Amsterdam, Belgium and Luxembourg

Thanks for your report, we loved Amsterdam and would like to see more of the country. Can I ask how you got out to the Keukenhof gardens? Did you go directly from the airport upon landing? TIA!

Hi Jane!
My husband and I are doing our very first traditional RS tour in April (Belgium, Holland) as we've only done the RS Alps My Way. Your report is wonderful! Thank you so very much! I had no idea I would need to get tickets so far in advance for the AF house! You referred to a forum post from Pat San Diego wrote. How would I be able to find that, please ?
I'm following your reports! I feel overwhelmed with the planning of Belgium and Holland tour! But excited at the same time :)

~Mitzi

Thanks for your report, it seems you had a great time.
A couple of remarks, so that others that may read this don’t get confused. The actual hiding place of the Frank family can’t be seen from the street. So what you saw covered in a repair screen is not the Secret Annex. In Dutch the hiding place is called Het Achterhuis, which literally translates as the Back House. The Secret Annex is located behind the house on Prinsengracht 263. To accommodate the growing number of visitors, the Anne Frank house bought the neighboring properties on numbers 265 and 267. Number 267 is the building on the corner which now houses the entry, shop, cafe etc. and this is the building currently in repairs. Some time ago they moved the door around the corner, so the official address of the museum is now Westermarkt 20. So the actual Anne Frank house is a couple of doors down from where most people think it is. This map hopefully makes things more clear https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/secret-annex/

A very important note is that tickets to the Anne Frank house go on sale 6 weeks in advance, not 9. See the website for all details; https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/tickets/

With regards to the tulips. You were indeed lucky to see them before the flowers were cut off, but this is not done to sell the flowers. The tulips in these famous flower fields are not grown for their flowers, but for their bulbs. Some time during the first days of May, the flowers of the tulips are cut off or headed. Just the colorful top of the tulip is cut off, not the rest of the plant. This is done so that the tulip plant doesn’t waste any energy in maintaining the flower, but instead uses its energy to produce bulbs. In July, the bulbs are then dug up, cleaned, packaged and shipped all across the world.

Thank you, Jane. I have two questions: 1) how long did you spend at Royal Delft (not counting the tea), and 2)was the tea good at their restaurant?

Oh sorry, I just saw that the tea was worth it and fun! So only Question 1 is relevant.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/the-netherlands-belgium-april-2024-brought-the-rain-pants-needed-the-rain-pants

Tripletblessings, attached is my 2024 Trip Report. Hope it can be helpful.

Jane, I'm so happy everything went so well, and that you share my love for these countries. You are very efficient completing your Trip Report so quickly!

Thanks so much Dutch Traveler for clearing things up……it is amazing how they have made the museum at AFrank’s house around the house….I walked in and was expecting a house-lie atmosphere and it was a museum lobby……and it was an incredible experience……so different from Corrie Ten Boom’s house in Haarlem……good to see both. The reason I said 9 weeks is because I meant 9 weeks ago from today…it was exactly 6 weeks before our travel there that I went online for tickets and you are right. We loved meeting Dutch people and they were so gracious and kind. It seems so many spoke English and that helped. Iof we ever bumped into anyone by accident they were quick to apologize and say “I am sorry! Excuse me” and not get huffy……so nice!

Barbara N- we spent about an hour in the factory before our 12:30 tea and then stayed to shop a bit after our tea.

Thank you for the link, Pat! I'm learning all I can about what I'll need to do!

Were you on a RS tour ?

Jane, one more question: How far ahead did you book your reservation for the tea at Royal Delft?

We left Leiden and trained to Brugge….4 train changes but the Leiden train info desk put it all on paper and made the changes easy. We made this decision for the future on days traveling with our luggage…if we are on any train over 20 minutes we will go first class. We finally got smart and followed the cyclists into their train cars where there was more room for us and our luggage…that was a problem. We had heard so much about Brugge and its charm and had Pat’s rec to stay at Canal Deluxe B&B….and once again her advice was perfect. It was on a cobblestone street and our apartment was in the back after you walked through a lovely courtyard and garden. Our first floor was our den-fireplace, small frig, 2 comfy chairs and windows to look out over the courtyard and canal and gardens at our back. Our king bed was on floor 2…..and the climb up was a steep spiral staircase….never took our luggage up there! Our bath was on floor 1 after you climbed down another spiral staircase…..the shower was in the tub and you stood in the tub as you showered. To make a bathroom call in the night was iffy….we survived. The owner toured us through another beautiful room the next day that was all on one floor…..next time I would request that. I would highly recommend Canals Deluxe…..just make certain you can physically climb or go down their stairs as you will need to. Our breakfast each morning was served in a cozy room in another back building surrounded by flowers and a garden. It was a DREAM to stay in such a special place…..cake waiting for you every afternoon when you arrived home! I am a seamstress so I was on the lookout for lace shops and the Lace Museum…..they did not disappoint. The shop across the street from the Lace Museum, ‘t Apostelientje, was amazing. She had gorgeous pieces of lace along with dresses, handkerchiefs, anything you wanted. We had a wonderful time every afternoon taking the walk from our B&B to the windmills on the edge of old Brugge and seeing the quiet backstreets and canals. Our canal tour there was great. We made new friends at Dumon Chocolates…Nele and her family that run it. Their chocolate was just unreal….so worth the price and care they give you and their product. We took our time each day to walk the streets, watch the horse-drawn carriages go by and attend the market Wednesday on the town square. I was told we would fall in love with Brugge and want to stay longer and we did. The laundromat here I need to mention….in our travels we have seen at least a dozen….all over Europe. Never ever seen one so easy to use as this one in Brugge…EVERYTHING completely automated by use of your credit card. Great directions in all languages! It made our visit SO EASY…wish all of Europe would adopt that in the laundromats. Once again the train info desk was so helpful in Brugge getting us on to our next stop, Brussels.

We left Brugge and trained to Brussels where we picked up a rental car to drive to Bastogne. My husband’s uncle served in WW2 near here and we wanted to see the Battle of the Bulge battle areas and General Patton’s grave in Luxembourg…only possible with a rental car. We stayed at Hotel Melba in Bastogne for 3 nights…..great breakfast, clean and great location. This entire town is BoftheBulge. We loved that. We had a private 4 hour tour there one morning with Roby Clam who did a great job driving us all over the area and taking us out to see the foxholes and forests. These guides are all so well prepared with maps, photos, everything you want to see. Still hard to imagine the sacrifices made here for our freedom. We drove to Luxembourg our last day in the area and enjoyed the local market on the town square…..kind friendly people and a beautiful city. Their produce is incredible…no bug bites, bruises….how do they do that? We parked underground in the city square and emerged in the square at a great location to get walking tour maps…so glad we did this. The visit to the American Battlefield at Luxembourg was amazing. No one was there so we had it to ourselves along with the delightful employee that was at our disposal to answer questions, etc. There are 4,000 graves there along with General Patton’s and the grounds are as beautifully kept as the cemetery at Normandy. Just so humbling. It is right by the Luxembourg airport….constant air traffic over you as your tour the grounds. Go if you have the chance! Driving back to Brussels the next morning to turn our car in.

Gosh Jane, this is a terrific trip report, thanks so much for sharing. The description of your BotBulge day was great. I’d forgotten that Patton was buried there.

I'm really enjoying your trip report. We managed to be in Amsterdam on what was then Queen's Day, and the Rijksmuseum was practically empty on that particular day.

We stayed at the Hotel Melba back in 2019, and it was a great base for Bastogne. Glad it's still there.

We turned our car in at the train station and headed to our hotel. We had 4 nights in Brussels….maybe one too many but we took the opportunity to go back to our hotel every day for a midday break. We liked Brussels…it just seemed grittier than we expected and dirtier than the other cities we had visited . We had a perfect hotel location with Hotel Le Dixseptieme. It was in the heart of a wonderful area very close to Galleries Royales Saint Hubert and lots of fun stores/shops to visit. We toured the Manneken Pis museum and the City Museum of Brussels Museum and thoroughly enjoyed those. A nice break for the afternoon on the Grand Palace in a sidewalk cafe and it made for a wonderful visit. There seemed to be some fireworks/guys-rushing-around activity near our hotel that Sunday afternoon we arrived but the hotel said it was because there was a soccer game that night….the Hotel did lock the entrance just to be safe. LOTS of police showed up immediately with horses and were ready to help if needed. Cannot say enough good things about our hotel and its location and comfort. We enjoyed Belgian waffles 3 mornings at Maison Dandoy and a local spot called BELGIAN WAFFLES with 2 young ladies that treated us well with fresh waffles and toppings 2 mornings……a treat! Will post tomorrow a summary of food, weather, what-we-learned to conclude this report.

Weather: perfect. We knew April might be cool but the temps varied from 80 in Brugge to cold mornings in Brussels two weeks
later…go prepared! We did not need rain boots or rain pants Pat advised because there was only one day of misting
rain…so glad of that. We usually find a post office, pack a box and ship home clothes we no longer need that we might
have used early in our trip….this time the sweatshirts and rain gear came home in the box mid-trip.
Food wonderful. Shared a lot of meals and ate a good brunch and then shared dinner each day….two meals is plenty. The
international groceries all seem to have those wonderful juice machines and I got spoiled taking fresh orange juice
back to our room every day. Ate at a Relais Chateau hotel in Brugge and did not feel the gastronomic meal was worth
the $. Belgian waffles were AMAZING…..go where the fresh ones are made! The DUMON chocolates in Brugge were
so worth it and Nele Dumon was as kind as RSteves said she would be. Reviewing a lot of these places on TAdvisor.
People kind and wonderful. If i accidentally bumped anyone on the train they were so thoughtful and said “I am sorry”….no
snarky attitudes or rudeness. The train offices in Netherlands and Belgium were so helpful with routing. Most people
we encountered spoke English. Always seem to find someone in the laundromats to speak English and help us!
Transportation the trains were great. Just go first class if you are on a trip for over 20 minutes….well worth it. Learn to find your
stop on the screen and get off there…..remember that the Dutch/French names might be different!
Money we thought prices were really good. Nothing seemed out of sight as we have seen in Vienna, Switzerland. Love the
groceries. Shop there….we were surprised at the number of businesses that no longer take cash……go with your card!
Hotels upped our lodging from 3 to 4 stars and it was worth it for safety and location. ASK…amazing how most will accommodate

you to make you happy. Get ready for STEEP STAIRS in the Netherlands and Belgium…..if this is a problem get prepared!

Over all a GREAT TRIP for two 72 year olds to discover so many new things in 19 days….so proud of us. We walked 97 miles in 19 days! Could not have enjoyed this so without PAT from San Diego……..THANK YOU FRIEND!!

What a fun read, thank you! We too adored the Royal Delft Factory and Museum. I wish I had known about the tea as that is something we would have done. Oh well:)

I was warned time and time again about the stairs in the Anne Frank House as I had had a knee replacement about 4 months prior and then had the other right when we returned. I was fine though! Yes, they are narrow and steep, and I appreciated people looking out for me, but it turned out to be just fine.

Wow, thanks Jane! I'm back to researching the Netherlands for a quick stop in January next year. You brought it alive rather than just giving us just lists, such fun!!

I do have question - Why Brugge and not Ghent? I haven't been to either, just curious.

If you love flowers you have to go. Well, that settles that. I visited in my teens and enjoyed it, would probably love it more now.

The Rijksmuseum was UNREAL…..we do love and appreciate museums but would say we are not devoted to them, so the fact that we were so impressed with this one says a lot. OK, I have planned on being wowed, so this really is a super recommendation.

Tea at The Royal Delft factory restaurant - Well that’s great now I have an excuse to go back to Delft, which I really loved. Low key, good food, great biking, easy to get around. I spent about 2 hours at the Royal Delft Factory, but I’m nuts about blue & white pottery so maybe others could spend less time there.

It made me laugh how much you admired the laundromat in Brugge, priorities, priorities.... Thanks again!

Just saw the rest of the comments-I'm hoping to return spring, 2026. Glad my suggestions worked for Jane's adventure.