24 hours connection at Schipol Airport

Have you been to Amsterdam before? If not, I would definitely stay there the entire time. Yes, hotels CAN be pricey but it depends on the date and on what you mean by "pricey" and what you require in a hotel. There are ways to get better deals. I've used Hotwire and Priceline in the past in Amsterdam.

Some people prefer to stay in Haarlem not far from Amsterdam. It can be cheaper and an alternative to big-city Amsterdam.

If you want to head south, I'd recommend Delft instead of The Hague, which is a bigger city without little Deflt's charm. There is direct train service between Schiphol and Delft.

Priceline.com worked really well for me in Amsterdam. If you put in 4 star in the museum district for whatever you want to pay, you are likely to have success. There is a direct airport express bus that goes to the museum district and is quite convenient. Trams will take you to the center of Amsterdam in about 10 minutes.

Yeah, look at Haarlem, about the same time into it as Amsterdam, good connections, the town is very nice in itself, only a 20-30 minute ride on the train to central Amsterdam.

Try Hotel Tonight. I just looked at the app for this Wednesday and they have rates as low as $127 US. I haven’t used Hotel Tonight in Europe, but have in the US and it has helped me find some good last minute bargains.

Sandy