Haarlem

To Michael, re making Hague and Haarlem trip same day thanks. Didn't realize could make that work. Is tram from Hague to Delft pushing that all-in-one-day thing, if you limit yourself to a couple of goals each place?

Yeah I think adding Hague is pushing it. Just choose two of the three.

Rick started promoting Haarlem as a "base" back in the mid-90s as Amsterdam was a very different city from what it is now. Back then Amsterdam had major crack, gang, graffiti, and panhandling issues. In addition used needles littered the streets. Since then Amsterdam has undergone a major clean-up and all of those issues have been mostly eliminated. It's rare to even see drug dealers in the Red Light area. He's backed-off on Haarlem a bit over the years. It's still a nice place to visit as a day trip from Amsterdam, but it's too low key for my tastes to stay overnight. The place is absolutely dead after 6pm.

I am planning the same trip, ours for August, and wondering about day trips as well. The key attraction in Haarlem (for us) is the Frans Hals museum. Curious whether others have other key reasons we should go to Haarlem. Other choice is the day to Hague and Delft, though Hague's major attraction for us -- the Mauritius museum-- is closed now.

The Frans Hal is one of my very favorite art museums in the world, I also enjoyed the Ten Boom tour. The Frans Hal and the Tyler Museum are included in the Iamsterdam card, these days. Haarlem and Hague are on the same train line so it's easy to do both in one day.

All, Thanks for the feedback. I think we'll just spend our entire stay in Amsterdam. It seems to make the most sense for us given that we only have a day and a half there. Thanks again Tom

In only 1.5 days, unless something is particularly calling to you in another nearby city, definitely spend all your time in Amsterdam. It's like having 1.5 days in Chicago, and asking about sights in surrounding towns.