How to get to Haarlem from Amsterdam

You can take the train or a bus and it will take about 25 to 30 min. It is a beautiful little town. We went to the Corrie Ten Boom House,, the church in the town square and toured the windmill. All are within walking distance from the train station.

Last year, friends of mine stayed in Haarlem and commuted to Amsterdam for sightseeing. They loved it (and saved money).

The train is the easiest and quickest way. Less than 20 mins from Amsterdam Centraal.
Haarlem is a beauty (and actually a much nicer place to stay than Amsterdam). The Market Square is one of the best in this part of the country, and it has two wonderful museums: the Frans Hals Museum and the Teylers Museum. The latter is a museum piece in itself.

I don't know about your other day trip plans, but you should consider a trip to Hoorn (35 mins on a half-hourly direct train) or Enkhuizen (1 hr on half-hourly direct train). Enkhuizen has the special attraction of the open-air Zuiderzeemuseum (www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl/en/234/visit/museum/).

Hoorn has a marvelous museum called the Westfries Museum, with lots of Dutch Golden Age artifacts and even a virtual reality tour of Hoorn in the 16th century.

One sight not to miss in Haarlem is the Corrie ten Boom House. This very religious Dutch family hid Jews and underground fighters during the war, until they were caught by the Nazis. While the Anne Frank House is extremely moving and important--it is also crowded. This is an intimate tour where you really get a feel for the family and their life-saving work. I think only 25 visitors are allowed on each guided tour.

Thank you everyone, I will have my day filled in Haarlem.

Ann - hope you are going in april/may so you will be able to go the Keukenhof Gardens. We did the Holland/Belgium tour April 2016. It was a small group (becausing of the Brussels bombing) we all had a great time. We stayed 3 days in Amsterdam after the trip. One of those days was a drip to Haarlem. We took the train but they had repairs and then had to get off the train and take the bus. All went well, but a little longer trip than planned. Hopefully the train will be smoother.

I agree with Diane on those sites to see. We went to their church and it was awesome. They invited us back for a concert late in the day but we wanted to get back to Amsterdam. Never made it to Corrie museum. Wish we had time, I think it is suggested to get there early because they only let a few people in.

FYI - on our other free day we took the train back to The Hague and then up to Scheveningen to the beach. I wanted to go to the North Sea. I had been there when I turned 4. It happened to be a gorgeous day and think everybody decided to go to the beach. Then we got back on the tram and went to Delft. We did not get enough time to savor this quaint city. Then got back on tram to The Hague and back on the train back to Amsterdam. It was hard to believe all the stuff we did on our own that day.

Enjoy that tour. It was wonderful! Bike along the canal to Damme when you have your free day in Brugge.

Another vote for the Corrie Ten Boom House. I found it more moving than the Anne Frank museum. Make sure to make a reservation for the English tour. You will be in a small group of around 15 people. Those, such as the Ten Boom's, who chose to risk everything to help the Jews are very inspiring. If you read the book "The Hiding Place" or watch the movie in advance, you will find the tour more meaningful.

Very easy to buy a train ticket from the automated machines at the Central Station in Amsterdam, but I was glad I watched a youtube video on the process before trying it the first time.

I want to thank every one for giving me such great suggestions on my day trip to Haarlem.