I am 67 years old retired woman, and thinking about going to Amsterdam for a week or so, on my own.

If you would like an upscale spot near Amsterdam Centraal station, the NH Barbizon Palace is very nice. You can get anywhere in Amsterdam on trams from the front of the station. Frequent trains to Den Haag and Delft, plus to Arnhem where you can get a bus to Otterlo and to the Kroller-Mueller Museum.

Sounds delightful, good for you! When are you considering going and are you only traveling to one city? (No musts, just wondered.) I've been to the Netherlands multiple times by myself as a woman and always felt very safe in tourist areas. The Anne Frank museum will sell out fast, I believe it's 3-4 months ahead, (can someone else chime in about booking timing?) Van Gogh & Rijksmuseum also work better with advanced tickets, but when I've looked they've been relatively easier to get. Personally, i like getting to famous museums as close to opening as possible, slightly fewer crowds.

This was a wonderful trip report, to get some ideas going, hope you have a great trip! https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

I have just come home from Amsterdam and stayed for the second time in the De Ware Jacob hotel, which is a five-minute walk from the Concertgebouw and the trams that arrive and depart there, and just south of the complex where the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museums are. It’s a much quieter part of the city than the rowdy bits nearer to the Centraal Station or around the canals, but you can access them by tram or bus.

Another hotel that is right around the corner there (I’ve not stayed there but a friend has and quite liked it) is the Conscious Hotel Museum Square. The prices there are a little lower than at the De Ware Jacob.

Please note that in general, hotels in Amsterdam are expensive, and only getting more so. One does get sticker shock looking at the rates ! And I don’t believe either hotel includes breakfast in its rates.

(Just to note that the 12 tram runs directly to/from Centraal station to Concertgebouw, no changes needed.)

On Kim's recommendation I stayed at De Ware Jacob in 2023 and really liked my stay there. The room was super comfortable, staff was very nice. I'm not a breakfast eater so didn't have anything but coffee in my room. For me, the location was ideal as my visits are museum heavy and I was seeing the Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum that year. For context I am a mid-70's solo woman traveler and I liked that this seemed to be an actual neighborhood.

The only caveat is that 1.5 days out of my 4 night stay had the elevator down. I don't mind walking down. Walking up is a pain because it is the typical old Dutch steep and narrow stairs so once I went in I stayed in, lol. The morning I left the housekeeper saw me with my suitcase headed for the stairs, picked it up and ran down with it. She was nimble, lol!!

In spite of the elevator issue I would stay there again.

The Mauritshuis is easy to get to as is Delft. The Kroller-Mueller is more difficult. Last time I looked at their website they had some kind of day tour you could take to visit them which might be a good way to go. I've been there but it was on a Road Scholar tour so I didn't have to plan transportation. It's excellent, the sculpture park is fantastic if the day is fine but the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam beats it for the art for my tastes.

I wrote a review of the Nadia, which is affordable.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/netherlands-reviews/hotel-nadia-recommendation-with-lots-of-caveats
The "place" I really want to stay is https://sweetshotel.amsterdam, which is less a place than a series of places. Maybe alone you wouldn't feel comfortable, but it's really a very safe city.
Since you are retired, I suggest taking as much time as you possibly can for this trip and, rather than day tripping to The Hague and Delft, consider adding stays in those cities, which are likely more affordable than Amsterdam.
In Amsterdam, I recommend doing an evening canal tour. I am a fan of Those Dam Boat Guys, but others on the Forum prefer Captain Jack.
It's very easy to get around on foot or by tram/bus. You don't have to brave the bike lanes (but do watch out for the bikes--they stop for no one, not even cars!).

Any suggestions regarding the most convenient, safe, and affordable places to stay?

"Affordable" is probably best defined by you. "Safe" is easy - the Netherlands is very safe especially in the places where most tourists will stay. "Convenient" for Amsterdam parts of your trip will be near Vondelpark or the Museumplein where the AF House will be a little bit away. If you're a "walker", you can easily cover all your spots in Amsterdam by foot from somewhere in the Vondelpark/Museumplein areas. But if you're a walker, most of the core of Amsterdam is easy peasy to navigate with proper shoes, a head on a swivel, and time management.

With that list of things to do, I'd suggest you expand the "week or so" a bit UNLESS you're really a busy traveller and/or can trim some items.

While you can combine "big" items into the same day, I generally like one per day, so just hitting museums, you're at the week or so already.

I'd consider splitting the stay to two home bases - Amsterdam (by the museums) and maybe Delft (or the Hague). In Amsterdam for a full week, you get to comfortably hit the museums, concert, and general touring, and then popping out to stay in Delft, you can explore there plus easily go to the Mauritshuis for a day trip, and even rope in other things like Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Leiden, or the sea.

And the Kröller-Müller Museum will easily be a full day outing from Amsterdam.

Regardless, the Netherlands is a GREAT place to go since it really is an easy to navigate spot for solo or new travelers. Depending upon when you go, there are a lot of other things to see and do as well.

convenient, safe, and affordable

Pick any two.

Hi, I am the same age as you and mostly replying to be an encouragement to you. Yes, go, and have a fantastic time! The last two times I was in that area, I stayed in Leiden which I would recommend for your night before your flight. It was cheaper to stay there, very convenient to the airport, and a nice town.

In July, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Sloterdijk, as recommended on this forum. Directly in front of Sloterdijk station, a few minutes by train from the airport and Amsterdam Centraal. Very reasonable $$$, convenient, good breakfast.

Yes, go for it!
Life is too short to be cautious.
You can plan a fantastic trip for yourself. Amsterdam is just crawling with tourists these days, yet overall is quite safe, and very walkable. There are also a lot of public transportation options.

We were just there last month for a week before and after our cruise to Iceland.
Our first hotel (Clayton American-four star) was down by the museum area, so it was easy to walk to the museum sites. Our next hotel was closer to Dam square (Tivoli Doelen-five star). Both were nice, but a bit of a splurge price-wise. Breakfast included is not as much as a popular option in Amsterdam as in other countries, so you need to check hotel offerings.

We did, however, discover MANY MANY economical places to eat in the city. An interesting fact--the lunch specials would run until 5:00 PM--so we would come right at the end for an early dinner at a great price! We also made it to the Pantry restaurant which many RS readers recommend.

We took the train back and forth from the airport to Centraal, and walked around the city everywhere. We did take taxis a few times, and they are RIP-OFFs unless the hotel books them for you and quotes the meter price, but we had big suitcases for the cruise so we had no choice.

We visited the Rijksmuseum and the Royal Palace and bought our tickets in advance online. We took a pretty canal boat tour on the spur of the moment (they are everywhere). We did not secure the Anne Frank house tour tickets, but we did walk to see the front of the house.

We took some pre-booked one day trips from Amsterdam to a castle (de Haar) and windmills Zaanze-Schans), and they were very enjoyable. We had a one day tour (9 hours) booked to the Hague, Rotterdam and Delft, but unfortunately we had to cancel as we were just a bit worn out.

Sadly for my husband, we did not ride bicycles at all, although he is a big bike rider and has his own road and mountain bikes here at home. Oh well, he had to go with me for souvenir shopping!

Have fun planning, and have a wonderful trip!

I'm planning a trip for next year. We are seriously considering renting a car to drive from Haarlem to Delft and Ameersfoort. I know it's so American, but by husband enjoys driving and I thought it would give us more time and flexibility. The downside is parking. Can anyone advise on whether to rent or not. Thank you.

SharonP, forum etiquette suggests starting your own question instead of piggybacking. The OP get s notifications of replies rather than you if you don't, and it doesn't help answer the OP.

However - if your husband enjoys driving he might not enjoy driving in the part of the Netherlands called the Randstad, the area with almost half the country's population, including the Netherlands' four biggest cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht), their suburbs, and many towns in between, that all grew and merged into each other, or in other words where you are considering driving. The daytime National Speed Limit is only 100 kph (62 mph) and often restricted to slower than that by mandatory variable speed signs over the lanes. The Dutch invented the infernal speed cameras which show no mercy and issue tickets for just over the currently shown speed limit, with no "slow down" grace. The speed shown is the speed from when you pass it - that is not the sign to take your foot off the gas and coast down. Some highways are effectively 12 lanes or more, with different parallel sections, and at junctions roads are often sent around multilane roundabouts with concrete kerbs between the lanes so if you're in the wrong lane opportunities to correct the mistake are few and not good for the car.

Parking is rarely free, often rare, and don't expect wide spaces. And enforced.

I have to drive because of my wife's medical needs, and am fairly often driving in the Netherlands. I drive a lot, but in the Netherlands, and especially in the Randstad, I consider driving a chore and nothing to be enjoyed.

Be aware that there is a significant minority of speed scofflaws who either have magic ticket evading spells, or they ignore them or they know precisely where the active cameras are and throw out the anchors immediately prior and belt off afterwards. Don't be one of them, and I don't know where the spells are sold.

I just got back from Amsterdam and am thrilled you want to go to Kroller Muller Museum, it is beautiful and save time to see the sculpture garden there - it is fantastic and huge. It is hard to get to by public transport, so a bus tour for around 200 euros is a great way to get there.

The bus tours were not available when I wanted to go, so I hired a private driver to take me there, wait for me and take me back to hotel.

His name is Arthur Weegeman, email is - [email protected].

He drove us to Kroller-Muller Museum an hour outside of Amsterdam and hard to get to by public transport. He waited for us to tour the museum and when we said we wanted to see a windmill, he took us to one in Amsterdam before he dropped us off at our hotel.

We liked him so much we hired him for the next day to take us to the nearby cheese and windmill villages of Edam, Monnickendam and Zaanse Schans. His prices were reasonable, about the same as a bus tour but you can set your own schedule.

He is a retired taxi driver for 35 years and will pick you up at your hotel, take you where you want to go and wait however long you like to tour around and see the sites.

He will give you an accurate price quote before you leave for Europe and will give you his What's app number so that you can easily communicate with him when you arrive in Europe.

Michelle Ann, thanks for the great tip about hiring a private driver to take me to the Kröller Muller Museum. Definitely his prices (Mr. Arthur Weegeman's) seem more affordable to me. BTW, I have inquired about another private tour to the museum from Amsterdam, and they were asking for $380.00 to take me there. I will reach out to Mr. Weegeman to inquire about driving me to the museum. Regards

Thanks all for all the wonderful suggestions you have provided about my trip to Amsterdam in the fall.
It is looking fantastic.
I have booked my hotels (two of them), and I have bought a ticket to a concert at the Royal Concertgebouw, tickets to Rijks Museum and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and a ticket to the Mauritshuis Museum at the Hague to see the Girl with a Pearl Earring, and other Vermeer’s paintings in their collection (I am going to take a train to the Hague to visit this museum). I am still researching a way to get to the Kröller-Müller Museum by either using public transportation, or by finding a reasonably priced private tour such as the one suggested my Michelle Ann in this forum to take me there. I still need to get a ticket to visit the Anne Frank House. The rest of the time when I am not in a museum, or a concert hall during my visit, I will be doing some of the different walks and sites described in the Rick Stevens Audio Europe app (e.g., Amsterdam City Walk, the Jordaan Walk, the Albert Cuyp Market, the Amstelkring Museum, etc., etc.).
I am so looking forward to starting this trip. Regards to all.

You are really making headway on your plans!

Do make sure you’ve got a waterproof rain jacket, lol.

To the Kroller-Muller Museum (or anywhere else in the Netherlands) use the 9292 website- https://9292.nl/en/planner/

Basically train to Arnhem, then bus 105 from Arnhem Bus Station (630 metres from the Railway Station) as far as Rotonde, Otterlo where you switch to Bus 106 to the Museum.

The connection from Arnhem is every 30 minutes. 9292 also tells you the fare, in this case 5.62 Euro each way from Arnhem. The bus can even be bought as an e-ticket on the 9292 app.

This is one of three possible routes given on the museum website but is maybe the easiest.

With train fares as well the return from Amsterdam is just over 52 Euro.

Thanks isn31c for the directions to reach the  Kröller-Müller Museum by public transportation. Which train station in Arnhem should I select as a destination station when buying my train ticket from Amsterdam Centraal in the Travel Advise 9292 website?
• Arnhem central,
• Arnhem Presikhaff,
• Arnhem Velprepoort, or
• Arnhem Zuid
Regards

Arnhem Central. The others are little suburban stations.

The transfer time at Rotonde is short; I assume the buses wait for each other. Don't make the mistake I did--running for the bus I saw waiting, without checking the destination sign on the front or confirming the destination with the driver. That bus was going in the wrong direction.

The Kroller-Muller Miseum has a large sculpture park. My bus booboo meant I didn't have enough time to see all the sculptures.

The Van Gogh section of the museum is the most popular. It wasn't equally busy at all times during my August visit. It would be a good idea to check it out first to see how crowded it is. You might do better to see the rest of the museum first. I suspect, but do not know for sure, that most of the tour groups show up in the morning.

Thanks, isn31, and acraven. I have an entire day dedicated to this excursion to the Kröller-Müller Museum using public transportation. I hope that it is not raining too much to allow me to see some of the art in the sculpture garden before or / and after visiting the museum.

Basically train to Arnhem, then bus 105 from Arnhem Bus Station (630 metres from the Railway Station) as far as Rotonde, Otterlo where you switch to Bus 106 to the Museum.

Stuart and acraven provided good guidance here, but let me add one additional option to consider. If you are able and enjoy walking, when you arrive at Rotonde, Otterlo, consider skipping the waiting bus to the park and walk instead. The walk to the park entrance is less than a mile (9/10 of a mile to be precise). The walk was peaceful and quite lovely as you go through the small village and a residential area. Hardly no car traffic, only a couple buses and walkers/bikers. When we went last year, my friend was dealing with a bit of a hip issue and took the bus while I walked. I actually beat him to the park as he sat on the bus for about 15 mins before it left.

Keep in mind you need to go to the park entrance and pay the fee to enter the park then pay to enter the museum. From the entrance building, there was a bike rack of 100’s of free loaner bikes which you can grab a bike and bike to the museum (or, bike around the park to your hearts desire as the dunes and park is quite lovely), which we did. The museum itself is awesome. Great art but when we were there, it was not crowded and it’s nice to enjoy such world class art in relative solitude. The museum also has a nice sculpture garden and cafe building. It was quite enjoyable.

I hope that it is not raining too much to allow me to see some of the
art in the sculpture garden before or / and after visiting the museum.

They do have loaner umbrellas right at the door that leads to the sculpture garden! We were there in June and didn't grab them on the way out. Sure enough, it started raining after we'd been outside for 15 minutes or so. Luckily, a young couple nearby had taken two umbrellas so gave one to us.

bmotles, it looks like you are a knowledgeable art lover. I strongly recommend you also visit the Frans Hals museum in Haarlem. I regard Hals as the finest portraitist ever. Haarlem is a very short train ride from Amsterdam central station.

Hey there, sounds like you're going?? THAT'S GREAT!! Be sure and tell us about it afterwards, maybe write a trip report or just add to this thread if you're traveling soon.

Bon Voyage!