sueinfal

Hi, I want to go to the Netherlands with the sole purpose of seeing Vincent van Gogh's artwork. A few of questions:

1. Can anyone recommend a hotel near the main van Gogh museum in Amsterdam?

2. If I want to explore outside Amsterdam is public transport good?

3. Will I be safe as a older (58) female on my own? What I mean is, will I be as safe as say in London or Liverpool for example? I'm not a nervous type at all, and am very used to travelling on my own, but I don't know anything about Amsterdam nor what it's like to wander around in the city.

Thanks
Sue

hetismij

I can't recommend a hotel, but if you stay in the centre of Amsterdam you will be perfectly safe, even if you stray away from the centre you will be fine. Obviously you have to be aware of your surroundings just as you do in any other city.

Public transport is excellent. The city itself is very walkable.

I recommend you make a day trip out to the Kröller Muller museum in the Hoge Veluwe national park for some more van Goghs. http://www.kmm.nl/?lang=en

And if you are a real Van Gogh fan there is also Nuenen - http://www.kmm.nl/?lang=en, and his birth town of Zundert - http://www.vangoghhuis.com/ to visit.

Elisabeth54

Sueinfal I recommend staying in a B&B rather than in a large, impersonal hotel. Check out these websites:

http://www.pronkkamer.com/bed_and_br...FYqDDgodvBCXHA

http://www.maisondhote.com/en/index.php?lg=en

I definitely agree with the suggestions hetismij made. Have a nice stay in beautiful Amsterdam!

bachslunch

The traditional advice on Amsterdam safety is to keep your wits about you in the Red Light District but otherwise just exercise usual common sense.

pauljagman

Just be careful....very, very, very careful of the bicycles! There are a million of them and you need to stay out of the bike paths or YOU WILL DIE! Well, ok! Maybe not die but you could get hurt.

Amsterdam has a lot of hotels in near the Van Gogh Museum. Have a great tirp!

avalon

we enjoyed our stay at the Hestia aa small 3 star with a very good breakfast included. It is less than a 5 minute walk to the Van Gogh , the Rijks and the Stedelijk . It is a very short bus ride to Anne Frank house and near the canal boat rides. Lots of restaurants nearby too and good transportation options

PalenQ

I have done the day trip from Amsterdam to Kroller-Muller - full of Van Goghs - more perhaps than the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam - I took a train to town whose name escapes me but there were buses right outside the station that took me to the Kroller Muller museums and outdoor statue park. Anyway it is very easy to do with frequent departures.

In France if going to Paris then trek out to Auvers-sur-Oise where Van Gogh lived his last several months and killed himself - but not until after putting many of the tiny villages scapes on canvass - reproductions of his works are set up right where he painted them. A short day trip from Paris.

PalenQ

Ede-Wageningen is the name of the train station

buses also go to Kroller-Muller from Arnhem but I think you may have to change buses and it may take longer. I went via Ede-W. and came back thru Arnhem, and looked around that interesting city as well.

sueinfal

Thank you everyone for your comprehensive and very helpful replies. I will watch out for bikes - a friend has also told me to watch out for trams! Thanks again.

PalenQ

If you want to go a little biking in the Hooge Veluwe (sp?) national park surrounding the Kroller-Muller museum/statue park then you can get off the bus at the park entrance and hop on the free white bikes stationed there and ride the several mainly flat miles to the museum - going thru a wild area of sand dunes dotted with scrub pines.

sueinfal

Thank you everybody!