europe2011jc

Our trip is set. Lodging, flight and most of our transportation is booked. Now the enjoyable struggle with what to do, what to see and where to eat can begin. A little help with our itinerary would be greatly appreciated.

We will arrive in Amsterdam on Sunday, July 17th around 14:00 and most of us will depart on Thursday night, July 21st. There will be 7 of us, all adults in our early 30s. We are traveling by Rail. With the exception of my wife and I, the group has not experienced Amsterdam or Holland. Our pace could be called leisurely active, hoping to experience as much as possbile while taking some time to reflect, digest and smell the tulips.

Many of the "Top 10" experiences (Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, canal cruise) will be on our itinerary, but my wife and I are looking for alternative ideas outside the city center or absent from the travel guides.

Much of the group will venture out of Amsterdam to Belgium for a day trip, but my wife and I are looking for an alternative since we have visited much of Belgium. We have been to Antwerpen, the Hague, the Keukenhopf and Delft. We are thinking about Haarlem and are open to other ideas.

Any and all suggestions on how to organize our days would be greatly appreciated.

suec1

We went to the Harrlem train station and rented bikes and biked out to the coast - there are several resorts out there where you can walk on the beach or have lunch - very pleasant day UNLESS the wind is strong - then it is quite hard to pedal along. You can buy a detailed bike map at the station which would be helpful.

PeaceOut

We loved Amsterdam. Here are my notes from about five years ago:

"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.

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)."

november_moon

If the weather is good, consider a bike tour with Mikes Bikes. We did 2 tours during our week in Amsterdam - the city tour and a countryside tour. Both were great. We saw a ton, learned a lot, and had a great time.

november_moon

If the weather is good, consider a bike tour with Mikes Bikes. We did 2 tours during our week in Amsterdam - the city tour and a countryside tour. Both were great. We saw a ton, learned a lot, and had a great time.

twiggers

For an interesting day out of the city, what about heading to the National Park "De Hoge Veluwe." It's not too bad of a trip out of the city and they have the white bikes you can ride around the park for free and a FABULOUS museum with a large Van Gogh collection.

I went there just for the museum (only spent a few hours) and enjoyed myself.

Urs84

As a Dutch girl I would suggest:
Visiting leiden'(30 minutes from Amsterdam by train): you can book a tour trough http://portal.leiden.nl. A tour will cost you about 110 euro's for your group, but it's really worth it