Rotterdam cruise - side trip suggestions

If you have any interest in WWII, Arnhem Bridge was the "Bridge too Far" that the British paratroopers attempted to capture as part of Operation Market Garden. There is a great museum in the house which the British eventually used as a hospital and a staging ground for their retreat/rescue. Scenes from the movie were shot right on this spot. Likewise, the Town of Nijmegen a little South was where the U.S. 82nd Airborne captured two bridges (including the massive Waalbrug, which you can walk across today) and had a fierce battle with the Germans guarding the town and bridges. A couple of years ago I took a train from Amsterdam to Arnhem, rented a car, and then visited both of these places (and more)! The two towns are only around 20 minutes apart. I really liked Nijmegen with many places to eat right along the river.

I ended up driving back to Delft (beautiful town) through Kamp Vught, which was a concentration camp in the Netherlands, and back to Schiphol.

If hydraulic engineering appeals to you, you can visit the massive Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier near Hoek van Holland (Hook of Holland). There is a visit center and there are guided tours in English, but only at specific times.

https://www.maeslantkering.nl/plan-je-bezoek#

Or a daytrip to the windmills of Kinderdijk is worth considering too. The site is to reach with the waterbus from Rotterdam / Erasmus bridge.

https://kinderdijk.nl/en/
https://www.waterbus.nl/en/travelplanner

I can vouch for your original ideas, having been to all three places last year. Just don't make the mistake I did on the way to the Kroller-Muller Museum: Traveling from Arnhem, I had to do a bus transfer. When my bus reached the change point, there was another bus right there, so I hopped on it...without verifying its destination. It was going in the opposite direction from the park, so I wasted a good bit of time. It mattered, because the sculpture park outside the museum was larger than I had expected, and I didn't have time to see the whole thing.

I enjoyed all parts of the museum. It does get some tour groups, and they seemed to focus on the Van Gogh section. My advice would be to check out the situation there upon arrival. If it's crowded, try seeing the rest of the museum first, because the crowds in the Van Gogh section may thin out later. Of course, if the weather's iffy, you'll want to think about the best time to see the outdoor sculptures.

I don't mean to sell Leiden (or The Hague) short. Those are pretty cities with worthwhile sights, each easily worth more than a full day to me.

Thank you PharmaPhil, Wil and acraven! Excellent recommendations!

Wil, do you recommend a quick tour of Dordrecht too? It looks like we can get there by the canal boat to Kinderdijk. Thanks again!

Consider weather at the last minute, as well as a climate website now. Leiden or Utrecht cannot be seen in one day, a reason to go. Amersfoort. There are actually two large and important art museums in Den Haag, and a few small collections.

The physical bridge in Arnhem is the third on that site since the war.

Dordrecht is absolutely worth a visit, you will love it. You can spend easily several hours there, it deserves more than a quick tour. The waterbus stops there too, you can also take the train back to Rotterdam.

https://indordrecht.nl/en/ Needs translation, the english version seems not to work well.

Thanks Tim and Wil!

So, I’m adjusting our plan. We’ll take the train to Rotterdam from Schiphol and the canal tour to Kinderdijk and Dordrecht. If we have time we’ll also take a train to Leiden.

Thanks again!