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Amsterdam & the Netherlands Guidebook

Posted by (Sapulpa, OK, USA) on

It looks like we've made a major tweak to our travel plans for 2018. As some of you know, we are retaking the 21-day Best of Europe next year to celebrate a milestone anniversary. This was my DH's idea; the 21 day BOE was his favorite tour, and he suggested we revisit it for our special year. And although we had been planning to spend 4 or 5 days after the tour in Paris (where the tour ends up), last night he suggested that instead we head back to the Netherlands to visit the Hague and perhaps some other locations. (He's dangling the art in from of me as an enticement.)

So it's back to the drawing board. Or planning board, I guess. So has anyone used Ricks "Amsterdam & the Netherlands" Guidebook? The closest things we have to that is a 2011 edition of "Amsterdam, Bruges and Bussels" - it gives 6 pages (with no hotel recommendations) to Den Haag, and one paragraph to Rotterdam.

Does the newer book do a better job of covering venues outside of Amsterdam? What are your favorite places in the Netherlands, worth a couple of days visit?

And before you suggest Haarlem, we already have our Haarlem hotel booked for 4 days before the tour. Although we certainly would not rule out using Haarlem as a base for our post-tour jaunt.

Thanks for your help.

Posted by
399 posts

Jane,

I have the Amsterdam/Netherlands book in hard copy and an older electronic version of the book you have. As you would expect, the Netherlands specific version does have more detail on various places within the country. The differences that jump out at me is Delft, The Hague, and Rotterdam have their own chapters. Delft's chapter is basically as before and The Hague is 10 pages while Rotterdam is 16 pages in my version. There are also separate chapters for Leiden, Utrecht, and Hoorn. On our last trip earlier this year, instead of staying in Delft (our absolute favorite) or Haarlem, we spent 4 days in Utrecht. Although we thoroughly enjoyed Utrecht, as their canals are unique compared to the rest of the country, it will not supplant Delft as our favorite home base. Utrecht seemed younger, as it is a university town. Charming and walkable with a great restaurant scene (and a fun railway museum). During our Utrecht stay, we did a long day trip which included the cheese market of Alkmaar then onto Hoorn. I was a bit disappointed with the cheese market due to a large horde of tourists and gawkers as it no doubt took away from the festivities-in my opinion anyway. We were pleasantly surprised with Hoorn, though. Netherlands in such a small country, most places are within reach of a day trip. Enjoy your planning.

Posted by
6523 posts

Thanks, Jay. That's just what I wanted to know. We have our $100 voucher code, but I don't want to spend it until we're reasonably sure of where we're going (Paris v. Netherlands, or a third choice as yet undetermined.)

We have been to Delft, and enjoyed it. I keep forgetting how small the country is, and how good the public transportation is. I've got some reading to do!

Thanks, Jazz+. DH has specifically mentioned Rotterdam, so we'll probably try to spend at least a day there.

Posted by
2185 posts

In case you decide to stay in Amsterdam after your tour, I'd like to recommend a truly special, anniversary-worthy place to stay. Bij Tijn Op de Gracht is a canal house with an ideal location on the Prinsengracht canal, with two spectacular suites (each has an entire floor). There are floor to ceiling windows and French balconies looking out over the canal. Breakfast is served in an amazing sunlit room.

As in any canal house, the stairs are narrow and steep, so you need to pack light. And since there are only 2 suites, you need to book far ahead, but you should have time. It's our all-time favorite hotel.

Posted by
6523 posts

Wow, thanks for the suggestion, Charlene. I'll check it out. And we are definitely light packers, so narrow stairs are not a problem.

Posted by
2547 posts

Jane,

Also check out the Canal House in the Jordaan. We loved it there. Again the stairs are steep and narrow.

Posted by
11569 posts

We didn't have the Rick Steves guide book for The Netherlands so can't answer your questions about it. However, just spent a week in Leiden and loved it. We had visited before and always wanted to return. 100,000 pop, university town, home of the Pilgrims for ten years after they fled England. Beautiful canals, flowers, museums and more.
We enjoyed visiting The Hague tremendously. The Marithaus is a small museum packed full of treasures, the royal collection. Vermeer's View of Delft and The Girl with the Pearl Earring are there. Also recommended are the Parliament buildings, palaces, and The Peace Palace. Next time we will spend a few nights there in addition to Leiden.
We were pleasantly surprised by Rotterdam and took a waterbus from there to Kinderdijk. I had always wanted to visit this UNESCO site. The reloadable transit card, OV-chipkaart, works for trams, trolleys, buses and waterbuses all over the country which makes it so easy to get around when you arrive in a new town or city. We also returned to Delft and it's New Church and Old Church, both so interesting historically. We took the train between cities and towns. I use Rick's books all the time but sometimes you need to get another book such as a DK Eyewitness Guide for a specific area.

Posted by
6523 posts

Wow, thanks, Suki! We're trying to decide how long we want to stay in the Netherlands after our tour; there's so much we want to see, and your post whetted our appetites for more.

I know what you mean about the guidebooks; we love Rick's books, but there are a lot of things and places he doesn't cover that do interest us.

Thanks again for the tips.

Posted by
1022 posts

Jane - do you want to borrow my book Amsterdam/the Netherlands book? I can bring in on Saturday.

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