Siteseeing outside of Amsterdam

Kinderdijk Windmill Park with boat excursion to get there + late afternoon + evening stroll in Rotterdam Wihelminahaven area. Kroller-Heller Museum. Is is THE best Dutch museum of modern art, including the best Van Gogh's collection. It is situated in the middle of a national park (Veluwe) in Arnhem, and has a very interesting sculpture park. Einkhuizen Zuiderzee Museum. If you are keen on engineering, a day at the impressive Delta Works + Maeslantkering (works best with a car for the day) A day visiting the "remote" villages of Fryslan. Doable only by car.

Harlem was really nice. About 20 min outside of Amdam. In fact that was where we stayed and just took the train in each day. It's a quieter version with canals, rivers, and a beautiful church.

I'd recommend Madurodam....a miniature Holland. I think others here consider it kitschy, but I really enjoyed it. Like DisneyWorld, it's not just for kids.

The Hague and Delft is one day trip to consider. A bit too much to include Haarlem. Haarlam is also very nice for a half or full day.

I second Andre's recommendation of the Kroller-Muller Museum in Hoge Veluwe National Park. The museum has the largest Van Gogh collection outside of Amsterdam, nice walking paths to enjoy the sculpture garden, and the Park has free bikes so you can ride around the extensive grounds. Also agree that Kinderdijk is another must-see (with its 19 windmills). Other places that we visited in 2010 include Alsmeer (world's largest indoor flower market), Volendam & Edam, Delft, Utrecht (climb the bell tower!), Gouda and, for the WWII history buff, an awesome National Liberation Musuem in Groesbeek near Nijmegen.

I liked Delft more than Harlaam. We also stayed in Leiden which has a great market onthe river banks (Saturdays) and is a university town so it was lively.

Delft and Leiden are both nice daytrips.

I love Madurodam . . . which is about to reopen after extensive renovation. And there is a lot more to see in The Hague.

Utrecht... I forget why I liked it so much, but I did.

I've been wondering the same thing - wish Rick didn't snub the rest of Holland!

I disagree with James about skipping Alkmaar. While we don't do the kaas waag thing either, about 400 metres out of the centre is a nice tasty pancake restaurant boat. Yum. And just out of the centre is a really interesting Stove Museum. You may say, Stove Museum? Yup, Stove Museum. You'd be amazed what you can learn about stoves; stoves of all sizes and shapes. What I learned there I have put into practice in Austria and the UK. Th Netherlands is a really cool place for small eccentric museums.

and another vote for the Kröller-Müller Museum: http://www.kmm.nl/?lang=en

We enjoy the countryside north of Amsterdam. On the outskirts of Volendam, you can rent bikes at a hotel and ride along the dikes and to the town of Edam. We also enjoy taking a ferry from Volendam to the island of Marken. There's a wooden shoe demo in one of the shops. The town of Volendam is quite touristy, but we still enjoy walking along the main street to the shops. Edam is smaller and more quaint.

We did the same thing Denise did and really enjoyed it as a day trip from Amsterdam. Have a safe trip

Great tips on stuff to see outside of Amsterdam. Is a rental car recommended to visit the various areas or can public transportation be used efficiently?

^^ @Jim: - Delft, Den Haag, Utrecht, Haarlem, Zaanse Schans can all be visited easily with trains - Keukenhof has an easy shuttle service - Kinderdijk, Kroller-Müller Museum (that I had mistakenly named before), the "village tour" north of Amsterdam are easier to visit with a car (you can rent one in Schiphol eraly in the morning and return same day, so no "city traffic" if that bothers you). It is possible to reach those places by public transportation but it cripples the trip - Delta Works, Fryslan village tour, dykes require a car to be really enjoyed

We took the bus to Edam, Voldendam, and Marken. you can buy a pass for this trip from the bus driver located near the Central Station.The drivers will answer all your questions. There is info about this trip in RS book. Have a safe trip!!