Powell's Trip Report-Amsterdam and environs
May 1st, 2006, 09:59 AM
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Powell's Trip Report-Amsterdam and environs
Amsterdam is a joy.
Some tips:
-There is a tourist bureau at the Centraal RR station. Very polite and knowledgeable people man it.
-Everyone speaks English.
-Watch out for the bicycles. They are numerous and have lanes of their own. Amsterdam has 800,000 residents, 700,000 of whom might be on bicycles at any one time.
-Bring some warm clothing. Temperature ranged from 40F to 60F while we were there in late April so layered cloting de rigeur.
-The Mauritzhuis in the Hague is a wonder. It has a couple of splendid Vermeers like "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and many other great works. We dined at our first Indonesian restaurant "Geroeda" near the Mauritzhuis. Boffo.
-Buy a multi-day pass for the trams. They are easy to use and much less expensive than taxis when getting around town.
-Consider the Hotel Fita. We had a wonderful stay with Hans and Loes de Rapper. Hotel is clean, reasonable, serves a free good breakfast. It is located in the Museumplein that is not in the center of town (avoid that area for dining) and that is good. It is right between the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh, near nice parks. Very good dining in the area--seafood place "Bark" was excellent.
-Buy a trio museum ticket at the hotel. It covers the Rijks, the Van Gogh and the Rembrandt-Carravaggio exhibit in the Van Gogh. Advantage of the ticket is that it allows you to get in front of the line without waiting. This is a huge factor as lines are incredibly long.
-See the Rembrandt House. Visit the Anne Frank House. Take a canal boat trip.
-You can reach the train terminal in 10 minutes from the hotel by tram. We visited, Delft, The Hague, Leiden and the Keukenhof Gardens. Another interesting spot is the windmill village "Kaanse Schanse" (sp?) It is only 15 minutes on the train then ten minute or so walk. There is a wonderful restaurant whose name starts with "Hoop" just as you get in to the tourist area. We learned that it once had one Michelin star and we could not divine how it lost it. Really fine dining place and we are Francophiles who did not expect any thing as good as this in the Netherlands no less tha Kaanse Schanse.
Be glad to answer any questions.
Some tips:
-There is a tourist bureau at the Centraal RR station. Very polite and knowledgeable people man it.
-Everyone speaks English.
-Watch out for the bicycles. They are numerous and have lanes of their own. Amsterdam has 800,000 residents, 700,000 of whom might be on bicycles at any one time.
-Bring some warm clothing. Temperature ranged from 40F to 60F while we were there in late April so layered cloting de rigeur.
-The Mauritzhuis in the Hague is a wonder. It has a couple of splendid Vermeers like "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and many other great works. We dined at our first Indonesian restaurant "Geroeda" near the Mauritzhuis. Boffo.
-Buy a multi-day pass for the trams. They are easy to use and much less expensive than taxis when getting around town.
-Consider the Hotel Fita. We had a wonderful stay with Hans and Loes de Rapper. Hotel is clean, reasonable, serves a free good breakfast. It is located in the Museumplein that is not in the center of town (avoid that area for dining) and that is good. It is right between the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh, near nice parks. Very good dining in the area--seafood place "Bark" was excellent.
-Buy a trio museum ticket at the hotel. It covers the Rijks, the Van Gogh and the Rembrandt-Carravaggio exhibit in the Van Gogh. Advantage of the ticket is that it allows you to get in front of the line without waiting. This is a huge factor as lines are incredibly long.
-See the Rembrandt House. Visit the Anne Frank House. Take a canal boat trip.
-You can reach the train terminal in 10 minutes from the hotel by tram. We visited, Delft, The Hague, Leiden and the Keukenhof Gardens. Another interesting spot is the windmill village "Kaanse Schanse" (sp?) It is only 15 minutes on the train then ten minute or so walk. There is a wonderful restaurant whose name starts with "Hoop" just as you get in to the tourist area. We learned that it once had one Michelin star and we could not divine how it lost it. Really fine dining place and we are Francophiles who did not expect any thing as good as this in the Netherlands no less tha Kaanse Schanse.
Be glad to answer any questions.
May 1st, 2006, 10:23 AM
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Glad you had a good time - you saw some great things..
You might not be able to read some of your 'writing' LOL, it is Zaanse Schans.
http://www.zaanseschans.nl/
It's kind of touristy but fun, and we liked our 'official' photo taken at the entrance.
You might not be able to read some of your 'writing' LOL, it is Zaanse Schans.
http://www.zaanseschans.nl/
It's kind of touristy but fun, and we liked our 'official' photo taken at the entrance.
May 1st, 2006, 10:41 AM
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Travelnut,
Thanks for spelling correction. I am back to work,still a bit bleary-eyed. At nearly 70, two months from retirement, I should wait a few days before posting. But Amsterdam was splendid.
Other items:
-My wife and I walked through the Red Light District about 5 p.m. we found it tawdry and rather sad - a real "meat" market.
-The two hours we spent in the Van Gogh Museum viewing his paintings in particular was worth the cost of the entire trip.
-Someone recently rapped the Hotel Fita on Fodor's. That person must have had an individually bad experience. Our experience,all the guests I spoke to at the Hotel and the vast preponderance of past Fodors' posters gave it, in my opinion, a well-earned review.
Thanks for spelling correction. I am back to work,still a bit bleary-eyed. At nearly 70, two months from retirement, I should wait a few days before posting. But Amsterdam was splendid.
Other items:
-My wife and I walked through the Red Light District about 5 p.m. we found it tawdry and rather sad - a real "meat" market.
-The two hours we spent in the Van Gogh Museum viewing his paintings in particular was worth the cost of the entire trip.
-Someone recently rapped the Hotel Fita on Fodor's. That person must have had an individually bad experience. Our experience,all the guests I spoke to at the Hotel and the vast preponderance of past Fodors' posters gave it, in my opinion, a well-earned review.
May 2nd, 2006, 11:48 AM
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Powell, I meant to post on this yesterday but it slipped away from me.
Thanks very much for the tips. My wife and I loved Amsterdam and I'm toying with the idea of a return visit next winter.
A question: when you visited Delft and The Hague, did you queue at the railway station to buy your tickets or was there some way to get them from a kiosk? I ask as we faced a bit of a line-up when we were buying rail tickets from Amsterdam to Bruges, and I was wondering if there was a short-cut.
Anselm
Thanks very much for the tips. My wife and I loved Amsterdam and I'm toying with the idea of a return visit next winter.
A question: when you visited Delft and The Hague, did you queue at the railway station to buy your tickets or was there some way to get them from a kiosk? I ask as we faced a bit of a line-up when we were buying rail tickets from Amsterdam to Bruges, and I was wondering if there was a short-cut.
Anselm
May 2nd, 2006, 12:39 PM
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We waited on the queue that was never more than 10 minutes.
Reasons: we are technically challenged and, more importantly, vending machines in Europe often require use of a credit card that has a code feature on it not present on American-issued credit cards.
Reasons: we are technically challenged and, more importantly, vending machines in Europe often require use of a credit card that has a code feature on it not present on American-issued credit cards.
May 2nd, 2006, 02:30 PM
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We were in the Fita Hotel the same time you were. You are so right Amsterdam is a joy. I was so pleasantly surprised. I cannot imagine anyone finding the Fita Hotel not a good place to stay.
I don't think we made it to as many places out of Amsterdam as you did,but we enjoyed Amsterdam so much and found so many things of interest.
We went to Harlaam which we found interesting.
Thanks for your post. I will try to write up our trip soon.
I don't think we made it to as many places out of Amsterdam as you did,but we enjoyed Amsterdam so much and found so many things of interest.
We went to Harlaam which we found interesting.
Thanks for your post. I will try to write up our trip soon.
May 2nd, 2006, 03:26 PM
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Powell, I love Amsterdam and am happy you enjoyed your visit there. Congrats on your soon to happen retirement. I hope you have more travel plans in the works. Thanks for sharing your trip and bringing back terrific memories for me. Barb
May 3rd, 2006, 06:43 AM
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Maudie,
[email protected] should get you a clear message. Note this hotel is not in the city center which to me is an advantage. You are only 10 minutes from the city center, Centraal Station, tourist spots, etc. I highly recommend.
Anthony
[email protected] should get you a clear message. Note this hotel is not in the city center which to me is an advantage. You are only 10 minutes from the city center, Centraal Station, tourist spots, etc. I highly recommend.
Anthony
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