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A week in the Netherlands

We are looking at spending a week in the Netherlands following a 2.5-week trip to the U.K. The UK trip with be with two other friends, but my wife and I would like to tack on a week for ourselves at the tail end. For now, we're focused on the Netherlands, in part because it is a pretty easy train connection from London as well as a non-stop flight back to Seattle, our home town. We chose the Netherlands over other European countries that also have direct flights to SEA for various reasons.

We would be in the Netherlands in late September. We've been to Amsterdam and Rotterdam before and thought both were great. But we're looking for somewhere outside the "big" cities, preferably spending the entire week in one location. Could do two, but one would be best.

Our interests include architecture, urban planning, geography, history, art, restaurants/cafes, local culture, and unexpected discoveries (of the good kind). We are in our 70's, seasoned travelers, and physically capable of managing cobblestone walkways and flights of stairs.

We do not want to be car-dependent, so will be relying on other forms of transport.

Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated. The Hague? Delft? Utrecht? Haarlem? Somewhere less discovered?

Posted by
8857 posts

I really enjoyed Leiden, which is a beautiful university town. It is the home of Leiden University, which is one of the oldest universities in the country, and is quite lovely with charming cobblestone streets, 17th century gabled houses. It has many historic buildings but does not have the "touristy" feel of many other places. It's a much more livable feel. The city has many picturesque canals and waterways, which are lovely to walk along and there are boat tours you can take. And there are lots of parks, gardens, and green spaces in Leiden.

There are several museums, including the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities), which has an wonderful collection of Egyptian artifacts. There is the Museum De Lakenhal (Municipal Museum), and the Naturalis Biodiversity Center. The Hortus Botanicus (botanical garden), which was established in 1590, was the site of the planting of Holland’s first tulip bulbs in 1593. Rembrandt was born in Leiden, and Albert Einstein taught at Leiden University. St. Pieterskerk is quite historic and worth seeing, even if you just check out the outside of it. Rembrandt's parents were married and buried there.

In terms of transportation, Leiden has very easy access by train to other cities in the Netherlands. I really cannot recommend Leiden enough.

Posted by
4447 posts

Haarlem is a popular city and has easy train access to other parts of the Netherlands. Rick’s tours stay in Haarlem.

Posted by
177 posts

We had a nice weekend in Utrecht, which could almost be described as above, with the addition of a great railway museum.
Plus, it's the home of Miffy, a cartoon book bunny beloved of generations of European children.

Posted by
336 posts

As mentioned by Mardee and Lin above, Leiden and Utrecht are very good options for your purposes. Each interesting in its own right with convenient transit connections. Over multiple trips we’ve stayed in Amsterdam, The Hague, Otterlo, Kaatsheuvel, Leiden and most recently (last week) Utrecht.

I’ll throw in my recommendation for The Hague. The Mauritshuis and Kunstmuseum are both excellent, there are lovely parks, a charming old town and interesting street markets. Good transportation connections for day trips and Schipol airport. It’s a bigger city, but compared to Amsterdam and Rotterdam it felt low-key and still held our interest for a 5 night stay.

If you want something different and don’t mind going a bit further out for a few nights, I can recommend the small village of Otterlo on the edge of the Hoge Veluwe National Park. Nature, Van Gogh paintings at the Kroller-Muller Museum, and a short (30 min) day trip by bus to Arnhem. Otterlo could also make a rewarding day trip from Utrecht (1 hour by train and bus).

FWIW: Seattle is our home airport as well. My experience with the Delta nonstop service between SEA and AMS has been great.

Posted by
926 posts

I concur with Utrecht and Leiden. I loved them both. I think Utrecht is bigger, and the train station is a bit of a hub so it’s easier to get to places. Both have lovely traditional city centres but also a very buzzy atmosphere of students and locals as well as tourists.

Utrecht is great for architecture and urban planning: the Rietveld Schroeder House is a must see - https://tickets.rietveldschroderhuis.nl/en/tickets

It’s a short bus ride from Utrecht city centre, and the route goes through an area filled with of really interesting 20th housing.

I also liked The Hague but it doesn’t feel as picturebook Dutch as those.

Posted by
3 posts

If you wish to get away from the crowds and want to stay in one place for a week, I suggest either Groningen or Maastricht. They are quite different from the more well-known parts of the Netherlands in the west. They are large enough to provide plenty of history and culture, and you can easily venture into Germany. A nice smaller town in the east is Zutphen, though you may run out of things to do after a few days. You may also want to look into Hoorn (near Amsterdam) and Dordrecht (near Rotterdam.) Enjoy!

Posted by
2183 posts

As the Netherlands was and stil is a frontrunner in modern architecture and urban planning too there is much to discover. So if modern architecture is of interest I agree with Golden Girl to visit the Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht. Gerrit Rietveld was member of De Stijl, a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 founded by artists and architects having new ideas about art. Together with his later spouce they designed this groundbraking house. It's now located close to the freeway, at the other side of it there are two more buildings to see from that period. Think Utrecht with it's central location is a good place for staying to my opinion.

Talking about urban planning you talk about infrastructure. Meaning dedicated car, cycle and foot path's you can find everywhere in the country. Utrecht has a good reputation for it's bike infrastructure. No idea if there are guided tours about this, but try contacting the TI for more info: https://www.discover-utrecht.com/

Rotterdam is also famous for modern archtitecture like the Cube Houses, one of them is open to public and another a stayokay. Further the huge Markthal, an unique combination of a food hall, architecture and a residential area. "Het Depot" near the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, housing now a part of the latter's excellent art collection that is now closed for renovation. Huis Sonneveld, nice house from the early period of modern architecture and open to public.

Amsterdam has also interesting districts like Betondorp, Amsterdamse School with museum Het Schip. There are guided tours, however no idea which to recommend.

One of our most well known land development projects are the Flevo Polders and with that the urban planning of cities like Almere, Lelystad and so on. Almere offers guided tours about architecture and urban planning.

https://www.visitalmere.com/en/city-guide/urban

Posted by
80 posts

Utrecht is a good option because it is a transportation hub and has its own sites as well. It also opens you up to so many day trip options. I spent five nights in Utrecht last May, and there were still nearby towns we didn't get to visit.

Zwolle makes for a good hub in a less traveled part of the country.

And I want to put a good word in for my favorite town in the Netherlands - Hoorn. It is absolutely lovely. Enkhuizen is a short train away, and it is equally as fantastic.

Posted by
2153 posts

On our most recent trip to the Netherlands we stayed in The Hague for a few nights and Utrecht for a few nights. We’d visited the other major cities and tourist towns on previous visits. We enjoyed The Hague but I’d have been hard pressed to spend a week there I believe. The Mauritshuis and King’s Day filled our needs. We spent several nights in Utrecht, primarily for its easy train connections to many locations. Or goal was to see places we’d never visited and we did a 3D day trip agenda: Deventer, Dordrecht and Den Bosch. We stayed at the Hampton by Hilton at the train station …no local charm- as in zero-but friendly staff, very nice breakfast and super convenient for daily train travel. And live like a local…shop in the mall or grab a quick meal after a day sightseeing. Again, convenience over charm. I see Otterlo was mentioned….a wonderful time a few years ago staying in Otterlo at the Hotel de Sterrenberg and dividing two days between the K-M Museum and national park bike ride and the Open Air Museum in Arnhem a short bus ride away. You can’t go wrong anywhere. Leiden is also lovely. But admittedly I’m a Dutchoholic. Safe travels!

Posted by
533 posts

These are all GREAT responses! I'm ready to take the deep dive in planning our week. Thanks all, can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your input.

Posted by
2183 posts

A bit more info about modern architecture and urban planning. Rotterdam has a lot to offer in this respect. Worth mentioning is the Van Nelle Fabriek like the Rietveld Schröder House a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there are guided tours, but only by appointment as far as I know. Contact the TI for more info.

https://www.rotterdam.info/en/visit/guide/top-10-must-sees-and-attractions-in-rotterdam
https://www.vannellefabriekrotterdam.com/en/home/

Rotterdam is also the home of the world reknowned OMA Office or Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Rem Koolhaas as one of it's leading partners. A famous project is the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing. Try to contact them, who knows they are willing to help you.

https://www.oma.com/office

As I said in my other post, there is much to discover. A few more examples of modernism is the Hilversum Town Hall by Willem Dudok.
Another famous architect is Hendrik Berlage who designed the Art Museum The Haque and his "Beurs van Berlage" in Amsterdam. Certainly worth to mention is Jan Duiker, architect of the Netherlands Open Air School in Rotterdam and sanatorium "Zonnestraal" near Hiverslum. Or there too the more recent spectacular building of the Dutch Institute for Image and Sound.

https://zonnestraal.nl/en/

Google "Het Nieuwe Bouwen" or "De Nieuwe Zakelijkheid" or Dutch Functionalism / Modernism and the names of the mentioned architects for a wealth of information.