Rental from Amsterdam

hey hey mschoeffler
what are your dates, how many is "my family" if kids how old? do you have a place to stay? look at the cost if picking up car in one country and returning to another, do you need an IDP (internationaldrivingpermit.org) for renting?
looking at airbnb/vrbo for your family, much has been mentioned about illegal rentals and cancelling at last minute. when we were there we rented a houseboat in amsterdam (bookahouseboat.com or houseboatrentals.amsterdam)
hope you find something and enjoy your time.
aloha & hauoli makahiki hou

Can you be more specific about the WW1 and WW2 sites you want to visit? Do you have special places in mind or things you want to see, or do you need more info about what to see? And how many days you think you will need for this?

For WW1 is Ypres (or Ieper in Flemish) the obvious place, but the WW2 sites are more spread out if you go to Wallonia for the Battle of the Bulge and want to include for instance Luxembourg. Using Amsterdam or Haarlem as a base to visit these sites is anyway not very efficient. Not only the distance you have to cover, but also the many road congestions you have to deal with will consume too much time. So basing somewhere in Belgium for the time needed to visit the WW sites is necessary.

But again tell us more what you expect or want to see to start with.

There are four of us, including two young adult sons, flying in and out of Amsterdam during spring break. We’ve hit the highlights before and want to visit Ypres from Bruges, and then Waterloo on the way to Bastogne. Hence the need for a car. Logistically, parking changes our usual train and backpack pattern of travel. My concern is the best way to start and finish in Amsterdam and avoid driving and parking in Amsterdam. We enjoyed using Haarlem as a base for Amsterdam previously, but don’t know the rental car aspect.
Thanks in advance.

What about taking the train to Brugge and rent a car (and drop it off) there?

I can't imagine having to drive that stretch from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, is is very congested.

I am with the crowd that says to maybe take the train to somewhere in Belgium then rent from there for the battlefields. I have rented in Bruges, traveled to Ypres for visiting and dropped off in Antwerp, also rented in Brussels to do Bastogne, returning to Brussels. That worked well, most of the driving was on motorways and smaller roads, no congestion, even driving out of Brussels from Midi was not too bad.

It depends what your plans are in Amsterdam and Haarlem. Most places (read cities) from there are best to reach with public transport. In case you want to explore the countryside a car is needed, however renting e-bikes can do the job very well too.

If you only need a car to visit the sites in Belgium it’s better to my opinion too, to rent a car there as already noticed. You can for instance fly to Brussels first and drive or train from there to Bruges. Several WW1 tour operators can pick you up there if you plan to join a guided tour. Driving directly to Ieper is an option too for joining a tour or is a good starting point if you want to do a DIY tour.

For going to Waterloo best is to avoid the circular road around Brussels, certainly during rush hour. But coming from Bruges it will be hard to avoid. Think driving it counterclockwise for going to Waterloo is better than doing this in the opposite direction.

After visiting the WW sites and Waterloo you can drop off in Brussels and take the train to Amsterdam for flying home.

Or is flying in and out of Amsterdam a must for some reason?

Great! So I will train it to Brussels from Amsterdam, spend the night and rent a car in Brussels for the Bruges/Bastogne stops and drop the car off in Brussels prior to returning to Amsterdam. Which train station makes the most sense to stay near?

Near Brussels Central railway station is the best option, the area where you can find most hotels and the tourist hotspots at walking distance. The area around the two others, Brussels South and Brussels North have not a good reputation about safety, so best to avoid.

Know that Brussels is bilingual, Dutch (Flemish) and French are the common languages. So Brussel-Centraal, Brussel-Zuid and Brussel-Noord are the Dutch names of these railway stations, Bruxelles-Central, Bruxelles-Midi and Bruxelles-Nord the French equivalent. Highspeed trains from the Netherlands call only at Brussels South. Going to Brussels Central needs an additional 5 minutes, think you need an extra ticket for this or get assured if this is included in the ticket the moment you book in Amsterdam.

it is a good idea if you are driving to Bruges (Brugge in Flemish, what you will see on the road signs) to have your parking lined up. Street parking is highly regulated and can be a real pain to find any. Ask your hotel what they recommend and be prepared to open your wallet. Look at a good map and understand how to navigate the one way streets to your destination. Most streets are very narrow on the medieval plan and cobbled.

There are big parking structures at the train station, 't Zand and Pandreitje parking near Astrid park. Some street parking near the windmills. If you decide to park under the Crowne Plaza (great location) be prepared to sell your legs and arms to pay for it.