Help with Amsterdam!
 

I'm going to be in Amsterdam for 2 days and one night...any tips on what to do there? And how far would side trips to Delft or Edam be or would they be realistic? Thanks in advance for your help!

There are plenty of tips on what to do there in the Destinations section of this website...
Do you have any plans so far?

You can plunk routes into the rail website to get an idea of whether another town would be 'doable' in one day. www.ns.nl (I like to use the Germain one best: www.bahn.de )

I assume you've never been to Amsterdam before? Why are you going there if you don't know what to do there? Did you check Fodor's recommendations under destinations?
http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...n=amsterdam@10

2 days is barely enough to see the city.

Delft is 1 hour by train. Check Netherlands Railway website for train times if you decide to go:
http://www.ns.nl

Yk, I think you've helped me quite a few times on this message board...I'm actually doing a Semester At Sea program this summer and we have 4 days in Belgium, but I bought train tickets and booked a hostel with some people for Amsterdam for 2 days and one night, I thought it would be fun to go there, but now I'm starting to have doubts, and maybe reverse plans and spend my time in Brussels and/or Bruges

angel-

I don't know what your interests are, but I personally find Amsterdam a lot more interesting than Brussels (and probably better nightlife). I believe I posted the link to my trip report on your other post, so you can take a look to see what I did in Amsterdam - that was my 2nd (or was it 3rd?) visit to Amsterdam.

Why do you want to go to Delft? I personally loved it - and I went there because I wanted to see the town where Vermeer lived. It was an amazing experience to see the town of Delft in the morning, and then see Vermeer's "View of Delft" painting 1 hour later in Den Haag.

If you don't have any particular reason to go to Delft, I suggest you save your time in Amsterdam.

btw, dancingangel-

I assume you're in college - so I'm at least a decade older than you. What I find interesting to me might not be interesting to you, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt. :)

Take a canal boat ride at night, have a Heineken in Rembrantplein, enjoy coffee and desert at In de Waag, visit a cofeeshop and a brown cafe, stroll the canals, have another Heineken in Leidseplein and people watch, visit the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, check out the wares at the Flowermarket....for a start!

thanks for the ideas!!!! :) :)

Dancingangel66: Very few young people (and old ones like me) regret spending time in Amsterdam. Check out the culture and the rest will come naturally-you'll be glad you went!
Cheers, Paul

ok this is all very reassuring thank you! :)

Don't take a daytrip if you have only two days in Amsterdam, and have never been there. You'll find plenty to occupy your time with (and you may want to sleep late after trying Amsterdam nightlife).
Try Cafe Luxembourg for a drink and snack (have a beer and some 'bitterballen').

How long of a sidetrip to Delft or Edam would justify the traveling from Amsterdam? Thanks a bunch!

dancingangel,

I think you're missing the point: It takes 4-5 days to see Amsterdam. You only have 2 days and one night. If you take a trip out of town, then you will hardly see any of Amsterdam.

A side trip to Delft or Edam would make more sense if you were going to be in Amsterdam for a week.

Coffee shops? The Cannabis Cup might be in town at the same time that you are. I personally am not into those palces, but plenty of college students are.

You can take a bus from Central Station to Edam. It takes about 30 minutes and then walk from the bus station to the old town(about 5 minutes). It is really nice to see, but you can walk around it in about 1 to 2 hours. We have stayed in Edam 3 different times and sometimes we take the bus into Central
Station and take in the sights in Amsterdam. Delft is not easly seen on foot like Old Edam and I would definatley do Edam over Delft.

Definitely go to Delft if you are drawn there for some raosn, why not?

Amsterdam basics:

people seem to enjoy different aspects of Amsterdam. Some people like the accessibility of marijuana in the "coffeeshops" and the general European youth drinking scene.

Some people are drawn there for the museums - Holland is one of the great painting countries of the world. The most famous, the Rijksmuseum, is being renovated I believe and displaying only part of its stuff; the Van Gogh museum is fun; and then is the state museum of modern art, I can't remember the Dutch.

There's also Anne Frank's house.

And then there's what I myself like, which is just getting a feel for the city itself. It is beautiful, with hundreds of 17th century houses on canals. Take canal boat rides - one by day, one by night - and wander around.

We just returned from 5 nights in Amsterdam and we liked it so much more than we'd even expected. Such a charming place. Definitely spend all your time there. We did one 4.5 hour side trip by bus and boat to visit Volendam and Maarken, but with your short agenda I'd suggest staying in Amsterdam. So many beautiful little canals and side streets. Wonderful restaurants, too. We'd expected it to be all "old world" but instead found really classy, trendy, too. You will love it. I'll post my trip report when I recover from the long trip today.

P.S. One thing to be aware of in Amsterdam is that shops don't accept credit cards for small purchases (i.e. about 25 EU and less). So be sure you have cash for coffee and sandwiches, etc.

Welcome back MaureenB! Hope you enjoyed Le Coin and looking forward to your trip report!

Irishdame, I posted my report, but titled it "A Long Trip Report" and no one's reading it. I'll re-post under another name and see if anyone sees it. (My old advertising background-- can't resist testing another headline!)