My wife and I will be in Amsterdam for a total of 15 days next Spring. I suspect that we will dedicate one day each to Delft and Den Haag, and probably 2 days to Keukenhof. So we should have plenty of time to explore. Leaving aside the destinations mentioned above, could you offer your top 5 day trips in descending order? Thanks. By the way, our working assumption is that we will NOT be renting a car (although this thread may induce us to change that assumption).

Not having a car limits things somewhat. Are you prepared to stay somewher over night? If so consider Maastricht.
Utrecht is a short train ride away and maybe worth a visit.
The Hoge Veluew National PArk is accessible by public transport, and is home to the Kroller-Muller museum.
Apeldoorn is interesting, and has Paleis het Loo.
Enkhuizen has a good open air museum, as does Arnhem.
Zaanse Shcans or Kinderdijk for windmills.
With a car the suggested trip to Schokland etc. Or to Friesland - visit Harlingen, Franeker - there is a wonderful planetarium there which is worth a visit, also Leeuwaarden and the Friesian lakes are worth a visit.
Naarden is a small fortified town, you could combine that with Muiden and Muiderslot castle.
How many weeks did you say you were here?

why two days at the postage-stamp sized Keukenhof?

Top Day Trips besides Delft and Hague

1- Haarlem - right on Amsterdamned's doorstep and to me no Dutch regional town is finer - Frans Hal Museum in old abbey, canals, neat town square, etc.

2- Alkmaar on a Friday for the cheesy Cheese Market - Ok kind of kitschy but to see the traditional clad porters schlepp the heavy chees rounds to and from the weighhouse is great and this is also a very neat town, especially on Cheese Friday when folks pack the place

3- Utrecht - a nicer larger city with lots to see and do. The Spielkok (?) Museum of automats and playing musical instruments, in a former church, is novel and great. Also an old Catherine's convent, neat canals, lively shopping area and, for rail buffs, the Netherlands Spoorwegen (sp?) Museum, or national railway museum in and around a disused train station

4- Kroller Muller Van Gogh Museum and outdoor statue park - train to Otterloo then bus thru Hooge Veluwe a wild national park to the museum, with perhaps the world's most Van Goghs, more than the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam i think

5- Marken and Volendam. OK again Kitschy but fun. Take bus or occasional boat from Amsterdamned to Marken, then boat across the water to Volendam, bus on to Edam (or do a neat few mile walk along the shores of the former Zuider Zee there and bus from there to a nearby train station for trains back to Amsterdam. Marken is an open-air museum of traditional life of the former Zuider Zee, now an enclosed inland freshwater lake with much land reclaimed - Marken once an island but now hooked to mainland. folks wear old-time costumes and old buildings, etc. Volendam has a great old waterfront where cafes and pancake shops seem to dominate. Edam is a very old historic town with several monumental buildings from its days as a thriving port.

I would add Aachen to the list as a possibility.

Maybe even Middelburg for a day away from the usual tourist sights. If you go to Middelburg, try and eat at Vriendschaap. Outstanding and inexpensive. The mussels are terrific, as is their tuna appetizer.

Both Aachen and Middelburg are farther away than Delft, Utrecht, etc., but still doable. I once did a day trip that involved taking a 6 am train from Brussels to Amsterdam, meeting a colleague, then another train down to Eindhoven, full day in Eindhoven, then back to Brussels. Compared to that, a day trip to Aachen on the ICE is a piece of cake. Visit the cathedral and old town and if you're feeling knackered, walk up to the Dorint/Sofitel Hotel Quellenhof by the casino and splash for an hour or two in their day spa. The Rose am Dom restaurant in the square by the cathedral is a good spot for a meal.

Brussels is another possibility, take a morning train to Gare Centrale, see the Grand'Place, have a nice lunch near the Sablon, check out the Horta House (museum), have a drink and snack at one of the many nice cafes in the Chatelain neighborhood near the Horta House then head back.

Antwerp too is a fine fine historic Flemish Belgian city and port just a few hours from Amsterdam by train

Besides 2 days to Keukenhof you can also rent a bike and ride thru the commercial fields - very different experience than the formal gardens.

AMsterdam to aachen would involve staying the night there - it takes 3 and a half hours from Amsterdam to Aachen, and hour more than to Maastricht, and you have to change trains for Aachen. Maastricht is direct.

In reply to:

"why two days at the postage-stamp sized Keukenhof?"

Because we like gardens ...

there are other famous gardens in the area such as the Frans xxx just up the road.

and if like flowers try the Aalsmeer Flower Auction in the world's largest auction building - near Schiphol airport

still can't see two days as the place is very compact and though has outdoor gardens, its focal point is the several fairly small hothouses of plants from various flower growers.

Why no mention of Rotterdam?

I think if they go at the beginning and end of their 15 days, some different varieties will be blooming. We were there this past spring and only went one time but it is such a spectacle I could easily see going twice if you are a flower fan. And it was larger than I expected - we were there for about three hours, not sure we "saw everything".

Well yes - i thought it would take two straight days for some reason to experience it

but yes indeed i can see coming back again on another day to see the same stuff and new stuff again

thanks for that point

I've done several day trips to various places in Europe that have taken that long by train to get there. Long days, but an early morning start and an early evening return is doable if someone really wants to go someplace. And if they really like trains...I'm always happy to take a train ride in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
At any rate, we never cared for Maastricht, well except for the fine arts fair (we'd like it better if we had the budget to do that properly).

Rotterdam is also a fine day trip - not to see an ancient looking town but one of Europe's most modern towns full of striking modern architecture and cityscapes

there is also an old part of Delfshaven from which the Pilgrims set sail to the New World i believe.

lots of parks, a vast pedestrian shopping centre and a fine modern art museum

and you can tour the Rotterdam soccer stadium on the other side of the river

Delft is just a few miles away so could twin with that perhaps.

I would definately take a day trip to Delft and on the way back stop and see the Hague. Delft is a beautiful little town. Great restaurants.

We just got home from the Netherlands last Saturday and actually stayed with a friend in Utrecht. We quite happily spent two days wandering about that town and I recommend it. It has the medieval buildings, canals, architecture, and history, but is also a vibrant living town. Most of what you would want to explore (the old center) is adjacent to the central station (which is the hub for Holland's rail system so easy connections to other areas too), and the historic and shopping areas are largely one in the same. It is a 25 minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal station and trains seemed to run both ways about every 15 minutes.

We also spent a day in Den Haag and thoroughly enjoyed that. Best was the Mauritushuis museum which we were drawn to for its collection of Vermeers, but found a fabulous special exhibit on the Dutch portrait painters. I was in awe! Unfortunately, I think that exhibit closes in early 2008.

Alkmaar! It is one of my favorite places. The cheese market we thought was a wash, it is really too crowded to see much, but what a beautiful city and the shopping is great too. http://www.vvvalkmaar.nl/welcome.asp?lang=0

Make sure you go to the flower auction as well. You have to get up early, but it is well worth it! http://www.aalsmeer.nl/00004.asp

Keukenhof....from another garden lover...

I also vote for 2 visits perhaps at the beginning and end of your trip. You could spend at least 3 hours each time... it's hard to judge when will be the best time to visit so watch what the spring weather is looking like and perhaps try phoning and asking what percent is still in bloom.

I was there on Mother's Day weekend this year and really missed the blooms by then and was rather disappointed, although I could definitely imagine what this would be like in full bloom and would definitely return just to see it.

That was my only day trip out of Amsterdam and it did take longer than I expected by train and bus.

I loved Amsterdam - enjoy!

Visit the Niewe Kirke (sp?)

I'd have to cast another big vote for the Flower Auction at Aalsmeer. We've been twice now and each time it was amazing! Definitely one of the highlights of our time in Europe. The last time we went we slept in and by the time we got there it was almost 10:00 am. They had just finished the last auction and although there was still lots of activity, you could tell they were winding down.

I don't remember seeing public transportation to the auction building (although I may be wrong) so you may need to arrange tourbus transport with the tourism office in Amsterdam. Definitely worth it though.

Also, be aware if you decide that you want to rent a car that we found the traffic in the central and south areas of the Netherlands to be absolutely horrendous this trip (April) and we spent at least three hours of each day stuck in traffic jams. Thank goodness our GPS was able to route us around some of it but the areas around Utrecht and Amsterdam were particularly bad. We were there in 2003 as well and I don't remember it being that bad. For our last two daytrips we drove to a small town nearer our destinations and took the train from there so that we could avoid having to drive near Utrecht. We lived in Germany, so had our car and were staying at a family resort in the countryside east of Amsterdam. We're living back in the States now but the Netherlands is one of my favorite countries and I hope you have a fantastic trip!

If you like gardens then top trip would be to Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn. An easy day trip by public transport.