Can anyone recommend a third point in our 10-day itinerary this July? We fly in and out of Amsterdam, train to Brugge, then where? Seeking fun, relaxing, non-city destination for family w. 3 teens. (We've visited Paris before.) Want to keep travel time to less than 4-5 hours by train/boat and have to return to Amsterdam at the end. Thanks.
Posted by
Chicago
8166 posts
Add a visit to see the old windmills in the village Kinderdijk. You can get there boat from Rotterdam
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7887 posts
Are you aware yet that the train to Brugge is not very direct from Amsterdam? I don't mean that it's an awful trip, it's just not 'as the bird flies." The point is that this issue suggest that a good answer might be 1) Antwerp 2) Brussels 3) Rotterdam 4) Den Haag. Which you choose depends on whether you've visited Belgium before, and whether the group likes art museums.
I agree about Kinderdijk, and Rotterdam or Delft are not bad places to go to Kinderdijk from. Have you already done daytrips from Amsterdam? There are a lot, but it sounds like you want to visit a different country. A more extreme case would be Cologne (via Brussels) which can be very cheap bought three months in advance. But you don't need to go that far - I only mention it because your OP makes it sound like you WANT to go that far.
Posted by
OP
USA
2 posts
Thanks for this. My original plan is Amsterdam for 4 nights w. side trips to Edam by bike, and maybe Delft or Gouda. Then from Brugge (or Ghent?) stay 2 or 3 nights making side trips to Ypres for a guided tour of Flanders Fields, and on another day, bike from Brugge to Damme. Would like to find one more destination. This will be our first trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. We like a balance of cultural sites and nature. Really appreciate these suggestions.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
You can make the Amsterdam-Brugge trip more directly by changing in Antwerp and taking a direct train from there to Brugge, cutting out Brussels.
Antwerp-Brussels-Rotterdam still involves retracing your steps between Brussels and Antwerp.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7887 posts
I don't bike on vacation, but I saw (when there) that Kinderdijk is directly ON a national bikeway path. PERHAPS it's easy to bike to from Rotterdam? Have you heard about the "white bikes" at De Hoge Veluwe national park? July might be a great time (it's very shady) and there's a world-famous art museum in the middle of the park.