The Netherlands - What are your Top 5 Must See or Must Dos?
 

We will have 5 full days in the Netherlands. We'll spend each night in Amsterdam, but are open to day trips. No matter where in the country, what are your very very favorite things to see or do in Netherlands?

We are a famiy of 5 - "kids" ages 20, 18 and 15. The kids like museums well enough, but we'll need to iimit them to the best of the best.

My must sees and do would probably not be of interest however I would highly recommend a day out in the Hoge Veluwe National Park. You can use the free white bikes to get around, or reserve blue ones if you want to be sure to keep the same bike - visit the Kroller Muller museum, ride through the park, maybe take a picknick with you.

You mentioned wanting to visit Makkum. In that case I'd suggest hiring a car for the day, and driving there, much easier than by public transport. Visit Hindelopen too and maybe Sneek or carry on up and visit harlingen and/or Franeker as well. Harlingen is a lovely old port and Franeker is a lovely old town, and has a wooden planetarium which is worth visiting. Harlingen has some good restaurants and cafes - so you could have your evening meal there before heading back to Amsterdam.
If you go up through Flevoland and back over the Afsluitdijk (which is worth seeing in it's own right) you will have done a sort of circle of the Ijsselmeer

I suggest Madurodam in the Hague. Then go up to Duinrell in Wassenaar. Those are two places that you and the kids would probably enjoy.

A visit to Haarlem is also interesting. It is only 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam's Centraal Station. Haarlem is more traditional and much less hectic than Amsterdam.

That's funny hetismij.

I'm with hetismij and visit the Hoge Veluwe. Yoiiu could visit Appledorn but have a look at the research before you jump here.

Bike riding is a must, take a train and cycle round the Ijsselmeer.

Did anyone mention applecake

Leiden is a lovely small city with beautiful canals. The history of the Pilgrims ten years there before they left for N. America on the Mayflower includes a museum.
It's an easy train ride from Amsterdam.

Thanks. Interesting that no one has recommended a single art museum!

Hi, missypie. I haven't seen your posts for a long time! Here are my notes from our family visit to Amsterdam, with our older teens:

"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.

The hotel has a lift and A/C, also free use of the hotel’s washing machine and clothes dryer in the basement (which was welcome as we’d been traveling over a week when we arrived there). Each room has a little kitchenette, a nice-sized bath, large rooms with wooden floors and a sitting area. It’s fairly new, so everything sparkles. Very friendly front desk, too.

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)."

If you go the Hague then can I suggest the Mauritshuis, and Panorama Mesdag as well.

I like the Van Gogh museum. It is not too small yet not so large that I get bored or just ready to get outside. And I have been to the Anne Frank Museum twice. Very interesting. It was great to actually see the things I have read about.

As a day trip, I absolutely love Delft! I usually stay there and visit Amsterdam

Anne Frank house...absolutely no doubt. They should read the book before if they haven't already.

Zaanse Schans for the up close windmill experience. We were adults and loved it and learned a lot there. Plus they have shops throughout with clogmaking, cheesemaking, etc. Sort of touristy but I'd think great for that age.

We did not enjoy Haarlem and wouldn't go back, but I've heard it was not "normal" when we were there. There was a big carnival in the square that was taking over the town and not something we were interested in.

If you get the kids into the Rijksmuseum and see Rembrandt's Night Watch, you can see it in 3-D glory in Rembrandplein, an open air square with life-size replicas. That was pretty cool.

I like to have a few drinks and go to FEBO for a late snack.

http://www.febodelekkerste.nl/

missie, just to be clear the Kröller-Müller Museum is in the Hoge Veluwe.

In Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Ann Frank House, maybe a canal boat ride, and Dutch resistance Museum is very moving. The Kroller-Muller Museum is very nice, but can be long and difficult to get to. They do have free bikes you can ride through the park setting. Leiden is a delightful little city - we actually stayed there and took day trips. Delft looks like it would be a pretty little town, but it was cold and raining the day we were there and not much was open. The summer might be lovely.

<i>travelgourmet on May 23, 11 at 1:31pm
I like to have a few drinks and go to FEBO for a late snack.</i>

To put this into perspective regarding the other thread on what to wear to a nice restaurant, why am I not surprised that Mr. Jeans-and-T would go to a food automat for a greasy Indonesian egg roll? Maybe FEBO defines nice restaurant for TG?

I think the Kroller Muller is a splendid idea and it is one of my favorite museum memories.

I'm not sure, though, that it's a great idea for a person who may have done no other research besides asking on a message board what they should do. misspie did say that her children, "like museums well enough."

I've done research. If you look back a few years, you'll see that I do a LOT of research for our trips. It's just that from what I've read, the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Ann Frank House all stand out...then there seems to be "everything else."

I typically love the Eyewitness Guides, but the one for the Netherlands makes everything but Amsterdam look about the same. Lovely and charming, but about the same. Haarlem, Delft and The Hague each get a couple of pages in the books. So do lots of other towns. It's difficult to determine the "best of the best."

We don't want a trip that consists of two museums every day (okay, I would love that but the kids would revolt), nor do we want a trip of wandering around a different charming small town every day.

I am picking up some tips on "experiences" - biking around somewhere (several good ideas), a canal boat cruise. This half of the trip can be heavy on "attractions" if need be, because the second half will be the Bernese Oberland, which will be all "experiences" rather than "attractions."

Re: the Kroller Muller, we went for the museum specifically and I thought it was like running the Amazing Race to get there: two trains, a bus, a long walk from the bus (just missed the half-hourly shuttle to the gate) then a bike ride? Yes the museum was amazing, but the round trip plus museum visit ate up and entire day. If you're going "just" to picnic and not see the museum, go to Vondelpark in Amsterdam proper and save yourself time/hassle.

Missypie, when are you thinking of going?

It is possible to get to the Kroller Muller with one train - direct from Amsterdam to Ede Wageningen, then a bus to Otterlo, another bus, to Hoge Veluwe, and about 5 minutes walk to the museum. It does take a bit longer (1 hour 50mins)than changing in Utrecht (1 hour 35mins), but it is a matter of which you prefer.

How about canoeing or taking a whisperboat ride? If that appeals let me know and I'll suggest some places.

A few years ago, we spent about 5 days in the Netherlands with our kids (then 14 and 11), and here is what we loved:
Amsterdam is beautiful and very easy to walk because of the lay-out of the town. Go on a canal cruise, visit the Westerkerk (if I remember correctly you could go up the tower for an amazing view), Anne Frank House, the performers on Leidse Plein, flower market, shops in the Jordaan and street markets on the weekends.
We loved the cheese market on a Friday morning in Alkmaar - hectic busy but entertaining. The cheeses and little pancakes were great. It's about a 40 min train ride from Amsterdam.
Zaansche Schans - we spent much more time there than expected - very interesting.
Volendam is a beautiful town and we had wonderful apple pie and cream.
The kids loved Madurodam and the maritime museum in Rotterdam.
Coming from South Africa, we really liked the beach and freezing water at one of the resorts close to Den Haag.
It's a lovely country and I'm sure you will have a wonderful holiday.

We be there in mid/late July. I usually plan trips at least a year in advance, but this year, with a graduating HS senior, there were multiple moving parts...visits, applications,admissions, selection, placement tests, registration for orientation.

I appreciate everyone's help.

I'm riding a bike from Rotterdam to Zebrugge this weekend. Anything you want me to pick up?

One small tip: if you grocery shop, bring your own bag. We were confused by it, because we had not brought a bag, and the person in line behind us was NOT nice about us taking more time to buy a bag at the register. A small thing, but something to be aware of.

Bilboburger - I wish you luck - forecast is for wind force 5-6 from the west, but at least it should be dry.

"Bike riding is a must, take a train and cycle round the Ijsselmeer."

What is this Ijsselmeer. I tried to find it on the map. I know meer is lake.

The Ijsselmmer is that huge chunk of water in the middle of the country - what used to be the Zuider Zee before the Flevopolders and Afsluitdijk were built.

Cycling around it would take more than a day. It is doable by car in a day, but if you want to stop a lot along the way it is a looong day.

You would need to be on steroids to bike around the IJsselmeer.

Note that the J is also capitalized. In the Dutch alphabet this combo is sometimes represented as a symbol looking somewhat like a U with the left riser cut near the bottom. It can also be mixed in with Y in dictionaries, street maps, phone books, etc. It is pronounced like a long i or y so that dijk is pronounced almost exactly like it's English translation, dike.

missypie,

JFYI, your two older *kids* can enter bars and drink beer and wine in Holland. I forget the age limit on booze but they might also be eligible for a shot of genever, that distinctive and delicious Dutch form of gin.

Missiepie,

I think you've read correctly--we all seem to enjoy the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Ann Frank House. Flower markets, canals, history of the skinny tall buildings.

I haven't gone to the flower auction yet--don't know if you'd want to get the kids up and going so early for that.

We also enjoyed Zaanse Schans. It is a tourist destination, but enjoyable and easy to get to.

We enjoyed Delft. Easily accessible by train. We enjoyed walking in the smaller town after the city of Amsterdam. We were the only people at the Delft factory in December and talked to the artist doing demonstration work for a long time. He was one of the most experienced artists and very interesting. We ate split pea soup and bought stroopwafles from a small stand.

Hi Missypie,

If you're willing to travel a bit further (2/2,5 hours by train) you could also visit Maastricht. It is really one of the best cities in Holland and has a different feel from the cities and towns in the western part of the country. If your interested, you can check out
http://www.vvv-maastricht.eu/home.html?lang=2

If you're interested in an easily overlooked but nice museum in The Hague, visit the Escher museum. http://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/?set...on_language=en
It's situated in an old palace, so the building is worth looking at too. Ofcourse it helps if you like Escher's artwork, as that is all they display ;-).

Wow, the girl on that Maastricht video looks so much like my older D.

well missypie you have enough suggestions for a couple of weeks worth of the Netherlands, and that's barely scratching the surface.

I hope others read this thread an realise there is so much more than Amsterdam.

We liked Alkmaar and Bergen am Zee

I think the kids would enjoy the Escher.

It does seem like y'all have given me weeks of activities! Thanks so much.

Here's another question: If you had to pick one cute small town to wander around, which would it be? (bearing in mind we'll be based in Amsterdam.) Delft comes to mind but perhaps it's too busy with tourists.

Leiden?

Haarlem, lovely railway station (looks like a ship from the 1930s on the inside) though you can catch the bus or the train.

Nice walk into town from the station and a pretty centre.

For something different try Naarden Vesting. You could combine it with Muiderslot.

>>Here's another question: If you had to pick one cute small town to wander around, which would it be? (bearing in mind we'll be based in Amsterdam.) Delft comes to mind but perhaps it's too busy with tourists.
Leiden?<<

I loved Delft, personally. It reminded me in a way of Bruges, very quaint and enjoyable, but we were there in April which is not the height of tourist season. I don't know what it'd be like in the summer. Leiden isn't exactly a "cute small town"...it's a university city with about 100k people!

Only one cute small town? Wow, how about Leiden, Delft, Enkhuizen, Hoorn, Zaanse Schans, Veere...any or all! And there are others of course.

I do recommend of course Den Haag as well as Amsterdam. Your family is just the right ages for bicycles and canal tours and trains....but that should NOT mean avoiding the wonderful art in museums. Yes, Ann Frank House for sure though it may not seem like much. Oh yes, Oude Kerk. Hmm..wonder what the teens would say as you plans? What might they enjoy? That could be something entirely different. I recommend involving the whole family because planning is part of the fun.

Bill in Boston

We went with 2 of our kids, late teen and early 20, and they loved the Bruges to Damme bike ride.