Possible Trip Itinerary Feedback

We stayed at the Hotel Nadia, that is near the Anne Frank House and it worked well for us.

I would not advise taking the train and then waling to the hotel with luggage. The train station is probably over a mile from the hotel. You can get a taxi from the airport for about $50.

Taking the train to London for a night is very inefficient. I don't recommend doing that. It must be a long trip and for some expense. Pick a city closer. Have you been to Brugges. It is wonderful.

Also, Day 3 is overloaded. We did the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh on separate days.
We spent 3 1/2 in the Rijksmuseum and 3 hours in the Van Gogh. I don't know about you, but more than 3-4 in a museum is all I can handle in one day.

Your itinerary looks good, not too rushed. But I ado have some pointers;
Day 1; the best way to start a stay in Amsterdam is by taking a canal cruise. You get a feel for the city and can spot things you want to visit at a later time

Day 2 and 3;
I agree with Geogriffith; don’t visit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum on the same day. Do one on day 2 and the other on day 3. The Van Gogh museum needs to be booked well in advance.

Day 4 and 5;
I wouldn’t go to London for just 1 night. Paris maybe, but not London, it’s just too far and too complicated.

Day 6
What Ajax match? November 6 is a Monday. Ajax plays against SC Heerenveen on Sunday November 5. There is no match on November 6.

Day 7
Why Brussels? Do you have a specific reason to go there?
Why not check out other Dutch cities like for instance Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Utrecht etc.

If there isn't a specific reason for Brussels, I would switch it to either Delft, Leiden, The Hague, etc.

geovagriffith thanks for the input. When I used google maps it said it was about a 16 minute walk from the station to the hotel. Sounds like a taxi would be better, especially if we are tired. I'll separate the museums and do those on separate days.

Also, that might be all I needed to talk me out of attempting to go to London. Either that or we'll turn it into maybe a 2 day trip.

Dutch_traveler - I had actually thought about doing a canal cruise during the day and an evening one later in the week. My apologies.. I skipped November 3rd in my timeline. Its the Sunday game that I am trying to get tickets for.

There isn't anything in Brussels that we have to see but we just figured it would be interesting to visit another country on the trip and it's only a few hours by train. If we don't go to London we will definitely add some more of the cities you mentioned.

Any suggestions for must eat places? I made a reservation for Moeders already. It sounded good to me so I wanted to make sure we could visit.

Thanks for all of the help so far!

Mary (roubrat) Thanks for the input! Any reason to avoid Brussels in particular?

We enjoyed Moeders. The Pantry was also good.

Any reason to avoid Brussels in particular?

Not at all. I went as a daytrip when I spent a week in Belgium going to various cities during a longer trip. It seems like you only have about a week total so I wouldn't personally prioritize Brussels in that case - but it's your trip and you should see what you want to see.

Here's my trip report that you might find useful https://tinyurl.com/TripReportNLandBE2022

Mary (roubrat) That's very helpful! I'm trying to find the balance of experiencing as much as possible while also not being rushed and on a strict timeline. I may have been aiming to high with my plans to visit Brussels and London

Ha! I totally get it. It's a constant balancing act.

Have you thought of flying into Amsterdam and out of London (or vice versa)? Would simplify things and minimize wasted time going back and forth.

Mary (roubrat) I looked into doing that with London or Paris and it was significantly more expensive. We already booked our flights into Amsterdam and the hotel. I have the hotel booked for the entire stay because it was a good deal but I was willing to pay for a hotel/airbnb in London if we ended up going.

We took a tram from Centraal Station to Hotel Nadia. It was easy to find the tram line in front of the station (either 13 or 17 as I recall) and we were dropped off about a block from the hotel. We used a contactless credit card to pay for the tram but really didn't need to get on the tram much as everything we did was within walking distance to the hotel.

Just my opinion - we did Van Gogh last trip and I was disappointed in the exhibits. I guess I was expecting more, but we finished in about 2 hours. We took the train to Zane Schans and LOVED it. One of our favorite days. It gets you away from the the business of Amsterdam and you can absorb yourself into the village! We did the "Dam Guys'' canal tour and they're very fun!

Our trip in Dec will include a day in Haarlem and possibly a day to Bruges. If you're an Asian foodie - I highly recommend FuLu Mandarin restaurant. We always eat there and our next trip we have reservations for 2 nights. We also liked the Foodhallen (sp?) since it gives you options to try different foods and delicious brews!

Congratulations on your honeymoon trip and have a wonderful trip. The friendliness and outgoing culture of the the Netherlands people are fantastic!

Thanks for the kind words and advice Terri!

We have Zaanse Schans and Haarlem on our list for a possible day trip along with maybe Bussels or Bruges.

My fiance loves Asian food so there's a good chance we end up at Fulu Mandarijin.

Thanks again!