day trips from Amsterdam

I had a wonderful day renting a bike and riding out into Waterland north of Amsterdam. There are protected bike paths to get you out of the urban area and then, surprisingly quickly, you're riding through beautiful small villages and the Dutch countryside.

My favorite is the Delft/Haugue day trip described in Rick's guidebook. Best done on a Saturday.

you might want to take a look at the book "Daytrips Holland Belgium & Luxembourg" by Steinbicker, which has planned daytrip itineraries with maps, directions, etc.

There are so many wonderful cities close enough to Amsterdam that are wonderful day trips options. Some of my favorites:

Texel Island - This trips gives you an opportunity to the beautiful dunes of the Netherlands, gorgeous pasture land with sheep houses, a visit to the Texel Brewery, a seal and bird rehabilitation center, and a few small, charming towns. From the harbor there is a 20ish kilometer bike ride that takes you through the southern part of the island in a loop.

Utrecht- This is one of the most underrated cities in Netherlands. It have a handful of nice museums (including the UNESCO world heritage site at the Rietveld Schroder House), one of the only places I have seen where they have a row of resturants down at canal level - makes for a lovely afternoon beer or late lunch. There is also castle nearby (Kasteel de Haar), but it was mostly done in the early 19th century. It also have a beautiful flower market on Saturday.

Delft & The Hague - If you must squish both into the same day (there is plenty to do in the both Delft and the Hague to fill a day or two)I would suggest doing this tour starting Delft. I happen to think Thursday is best because there is a both a flower market and general market in town. You can walk down the streets where Vermeer lived (make sure to watch The Girl with the Pearl Earring), visit the Royal Delft Factory, see Oostport (the only standing city gate), tour the Vermeer center (while there are not actual Vermeer's it is a great introduction to the painting you will see at the Mauritshuis in the The Hague), and enjoy an afternoon drink in one of the patios of the cafe in the Beestenmarkt. The Hague has some of my favorite art museums (The MC Escher museum, the Mauritshuis, and the Gemeentemuseum).

Kuekenhof and the Tulips fields - as an aside, we biked through the area yesterday and visited the gardens and the outside tulips beds and fields are not yet in bloom

Kinderdijk - this a row of windmills outside of Rotterdam that is amazing! You can see by traveling on bus from Rotterdam or biking from Gouda. The bike ride from Gouda is beautiful. You pass 35+ windmills, beautiful farm land, farms selling cheese and other dairy products, and a few smaller towns along the way.

All good suggestions....but I just want to echo Laura's endorsement of Utrecht....one of the undiscovered jewels in the Netherlands. The cafes and bars along the lower canal levels are wonderful....intimate and relaxing, and far nicer than Amsterdam's canals. The Saturday market is truly amazing! If you go, the market entrance is just outside the railway station. See if the massive Licorice stand is still there....the woman who runs it with her Dutch husband is from Wisconsin!

I would just add that, unfortunately, Keukenhof gardens are not open in June.

One of the great things about the Netherlands is that the entire country (and parts of Germany and Belgium) are within day trip distance. So literally, you can visit almost anywhere and be back in Amsterdam at night.

Tom is right Keukenhof will not open in June - I didn't look at the date and confused you with another Paula poster.

I would then add Arnhem and the Hoge Veluwe National Park. It is a beautiful park that has free bikes for use in the park and in the center is the Kroller-Muller Museum that has over 250 Van Gogh paintings and some Mondrians and Picassos and a sculpture garden with a few pieces by Rodin and Moore. It would be a wonderful way to spend a day with a picnic lunch! There is also an art deco hunting lodege in the park that offers daily tours.

There are day tours to Brugge , it is great

Years ago we had a wonderful day riding the dikes on motorbikes (hey, I'm a poet!) We visited Zaanse Schans and had a great time there seeing the windmills and reconstructions. Last year we took an easy train ride to Haarlem for about half a day and it was very nice. Utrecht will be next based on what I have heard since.

My husband and I loved Allsmer and the flower auction. We did it on a tour with Rick Steve's several years ago.

Here you can compare plenty of day-tours from Amsterdam: even if you don't end up touring with a guide, it gives you a good idea of what is possible:

http://www.isango.com/Search.aspx?RegionID=7377

http://www.traveltoe.com/

Marken is forty minutes away by bus from Amsterdam, and is an interesting little town out on the water. Local traditional bands play on some Saturdays, and there are cafes and restaurants overlooking the small-boat harbour.

I am a big Utrecht fan too. The train drops you off at the indoor mall and walking out of the exit you are at the Saturday market. Maybe a city block or two to the "old" canal with the flower market again on Saturday and all the shops, pubs and resturants. My favorite museum is the National Museum for Mechanical Musical Instruments which has 17th century music boxes up to the street organs you can see in the Dutch towns if you are lucky. The street organ we saw in Gouda had a little monkey with it. Last visit to the Netherlands I didn't see any. It's a great day trip even if you don't go on Saturday. I liked Delft too. Haarlem is good, look at Rick Steves book, he has good suggestions for Haarlem.

Haarlem, massive cathedral, great markets, lots of shopping (authentic old school local shopping, and modern), and on Thurs - late shopping night, the town comes alive.