Northern Netherlands / NW Germany help needed!
 

My family (husband + 2 teen boys) are traveling to Northern Netherlands and Northwest Germany in June. We are spending 2.5 days in Amsterdam and then driving North on our way to Hamburg. My tentative itinerary is below. We only have 3 days for the road trip part between Amsterdam and Hamburg, so I am trying to balance seeing as much of the area as possible and having time to enjoy it. Questions: Is this reasonable? Is there anything to take off the list?

Day 1: Pick up rental car at 9 am. Drive to see windmills in Zaanse Schans, visit Edam-Volendum (cheese market is that day/have lunch), drive to Afsluitdijk, through Harlingen, and Groningen. i made reservations at the Hotel Groningen-Hoogkerk for that night. Have dinner in Groningen and walk around city.

Day 2: Drive to Bourtange, through Leer, Esens, and to Neuharlingersiel. Have lunch and enjoy village. Drive through Jevers to Bremerhaven. Tour Emigration Center that afternoon if at all possible.

Day 3: Tour Bremerhaven Emigration center that morning if necessary.
Drive to nützen (Northeast of Hamburg) by early afternoon.

*How long should we plan for seeing Bourtange?
*Is there anything we should do in Leer, Esens, or Neuharlingersiel? Do we even stop in Leer or Esens, or just drive through?
*Is Bremerhaven a good place to stay for the night? Any recommendations for hotel?

Thanks

I would plan a two-hour block for Bourtange. It's not huge but you could happily linger there with an ice cream, see the windmill, poke through the tourist shops, of which there are a few. The shop at the exit sells small archaeological finds from the town (coins, etc).

I have not been to Bremerhaven but my husband has, as a friend of ours (who lives just outside Bremen) hails from there, and there are quite a few tourist activities you can do there, enough to fill a day, mostly centred on the port. However, I think Bremen is the jewel in that part of the world in terms of older architecture (Schnoor, Roland, the four city musicians). If you get the opportunity do have a look.

Jever has a brewery - Jever Pilsner is famous throughout north Germany, not sure if that interests you but might make an interesting diversion.

Lavandula

Oh, and near Bremen, Worpswede: a former artist's colony filled with the north-German style of farmhouse (half-timbered, inscriptions above doors). Also very pretty.

Lavandula

Hm, don't know if I explained Bourtange too well. It's a town where people live but also an attraction and you have to pay to get in. They did this to save the town, which in the 1960s was dying. The star shape was gone at that time and they had to rebuild and uncover what had been there originally. It did work - they saved it - but at what cost to the residents, who now live in an attraction. No different to Amsterdam in that regard, I guess. So you wouldn't just drive through or drop in, it's a paid commitment, if you see what I mean.

Lavandula

I posted a link to Bourtange in OP's previous link so they are aware of what it is like.

In Edam stretch your legs by walking along the former Zuider Zee's nice shores for a while - you may also want to do a short stop by at Marken, which though in a few spots is very touristy but in a recent post a local pointed out many places that were unspoilt by tourists:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mark...w=1280&bih=625

Know zilch about other parts but you got a couple of the best most knowledgeable folks responding above including one who lives in Northern Nederland.

Maybe you might want to reconsider Hoogkerk as your Groningen base. A better option would be Mercure Martini Plaza or Apollo in the Corpus Den Hoorn area or Best Western Groningen centre https://hotelgroningencentre.nl/
They've got their own parking garage. Also, they're just inside the "Diepenring", so getting to the hotel by car is no problem.

There really is no viable way of getting from Hoogkerk to Groningen without a car.

Thanks, everyone, for your great comments! menachem, I tried to find accommodations in the area you mentioned, but everything is booked! That's the only reason I chose the place I did. We do have a car, but it sounds like driving and parking there is a nightmare.... ??

I would still love to hear some recommendations on Leer, Esens, or Neuharlingersiel if anyone has any. I'm trying to figure out how much time to allocate for these spots or if they are worth a stop.

Thanks!

There are parking spaces, garages etc outside the "Diepenring": walk into town or take a bus from there. Coming from Hoogkerk, your best bet is Westerhaven:
https://www.centrumparkeren.nl/groni...es/westerhaven

Neuharlingersiel is: beach! Waddensea! Outdoorsy on-the-water stuff. Maybe take some more time there than "an afternoon" and give the boys a kiting or windsurfing class? I would perhaps exhange an afternoon "touring the emigration center" for a windsurf or kitesurf class in Neuharlingersiel.

https://www.neuharlingersiel.de/vor-...fen-und-kiten/

(google translate)

What you'll notice, as you travel, is the continuity of the regions that border "the frisian sea", all the way from North Holland to Hamburg.