side trips from amsterdam
 

trying to get some sense of amount of walking and time to allow for side trips out of amsterdam, also cost

(one of us has some walking issues - can walk but not for miles and miles and miles).

for example if we go to delft, take tram or taxi to train station. train ticket costs?

get to to delft, want to see ? pottery, vermeer stuff. how far from station, cost of taxi? etc. etc. where would we find this out?

also with Haarlem, den haag, and of course the flower gardens, since going late april.

thanks

If you are going in late April go to Keukenhoff! The paths are designed for gentle walking, we also saw many groups of wheel chair visitors. Breath taking, walkable or wheelable is a hard combination to beat! This garden is almost impossible to imagine and most certainly unforgetable. Have a grand time.

Last year, my sister and I visited The Netherlands for one week, she has walking difficulty too,but we managed the trip all right.

There are local buses from train station in every city/town,you could buy one 35 strip card( cover the whole country,the cheapest)for your whole group. Train travel is fairly inexpensive too.

To Keukenhof,train to Leiden,direct bus from train station to the gardens. It takes total about 1 1/2 hours. It is easy walk but could be tiring too(vast area). But there are many benches around for resting and just enjoying the views.The gardens are magnificent,don't miss it.

To Den Hagg,frequent train takes less than an hour. The old Palace,several museums with old masters paintings and churches are within 10 minutes walk from Central tarin station (Don't get off at Station HS,it's further south). The well-known Minicipal museum is away in Schevennigen, there are direct buses from train station Central.

From Den Hagg,there are Trams to Delft (15-20 minutes), 5 minutes walk from the stop to old town. The old town is very compact,everything within easy walking distance. An easy way to see the town is taking a canal boat trip.

Train ride to Haarlem is very short. The train station is about 15 minutes walk to old town,or you could take a bus. The cost of taxi shall be around 5-10 euro.

Have a great trip.

thanks for the info on train travel. etc.

do you need to buy train tickets ahead of time? where do you find out the schedule? Assume buses, or trams, you pick up when you get wherever you are going.

No, you don't need to get tickets in advance, just go to Centraal Station in Amsterdam - the schedules are all on display there, too - for the places you mention, services are frequent. You can check them out online (in English) at
www.ns.nl/domestic/index.cgi

Signage and information services in the Netherlands are really very good, and you wouldn't be the only people looking for a bus from Leiden to Keukenhof...

thanks for the link. why would I want first or second class - differences?

trains smoking or non -smoking.

assume all the discounts they list don't apply for visitors just taking a few train trips.

In Europe, I travel second class most of the time, it is perfectly adequate,except during rush hour,could be very crowded.First class is more spacious.

Trains come smoking and non-smoking. The discount applys to visitors.

www.visitholland.com has many pratical info.for visitors.

Correction: the cheapest strip card (18.5 Euro) is 45,not 35.

If you are interested in paintings and sculpture,don't miss Kroller Muller Museum-very impressive collections and outdoor sculpture museum-truly lovely in spring. Frequent trains to Arnhem,bus to the museum.

In Delft:
The Prinsenhof Museum
The Old Church & the New Church (one admission ticket)
Museum Lambert van Meerten
Museum Paul Tetar van Elven
Nusantara Museum (Indonesian)
all are 5-10 minutes walking from the train station.

De Porceleyne Fles
De Delftse Pauw
These are the two big Delft Blue pottery factories, and they are worth a visit particularly for the tour and demonstrations. The first is about a 15-min. walk from the station, the second is further in the other direction. Take a cab or tram 1 (direction The Hague). Taxi to either place would be between 8 - 15 euro. If you walk to the Porceleyne Fles, take the route that starts to the west of the river Schie and you will come past the point where Vermeer painted 'View of Delft'. There's a big circular wall there and a multi-colored piece of plexiglass (art) to mark the spot.

De Candelaar
Small Delft Blue shop with demonstrations, on the Market square.

Technical Museum
Army Museum
University Library
Botanical Gardens
These are not really tourist attractions but can be very enjoyable, depending on your interests.

The best thing about Delft is that the center of town is lovely, charming, and small, so you can walk around it easily. There are a lot of cafes, restaurants and bars (big student population!). There is a big market on Thursdays (one of Europe's most spectacular settings) and a smaller one on Saturdays.

The cheapest strip card is much cheaper than what Judy said: more like 5 euro for 15 strips. Two or more people can share one, just stamp the correct number of strips for each person.

Enjoy!

thanks for the detailed message about delft. sounds like you could spend more than a day there?

Definitely - but it's a question of how many other things you want to do! Lots of people only spend a half day in Delft, but it's a very good location for side trips to other towns, too - only 15 min. to The Hague and Rotterdam, for instance. Delft doesn't have world-famous art, but it does have a wonderful small-town feel, and for people worried about safety or 'sleeziness' in Amsterdam, Delft may offer a less threatening atmosphere. There are plenty of small hotels, and you can rent bikes at the train station for a real Dutch experience.

Hi there - take a fast train to Utrecht for a lunchtime wander. Their train station is a mess but once you hit the center of town (5 mins walk) the sunken canals and Dom Cathedral are sublime. Good shopping too....
HTH!