Haarlem: Charming or overrated?
 

I will be going to the Netherlands in July. I had planned to fly into Amsterdam airport and spend the first 3 nights in Haarlem, to see it and go into Amsterdam one day. (After visiting Brugge and Delft I will be staying in Amsterdam later in the trip for 5 nights prior to a river cruise).

Now I have been reading some conflicting comments about Haarlem. According to the guide books, it is charming and I thought this would be a good place to ease into the trip. But I have read some negative comments about it recently concerning noise and graffiti. One poster on another website compared it negatively to Maastricht.

Has anyone been there recently(say, in the last year or so) who can give a current description of Haarlem?

any complaint about Haarlem IME should be taken ten-fold to be expected in Amsterdam.

I have stayed several times in Haarlem and have loved it - but it is church-mouse quiet at night compared to Amsterdam. But for a base it is great - great rail links to Leiden for mainline trains south, etc. And direct bus service from Schiphol Airport arrivals halls to many points in Haarlem.

I have not read the critical posts you have and i've read a whole lot of posts that really like Haarlem. Haarlem has canals, a windmill, a huge main square often with farmers market on it, a lively pedestrian shopping zone and even a redlight district and cannabis-selling coffee shops if those are in your bag (Indeed Haarlem has been dubbed Cannabis City by some cannabis aficianodos>)

I visited Haarlem on a day trip from Amst. this summer .
It is charming enough, but several hours there was enough for me.

but several hours there was enough for me>

yup it is not Amsterdam and anyone wanting to visit Amsterdam i think should base in Amsterdam and not Haarlem

3 days is too much in Haarlem against only one day in Amsterdam. Use Haarlem as a base if you must but you need more than a day in Amsterdam!

Visit Haarlem for the day from Amsterdam.

Haaarlem is not over rated, its a nice small city with interswting sigts to see, but for charming go to Delft and Leiden.

If you are staying in Amsterdam for five nights later in your trip, and you are concerned about noise and graffitti in Haarlem, then surely you

(a) don't want to add more nights to Amsterdam

and

(b) want someplace that is very tame.

I can't answer the accusations that Haarlem is blighted by noise and graffitti, but if it is, than perhaps Leiden or another Dutch or Belgian small touristic town is what you are looking for. Since you are already booked into Delft and Brugge, you may need to cast your net wider if you are nervous about Haarlem. (I will add that I doubt you will need to "ease the trip" after Brugge and Delft. If anything, you might be craving the variety of Antwerp or even the more modest variety of Den Haag.)

Been to Haarlem many many times - don't remember any out of normal graffiti - every Dutch city has graffiti IME and about every city in Europe - Italian and British cities seem much worse than Holland.

I echo the comments that it is a nice base, with a number of things to do before or after you go to A'dam for the day (for example).
It's been a long time, but we found that weekend nights around the Haarlem square can be very noisy very late if you have a room over looking it or streets that feed into it.

Thanks for the responses so far. Perhaps I should clarify my inquiry a bit. I am not debating whether to add more time to Amsterdam. I am debating whether to skip Haarlem altogether in favor perhaps of Maastricht at the beginning of the trip, then go to Brugge and Delft and end up in Amsterdam at the end for 5 nights.

For me, alot of graffiti really impacts the "charm" of a city. It certainly did this year in Heidelberg and Vienna. So I am asking what is the current state of affairs in Haarlem? All of travel involves choices. At this stage I am not locked into Haarlem so I am trying to compare it to other options. Thanks for any opinions on this.

Three days in Haarlem with a trip to Amsterdam is about right. Haarlem sites to see include the Grote Kerk, Frans Hals museum, Adriaan Windmill, Tylers Museum, Cruquius, Corrie ten Boomhuis‎, Haarlem historical museum, and the Vishal museum. Haarlem even has weed houses and a RLD, and a nice counter-weighted lift bridge on the Spaarne River. If it is a hot day take the train over to Zandvoort for a splash in the North Sea.

The noise is at the Grote Markt due to the lively night life in cafes around the Grote Kerk, plus kids driving their brommers through the square. Avoid front facing rooms at the Carillon and Amadeus hotels. The Carlton Square hotel is in a very quiet area and only a 10 minute walk to the city center. There are a number of other centrally located hotels.

From Schiphol Airport take the Zuid Tangent bus #300 direct to Haarlem Station. You need 7 or 8 strips of a Strippenkaart which you can buy at the tourist office in Schiphol. The bus is easier than the train and takes the same time, and you get to see some of the flat Dutch countryside and a couple of villages. The Haarlem train station is a beautiful building. The taxi rank is right in front of the bus stop.

The Haarlem VVV tourist office has moved to an island in the Gedempte Oude Grachte in front of the V+D department store. Get your maps and guide books there.

Well if you judge where to visit by the amount of graffiti then cross off your list any town in Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Holland, Belgium (except perhaps Bruges), France and don't ever hop any train as all along the train lines are non-stop graffitied buildings, etc.
Unfortunately graffiti has become di rigueur all over Europe, like it or not - and in many ways i rather like graffiti - when it is done well as i have seen it often in Amsterdam for instance.

Palenque: It is a question of the degree of graffiti and what it's on. When it's on beautiful old buildings, it's vandalism, period. For me, it's the same as someone vandalizing a painting in a museum. A big part of my enjoyment of Europe is seeing the architecture I can't see here. Some cities at least try to remove it and they look better for it so it's not true that all cities are created equal in this regard.

FYI - I have been to the following cities in the last 3 years which had a level of graffiti ranging from none to tolerable:
Chartres, Amboise, Blois, Rothenburg, Bad Wimpfen, Wurzburg, Salzburg, Hallstadt, Carcassone, Orange, Nimes, St. Remy, and others. I consider Paris's graffiti tolerable for a big city, while Vienna was disappointing and no, it wasn't arty, just ugly and self-indulgent. I think this issue needs to be talked about more in relation to the visitor experience. The guidebooks and glossy tourist brochures are certainly not going to.

Bottom line, I would like to reward cities that fight graffiti with my business as opposed to those that don't. Hence, my questions about Haarlem which I don't think have been directly answered yet.

PS: Palenque, if you like graffiti, I highly recommend Berlin to you(some of it actually is arty). I do wonder if down the road Notre Dame is festooned with graffiti, if you'll still like it so much.

I don't recall any graffiti in Haarlem. There may be some trackside as you enter the city by train from Amsterdam. There is plenty along the tracks entering Amsterdam.

The Haarlem train station is lovely. Very little graffiti.

Amsterdam is a city.

If i had 5 days I'd split it 2 for H and 3 for A

If you are returning to Amsterdam later in you trip then why not stay in Delft, Gouda or Leiden and explore them plus Den Haag and maybe Rotterdam. Do Haarlem then as a daytrip during your later stay in Amsterdam.

We plan to visit Haarlem and maybe take bikes to either Zaandevoort (sp?) - the beach - or ride out toward the tulips. Can anyone give an idea of long either of these rides would be and/or ease of biking?

Thank you Spaarne for your assessment. My plan is to arrive at the airport, have 3 nights in Haarlem, (so 2 days really), see Haarlem one day and go to Amsterdam the other day. Then to Brugge for 4 nights with a day trip to Ghent from there, then 3 nights in Delft with a day trip to Den Haag, back to Amsterdam for 5 nights with day trips to Edam/Marken and either Arnhem for the open-air folk museum or Enkhuizen for the open-air museum. How does this sound? Any thoughts on Arnhem vs. Enkhuizen for their folk museums?

If I do Schiphol-Haarlem-Keukenhof-Schiphol loop by bus, can I use the same OV-chipkaart as the one I use to travel within Amsterdam?

Melissa - i have biked both those routes - i would chose the flower route and you go south out of Haarlem right thru the heart of the flower fields - ride say to Sassenheim then either bike back or put your bikes on the train to go quickly back to Haarlem - you do have to buy a 'fiets ticket' for the bike that you put in the bike car on the train.

Biking to Zaandvort goes mainly thru sand dune and forests but once you get to Zaandvoort you can take the coastla bike path south thru the dunes - even some hills there - but unless you want to just see expanses of dunes i'd opt for the Flower Fields any time. The Haarlem VVV (Tourist Office) has detailed maps and bike touring details - basically the route follows the Haarlem-Leiden rail line, and goes by the Keukenhof (only open in April and May or sometimes in August and Sept -www.keukenhof.nl - Holland's extravagant flower show staged each spring.

The Haarlem VVV indeed has info on a marked bike route thru the Flower Fields - ask specifically for that

Somewhere in the Middle: Bike Riding Through the Flower Fields
Apr 13, 2009 ... Bike Riding Through the Flower Fields. C in the field ... I also discovered Harlem was named after the Haarlem in the Netherlands and that ...
girlwithjavacurls.typepad.com/.../bike-riding-through-the-flower-fields.html

this site has some great pictures of the flower fields in full bloom

greg - i am not 100% sure but i believe for the moment these trains and buses are not equipped to take the OV-chipkaart - echoing advice from a local on another thread.

We spent 6 nights in Haarlem in May of 2008 and loved it. We did not notice any particular problem with grafitti. Parts of my trip report are copied below:

Following Antwerp our plan was to spend 6 nights in Haarlem and use it as our base. Both DW and I agree it was probably the single best decision we made on this trip. When planning our trip, I posted the question of Haarlem as a base instead of Amsterdam and our responses from hetismij and hopscotch’s postings encourage that thought. The clincher for us however was the advice of a Dutch neighbor recently arrived in the US. I was speaking to him about our then plans for basing in Amsterdam and he strongly suggested Haarlem instead. He felt that Amsterdam as a large international city does not have the feel of a “real” Dutch city and would not give a visitor a truly Dutch experience that one would get in a smaller city like Haarlem. The convenient train schedule to Amsterdam of 4 trains/hour for a fifteen minute trip and his contention that Haarlem was an excellent value compared to Amsterdam strongly influenced our decision. We have found that the ambience of a place and meeting local people has always turned out to be the most enjoyable and memorable parts of our travels.

Our trip from Antwerp to Haarlem was uneventful and we opted for a taxi from the station to Stempels, our hotel. We had researched hotel possibilities in Haarlem and chose Stempels simply because we liked the look of their web-site and the fact that they have a computer in each room that is free for guest use. We made our reservation through Hoteliers.com and it was quick and easy with almost instantaneous confirmation. Our request was for a standard room in a quiet part of the hotel. As neither of us had been to Haarlem before, we did not really know what to expect in terms of location and it was interesting to learn that as far as location is concerned, most hotels that we had seen on various internet sites were in fact quite close to one another clustering in and around the Grote Markt. One exception was the Golden Tulip that is just opposite the train station and as it turned out, not in a location where we would have been the most happy.

We arrived at the hotel with the carillon in the square playing and a wedding taking place on the terrace at the hotel’s entrance – what a wonderful start that was! Stempels is just yards from the cathedral, down the street from Haarlem’s Philharmonic Hall, around the corner from the Grote Markt and generally, in the heart of everything. We walked into the hotel and were immediately impressed by the elegance of the lobby. Although fairly new as a hotel, the building is historic and the original touches of elegance have been retained and restored. Our request for a room in a quiet part of the hotel had been noted before our arrival and as a result we were upgraded at no additional cost from a standard to a superior room (#21) on an upper floor. In fact, we had confirmed at a price of 85 euros before a 10 euro rate increase had gone into effect and our lower price was honored. What a deal. In contrast to the renovated public area, the room was thoroughly modern. The computer was there as was a flat screen TV. The room had ceilings that were at least 12 feet high, beamed ceiling, huge double glazed windows that had a motorized outside screen that could be lowered to cut the light while permitting a view. The bed was the most comfortable of the trip and the bath was large with plenty of hot water and excellent pressure in the enclosed shower. Needless to say, our initial impression was most favorable. A hotel of this quality would have cost much more in Amsterdam.

For lunch, we made quick work of several matjes herrings from the stand in the Grote Markt and made note of the nearby Poffertjes stand nearby.... Caveat - for our first walk back to the train station we thought it would be a quick and easy walk. It would have been if we had not followed the sign on the far end of the Grote Markt shaped like an arrow and marked "station." Simply said it pointed down the wrong street and set us on a 90 degree tangent to the direction that we needed.

After walking for far too long, we asked directions and about 40 minutes later arrived at the station. It is actually a 10 minute walk on an interesting route that was actually very nice....

After day trips we were glad to return to Haarlem and the comfort of our hotel where we may have been the only Americans in the place. I should say that we were very impressed by the friendliness of the people in Haarlem and found that we had a great comfort level there in general....

In the evening we saw a line outside Bartoly's, a gelato shop that is one of the little shops that run along the side of the cathedral. There were flavors of gelato that I never heard of and it became a mission to try all of those that were unfamiliar before the end of our trip - I am proud to say that we succeeded although towards the end we had to get 3 and then four scoops at a time. Oh! the sacrifices made in the name of research.

Breakfast was not included in the room price and at 9.5 euro/person we were not sure if we would eat at the hotel or in one of the many nearby cafes and restaurants. We tried it our first morning and were sold. The hotel serves a buffet style breakfast that includes several kinds of bread including delecious brown bread, croissants both plain and chocolate, new cheese, aged cheese, fresh mozzerela, boiled eggs, herbed eggs, 4 kinds of meat including a very fine prosciutto and roast beef, yogurts, fruit salad, fresh juice, any kind of coffee one could want, etc. The quality of the food was first rate and baked goods are made in their own kitchens. You know a croissant is fresh when you tear off an end and scald your fingers from the steam.

We had breakfast there daily, and actually it was a money saver since the breakfast was so good and plentiful that we needed little if anything for lunch. A stop at a herring stand sufficed. Some people balk at the thought of raw herring, but it is something that I was brought up with since my grandfather sold it in his shop. I haven't had matjes herring nearly as good since I was a kid and truth be told, the matjes at the herring stands in Holland was better than I remembered. It was something that we looked forward to.

Having "done" Keukenhof we needed to plan our day trips. One or two days would be in Amsterdam, one in a greater exploration of Haarlem, one in Delft and one left to decide later. We decided to do two days in Amsterdam and one of those would be on Pentecost since places in central Amsterdam would be open, but we were told shops in smaller cities would be closed.

Plenty of posters have talked about Amsterdam and we do not have much to add that would be new. I had been there before with my son but it was the first time for DW. We did the usual museum things, took a canal boat ride that was very enjoyable and informative, and otherwise walked our feet off. One museum that stands out was the Jewish history museum. One does not have to be Jewish to appreciate it and IMO it is an examplar of what such museums should be. Two hours there was sufficient.

All in all, our Dutch neighbor was right as far as city tastes are concerned. Amsterdam is a large and busy international city and we prefer smaller cities that have more of a local flavor, not that there is not much to see and do, there is, but it is a matter of personal taste.

We spent an afternoon at the Frans Hals museum as part of our Haarlem day. This museum meets my tourist's ideal of an art museum in that combines art of the highest quality in a beautiful setting and is not too big to fully appreciate in the limited time that a tourist, who can not repeatedly revisit, can usually devote. Although the name of the museum implies that it is devoted to the work of Hals, it is much more than that. My father was an artist whose specialty was portraits and illuminated manuscripts and so I grew up with a special affinity for the art of the portrait. The specialty, but not sole focus of the Hals museum is his historical portraits of individuals and groups and those of other artists. When we were there, the museum featured a special collection of the works of Jan de Bray as well as other members of the de Bray family, also distinguished artists in their own right. Not being very familiar with the work of the de Brays we found this exhibition a special and most enjoyable experience that led to a greater appreciation of their work.

We also visited the Teyler Museum. We chose this museum because of its historical significance (it is the oldest museum in Holland) and were interested in its interior architecture as well as its collections. The word eclectic best describes this museum whose exhibits include fossils, minerals, scientific instruments, coins, paintings and drawings and even models used in early "magic" acts that showed how they worked, and more. It reminds of all of the Smithsonian museums rolled into one on a small scale. A most interesting place.

Evenings included a walk along the Spaarne River that was only one or two blocks from our hotel, and a general walking exploration of the city as well as a canal boat tour. Note for those visiting Holland. Canal boat tours in general seem to stop running at 5 or 6 PM, so get them in early. We had several dinners at our favorite sidewalk restaurant on the Grote Markt called Brinkmans. We found it to have the kind of food that we like, that is, mainly vegetarian and good prices as well. We particularly liked their vegetarian pancake that was huge and delicious with lots of veggies and of course dinner was followed by a gelato dessert at Bartoly's.
To sum up, Haarlem was everything we hoped for and more. Our hotel was great with a fantastic location just opposite the St. Bavo Cathedral, around the corner from the Grote Markt and a block from the Spaarne. It was convenient to visit Amsterdam and is a beautiful and historic city filled with friendly people.

Greg, yes you will use the same OV chipcard, provided it has enough money on it. The whole point of the card is that you can use it on all public transport. I'm not sure NS will accept the paper chipcards yet since they require a huge deposit (€20) to be taken off your card before you can travel by train. You can still buy a normal train ticket though. If you buy an anonymous chipcard 9not a time limited paper one) then once it has been validated at the station you can use it on a train if it has enough money on it.

It is also worth knowing that Rotterdam have applied to do away with strippenkaarten for trams and buses as well as the metro asap. They will be the first city to do that.

Basingstoke: I was planning to stay at the Golden Tulip because of it's convenient location to the train station both for going to Amsterdam and when leaving for Brugge. You said you were glad you stayed "downtown" instead. Why? I've read the Golden Tulip is only about a 10 minute walk to the Markt. Is that accurate? Is there a downside to the Golden Tulip?

Also, thanks for the insights on Haarlem.

The Golden Tulip is near the train station and that is about it as far as positives. The area around the train station is, well, like areas around train stations - not terrible but not particularly attractive. Other than the train station, the other main neighborhood feature nearby the hotel is the very large bus station opposite the train, thus there is a lot of traffic and IMO it is kind of dreary.

Almost all of the other hotels seem to be around the Grote Markt, a lively area of restaurants, many with outdoor tables, attractive architecture, a weekend market, and just a lot of atmosphere and life. Either way, you would be walking 10 minutes but at least you will be in a place that is fun. If you decide to stay on or near the Markt, just ask for a room towards the back for quiet, or in the case of Stempels, a place I very highly recommend, a room overlooking the side street is quiet too. One thing that I liked about Stempels is that it is just off the Markt rather than on it. That makes a difference. I believe that Stempels may also cost less than the Golden Tulip - it was considerably less when we were there.

BTW - Here are some photos of Haarlem and a set of Stempels photos.

www.flickr.com/photos/basingstoke2/sets

You may have to scroll down a bit to find the sets. A couple of Amsterdam canal are mixed in.

One other reason to stay around the Marks - Bartoly's Gelato.

The food pictures are taken at Brinkman's - the plate sized pancake is the veggie one - yum.

One other reason to stay around the Marks - Bartoly's Gelato.
Make that "Markt"

melissa19,

Here is more detail on biking out from Haarlem. I've lived there and did the rides many times. There are three routes from Haarlem to Zandvoort.

The north route goes though Overveen, parallel to the Zeeweg, the N200. It is flat until a half mile from the coast. Then it is uphill and often against the wind. You arrive at what is called Bloemendaal Beach, unofficially. Then ride south for about a mile to the center of Zandvoort. In the summer the beach is covered with vacation huts occupied mostly by Germans on vacation.

The south route goes out from Aerdenhout/Bentveld, parallel to Zandvoorterweg, the N201. It is flat all the way to Zandvoort. But in Zandvoort you have a steep hill in town. Just walk your bike up the hill. Cafes are everywhere.

Here is my secret of the day. The middle route is the best. It goes through the wild dunes. You start at the Kraantje Lek and use the Visserspad (Fisherman's Path). Google maps has the Kraantje Lek, a nice cafe restaurant, positioned on the railroad tracks. It is actually on the Duinlustweg and you can't miss it. The Visserspad starts at the back of the parking lot. That is not posted and you can easily miss it. Visserspad is a gently rolling path and takes you into the back side of Zandvoort near the train tracks. Ride through Zandvoort and then walk up the hill to look over the beach.

From the west side of Haarlem either of these routes will take about 20 minutes. Make sure you have a bike chain or you will have no bike later in the day!

For Keukenhof I suggest you see my photolog at http://tinyurl.com/y8hltjl. Take the N206 south from Aerdenhout. It is a beautiful ride and flat all the way.

The Keukenhof ride is only good from mid April to mid May. That's when the tulips are in bloom. The Zandvoort ride is best in August but you can do it at any time of the year. Holland winters are mild but damp. The bike paths have direction and distance signs. You can get lost if you really try. ;)

basingstoke2,

I like your report on Haarlem. The Lion d'Or is a traditional business hotel. I stayed there years ago. The advantage and disadvantage is that it is right across the street from the train station and the bus depot. For getting in and out of Haarlem it is ideal. The windows are sound proof so there is no noise problem. I'll have to try Stempels next time. It is relatively new and I have only read about it here on Fodors.

Ditto Brinkman's but not the vegen. Brinkman's has a beautiful burger and fries. And ditto the herring stand, but I prefer the one at the Boter Markt lately. There are several good cafes with outdoor seating over at the Boter Markt also. It is more relaxed and more local than the Brinkman's at the Grote Markt.

spaarne (love the name) how we envy you the opportunity to actually to have lived in Haarlem for awhile. My wife remarked several times while we were there that Haarlem is a place where she would enjoy living. I think it is the comfort level that we felt in the city - we looked forward to coming back in the evening and felt as if we were coming home. Perhaps we lived there in an earlier incarnation - who really knows? As far as the burgers at Brinkman's are concerned, we will have to take your word for it. DW does not eat the meat of mammals and although I do, I am supportive of her (most of the time) when we go out to dine. That veggie pancake really was filling and excellent though.

spaarne, thank you for the details! We will be there in mid-March, so will have to wait and see if the weather holds for any biking. I love the sea, however, so biking there sounds very appealing.