We will be spending about a day and half in Amsterdam after a Viking Cruise in mid-Oct coming in on a Sat. I believe we will de-board about 9-10 am. We plan on dropping our bags off at our B&B which is within walking distance of the pier and then heading out to see the sights. I have a reservation booked at the Anne Frank House at 12:30 that day but I would like help planning the rest of our time there. We'd like to see the Dutch Resistance Museum and maybe the Van Gogh and Rijksmusums. We saw a Van Gogh exhibit at the Musee d' Orsay last year in Paris and I'm not sure if we want to go to the Van Gogh museum or not. I thought about doing a canal tour of course an evening stroll through the red light district maybe the Heineken Brewery but that didn't get very good reviews and the flower market.
Any advice and suggestions would be appreciated. We fly out on Mon. Oct. 12th, we plan on taking pubic transportation to the airport, is this a good idea? Our flight leaves at 10:55 am, some advice to get to the airport 3 hours before departure but that seems like it's more time than necessary.
Thanks everyone,
Sue
Posted by
Nebraska
333 posts
There is a canal cruise place on the corner just a few buildings down from the Anne Frank house~ so right after your tour is a good time for taking that. The canal cruises last about an hour or so. There are also lots of little shops and places of interest near there as well. I've not yet been to the other places, so can't advise there.
Lisa
Posted by
Genesee, ID
1840 posts
The Dutch Resistance Museum, much overlooked, is our favorite in Amsterdam. It is modern and very well done. We ahve been to the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum each four times and that has not been too many for us. We haven't seen the reopened Rijks though.
The Heineken Experience is fun but if you've been to other breweries you could miss it. It is in the old Heineken brewery and as far as I was concerned the most interesting thing was how the old concrete grain bins had been cut to have doors put in.
The Red Light District is interesting from a purely social science point of view. Really interesting! It is near the Central Station part of town. We stayed at a B&B on an alley that led to it.
The Flower Market was interesting but not as interesting as those in Delft or Odessa, Ukraine. I did note that there were marijuana seeds for sale.
Public transportation to the airport leaves either from Central Station or Sud (South) Station. As soon as you get on dry land find a tourist map to help you get around. Amsterdam is an easy city to walk in.
Posted by
OP
Placitas, NM, USA
178 posts
Monte, thank you very much for your help. I planned on going to the Resistance Museum, how much time would you recommend that I allow for that? How about for the Van Gogh and Rjiksmusem, not sure how large they are? I don't want to burn us out on museums.
Day one:
Sat.
Drop off bags at B&B about 10 am: Explore, catch a bite to eat, go to the Anne Frank House (how much time here, maybe allow two hours? I booked the tickets with a 30 minute English movie first) and then do a canal tour or do the Van Gogh and Rjiksmusem or perhaps the Dutch Resistance museum too although this might be a bit much for one day.
Go back to B&B, get settled and then head out to do more exploring, have dinner, walk the streets and see the Red LIght District
Day two
Dutch Resistance Museum
Canal Tour if we haven't already taken it.
Do what we missed on the first day.
Thanks in advance for your input.
Sue
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Rick Steve's notes for a self-guided tour of the Van Gogh museum say to allow one hour for the highlight route he describes in the guidebook, which covers the first floor. Other floors mostly feature other artists. Rick's suggested route in the Rijksmuseum says to allow 1.5 hours, primarily to cover the Hall of Honor, where most of the blockbuster paintings have been hung together. You might pick and choose between the other sections of the museum of most interest to you.