We are planning a trip to Amsterdam for 2 days before we meet a RS tour in Salzburg late August.
We arrive Amsterdam 8:30am have that day and all the following day then fly out the 3rd morning to Munich. We are outdoor people and would love to do canal boat tour, visit the windmills, maybe Ann Frank house but don’t want to do it if it takes up a half the day. On our bucket list is to do the Belgium /Holland tour..
Rick Steve always chooses hotels so well that you can walk to many sights and restaurants...where do the tours stays..
thank you,
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6789 posts
Simple answer. Look in your Rick Steves guidebook. The guidebooks list good options for accommodations. Not surprisingly, the tours usually stay in these same top picks. True for Amsterdam and anywhere else where they publish a guidebook.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11872 posts
For the Best of Europe tour, which starts in Amsterdam, the tours stay in Haarlem. Usually at the Ambassador Hotel
https://www.ambassadorcitycentrehotel.nl/
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14723 posts
Last April my RS Belgium and Holland tour wound up with 3 nights in the Hotel Espresso City Center. The location was fine for me but my plan was to spend my extra time in the Museumplein area which was easily walkable. It was clean, had a nice breakfast but I'd probably not want to stay here on a first visit to Amsterdam. It seemed like a basic business class hotel. Not much charm but did have elevator and AC. It was easy to get to the airport - there is an express bus stop nearby but I just had the hotel call me a cab. It was about 20E.
I've also stayed in the aforementioned Ambassador City Center in Haarlem for the 21 day Best of Europe. It's quirky, had a great breakfast, well-located in Haarlem but I might want to stay in Amsterdam for the first time.
I enjoyed the Belgium and Holland tour (#11, lol). I picked April because I wanted to go to Keukenhof and it was beyond amazing. The tour itself was really good - when you go, try to arrive in Ghent at least the day before. I went to the museum where they are restoring the Ghent Altarpiece and it was just fascinating.