Day trips from Amsterdam

Hi! Check for Mike's Bike Tours. THey have nice tours that also include the windmills and the cheese and clog factory.

For a first trip to Amsterdam I would spend most all that time in the city. But if you want to do at least one day trip my favorite is the Delft/Hague combo (preferably on a weekend) described in Rick's book. Holland is such a small country and everything is so well connected by train an organized tour is a bit overkill.

I'll plump for Utrecht, one of the most underrated cities in the Netherlands, about 45 minutes away by train from Amsterdam. Great canals sunken down below street level, with restauraunts situated in the old storage areas at canal level, lovely architecture, and a huge street market right outside the railway station, at the entrance to the old part of the city, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Right at the main market entrance is a giant licorce stand. Talk to the lady who runs it with her husband...she's from Wisconsin! The canals, IMHO, are much prettier than Amsterdam's. Great shopping along there, too.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/ben/nethfolk.htm

Hi Kristen,
... click on the above link for Netherlands day trip recommendations ... bon voyage! P

Does anyone know how to get from the Zaanse Schans Open-Air Museum to Madurodam? Is there a bus that I can take from the train station or do I need to take a different train? We wanted to go see the miniature village they have there.

There's no public transportation right to Zaanse Schans. But the train stop is at Koog-Zaandijk, a 15 or 20 minute walk from the entrance to the open air museum. Ask at the ticket window there for details, but as far as I recall, you take a train from there to Uitgeest (about 15 minutes), then from there by train to Den Haag Centraal (about an hour), then downstairs to take the tram to the Madurodam Noord stop...you'll be right there (about 10 minute run). I think the tram direction is Noorderstrand, but anyone there will be able to help you catch the right one. Price should be about 11 Euro for the train, and 3 parts of a "strippen" ticket for the tram ride out.

Do you recommend that we do a tour to go see the museum(cheese and shoe factory) and Madurodam all in one? Or do you think it is easily doable ourselves?

I'd go for the guy Rick suggests--Adam's Apple Tours. He was wonderful and gave us a great tour of Amsterdam with an hour's notice. You'll miss or misunderstand so many things if you don't do it. The Van Gogh museum is the #1 must-see, I think. Anne Frank is wonderful, too, if it's not too crowded. St. Nicholas church is amazing and close to the train station, as is the wonderful Amstelkring Museum. The Dutch Resistance Museum is wonderful if you're interested in WWII history.

Do go to Zaanse Schans. It's a beautiful sight to see and easy to get there. Delft is always lovely but don't forget about Haarlem! The windmill there has a great tour on the weekends. Have a great time. Linda

The Oprn air museum in Arnhem is great think williamsburg . It one of my favorite europe places (i have been many many times )there is a world class art museum on same property . Bus is no problem from train station. Have a Febo snack in Amsterdam ( think automat)