Itinerary question - what would you do?

Day 3 (Tuesday) - Would love to take a short bike ride in the countryside and see a windmill or two, so considering a half day to Waterland where we can ride bikes and then check out the smaller villages around that area. (We would take public transport to that area and then rent bikes from there.) Has anyone done that?

I'm in the minority here on this topic, but in my opinion, I'd recommend riding from your hotel out of the city and into the countryside (and back). The distances are SHORT and the terrain is FLAT, so a bit of wind and/or rain are the two challenges you'd face, and that would be true whether starting from your hotel or starting from the countryside.

An example would be a riding out to Broek in Waterland from Central train station (about 6.5 miles riding) and then out to the coast at Uitdam (maybe 4 more miles), down the coast to Durgerdam (another 6 miles or so), and then back into the city (about 5 miles). Along that route - easily navigated and SAFE - you'll see all sorts of things from wildlife, windmills, small towns, farm animals, dykes, the sea, a free ferry ride(!) and even a ride over a "towering" bridge into Amsterdam (elevation is relative there). So, 21 miles over maybe 4 hours at a pace a child could maintain.

The example above using the fietsknoop routing (https://www.fietsknoop.nl/):
05 (Centraal Station)-61-60-36-37-38-01 (Broek in Waterland)-57-75-77 (Uitdam)-79-47 (Durgerdam)-46-52-05 (Centraal Station)

Regarding the Van Gogh Museum on your arrival day: if it’s a priority activity, I would say no. My main reason - if your flight is delayed or cancelled you could/will lose that opportunity. The Van Gogh Museum does sell out.

Here’s my cautionary tale. Several years ago, our adult daughter was meeting us in Amsterdam and we had tickets for first thing the morning after she arrived for the sold out, once-in-a-lifetime Vermeer exhibit at the Rjiksmuseum. The morning after she arrived - that seemed safe enough. As luck would have it her flight was completely cancelled and she wasn’t able to get to Amsterdam until the next morning. The morning for which we had the tickets. Her flight the next morning arrived in just enough time for us to stash her bag at the hotel and literally run to get in line for our 9:00 entry time. As it was it was a true nail biter. But, if we’d had those tickets for the afternoon of her arrival, we would have been so disappointed.

On Zaanse Schans - we thought it was ok. Easy enough to get to on public transit, some nice exhibits as interpretive museums go, definitely over run with tour busses the day we were there in the high season/spring. If it’s your only chance to see and explore a windmill it’s a good option.

I agree with JenS. She flies Seattle to AMS as I usually do and honestly, after a 9.5-10 hr flight I would not be able to do the Van Gogh Museum and get the most out of it. Your profile does not reveal where you are from, so if it's the East Coast and you have a shorter flight than we do ..... m a y b e.

Her cautionary tale is good as well. You just never know when there will be weather delays or if you will meet a back up coming thru Passport control to enter the Netherlands. The Van Gogh Museum will be there unlike the special Vermeer Exhibition so you can catch it another time but you may start out being disappointed.

Where are you going in Belgium? If it's Bruges, there is an excellent bike trail from Bruges to Damme that is not congested and more in the countryside.

BTW, at any time of the year when I have visited the Van Gogh Museum it's been hot and stuffy inside especially the top floor where most of the Van Gogh's are. Take a hand fan if you get hot easily!

Thank you, Tom! I was going to look into Broek in Waterland, and will definitely keep this idea in mind. I will also be looking at public transport options just in case we have the unfortunate luck of a very rainy day that would make biking less desirable.

JenS and Pam - I truly appreciate the suggestion. JenS - I am so sorry to hear what your daughter experienced but grateful she was still lucky enough to make it to the Van Gogh Museum.

The Van Gogh Museum is a HIGH priority. Although we live in Colorado, there aren't any direct flights, so we will actually be flying into Amsterdam from Philadelphia and land at 8:30am on Sunday morning. If I were to schedule the Van Gogh museum for another day, then what are some other ideas to do that first full day we arrive?

Pam- Not Bruges, but thank you. We will be visiting Ghent.

The Rijksmuseum is definitely worth a visit. It's right there with the Van Gogh but we experienced them on separate days. As for the Red Light District, we went during the day and probably should have gone at night. It was underwhelming but the overall area was enjoyable to wander as was the entire city. Have fun!

With a connection in Philadelphia I’m guessing your travel day will be something like 13 or 14 hours? To stave off jet lag and general exhaustion on arrival day, I’d suggest staying outside and walking/moving as much as you can. The RS walking tour is a great idea. Dark museums, boat rides, any place warm and cozy will have you fighting to stay awake.

The first day is tricky because you want to be productive and use your time efficiently to see the stuff you came to see and hit the ground running. At the same time arrival days are unpredictable - will your flight arrive in time, did you sleep on the flight, will you be exhausted from sleep deprivation and jet lag. Best to be flexible.

After you check in to your hotel in the afternoon, splash some cold water on your face and go explore your neighborhood. Have an amazing vanilla ice cream cone (a cross between whipped cream, rainbows and sweet dreams) at one of the food kiosks on the Museumplein between the Van Gogh Museum and the Rjiksmuseum, wander over to Vondelpark, check out the underground Albert Heijn grocery store on Van Baerlestraat (I love exploring European food stores) and grab a unique snack item.

Alternatively, if you find you have a huge burst of energy at 3:00, maybe have an easy indoor activity in your back pocket. Something low stakes, a smaller museum or site with no timed entry required. If you need to shift this to another day or skip it there will be no regrets.

I loved wandering in Broek en Waterland…didn’t get on a bike there but it would be a lovely place for a ride. Looks like it would be easy to ride to Monnickendam from there too. If you get the waterland bus ticket, that will get you to Edam as well, which was also fun to explore. I had a lovely canal side lunch at the Hotel De Fortuna restaurant in Edam.

JenS - thank you! You are right - we have a full day to explore and want to make the most of it, however after a red eye who knows how much energy we will have. We are looking forward to enjoying Amsterdam and not looking to overload our itinerary so maybe we just take the RS Amsterdam city walk, and if we feel energized later after we check in, I can look to see some last minute spots to check out. It is a Sunday too, so not sure if everything will be open (shops, etc.).
I was leaning more towards an afternoon canal cruise since it would be nice to see the architecture and various points of interest from the canal while there is still daylight, but after reading the feedback that sounds like it would be better after we have a proper night sleep and not day of arrival.

Since the Van Gogh museum is a high priority, I could either schedule Van Gogh in the late afternoon on Monday (we are visiting the Anne Frank House at 10:15am that morning) or Wednesday afternoon after we arrive back from a possible half day trip to Broek en Waterland. Then schedule the canal cruise on the opposite day of Van Gogh. Kind of tricky because we will need advanced tickets to both Van Gogh and the canal cruise, and I have no idea how long the half day biking in the countryside would actually be.

Thanks, Maggie. The ultimate wish is to do a little bike riding in the countryside not too far from Amsterdam so we can see a more rural part of the area/smaller town, and a windmill or two. The biking will be weather permitting.

QUESTION: What about Bloemenmarkt (flower market)? Is that year-round? My almost 16 year old daughter asked about it.
Also, any thoughts about Albert Cuyp Market?

I think that for Van Gogh later on either afternoon would be fine.

A note about the Anne Frank House: it can be a very intense experience. Give yourselves a bit of decompression time afterward. The last time we were there we took a good ½ hour in the museum cafe to breathe, have a cup of tea and feel all of our feels before moving on to the next thing. The pleasant cafe overlooks the entrance plaza and canal.

Bloemenmarkt was a walk-through for me. Directed at tourists, lots of bulbs for sale, very colorful but not one of my favorite spots.

Albert Cuyp Markt is interesting and could be a good place to buy souvenirs. For me, the greater draw of the De Pijp neighborhood is the concentration of fun and funky vintage stores.

Thinking about shopping, I remembered something else in your neighborhood. If you are at all interested in upscale shopping or just fantastic window shopping, on Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat, two blocks over from the Van Gogh Museum, there are several blocks of high-end fashion boutiques — Chanel, Hermes, Prada et al. The windows displays are gorgeous.

About a canal cruise, unless you want a particular boat company or itinerary, you may not need to reserve in advance. Someone else please correct me if I’m wrong on this, but I remember just walking up to one of the boat companies on the Singelgracht, not far from the Museumplein, and getting on the next boat.

Thanks so much. I’ll look into canal cruises. I also thought another option could be to get tickets for Van Gogh Tuesday morning once they open and then do the countryside/biking adventure so we aren’t pressed for time. If we did that then Monday (day 2) would be Anne Frank house, lunch and explore the Jordaan area, with an afternoon or early evening canal cruise.

Regarding a canal cruise, use the smaller boats , about a dozen folks, not the big boats with the recorded tour. The sunset cruises are the most in demand, so once you have checked sunset times, I would book in advance, if that interests you.
Your trip sounds like so much fun!

PS-If you're a Ted Lasso fan, the boat captain can point out the bridge that the Rebecca character fell from.

“I were to schedule the Van Gogh museum for another day, then what are some other ideas to do that first full day we arrive?”

We did the Resistance Museum on the day we landed since you don’t have to buy tickets ahead. Since you are going to the Anne Frank House that is a good way to get some background information of what was going on in the Netherlands and Amsterdam during WW2.

The Van Gogh Museum first thing in the morning on Tuesday is a really good idea. If you show up a few minutes early and get in line before all of the other people with 9:00 am tickets get there, you can be one of the first ones in and enjoy a few paintings without a crowd. At the entrance they will scan your tickets, you will go straight down an escalator to the museum lobby, turn left at the bottom and follow the signs to “Van Gogh Museum Collection.” That’s the permanent collection, set up in chronological order with some explanatory displays and early paintings on the main floor to start.

If you don’t care about the chronology and just want some paintings to yourself, I have a trick. Consider starting in reverse order on the top floor of the museum and working your way down. At the top of the stairs to the collection there’s an elevator to floor 3. We’ve done this and it works like a charm. While everyone else was milling about in the entrance lobby, trying to figure out where to go, we had several galleries on the 3rd floor to ourselves for the first 10-15 minutes of our visit.

Pat, unfortunately haven’t watched Ted Lasso yet, but definitely want a smaller boat. My husband prefers to have a non smoking boat so as fun as they sound, I won’t book with Those Damn Boat guys and I am on the hunt for another family friendly option.

sdw, thank you! Didn’t know the Resistance Museum didn’t need advanced tickets so that could be an option too.

JenS, thank you for the tip! I love that and would be a-ok not going thru chronologically. Brilliant! I think I’ll book the 9am time.

Silly question about public transport. Hoping weather will be nice enough to walk, however we will definitely be using trams, trains and possibly a bus while we are there. other European countries have occasional strikes which cause transportation to come to a halt. Does this happen in Amsterdam?

Yes, public transport strikes do occur with one planned September 9th. Almost all are announced well in advance and updated/reflected in public transportation apps.

It is always good to check as some strikes (not the September 9 one) only hit parts of the public transport system. For example, local busses, trams and metro in Amsterdam and Rotterdam are run by the municipality and may not be impacted when there is a national train or regional bus strike.

So always check 9292, NS or GVB apps on whether your mode of transportation is affected.