Help with the Netherlands!
 

I'm flying to Amsterdam on June 10 for businees. Will have a couple of days off and the evenings....I have NO CLUE what to see or do...this is a conutry tha twas not on my list and looking at the travel books I can't find anything but the red light district and pot!

I'll have meetings in the Hague....can I visit Anne Frank's house in the afternoon? are distances huge?
Can you please suggest what to do in the afternoons and where to spend Saturday?

I love food and sightseeing.
THANKS
Alba

http://www.amsterdam.info/sights/top10/

This is a pretty good list.... I don't smoke and find "pot" to be a minor factor in the several visits we've made. Quite easy to avoid. You can skip the RLD all together, if you want to.

If you have a nice pleasant afternoon (weatherwise), it's lovely to do a little picnic in the Vondelpark.

The train system is very good and that is how you should plan to travel between cities/towns.

I can't believe the travel books don't show the historical/artistic side of Amsterdam. I didn't visit any of their art museums while I was there, but you can consider that. Yes, you can visit the Anne Frank House in the afternoon. Highly recommended! Take a canal cruise, wander around Dam Square, or see some of the Holocaust/WWII sites, such as the Dutch Resistance Museum (I believe that's what it's called). There's a lovely flower market near one of the canals, and a museum of local history in the city centre. They have a nice tram system to get you around town. There are plenty of cafes where you can have a beer and watch the world go by. I remember having a lovely walnut torte in the cafeteria of the one of the large department stores. It overlooked Dam Square, and I could people-watch as I ate my lunch.

If "sightseeing" includes museums I would suggest the Rijksmuseum and/or the Van Gogh in Amsterdam...the former being one of the "richest" anywhere in terms of value of works on display even if the place is under renovation.

In Amsterdam...rijksmuseum, van gogh museum, anne frank house, dutch resistance museum, canal cruise, walk the red light district, see "our lord in the attic" church, vondel park, dam square, etc etc. there is a gin distillery as well as a few spots that have amazing varieties of beers to sample. there is tons to do and see there. check out a Rick Steves book or Fodors guide for more details. We had great dinners at Le Zinc and Der Blonde Hollander while there and some awesome pancakes at a tiny place upstairs just off Dam Square. It sat 14 if full and had crazy teapots hanging from the ceiling. Cell Phones are banned which makes it a lot more fun!

http://www.eatndrink.com/pages/bestwalks.html

This site includes some short walking tours of A'dam (each about one to two miles with narratives on a dozen or so sites).

I'm not a big A'dam fan. I like the canal tour and there is a lot of interesting history.

IMO their museums are average (good if you are only here, skip if you will be in London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, St. Petersburg, Rome, Florence, etc.).

I'm not into illicit drugs or sex so I limit my time in A'dam in favor of nicer places nearby.

If you are going to The Hague for a meeting, it'll be a shame if you don't stop by the Mauritshuis Museum for a visit.

Vermeer's "View of Delft" and "Girl with a Pearl Earring" are both there, as well as masterpieces by Rembrandt.
http://www.mauritshuis.nl/

We loved Amsterdam. Here are my notes:

"Final stop: Amsterdam. Five nights’ stay, first visit for all of us.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Amsterdam! You always hear of the Red Light district and the coffee shops and the laissez-faire attitude, but you don’t hear how open and friendly the people are, how lovely the canals and side streets, how wonderfully trendy the restaurants and cafes, how people are out strolling at all hours of the night and you feel safe everywhere. I think I’d expected it to be quaint and charming (which it is), but in a dark wood-paneled cliché way, not in the young and contemporary way it is.

The standard reply we were given in Amsterdam, when we asked for anything, was always “Of course!” How refreshing.

We stayed in a fabulous location, at The Hotel Residence le Coin, which was directly across a small street from the Hotel de l’Europe, down the street from the Hotel Doelan, on Nieuwe Doelenstraat (sp?). A great neighborhood in the heart of old Amsterdam.

The hotel has a lift and A/C, also free use of the hotel’s washing machine and clothes dryer in the basement (which was welcome as we’d been traveling over a week when we arrived there). Each room has a little kitchenette, a nice-sized bath, large rooms with wooden floors and a sitting area. It’s fairly new, so everything sparkles. Very friendly front desk, too.

Two cafes on the same block as the hotel were wonderful: Café Katoen for a university atmosphere, and Café le Jarden, for great table seating on the canal.

Amazing dinners at two restaurants in particular:
“Stout!”, at Haarlemmerstraat 73 (www.restaurantstout.nl). Fabulous ‘foamy asparagus’ soup with shrimp, chateaubriande, fresh fish, dessert course, wine list. Very trendy lighting. Great service. We’d gone to the neighborhood in search of a restaurant called “Lof” which we’d seen written up. We didn’t like its atmosphere, but were lucky that Stout! was just across the street.

Also at “Restaurant Dining Eleven” we had a great dinner. It’s at Reestraat 11. Also trendy and contempory, well-presented and beautifully-served meal.

Another nice dinner at “frenzi”, at Swanenburgwal 232. Very simple and contemporary. We arrived shortly after 10:00p.m., when most restaurants close in Amsterdam, and persuaded the owner to sell us any left-overs they had in the kitchen! They put together a nice Caesar salad with cooked-in-the-shell shrimp and mango. Very nice.

Also a good brunch at a place across the street from frenzi—called “Puccini”. Creative salads and sandwiches. Very nice also.

We took a canal cruise one evening. Toured the Anne Frank Huis and the Van Gogh Museum. Visited the Nieuwe Kerk (sp?) Our teens went to a concert at the Paradiso and loved it.

One afternoon we did the 2:30 “Best of Holland” excursion to Volendam and Marken, with a stop to see wooden clogs made, Gouda cheese created, and to visit windmills. It was by bus, with a boat from Volendam to Marken. A lot of fun. Even our two teens liked it.

Our teens also liked shopping at one street in particular, between our hotel and the museum district. Also a Zara shop there, and many others like it. They thought the selection and prices were better in Amsterdam than what they’d seen in London and Paris even.

A detail about Amsterdam if you go there-- carry enough Euros in cash, because many places won't accept a credit card for a 'small' purchase (i.e. under 25 EU)."

If you intend to visit Ann Frank House, absoultely make a reservation on-line for that day and hour.
Otherwise you have to stay in a sometimes very long line...
Traveltime by train is less 1 hour, frequent trains, so easy to do.
From the station either walk for about 20 minutes or take tram nr. 13 or 17 to Westermarkt.
Check www.vvvamsterdam.nl for all info about Amsterdam.

You guys are AWESOME!!!!

Now, I am retarded in this area of the world....the names are hard and can't connect! I'll have to read these answers and absob your knowledge THANK YOU!

If I'm in The Hague can I go to Amsterdam in the afternoon and come back easily? How long of a train ride is it? Are there trains often?

Why kind of food is recomended? I eat EVERYTHING and most of my trips are planned to enjoy the food..specially when trabeling to Italy!

It's an easy commute between the 2 cities. And with it being June, daylight will be longer than when we were there in Dec.

I second yk's suggestion to visit Mauritshuis. The paintings were exquisite.

We alos went to Delft and while a bit on the touisty side, we were charmed by the square, the hsitory and easy traveling

How far are you from the train station?
What do you enjoy?
What days will you be free?

The Hague to Amsterdam - city center to city center trains at least hourly and take about an hour or less.

Buy a day return Daago Retour i think ticket for a slight discount over two one ways and not having to buy a return ticket

Amsterdam Centraal Station (C.S.) in schedules is in the heart of everything. You may want to book a visit to Anne Frank house to avoid long wait in line

what books are you consulting - only pot and redlights?

The redlight district is being abolished but will still be there (right by station) when you get there i guess

Pot or coffeeshops will always be there i guess. But the hague also has those and a redlight district of its own so it's not just an Amsterdamned thing