I will be visiting the Netherlands for a week next March. My primary reason for the trip is the Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum. But I would like to also visit Arnhem, Nijmegen, and Delft (possibly adding Bruges and/or Malmedy in Belgium if on a road trip). I am trying to decide between renting a car, or just sticking with public transit. If I rented a car, I would consider a loop starting in Amsterdam, and dropping off my car in Delft. Anyone here who has done a similar venture using a rental car? I routinely rent cars in France, and have also rented in the UK. Apologies if this has been discussed before, I did try to do a search.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
2004 posts
Most of your Dutch cities can be reached from Amsterdam by train in about an hour. Nijmegen takes 1:20. Traveling by train will be quicker and less expensive than a rental car, particularly in March when it can both rain and snow. Regional Holland has some of the most congested highways in Europe and precipitation on the roads makes it all the more desirable to take the trains. Parking a car in the cities is problematic as well, and hunting for parking will cost you both time and euros. With only one week during March, the only way I would consider including Bruges is going by train, but you may be short on time to do that with the four cities in the Netherlands you want to visit in one week.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6969 posts
I agree, for visiting towns and cities in the Netherlands, the train is the far better option.
Posted by
8239 posts
I visited Nijmegen and Arnhem (Bridge to Far Movie was great) 40 years ago in a rental car. I seem to remember that the British war museum in Arnhem is some distance from downtown Arnhem. You may need to take a taxi from downtown if you take the train.
Posted by
IJzendijke, The Netherlands
2084 posts
Rule of thumb for travelling between cities in the Netherlands and Belgium is using public transport. Meaning most of the time is taking the train. Railway stations are located close to the centre, so at walking distance and in some cases like Amsterdam and Antwerp needs a short ride with the tram. If you visit places just oustide a city look first if it is to reach by bus, like for instance the Airborn Museum near Arnhem.
For exploring the countryside a rental car is to consider and for visiting a remote place like Malmedy as you already plan to do it's the best option too .
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7882 posts
One flaw with the car scheme may be additional overhead of hotel changes, which daytripping avoids. But you already have good advice to use the train. I've been to Delft and Amersfoort by train more than once from Amsterdam. Using a car to get to remote (I didn't write "distant") Bruges does not make it faster. That wealthy part of Belgium has congested highways and expensive garage parking in the destination old-towns.
I will admit that we once drove from Cologne to Amsterdam, but our target was a rural flower show. Every minute in Amsterdam with the car was an absolute nightmare, until I could get rid of it. And we mostly booked business hotels away from town centers, for their parking.
We also saw Arnhem and Nijmegen on that trip. I question the importance of driving (as we did) over the third or fourth replacement of "the" bridge. I recall that we may have been able to walk to a tiny, restaurant-ized old-town square in Arnhem, but it's mostly a postwar low-rise city. I recall a nursing home built into an old convent, and a non-descript office building with a plaque identifying it as the headquarters of the Nazi occupation in town. But it wasn't a memorable visit.
The car was useful for a quick visit to the small but lovely Hanseatic center of Deventer. But the rest of the town was missable, including the tiny red-light district we had to walk past because of the RARE on-street parking I found there.
If you are going to an art show in Amsterdam, you really owe it to yourself to spend a night in Den Haag and see the two major (and maybe some of the minor) art museums there. Delft is a side benefit of that.