Where to stay for last three nights?

Posted by Mardee (Duluth 🛶 ) on 09/23/17 12:56 PM

I have a trip planned for mid-May of 2018 - I will be flying into Amsterdam on Thursday (after three days in Reykjavik) and spending four nights in the De Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam, then on Monday will take the train to Ghent in Belgium, where I will stay the next three nights (doing day trips to Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels). On Thursday, I head back to the Netherlands where I will have an additional three nights plus most of Sunday before I fly out of Amsterdam on Sunday evening.

I'm trying to figure out where stay for those last four days. I've seen a lot of posts about day trips from Amsterdam and could do that, but was wondering if it might be easier to use another city/town as a base and do day trips from there. I will not have a car with me, so will be traveling by train to wherever I go. I am an older female traveling solo and a fairly experienced traveler. I enjoy museums but don't focus on them. I love historical sites, old churches, cemeteries, picturesque scenery, walking around town, enjoying a nice meal with some wine or a beer, and meeting locals and other travelers.

Thoughts?

Posted by Harold

New York, NY, USA

09/23/17 01:24 PM

11294 posts

Utrecht and Leiden are smaller cities that have very good train connections, including to the airport (so you can even stay there the last night before your flight home, unless it's very early). They also have attractions of their own.

Utrecht has unique bi-level canals, the Centraal Museum (with everything from old ships to very modern art, arranged so you are constantly stimulated by the shifts as you go from room to room), the Railway Museum, and most unusual of all, the Museum Speelklok, a collection of music boxes, fairground organs and other mechanical music makers. You see them on a one hour tour where a docent demonstrates how they make music.

Leiden has a very interesting science museum (did you know that renal dialysis and EKG's come from the Netherlands? I didn't before I went to the museum). And while Delft and Utrecht also have universities, Leiden's is the oldest in the country, and of the three, it was the only one with a "college town" appearance and feel.

They are both still small cities, so if you're looking for something more rural, they won't suit. However, they are quite un-touristed and feel very local.

Posted by Mardee OP

Duluth 🛶

09/24/17 11:11 AM

7976 posts

Thanks! I was planning on going to Utrecht anyway, so that sounds like it might be a nice idea.

Posted by Nicole P

Truro, NS, Canada

09/24/17 02:00 PM

3941 posts

We visited in April (also staying the de Pijp neighbourhood! We really enjoyed Pasta Pasta!). Spent 5 nights then moved on to Dordrecht for 3 nights. Used it as a base to visit Gouda and Kinderdijk and stopped at Rotterdam on the way there from Ams. The town itself is a bit sleepy - it probably didn't help that we were there over Easter weekend of course. But it was a nice base for some day trips.

We also stayed in Ghent for 3 nights - another nice spot - we daytripped to Bruges and Ypres.