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What to do in Arnhem while waiting for the train?

Posted by (West Sacramento, California, USA) on

We will be arriving in Amsterdam on the evening of Sunday, 29 June 2008. On Monday, we plan to spend the day in Amsterdam hitting the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, and a canal boat cruise. Tuesday, my wife and I would like to take our two kids, 16 and 12, to the Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem. We have been there before, and think the kids would enjoy it. We plan to take the City Night Line train to Munich that night. We can leave from Amsterdam at 20:30, or Arnhem at 21:37. The museum closes at 17:00. Besides eating dinner, we are looking for suggestions as to things to do in Arnhem while waiting for the train, about 3 1/2 hours of time. I cannot justify going back to Amsterdam to get on the CNL train when it stops in Arnhem. Or should we do Arnhem on Monday, and then do the Amsterdam sites on Tuesday and then board the CNL? If someone can suggest things to do without a car in Arnhem, we prefer that plan.

Thanks for the help.
Kevin

Posted by
9100 posts

I've been in this bind a couple of times while waiting for late trains in a city with little night life. My solution has been to go to the movies; it's a good way to unwind before an overnight train. Cinemas in Holland almost always show films in their original language with Dutch subtitles. But, film meant for little kids will be dubbed into Dutch.

Posted by
281 posts

Thanks Michael,

We thought of this, as that is what we would do here at home in the states if we were on the road with some dead time. Fortunately, our kids are old enough that we are not stuck with going to the movies meant only for elementary school kids. Also, my research on Arnhem says that there is an entertainment and restaurant "district." This plan seems the most efficient and sensible, and will allow the kids to experience in Europe the kinds of things they would do and that residents do.

Thanks again for the suggestion.
Kevin

Posted by
281 posts

Kent:

My wife and I did a bicycle tour of the Hoge Veluwe some 10 years ago. It was an absolutely beautiful late spring day, and I agree it is worth it. Unfortunately, we simply will not have the time or the transportation to do this on this trip. The park and the Kroller-Muller Museum are must sees on a visit that is country specific to the Netherlands. This trip we are introducing our kids to Europe with the hope of whetting their appetite for travel and understanding of other cultures as they get older. And it is working, they are already talking about where they want to go the next time that we had to cull from this trip to meet our time and budget constraints.

Kevin

Posted by
850 posts

The Open Air Museum in Arnhem is nice. You may want to go to the Hartenstein Airborne museum which is just out from Arnhem. It gives a good account of "Operation Market Garden" and would not take too much time. As you are probably aware the movie "A Bridge Too Far" was about "Market Garden" and the bridge is now called "The John Frost Bridge" named for the commander of the 2nd parachute battalion. This was the last defeat of the allies in a battle during WWII.
There are buses that run from Arnhem to the museum so it is easy to get to.

Posted by
1568 posts

There is a canal taxi leaving from the Anne Frank's house to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh is a short walk from there.

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