Netherlands
- Thread starter Lanx
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Oh man. Depends on what you're interested in. Amazing museums all over the place. The farming province of Friesland is gorgeous, and every village has an historic church. The village of Saint Annaparochie for example has the old church and the new church. The new church is 15th century. It's hexagonal and beautiful.
Other than that you should check out companies that do canal tours. You can do a "bike and barge" thing across the country where you can travel the internal canals and get off wherever and bike about, stay in a little place, and get on the boat again later that day or the next day.
Van Gogh museum is a must, though it is somewhat diminished right at the moment as the Chicago Art Institute has a Van Gogh exhibit on right now and they have at least a hundred pieces from that museum.
Afsluitdijk is also worth going to. Huge dike built in the early 20th century that helped the country claim hundreds of hectares from the ocean and improved travel immensely.
There are also plenty of very old castles to see, you can google them. Especially Valkenburg and De Haar.
Go to Lake Ijssel, which is now a lake that was formed after closing off the sea. It has some of the most iconic buildings in the Netherlands. It's absolutely gorgeous, and you'll find the history and engineering of it fascinating.
Rijksmuseum, obv.
Also, the Cathedral Square in Utrecht. Absolutely stunning.
Go to the town of Delft and see all the blue and white pottery. It's a charming place.
If you're in the area, Binnenhof, The Hague, is very interesting. Historic interest.
Rotterdam is also interesting for a number of reasons. It's the largest port in Europe, and a port town always has interesting things as well as amazingly delicious sea food. It was also bombed like crazy during the Second World War, so it's one of the most modernly designed Dutch cities as they started with a nearly clean slate.
And there's the obvious attraction of Kinderdijk. That's where you'll see all the Dutch windmills you ever wanted to see. They move a lot of water up a long way. The Dutch manipulation and control of water is amazing, even going back hundreds of years.
Depending on when you're there, find a tulip farm to tour. They almost all do it, and you'll find the scope of tulip growing stunning.
You'd be surprised at the national parks, especially Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe. You can do trail riding on horses, and it's gorgeous all year around.
Okay, sorry. I love this country of my heritage, I could go on a long time. The really nice thing about it is that it is such a small nation (by North American standards) that you can see so much of it in a small time. Plan to get on bicycles at some point.
Other than that you should check out companies that do canal tours. You can do a "bike and barge" thing across the country where you can travel the internal canals and get off wherever and bike about, stay in a little place, and get on the boat again later that day or the next day.
Van Gogh museum is a must, though it is somewhat diminished right at the moment as the Chicago Art Institute has a Van Gogh exhibit on right now and they have at least a hundred pieces from that museum.
Afsluitdijk is also worth going to. Huge dike built in the early 20th century that helped the country claim hundreds of hectares from the ocean and improved travel immensely.
There are also plenty of very old castles to see, you can google them. Especially Valkenburg and De Haar.
Go to Lake Ijssel, which is now a lake that was formed after closing off the sea. It has some of the most iconic buildings in the Netherlands. It's absolutely gorgeous, and you'll find the history and engineering of it fascinating.
Rijksmuseum, obv.
Also, the Cathedral Square in Utrecht. Absolutely stunning.
Go to the town of Delft and see all the blue and white pottery. It's a charming place.
If you're in the area, Binnenhof, The Hague, is very interesting. Historic interest.
Rotterdam is also interesting for a number of reasons. It's the largest port in Europe, and a port town always has interesting things as well as amazingly delicious sea food. It was also bombed like crazy during the Second World War, so it's one of the most modernly designed Dutch cities as they started with a nearly clean slate.
And there's the obvious attraction of Kinderdijk. That's where you'll see all the Dutch windmills you ever wanted to see. They move a lot of water up a long way. The Dutch manipulation and control of water is amazing, even going back hundreds of years.
Depending on when you're there, find a tulip farm to tour. They almost all do it, and you'll find the scope of tulip growing stunning.
You'd be surprised at the national parks, especially Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe. You can do trail riding on horses, and it's gorgeous all year around.
Okay, sorry. I love this country of my heritage, I could go on a long time. The really nice thing about it is that it is such a small nation (by North American standards) that you can see so much of it in a small time. Plan to get on bicycles at some point.
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Lambourne
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Wouldn't bother with Kinderdijk specifically, there's windmills everywhere around the country and with less of a tourist industry built up around them. Not all are open to the public but most of the local ones you can at least walk right up to and take your picture with them.
I'd recommend adding a city in the southern part of the country to your trip because they have a slightly different feel to them (since they're historically Cathlolic) and most have a historic center and grand cathedral. Breda, -'s-Hertogenbosch, or Maastricht are ones I'd recommend. If you go to Maastricht you can also take a trip to nearby Valkenburg, a historic town with castle ruins and caves that are worth visiting. Has a casino as well if you're into that, gambling is legal. WW2 American Cemetary at Margraten is only a few miles away too if you're interested in that. Even some stuff around that dates to Roman times. I have a few colleagues that grew up in the US/Canada and they liked it a lot. Very quaint to american eyes probably.
Country is 250 miles long so there's very little you can't reach from any other part within a few hours with the exception of the islands in the north sea. Happy to recommend anything else if you have specific interests you can mention.
I'd recommend adding a city in the southern part of the country to your trip because they have a slightly different feel to them (since they're historically Cathlolic) and most have a historic center and grand cathedral. Breda, -'s-Hertogenbosch, or Maastricht are ones I'd recommend. If you go to Maastricht you can also take a trip to nearby Valkenburg, a historic town with castle ruins and caves that are worth visiting. Has a casino as well if you're into that, gambling is legal. WW2 American Cemetary at Margraten is only a few miles away too if you're interested in that. Even some stuff around that dates to Roman times. I have a few colleagues that grew up in the US/Canada and they liked it a lot. Very quaint to american eyes probably.
Country is 250 miles long so there's very little you can't reach from any other part within a few hours with the exception of the islands in the north sea. Happy to recommend anything else if you have specific interests you can mention.
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Dirk gave some great tips.
Shipping museum in Amsterdam is cool.
Most major cities share that they have a mix of historical and modern buildings so you can't really go bad.
I have to recommend Utrecht also, unlike Amsterdam its not a tourist trap.
Maastricht is also nice. The romans built this bridge, which is still in use:
I'm sure you'll enjoy, just be aware that:
- unless you are at least 6 foot you'll feel like a midget when with white people
- all weed shops in Amsterdam are tourist traps
- all non tourist trap weed shops have youths
- the food isn't great and a 4 star hotel there is 3 stars in reality
Shipping museum in Amsterdam is cool.
Most major cities share that they have a mix of historical and modern buildings so you can't really go bad.
I have to recommend Utrecht also, unlike Amsterdam its not a tourist trap.
Maastricht is also nice. The romans built this bridge, which is still in use:
I'm sure you'll enjoy, just be aware that:
- unless you are at least 6 foot you'll feel like a midget when with white people
- all weed shops in Amsterdam are tourist traps
- all non tourist trap weed shops have youths
- the food isn't great and a 4 star hotel there is 3 stars in reality
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Yeah, but who can understand the people in Maastricht? Their dialect is super weird. So are the people.
I mostly jest. You made good suggestions.
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Mahes
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I lived in Holland from 1978-1982 when I was very young. I was curious as to whether or not the museum still existed. Sadly it closed it's doors in 1989. It was easily one of the best field trips I went on twice.
The Evoluon
It was a museum that used attractions on each floor that showed the basic principles of science.
It was ahead of its time and easily one of the best museums in the world.
The Evoluon
It was a museum that used attractions on each floor that showed the basic principles of science.
It was ahead of its time and easily one of the best museums in the world.
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Lambourne
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I went there several times as a kid and it was indeed great, a mix of science and futurism. The museum is closed but the building still exists, it is now a conference center. The city it is in (Eindhoven) is still the tech hub of the country. It's known as the town Philips built, it was actually a very small town until with only a few thousand inhabitants until Philips started light bulb production there in the late 19th century. The city doesn't have a historic center as a result, it's all 20th century stuff. ASML has their HQ there as well.
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Mahes
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Both the Mayo and the Ketchup are different from what we are used to in the States. Way back in the day, I really enjoyed what was a Frietje special. Fries with a sauce that had their mayo and ketchup with chopped bits of onions in it. I would be a little worried about how my stomach would handle that sauce now.
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Lanx
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hmm maybe you can plan a bit better then, i'll have almost 3 days alone in ams b4 i meet my wife in ams cuz i'm meeting her for the tail end of her work euro tour, shes been to ams b4 but she wants to just stay in ams for 3 days then head home (this could change who knows)
so i'm thinking i could do this tour in a day (the cost of the train tickets is equal to this bus and i don't have to research)
Rotterdam, Delft and The Hague
then i'll have another day and half for other cities?
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Lanx
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yea i plan to have just eat only pom frittes for a few days lulz
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Lanx
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Mahes
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It used to be that the people were very friendly to Americans. I say this not knowing how things might have changed at this point. If they are still the way they were, you could honestly just strike up a conversation with locals and ask them where some good places are to visit. The transit system I imagine would still take you where ever you need to go. Holland really is overloaded with culture and has so many things to see.
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Chris
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Technically it's in Belgium (although they speak a dialect of Dutch), but I enjoyed Bruges a lot.
It's a medieval city that had it's port silt up, so it was kinda abandoned and untouched by modern buildings over the last few hundred years. So now it's a really beautiful city with all the old stuff mostly intact.
It's a medieval city that had it's port silt up, so it was kinda abandoned and untouched by modern buildings over the last few hundred years. So now it's a really beautiful city with all the old stuff mostly intact.
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The Dutch ones are inferior to Belgian ones. Sorry
lurkingdirk
tis waar gast..If they come out the freezer they shit.
It is a great mussels season so you might want to try that. Make sure they fresh, which should be no problem.
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I'm not aware of any current widespread distaste for Americans, if anything it's less than a few years ago when Bush was doing his whole WMD-spiel. If you're not being a dick to people on the regular I'm sure you'll be fine.
Public transport planner (has english mode also) 9292.nl/en - Travel planner & e-tickets train, bus, metro, tram & boat
Maastricht is about as far from Amsterdam as you can go and even that is only just over 2 hours by car or train. If you have specific interests in mind I can recommend some things. Do you want to see historic sites, a theme park, art, shopping?
Dunno what time of year we're talking but it's not a bad idea to be slightly flexible with your plans to account for the weather, there's no such thing as a dry season here. A dry week is a stretch most times of year.
If you like local cultural food go into any pizza/kebab shop and get yourself a "kapsalon", they take some kebab, add fries, cheese and garlic sauce then stick it back in the oven briefly. Delicous pile of warm greasy grub.
Public transport planner (has english mode also) 9292.nl/en - Travel planner & e-tickets train, bus, metro, tram & boat
Maastricht is about as far from Amsterdam as you can go and even that is only just over 2 hours by car or train. If you have specific interests in mind I can recommend some things. Do you want to see historic sites, a theme park, art, shopping?
Dunno what time of year we're talking but it's not a bad idea to be slightly flexible with your plans to account for the weather, there's no such thing as a dry season here. A dry week is a stretch most times of year.
If you like local cultural food go into any pizza/kebab shop and get yourself a "kapsalon", they take some kebab, add fries, cheese and garlic sauce then stick it back in the oven briefly. Delicous pile of warm greasy grub.
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Ossoi
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Lanx
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