Day Trips from Amsterdam?

My favorite is the Delft/Hague combo trip described in Rick's Amsterdam Guidebook....preferably on a weekend.

Zaanse Schans is a short train ride out of Amsterdam and very nice.... also we really enjoyed the island of Texel of the coast of Den Helder.. hope these suggestions are helpful !

Delft is a good recommendation. Rotterdam? Not a bad city by any means, but unless you're really interested in international container shipping, you might be a little underwhelmed. It was largely destroyed in the war, so most of what you see now is modern glass and steel architecture.

Just returned from the area. We spent one day doing the Hague and Delft. Both are interesting. The Hague is a bit seedy from the train station to the main square. From there, it is wonderful. Walked out to the World Court building. It is wonderful. You didn't mention Haarlem. I would put it number one. You can take the train to Hague, then backtrack to Delft. We then started to explore Haarlem, but it was a cold, rainy late afternoon so we returned to Amsterdam and went to Haarlem the following day. Haarlem is quite small and if you want to see the sights but not necessarily sit and soak up the atmosphere, you could see the highlights of all three in a busy day.

We did the Den Haag and Delft day trip and loved it. Check out Madoradam in Den Haag.

Was there in April, did a daytrip to Den Haag then rode a bike to Delft (~7km, very easy ride).
LOVED IT.

Den Haag was ok, i was there a little on the early side so there wasnt too much going on. Deff worth it to spend some time there, but not too much!

The old and new churches and the plaza are worth the trip alone imo.

Simran; if you decide on the Den Haag/Delft combo, use the Centraal Station in DHaag -it is a bit seedy around the Holland Spoor Station but not Centraal (there's two main stations in DHaag about a mile +/- apart). Quicker, more convenient access to the downtown shopping area from Centraal; a 5+/- minute walk.

Much better tram/bus connections from Centraal Station as well. You can take the tram direct from Centraal (forget the #) to Delft (about 20 minutes/5 strips on a strippenkart) or the same tram in the other direction to visit the beach at Scheveningen (the seaside suburb of Den Haag - imagine a mini Coney Island) about 10 minues.

The Kurhaus Hotel is worth the trip to Scheviningen in itself; go in for a coffee and see the hotel lobby/public areas -incredible and with a dome that resembles St. Paul's in London.

You could see what there is to see in DHaag/Delft in one long day. Amsterdam Centraal to DHaag Central; about 50 minutes on the train.