Hi, I will be vacationing in England in September and want to take a side trip to Amsterdam. How many days would I need to enjoy the City? 5 days? Too much or too little? And is Delft worth spending a day in? Any other cities near Amsterdam worth visiting? Thank you
Having lived at one time in Amsterdam and visiting annually, yes there is plenty to see and do there to fill up 5 days. Delft is a nice side visit especially if, like me, you buy their dishware. Also worth seeing is Rotterdam and Haarlem.
It's easy to do day trips to Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, Delft, (all worth a day) and others too from Amsterdam. And there are lots of great sights in the city. The Maritime Museum is excellent, the Portuguese Synagogue is unique, the Dutch Resistance Museum is an eye-opener, the Hermitage has wonderful exhibitions (you may luck out), to name a few.
Five days would be a nice trip, not too much. See also a few comments on this recent thread. EasyJet flies cheaply from London to Amsterdam and other carriers may, as well; see www.skyscanner.com.
What do you want to do in Amsterdam? Make a list of things and see how many days they would fill up. I like to schedule two activities per day: one in the morning (museum, for example) and one in the afternoon or evening (river/canal boat tour). That gives me time to see important sites on my list, and also allows time for exploring a neighborhood or resting at the hotel.