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Need itinerary help--second visit to The Netherlands

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My husband and I spent three weeks in The Netherlands earlier this year. We enjoyed it so much that we would like to return and explore further, and connect it to a trip to Belgium.

Our first trip included time in Den Haag, Delft, Rotterdam, Leiden, Gouda, Keukenhof, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Utrecht, and Den Bosch. Of those, our favorites were Den Bosch, Den Haag, and Leiden. We would like to return to Den Bosch, but other than that we would like to see new places. I would love to hear recommendations about favorite areas other than those I listed. We like art, nature, and just relaxing and enjoying a new place. Thank you in advance for any input.

Posted by
410 posts

The Hooge Veluwe - wild heathland in the centre of the country, with lots of walking and bike paths, and home to the Kroller-Muller art gallery, a huge Van Gogh collection and a lot of 20th century art too. And what about the south, areas such as Maastricht and Zeeland, or Groningen and the Frisian island in the north?

Posted by
1096 posts

We loved Utrecht, where we stayed, and many people like Delft. If you love art and have missed any of the following, you should go back and visit: Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, Mauritshuis in Den Haag.

Posted by
37 posts

We were there for 2+ weeks in late May/early June, and we visited many of the same spots as you. Here are some spots I loved that you did not list:

  • Hoorn: I was just raving about this town in another post. It was my favorite part of the trip. Everything is very walkable, and there is a pleasant park along the water.
  • Enkhuizen: We day tripped there from Hoorn. The town is lovely and very walkable. For a small place, it had a good food scene. There is a park there with a petting zoo. (Several towns in the Netherlands have these, but I liked this one the best.)
  • Utrecht: This was our home base for several days. It has an interesting city centre, and the two level canals are nice. Best of all, it has excellent train connections.
  • Woerden: We went on a Saturday and enjoyed their farmers market/cheese market. It was small and more for locals than for tourists, which made it very pleasant. The windmill store was open that day, and we bought cake mix from the miller!
  • Zwolle: This was another base city. The Old Town area was very walkable. We went to the Friday market and had a lovely picnic afterwards. The city centre is surrounded by a canal. My husband guided us through it in a rented electric boat.
  • Nijverdal: This small town is a great spring board to the Nationaal Park De Sallandse Heuvelrug. This was a good spot for hiking.
Posted by
120 posts

LaurieC: Thanks so much! These places were not on my radar; I will check them out.

Posted by
236 posts

Hoorn and Zutphen are both fantastic towns much in the vein of the ones you liked.

Gosh, there are so many more ...... Middelburg and all of Zeeland are particular favorites, too.

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