Hi! I’m planning our first trip to Europe for our family of 5, kids aged 16, 15 and 12. After doing one week in Ireland, we are visiting the Netherlands for one week during the first week of July. The issue is that Taylor Swift is in town that week as well so I’m having a hard time finding centrally located places to stay that we can afford as well. We’re taking our daughter as well so looking for recommendations of where we can easily see sights and access the arena on the concert day. Thinking we might break up the trip and stay in a couple of different locations to make it affordable and also see different parts of the Netherlands (my husbands family is from Friesland). Would Haarlem be too far to stay out of the city centre? Would it be too much of a stretch to stay in Haarlem for the day we need to travel to the arena? Any recommendations/tips are appreciated as I feel lost!
Posted by
San Diego, California
4705 posts
Haarlem or Leiden would work nicely for lodging, and very easy to access Amsterdam. Have a great trip.
Posted by
13 posts
Haarlem is the perfect option for what you're looking for. Easy access to Amsterdam Centraal (10ish minute trip, 4-5 trains/hr). To get to Amsterdam ArenA, you'd take a 20ish minute metro ride from Amsterdam Centraal. I would also suggest doing some sightseeing in Haarlem--great cathedral, museums, and town center.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32757 posts
Haarlem is a good fit in my opinion. Since you'll be getting back late maybe try for a place relatively near the station?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32757 posts
there are also train - train combinations that work, taking just about the same time as Metro.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you so far to those who have responded! I have a few properties narrowed down in Haarlem and am hoping for additional input. Is there a certain area/neighborhood within Haarlem that you would recommend that is more family-friendly, accessible to the public transit, bike paths to beach, etc.
Posted by
85 posts
You could also look into the city of Utrecht. Central hub in the Netherlands for trains. There is a direct intercity train from Utrecht central to Amsterdam Bijlmer Aren. A 16 minute ride. Utrecht has a nice city centre.
Posted by
13 posts
Stay near the Grote Markt ("Big Market Square"). This is the most interesting part of town and a 5-10 min walk to the train station.