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Do you have a day trip bus tour from Amsterdam to recommend?

Greetings all, I'll be in Amsterdam with a friend in early April. It's a museum vacation, but I think a day trip on a bus outside the city might also be nice.. (We'll see Keukenhof, and that will get us out of the city. Also visiting Den Haag.)
I remember going on one many years ago- but I forget the details. I think we stopped in Edam, saw a wooden shoe factory, etc.
I know that some tours are perhaps tourist traps, but does anyone have a particular tour that they'd recommend?

Posted by
13809 posts

No suggestions on tours but try to book directly with the vendor. Viator is often mentioned but it's a 3rd party reseller of tours owned by Trip Advisor. They do not run the tours themselves and charge 20-25% to the small companies for listing. If you look on Viator each listing shows the vendor so pretty easy to book direct.

Posted by
20 posts

Hi Cat and Greg, I would recommend a day trip on the train from Amsterdam to the Zuiderzee museum in Enkhuizen. The museum consists of both and outdoor exhibits. The outdoor museum opens April 1st for the season.
It takes about 1 hour to get there from Amsterdam Centraal and then a short walk from the train station to the museum. I had a very enjoyable and memorable day there.

Posted by
2347 posts

Highly recommend doing Haarlem.by yourself a short train trip from Main train station. Lovely church and if a nice day great huge outdoor space to sit and enjoy a glass of wine and enjoy the view. Highlight was visit to the Ten Boom museum.

Posted by
3938 posts

We did a go at your own pace bus trip north of Amsterdam a few years ago with this local service. We chose Route number 3 to connect Edam, Marken and Volendam. https://localbus.nl/

EDIT: Last week the above link was active. Today I was going to share it with another person on the forum and the link is gone. They are either having a web issue or no longer offer this service. Sorry but check back if you are interested to see if it is perhaps just a glitch.

Posted by
862 posts

Highly recommend doing Haarlem.by yourself a short train trip from Main train station.

Absolutely agree. Last time we went to the Netherlands we based ourselves in Haarlem and then did day trips to Amsterdam. Haarlem has the best working windmill we saw in Netherlands/Belgium. It was amazing to be out on the deck with the blades rushing past. Incredible whooshing sound and the whole building shaking - https://www.molenadriaan.nl/en/

Posted by
24 posts

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. I do love Haarlem! I think I'm looking for a sit-down day, where all will be taken care of. Thanks for the tip about Viator; I think something they offer may appeal to my friend and I. Again, many thanks.

Posted by
2347 posts

If you do.decide on Haalem.and the Ten Boom museum try to read the book The Hiding Place about the Ten Boom.family who hid Jews during the Holocaust. There is another book out about the family and and how they rescued about 100 Jewish babies. Such courage

Posted by
107 posts

We were back in Amsterdam last year and took the excellent bus service from Centraal Station to Marken. Great way to spend a day.

We purchased the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket at Schipol when we landed. Excellent value at €13.50 per day if you purchase the 3 day pass. (We'll be back this summer and plan to purchase it again.) Check out this link for more info on the transit passes: https://www.amsterdamtips.com/transport-tickets

Posted by
207 posts

One could easily just take the train to Zaanse Schans and spend most of the day there.

Or, like you are with Hague, take a day trip via train to another of the magically charming Dutch towns. Hoorn would be my choice but the list there is endless.

Posted by
11056 posts

Since you plan to visit The Hague, add charming Delft as it is not far from there.

Posted by
521 posts

We enjoyed the bus day trip to Giethoorn. We took the train for a day trip to Delft and also did a day trip by train to Haarlem.

Posted by
7595 posts

We did a great day tour of Windmills and villages on the Zyder Zee that was nice. Tour left from the main train station.