WalterNY5

I will be in Amsterdam for 7 days in October and I want to take a few trips outside of the city. I figure I will commit 4 full days to Amsterdam and 3 days to exploring outside the city. I have a few questions. First is a bus tour a good way to see things? I saw a 9 hour tour which includes a lot(De Zaanse Schans, Volendam, Marken, Delft, and The Hague) But will it be too little time in each place? Would I be better off picking just 3 or 4 towns and visiting them at my own pace. Every place sounds great and I'm having trouble choosing where to go. Lastly, is Brussels doable as a day trip via train or would it be too rushed and not worth taking up a whole day? Sorry for the long question, any help will be great.
Thanks

marybethcl

I highly recommend taking the train to Haarlem for a day. It's a delightful town! And as for Brussels, I did it last year as a day trip--but it's a long ride and the train ticket was pricey. There are other places to go in Holland that are more interesting. The tour you mention might give you a nice "taste" of those towns, and could be a good choice for one day (depending on cost)--then you could do two other days on your own.

GeoffHamer

It all depends on your tastes and interests. You can get almost anywhere in the Netherlands and back on a day trip from Amsterdam by train and/or bus. The places you mention can all be reached by frequent services. Buses to Volendam and Marken run, as I remember, every 20 minutes, so you can go for day, a half day or a quick visit as the fancy takes you. Delft is also delightful and has frequent trains.

PalQ

Haarlem, Delft, Alkmaar (Friday morning cheese market Apr-mid-Sep) are my favorite Dutch regional towns. Volendam and Marken a bit hokey but fun - De Zaanse Schans reached by train from Amsterdam (20 min to Koog Zaandijk) then short walk to station) Like Geoff says all your places can easily be reached by bus or train - no need to do an exhausting bus tour though i never argue with that if folks are not inclined to set off on own. No you can't have much time in 9 hours to really experience all those places it covers. Once you get to the town head to the VVV (tourist office) and get their English-langage town map and brochure, often with a walking tour. Den Hague is also nice but far different - large city.

ira

Hi W,

We took daytrips to The Hague, Haarlem, Gouda, Edam and Delft for 1/2 to one day each.

Travelnut

Plenty of options and information:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34424302

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34505270

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1328857

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34542068

artstuff

Walter -

On our first trip to Holland we took one of those 8-hour bus tours and all it did for us was make us want to come back to Holland to re-see all the things we viewed through the bus window. We had a stop in Aalsmeer, den Haag and in Delft, but it just wasn't enough time to explore. (We've been back to the Netherlands three times since.)

The rail system in the Netherlands is so easy to use. Check out www.ns.nl where you can plan your rail trips. There is a Holland Pass for three days and for five days, which might save you money over point-to-point tickets.

You could easily do two towns in one day, such as Utrecht and Gouda, or den Haag and Delft, or Rotterdam and Kinderdijk, or Haarlem and Leiden. I've never been to Zaanse Schans, Volendam or Marken....they all seemed to be very touristy.

I hope you enjoy your travels and have a safe trip. Peace.

Robyn >-