Change of plans so we are headed to the Netherlands in April for 16 days. We are open to most any suggestions. We want to see windmills, canals, experience many of the cities we've read about on these posts. What are your fav cities, things to do, to see, surprises you didn;t know. Places you went and were disappointed. We are also going to see friends in Maastricht. They of course will give us ideas as well. How about Belgium or eastern France or western Germany? There's so much to see and do!
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6616 posts
For windmills, Zaandam and Kinderdijk are good places to go. For canals and thatched roof cottages, Geithoorn was nice. There’s a nice castle in Hoensbroek, 22km(13miles) from Maastricht. We also enjoyed Harlingen.
Posted by
Austin, TX, USA
39 posts
You have to plan a trip to the tulip gardens at Keukenhof! They are so incredible and you will be there at the right time when the flowers are blooming and the gardens are open. And the flowers will probably be at their peak. Easy day trip from Amsterdam with the bus/entrance combo ticket.
Posted by
WA State
3961 posts
Any interest in the Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum? https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi6ueqFuPj8AhXMBTQIHSOQAQsQFnoECAsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.european-traveler.com%2Fnetherlands%2Frijksmuseum-largest-vermeer-exhibition-ever-in-amsterdam-in-2023%2F&usg=AOvVaw3BfGUeW1CTgwj8H1aTFk84
Posted by
Southeastern US
2417 posts
If I were going to Maastricht I'd try hard to see Aachen 🙂
Posted by
OP
boise
132 posts
We are planning on seeing Kuekenhof for sure. Kinderdijk for sure as well and thanks for the other suggestions. The Vermeer exhibit will not have "the girl with the pearl earring". We will have to see her in her normal musuem. We have a museum card so plan on using that! And why Aachen? Thanks to all of you for your help!
Posted by
The Netherlands
1348 posts
You have now posted in the General Europe forum, but did you know there is a special dedicated subforum for the Netherlands on this forum? There you can find lots of threads from other posters who have already visited the Netherlands or are currently in the planning process. Perhaps these threads can give you some ideas.
If you want specific advice, you’ll need to provide a bit more information. There are a lot of public holidays in April and some things, like the blooming of the tulips, are date dependent. In order to help you better, it’s helpful to know when exactly you will be here. It would also help if you can provide a bit more information about yourself and your interests, likes and dislikes.
Posted by
Sweden
6470 posts
And why Aachen?
Aachen is a charming town well worth a visit that is often overlooked by tourists. And since you are in Maastricht, it would be a mistake not to visit nearby Aachen.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1398 posts
We thoroughly enjoyed a morning at the Aalsmeer flower auction and its unbelievably huge warehouse full of little carts zipping around loaded with cut flowers.
Day trip by train to Enkhuizen and the Zuiderzeemuseum.
We rented our own little slow-moving motor boat for the canals in Amsterdam.
Posted by
Bern, Switzerland
986 posts
Well my plan for the Netherlands, is bike tour:
Posted by
Brooklyn, NY
3893 posts
We enjoyed our Wednesday morning in Edam watching the cheese sellers in their traditional dress. We took the Localbus.nl.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
6583 posts
And why Aachen?
It also has a beautiful cathedral with a lot of history inside it, including the remains of Charlemagne, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Posted by
7688 posts
Arnheim is the site of the key WWII battle depicted in "The Bridge Too Far" and worth a stop.
The house shown in the movie were the British paratroopers were headquartered is now the site of a British War museum that is worth seeing.
Posted by
City of Seattle
1798 posts
At the risk of being the guy who always has something negative to say about a few given place, I'm not a fan of Aachen. The cathedral is interesting, but you don't really get a good view of it as it's embedded in a bunch of nearby buildings. There's a couple of streets in the town that are pretty charming. An outside of that it feels to me like a forgotten little industrial city. Could just be luck of the draw, but in our day and a half there I encountered the gruffest people we'd met in Germany verging on hostile. After dark much poverty drunkenness in the streets. For being a smaller city, I definitely kept my head up more than I do in most other European tourist towns of its size. Scruffy.
Aachen to me is roll in, tour through the church, roll out.
I'm sure everyone else is experience has varied, but below is a little snapshot of day-drinking the local gents who pushed past my family as we walked into the center from the Bahnhof.
Posted by
The Netherlands
1348 posts
Everyone, please beware that this thread has been resurrected by a spam post which has been removed. The OP’s visit was back in April already.