Looking for suggestions of day trips from Haarlem that are quaint and scenic. We will get out fill of museums in Haarlem and Amsterdam and will spend half a day at Keukenhof next week. Had wanted to go to Kinderdijk, but it looks like with less than ideal transportation connections we are going to scrap that idea, unless you can convince me otherwise.

We have no desire to go to Zaanse Schans as it looks too touristy and as pretty as Giethoorn looks, I read it is very busy this time of year.

Any input on Gromingen, Broek-in-Waterland or Marken??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I have never been to Broek-in-Waterland but I know Groningen and Marken a bit. Marken is close in to Haarlem - when I went to both it was by car. Groningen is quite the drive from Haarlem, I think I would want to spend the night there if on a day trip. Marken is really only a village, a little less touristed than Volendam. There are a lot of tours that combine Marken with Volendam so you will still get those buses.

I also went in winter to Marken; I was told by a cousin that in severe winters the sea there freezes and cars can actually drive on the sea there. I imagine there are not many winters now where that is still possible.

You could go to Groningen via the Afsluitdijk which separates the Ijsselmeer from the North Sea; it's actually a road you drive on. Very worth seeing. There is a café half way. You can park and take pictures and then go to the café and look at the photos of the building of the dike. But for this you definitely want a car.

Lavandula

I might add I have been to Groningen twice - the first time I was with an old boyfriend and we came in from Germany. That was 30 years ago. We did not see much that time, but the second time (with my husband and infant daughter) we grabbed a self-guided tour plan from the VVV and took ourselves around the town, had an ice cream in the Prinsentuin and generally enjoyed the city. It will keep you for at least a day, but we had a long weekend there. We stayed outside the town as we had a car and did not want to pay parking, but I would have enjoyed staying where the action was.

Lavandula

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Haarlem...y-line-194-bus

Of which 30 minutes is waiting for a train in an interesting station with restaurants and shops

Then you have to catch a constantly running ferry

Or you could take the faster route to Ridderkerk and then wait a little longer for the ferry, there is anice restaurant nearby and some good views of water traffic

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Haarlem...y-line-489-bus

Or, take one route there and another back
?

If you think Kinderdijk is a challenge, Groningen most certainly will be

For Kinderdijk: take train to Rotterdam from Haarlem (about an hour, direct train), in Rotterdam, take metro from Centraal to the Leuvehaven stop, and take the Blue Amigo Waterbus to Ridderkerk-De Schans and change to the little ferry to Kinderdijk. It's a full day but you'll get a fantastic ride up river, the quintessential Dutch landscape. If you wish, you can track back to Ridderkerk and then take the Waterbus to Dordrecht, oldest city in Holland and the wellspring of Calvinism, the Dutch Republic and the Dutch language.

Groningen, 3 hours by train, and back. Marken: first travel to Amsterdam, then take the local bus to Marken. One thing to do would be to walk around the island, all the way to its lighthouse. While doing that you'll be away from the touristy part and cross the island by way of the Werven: built high because of frequent flooding up to the 1960s.