Lear8118

We'll be visiting Amsterdam in May & are looking for suggestions of the most scenic train ride from there. It can be a few hours from A'dam, so long as we return to town for the night. Any ideas? Been to Antwerp & Brussels before, looking for a new destination. We love the outdoors & nature
Thanks!

Michael

Try Enkhuizen, at least there is an outdoor/indoor museum at the end of the ride and an attractive sailing port.

menachem

Hmmm. Can't think of anything. And I use trains a lot and all over the Netherlands. You realise that we're the country with very highest population density, right?

My advice would be to take a bus, for instance to go across the IJsselmeer. (Afsluitdijk)

So my tip would be: take train from Amsterdam to Alkmaar, from Alkmaar take the bus to Harlingen. Harlingen - Leeuwarden by regional train, then Leeuwarden - Amsterdam by Inter City train.

From the train you'll see pastures, industrial areas, train stations, then pastures, industrial areas, train stations.

Southam

Try the quick commute to Rotterdam. Not much of a ride (Netherlands and Belgium were once called the "low countries" in reference to their lack of scenic terrain.) Rotterdam is a massive city experiment in ultra-modern civic renewal after being flattened in WW2. Great harbour cruise because it is one of the world's top industrial harbours.

menachem

There is a lot of scenic beauty in NL, only, you won't see it from the train.

Also, Southam, the west of the country, commonly called Randstad is really one metropolitan, urbanised area. People tend to forget that. It's not meant to be scenic, but utilitarian.

nukesafe

I agree with the above in that scenery from the train in the Netherlands is pretty much boring. In fact the only thing that sticks in my mind about the many trips I took on the train were the hills in the playgrounds.

I noticed that every playground we passed had alongside the slides and swings, a large mound of earth planted with grass. I asked a Dutch friend about that and she said, "Those are hills. If we didn't put a hill in the playgrounds some children might never see one."

menachem

So, you had your leg well and truly pulled. Ah, Dutch humour

hetismij2

Actually the train to Zwolle goes through some pretty nice bits of the country.
However I think Menachem's suggestion of a combined train and bus day out is a good one.

It's called the low countries because it is low, but that doesn't mean it is boring or not scenic. Just a different type of scenic.
Train journeys rarely go through the best bits of a country, with a few notable exceptions.