day trips from Amsterdam

Have you booked your hotel for Amsterdam yet????? The International Broadcasting convention will be in town Sept 12-18, it's one of the largest conventions in the world and hotel rates will be sky-high:( In any event, my favorite day trip is the Delft/Hague combo described in Rick's excellent guidebook of the region. Preferably on a Sunday morning when the street market is open in Delft.

Delft, take a combined canal and walking tour, book through the tourist bureau in Delft and Enkhuizen for the open air museum, both interesting towns and easy trips by train.

Years ago we took the train to Rotterdam and it was fascinating. The modern buildings like the Pencil and the cubistic houses are really interesting. We went in the cubistic houses... I do not know if you can do this today..but really neat.

I second the idea of Delft. It's beautiful, and going to the Delft factory was pretty fun. Here's a website on Delft http://www.delft.nl/delften/ For other suggestions, here's a website that lists a number of guided tours. Not saying you have to take the guided tours, but it's a good place to get ideas.
http://www.amsterdamcitytours.com/bus-tours.html Here's the "historical villages" page from the Holland.com website: http://www.holland.com/uk/tourism/cities-in-holland/more-cities/historical-villages.htm Bruge is about 3 hours away by train; Antwerp and Brussels about 2 hours. There are towns in Germany that are also about 2 hours away, like Bremen, Dusseldorf, or Cologne. Here's a round-up of expat blogs; they might give you some travel or restaurant ideas. http://www.iamsterdam.com/en-GB/living/resources/expat-blogs There are also a couple of daytrips there. I also went to the beach on the North Sea (September might not be beach weather, though) and saw the Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin. Hope this helps

We are also looking at day trips for an extended Amsterdam stay next week. We are thinking about Volendam/Marken/Monnickendam combo of sorts...I think there is a Waterland bus ticket good for that route from Centraal Station area. Delft is on the list, and considering Leiden, Edam, Utrecht. Short train rides from Amsterdam to so many locations makes it hard to choose. We have been to Haarlem and it is very nice...the Hals museum is sensational. Years ago we went to Zansee Schans ...there are cool open air museums all over. Near Arnhem are the Kroller Muller Museum in the middle of Hoge Veluwe National Park, and also another open air museum nearby. Those destinations were too far to do as a day trip in our book so we'll be staying in Otterlo overnight. We have found that sometimes a place is worth three hours and sometimes three days so we'll play it by ear. Good luck and safe travels.

Gouda. Pronounced something like hoodah. We went there on a day trip from Delft whcih we now used as home base. A cheese shop woman told us there is no such thing as Gouda cheese, just cheese from Gouda.

Volendam and Marken are two historical towns in Holland. Woman wear the traditional dress there. I think Volendam is also a fishing port, so that may be another reason to visit. There are also a number of cheese producers and farms you can visit in this region too.

We did the Edam ,Marken ,Volendam bus trip in 2011. We thought it was a great day trip to these holland towns. Have a safe trip ! :)

Got your PM Ron. I know this is the one you're referring to. Good luck with the planning! Still plenty of time. Leave for France on Thursday. RS tour starts Sunday with two day Paris pre-stay. Really looking forward to all of this!

Do you have Rick Steves Amsterdam, Bruges and Brussels? Despite the name, he doesn't only cover these three cities, but has lots of daytrips from Amsterdam with complete logistics (most are easy, but some, like seeing the Kroller-Muller Museum without a car, are quite complicated). I was quite let down by Delft. The Hague, to me, was only of interest for the museums (if these draw you, go; if not, you can see something else). Be aware that the Mauritshaus in the Hague is closed until 2014 at least. But I really liked Utrecht, Leiden (not covered in the RS book), and Rotterdam. Rotterdam is especially interesting after you've seen other Dutch cities, as it's quite atypical. I'll agree with Jane the the Cube Houses were fascinating. If you go, get the free Architecture Walking Tour brochure from the tourist office, even if you don't intend to follow it; it includes a map, and otherwise you have to buy one.