Side trips from Amsterdam

There are many choices for easy and rewarding day trips from Amsterdam. We have visited Delft, Utrecht, Leiden, Haarlem and several others. Trains run several times each hour all day or close to it so you have great flexibility in timing your travel. We purchased the Waterland Bus pass a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, didn't have time last month when visiting, but assume it's still there for 10€ per person. We visited Volendam, Marken and Edam. It essentially operates like a Hop on Hop off bus...you can stop wherever your fancy takes you. Again, great flexibility which I value. Kinderdijk/Dordrecht was suggested by a poster on this forum which sounded great but we couldn't squeeze another day. Next time.
Bruges is lovely and we have visited for a few days twice over the years, but for my money, I would not see it as a day trip from Amsterdam for the reasons you have noted....and I don't think you'd find Bruges all that different from what you'd be leaving. These are just my thoughts. We've been 4 times to Amsterdam and will return. You'll have a wonderful trip. safe travels.

With so many options in the Netherlands, I agree with Denny, too far for not enough wow. Depending on your interests, The Hague and Rotterdam can also be good day trips.

Thank you so much - that was my hunch. I googled images online and thought that as much as Bruges does look very charming, so do places that are much closer and you can't do everything in one trip. Thanks for your advice.

Enkhuizen is mostly overlooked. A gem of a town. You can't be disappointed. Much better than overvisited and commercialised Edam and Volendam. Easy trip from Amsterdam: 1 hour on an half-hourly direct Intercity train. Can be combined with Hoorn, which you'll pass on the way.
Being my adopted city for over four decades now, I can't but recommend Leiden. If you have the choice, go on a Saturday, when the market - behind the city hall - is in full swing.

Utrecht has unique bi-level canals, a lovely vibe, some great museums - and few tourists. In addition to the railway museum and the museum of music boxes and fairground organs, the Centraal Museum has a very diverse collection, from ancient ships to modern art. Leiden has a great college town atmosphere, as well as a very interesting science museum, and also few tourists.

If you're looking for cities (albeit smaller than Amsterdam), I highly recommend both of these. I stayed two nights in Utrecht and did a day trip to Leiden, and had a great time in both. If you want more rural or small village destinations, they aren't what you're looking for. So, when you ask what people prefer, a lot depends on what they want out of a day trip. I didn't get to the other places on your list, because they didn't call to me. If they call to you, go there.

I agree that while Bruges is very nice, it's much too far for a day trip.

Kinderdijk is a totally worth it. If you don't have a rental car, it can be a bit of a trek taking a train and then bus to get there, but if you have a rental car I HIGHLY recommend it. If you go, rent bikes and ride past all of the tourists that get dropped off by the big tour buses and you'll be able to explore in peace. It's beautiful any time of year.

When are you doing to the NL? If you're going during tulip (Late March - Early May)I highly recommend dedicating a day or two to the tulips. The Flower Auction and Kukenhof garden are awesome.

Volendam/Marken are very 'touristy' but are fun to see traditional Dutch water villages. Zaanse Schans is also touristy, but is really awesome if you have any desire to go inside of a windmil. I would say a trip to Zaans Schans would only be a half day. You could combine it and spend the rest of the afternoon in a nearby city. If you go to Alkmaar make sure you go when the cheese auction is happening! You may just want to book a tour through a company. The first time I was in Amsterdam we did an 8 hour tour that started and ended in Amsterdam and we saw Volendam/Maarken and got to visit a wooden shoe factory, Zaan Schans, and a cheese making place. It was a great way to see some different places. If you're looking for a very traditional city, check out 's-Hertogenbosch. I lived in the city for 4 months and it was wonderful. They have markets twice a week that take up the city center. There is a great canal tour of the city, great cafes, St. Jaans cathedral is breathtaking. Again could be a half day trip maybe combined with Utretch. The great thing about the NL is that nothing is too far away and there are SO many trains. Have a great time! The Netherlands is my favorite place to visit :)

Thanks for all the great tips, I am copying down all the places everyone mentioned and googling videos to see which ones appeal to me. We are going very late September, first week of October. It's me, my husband and our 16 year old daughter (probably should have mentioned that), so I'm trying to figure out what she might enjoy too. Getting so excited about our trip, sounds like there's no shortage of great places to see, which is perfect.

Just an addendum: the best way to reach Kinderdijk with public transportation is to take the waterbus from the Erasmusbrug quay in Rotterdam. It is a public transportation river fast ferry, which doubles as a very cheap boat trip of sorts.

Who did you book the 8 hour tour through that you took from Amsterdam to the wooden shoe factory, and Alkmaar? sounds like fun
thanks

My adult daughter and I will be making our first trip to Amsterdam in mid-October and we are thinking of spending three nights there and then taking side trips, possibly to Brussels. Any suggestions about this? Do I need to rent a car? Take the train? Help!!

@Erin: that screams tourist trap to me.

Hubby and I went to Bruges years ago because we had taken the Hovercraft from England to Belgium on our way to the Netherlands and Bruges was too close not to stay overnight and visit . After having been in Amsterdam for a couple of days husband said that Amsterdam had just as much history as Bruges but Amsterdam was alive and Bruges was more like a museum . I completely agree with him .

Well, it helps that Amsterdam is the central city of a 2.1 million-large metropolitan area that is also a global financial and corporate hub.

and has many historic buildings , and canals , and quaint narrow streets , just like Bruges .

We love Haarlem (3 times and returning) as there is so much to do. Archaeology museum of the town, St. Bavo, Teyler's and Frans Hals museums, Adriaan windmill that one can tour, canal cruises, good eats, only a fifteen minute train ride and ten minute walk into Grote Markt. Saturdays are fun with a big market set up in Grote Markt.

Volendam... pretty views, but I feel ripped off when I visit a town that has little other than shopping and restaurants. Not my cup of tea.

Leiden - gorgeous and once again, things to see. American Pilgrim Museum (quite good and only 5E), several other museums in town.

We didn't know about Enkhuizen on our first trip but saw it suggested by tonfromleiden and want to experience it. Last winter it was closed so I am thrilled to catch it before it closes this fall.

We are planning to visit Muiderslot castle on this visit to nl. Looks to be easy to get to and is quite interesting to me. I see they offer several tours of the castle but haven't delved further into descriptions/pricing. Here's a link: Muiderslot

Delft and Den Haag were also easy day trips we enjoyed.

We enjoyed a countryside tour with ThatDamGuide last winter. We had taken his city walking tour in 2015 and liked it so decided to spring for something different. We toured the Waterlands area, visited a working cow farm, had apple pie/coffee in Monnickendam and cheese tasting/wine at the farm, visited a working windmill, etc. I know that our route was slightly different since it was winter.
I would not want to go to Bruges unless I could spend at least two night there. Just too long of a trip.

Have a great time on your trip.

I agree with a previous comment...Enkhuizen is a gem! Our day trip to Enkhuizen was my favorite day on my week-long trip to the Netherlands. Beautiful town with a fantastic outdoor open air museum. It was very peaceful and quiet. We went on a weekday (not sure if it is busier on weekends). It was very easy to get to...just an hour-long train ride from Amsterdam.

Zaanse Schans is a bit closer to Amsterdam and has more windmills, which you can tour many of them and learn about how they are used, but it was much busier than Enkhuizen. We toured the saw mill and the guide was very interesting and informative. You could easily combine this with Volendam and/or Marken since they are close to each other.
Volendam is much busier than Marken, but there is a nice ferry boat between these two towns. (If you choose to do Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken, I would recommend you do it on your own. We did a big tour bus through the Tours and Tickets company out of Amsterdam and it was VERY RUSHED, even though we took the longer 7-hour trip, instead of the 5 hour trip. There were 75 people on our tour bus and it was crowded and rushed. I recommend trying to make your own itinerary if you want to do it in a peaceful way. That's the one change I would make to my recent trip to the Netherlands.)
Delft is also a nice day trip from Amsterdam. I believe it's about an hour on the train. It's a nice "small town", very picturesque.
Have a fun trip!