Itinerary Feedback Please!

@today4love; I’ve read this post as well as your other posts. Please don’t get me wrong and please understand that I write this with the absolute best intentions, but I find it’s quite difficult to advise you. Mainly because I can’t help but feel that you don’t really know what it is you want to see and do while here.
What was your dream or idea for this trip that made you decide to book the plane tickets? Was it your dream to see the tulips and bike in the tulip area? To see Amsterdam? To visit Paris? What sight or city is a must-see for you?

Perhaps you can share your ideas for this trip, so we can actually help you create an itinerary, instead of choosing between 2 very different itineraries.

@Dutch_traveler, I will be honest - I don't entirely know. Maybe that's why I'm struggling to build out this trip. Last year we visited Paris and had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam at the very end. I really wanted to see the tulips and bike around that area - we did, but the weather was absolutely dreadful (at one point it was freezing rain/sleeting with 40mph wind gusts), so getting a repeat of that is high up on my list. We enjoyed Amsterdam but only had one full day there so I would like more time in Amsterdam.

My family is from Den Haag/Rotterdam, but I don't really know any of my Dutch relatives or enough about my Oma and Opa to visit anywhere specific (Opa died when I was 3, Oma had Alzheimer's, and my mom said they didn't really tell her much about living in the Netherlands after they moved to America). So I guess I also want to get the "feel" of the country if possible. The things that my Oma did tell me about the Netherlands, and all the things she fed us or enjoyed herself, got me laughed/scoffed at when I asked about them (gevulde koeken, windmill cookies, nasi goreng, fries with mayo, leaving carrots in wooden shoes for the reindeer on Christmas) and I was told that wasn't what real Dutch people ate or liked. So I'm also looking for something of "this is where I'm from" without really knowing what that is. I have no one to ask, and every dang travel vlog I watch the comments are filled with people saying "I'm Dutch and this is all wrong".

That being said, in general I'd like to also go back to Paris. It was fun and we missed things I would have really liked to do. My husband is humoring me a bit with the trip (joking about visiting "the land of [my] people") and said he's happy with doing whatever; he just wants me to be happy and get my fill of the Netherlands. I'm getting the feeling that visiting any of the small towns in the Netherlands would make me happy & I don't need to do 6 or 7 of them to feel like I saw something. I may be wrong here, but it makes me think of the north Georgia mountains (near where I live) - in the autumn tourists flock to all of the small towns there to see the leaves change. They all have amazing views, hiking trails, waterfalls, breweries, an apple orchard, all the things tourists are coming to see. Ask 10 people in my city which town is best and you'll get 10 different (but passionate) answers. I don't want to miss out, but I don't want to get redundant.

Hopefully that helps. Sorry I don't have a better sense of direction on this trip.

Looks like you have a good itinerary, with lots of good activities and towns. Definitely rent bikes wherever/whenever you can-it's a great way to see parts of a city that often get missed, and a lots less hectic than being stuck in traffic. I have stayed in Haarlem (although it was quite a while ago now) and really enjoyed it...it was a nice break from the busy-ness of Amsterdam. I know you have a tight schedule but I highly recommend a stop in Belgium (Ghent, Brugges or old town Brussels). I think Belgium often gets overlooked but it was fantastic-not as busy as Paris-great sightseeing options, friendly people, bike rentals, amazing food and a side trip to Ypres (Flanders Fields) is highly recommended. But honestly, Belgium or Paris, you really can't go wrong. Happy travels :)

Kinderdijk is beautiful and I really recommend it- we spent about a half day there walking amongst the windmills, taking a boat ride alongside them, exploring inside the windmills, and learning about Dutch water management (which is super fascinating)... and you have a lovely boat ride from Rotterdam. I also really recommend Den Haag, it's beautiful and loads to do- Mauritshuis (which has Girl with the Pearl Earring amongst other beautiful/famous paintings), the MC Escher Museum, and you can even take the tram out to Schvenegen to sit on the beach. Personally I don't think you need so much time in Delft tho it is a very scenic place to spend some time. Rotterdam also has a lot going on especially if you like modern architecture.

That being said, in general I'd like to also go back to Paris. It was fun and we missed things I would have really liked to do.

We've felt that way about Paris the first time, second time, third time, fourth ... and it really never does get old. BUT, it is staying there and you hopefully have many years to return to it over and over. Honestly, if you think 2 or 3 more days in Paris will "finish" the must sees, you are wrong. :) And there is enough to see & do in the Netherlands to fill your time with great stuff.

For me, I would just plan a SEPARATE Paris trip for the Fall or next Spring and call it a plan for development later. Focus now on the Netherlands (and maybe that dip into Belgium) and enjoy that opportunity.

I’m not sure who you talked to but gevulde koeken, speculaas (windmill cookies), nasi goreng and fries with mayo are all things that people eat here in the Netherlands on a weekly if not daily basis. You’ll find gevulde koeken en speculaas in every single supermarket and gevulde koeken can often also be bought at coffee to go places. Nasi goreng is a very popular dish and stands and shops selling fries with mayo are all over the place. The only thing we don’t do is leave carrots for the reindeer of Santa Claus. We do however leave a carrot in a shoe for the horse of Sinterklaas.

So, it seems you want to get a feel of the Netherlands. Before you decide on an itinerary I suggest you to get a guidebook and read up on the Netherlands. See what places attract you. Don’t neglect the northern, eastern and southern parts of our country. There is much more to see in the Netherlands than just the densely populated area in the west. Cities like Maastricht, ‘s Hertogenbosch, Zwolle, Amersfoort etc are well worth a visit. Also make sure to check out train schedules to see how long it takes to train from A to B. With the very dense public transport system that we have here, you might not need to switch bases often. You can plan public transport journeys on Google maps or www.ns.nl/en

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

Maybe my 2024 Trip Report will provide some helpful info.
We loved the Netherlands and Belgium, and I agree , make Paris a separate trip, and spend your entire trip in the Low Countries. If you schedule walking tours and canal tours, you won't be bored, as you'll learn so many different aspects of each town, the culture, the folklore .

You may have difficulties finding reasonable priced lodging for the NL at this late date, so that may determine the itinerary,
Have a wonderful trip!

Unless you sleep really well on overnight flights, I don't recommend an Amsterdam canal tour on the day you arrive. I basically slept through one on a very jet lagged arrival day. If you really want to see Anne Frank house make sure you read up on how to purchase tickets from the official website online (plenty of forum posts and questions on this topic). They open the ticket window 6 weeks ahead, and given your visit is in peak tulip and school holiday time, you'll want to get that done just right.

@Pat, your trip report was very helpful! I've read it a few times haha. I think we were possibly there at the same time last year (though we only spend 2 days in the Netherlands). Bruges sounds wonderful but I think we miiiight just stay in the Netherlands the whole time after all. Y'all have convinced me, haha. Every time I think about going to Bruges I think it's just as long to get to Paris and then I remember all the reasons to leave Paris 2.0 for another trip. :) This means we have landed on 2 nights in Leiden (doing Delft on arrival day and Leiden/surrounding area the second day), 1 night in Utrecht (long story short we found out about Elfia and are doing that on Saturday and Utrecht on Sunday), leaving us 8 nights in Amsterdam (O.O) with 3 day trips included in that (Haarlem, Zaanse Schans, Keukenhof). Of course, we still have a list of possible day trips and I know this means we're kind of only visiting on part of the country. Maastricht is high on the list of day trips but I haven't decided if I'd want to do it as a day trip or if it's too far for that....