stay outside Amsterdam

It would be helpful to find out what your interests are - do you like museums and history or are you more interested in hiking and biking? Do you want to visit small towns or larger cities.

Regardless the Netherlands is very small and you could easily base yourself in Amsterdam, then take day trips using trains and other public transport. I was there 3 years ago and got around very easily by train. My favorite day trips were to Hoorn, which was on the water, where I had a wonderful day watching the boats, walking around and visiting museums, and Leiden, which was such a charming city. I fell in love with it. I was not especially entranced with Haarlem - it is a beautiful city but it was extremely crowded with tourists. I did enjoy the Carrie Ten Boom museum, which is definitely worth a visit.

But I loved Amsterdam most of all. I spent almost 2 weeks there and could easily have stayed longer. There are many day trips from the city that would be easy to get to by train. And it's difficult to drive in the larger towns and cities in the Netherlands with a car. Parking is very restricted and traffic (and dealing with all the bicyclists) can be unnerving.

However, as I said, maybe let us know what kind of places you are looking to visit, and you will get better information that way.

We also fell in love with Leiden, and can't wait to return. And we also loved Haarlem, although if we were given a choice between the two, we'd probably choose Leiden, at least for now.

Travel by train is easy and inexpensive in the Netherlands, and it doesn't take long to get from one place to another.

I have driven from Cologne to Amsterdam, but that was to visit cities far from Amsterdam, like a flower show in Venlo. Depending on your interests, a car is much more of a hindrance than an asset, between Den Haag and Alkmaar. You may be deceiving yourself about an American dream of a clean windshield and the open road. The only places I might want a car in the area would be to do the Aalsmeer Flower Auction and Keukenhof in the same day - even though it can, technically, be done without a car. I've been to Amsterdam about five times. I haven't been to the Delta Works, but a car would be good for that as well, I think.

I can understand if Amsterdam is too expensive for a longer stay. But it is ideal as a base for daily train trips. I forget how many train lines there are, but the point is that Amsterdam gives you immediate access to a large number of routes. If you slept in Leiden, I don't know if you can get a one seat ride to Amersfoort (just to name one smaller city I've enjoyed daytripping to in the OTHER direction from Amsterdam.

Because I like bigger cities with lots to do, I would answer your question as Leiden, because it's central in a rich visit area. But in good weather (Month of year Please!), you could argue for Den Haag, especially for art museums. My second choice would be Utrecht, again because there's lots to do right there.

There's no doubt that The Netherlands has an incredible train system. Living in Den Haag, we used it weekly prior to Covid times. And you could train from Amsterdam to many towns for day trips --- but if you want to see the smaller towns, and explore the countryside, your best option is by car OR on a bike!

We own a car and in the past two years have probably used it more for exploration (somewhat Covid-driven). It's quite easy to drive here - if you avoid driving in Amsterdam! Your biggest driving challenge would be PARKING. Early on - and we've been here 4+ years - we downloaded and began using Parking Apps. With your phone location on, these Apps make parking FAR easier - and in English! Two of our favorites are PARKMOBILE and YELLOWBRICK. Both accept USA credit cards. I find parking far easier to interpret using these Apps, rather than trying to figure out those parking machines!

Where can you go in three days in a car? It's a small country, but so very much to see! We generally take a day trip about every other weekend to see a new part of the NL Sometimes we'll spend the night (Groningen, Maastricht, Valkenburg, Eindhoven, or Giethoorn), but more often we'll do short day trips to see the Saturday markets or the smaller towns/sites (Alkmaar, Enkhuizen, Harlem, Kinderdijk, The Delta Works, Hoorn, Lisse, Volendam, Marken, Edam, Loosdrecht, Zaandam, Thorn, Den Bosch, Naarden, Breda, and many more I've forgotten).

We do use the train primarily to go to Delft, Leiden, Amsterdam, and Utrecht - primarily because it's just so easy for us from The Hague (and parking costs in Amsterdam are BRUTAL!). Yet, Delft, Leiden, Gouda, Lisse, Hoek van Holland, and Rotterdam are primarily BIKING options for me when I'm not with my wife.

And there are plenty of spots we've yet to see; Nijmegen and Texel are still on my list! It comes down to your comfort level driving in Europe, what you'd like to see, and how much time you have. Certainly, the NL offers many options: bus, train, tram, boat, bike... or car. With only three days, you'll have to research your priorities!

In the Netherlands much is within one hour reach by train from Amsterdam. That means everything within the circle of Zwolle, Arnhem, ‘s Hertogenbosch and Breda.

Nice to do is exploring the north-eastern part of the Netherlands, with the provinces Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe. You can read this recent thread. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/netherlands/northern-netherlands and read: https://www.friesland.nl/en https://www.visitgroningen.nl/en https://www.visitdrenthe.com/home

If the Deltaworks are of interest you can go to the province of Zeeland and combine it with a visit to Middelburg, Veere or Zierikzee, three really lovely places. Halfway the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier there is a visitor centre named Delta Park Neeltje Jans. There are guided tours going inside the barrier. If you want to see also the Maeslandt Barrier west of Rotterdam you can base yourself in tiny but cute Goedereede, located a bit halfway between the two barriers. You will drive also over the Haringvliet barrier and Brielle is worth the little detour. Further old fashioned seaside resort Domburg with nearby a medieval castle and for spotting ships passing by Vlissingen. https://www.zeeland.com/en/visit

(Edited:) For exploring the mentioned provinces a car is needed.