Stay a week in Amsterdam or take side trips?
 

My college kid and two friends are traveling to Amsterdam for spring break. The will arrive early on a Monday morning in March and depart on the following Sunday. Currently, they plan to stay Monday-Wednesday (3) nights in Amsterdam and then go to another, undecided place for Thursday and Friday nights, then back to Amsterdam on Saturday in order to catch their flight home Sunday. Could anyone suggest where they could go for Thursday-Saturday? (They will have to go by train or some form of public transportation.) Or, would it be just as good to stay in Amsterdam the entire time?

Also, can anyone suggest a good, affordable hotel near the Amsterdam airport for that one Saturday night?

Many thanks in advance!

I'd suggest tehy just stay in Amsterdam, and do day trips out of the ciyty if they need to get away. Haarlem, The Hague, Scheveningen, Delft & Rotterdam are all easy to get to by train (Rotterdam is the furthest away & takes, I think, a couple of hours). Unless they have an early flight, I would suggest thay stay in their city centre hotel Friday, and get the train out to the airport (15 mins) on Saturday. If they need to stay at the airport, try the Ibis Schipol, I've stayed there before & it's OK.

As Soonhamer said, stay in Amsterdam and take day trips. At the list he he gave you, I would add Utrechrt - a small, beautiful town with a huge cathedral.

I suggest they go to Antwerp, which is a very exciting combination of the modern and the old, and has fabulous food and friendly places where young people congregate.

I'm a great fan of Amsterdam. I'd love to live there. And if they want to take day trips from there to Haarlem or Delft, they will see interesting sights. But as young people, they might enjoy seeing another country and Antwerp is a very happening scene.

Many thanks for these suggestions!!!! I welcome any others that someone might have.