) and very "designed", though as I said there are unusual things to see besides the small villages all set a bike ride away from Emmeloord.
There is a 62km car route through the tulip fields around Lisse and Hillgom, marked by ANWB boards. These are not always easy to spot but you should be OK if you choose to follow it. They are hexagonal boards if I recall correctly. There isn't a map of it but you can download it to a TomTom GPS system.

You could combine Utrecht with the Kroller Muller certainly, Or maybe go to the Openlucht Museum near Arnhem. Or even both. http://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/en/

If you go to the Openlucht museum you can also visit Oosterbeek airborne museum, http://www.airbornemuseum.nl/ and learn about the 'Bridge Too Far' plus drive along the rivers.

There are some interesting museums and the Dom tower plus lots of good places to eat in Utrecht - there are lots of cafés and restaurants in the cellars along the canal for instance.

RCLCOLPB

Thanks again, hetismij, for the very helpful information and incredibly quick responses!

The Openlucht Museum sounds like something my wife and I would really like. However, my daughter and her boyfriend (in their 20s), who live in Brussels, will be with us that day, and they are very sensitive to anything that is overly "touristy." For example, they dislike Bruges for this reason. Any idea whether the Openlucht Museum will be perceived as falling into that category, or does it feel authentic, attract people from the Netherlands, etc.?

Thanks again,

Len

hetismij

It is a very Dutch attraction - far more so than the one in Enkhuizen. I prefer it to the Enkhuizen museum personally. I doubt you will find many foreign tourists there - certainly not bus loads. The same with the Airborne Museum - that attracts Brits and Canadians naturally enough but not in vast numbers.

hetismij

If you want to see how the tulips are doing this photo, taken yesterday, was on the front page of my newspaper today;

http://tinyurl.com/dg3ddv