Well, I'm up at 3:00AM with jet lag after returning home from a wonderful trip to The Netherlands, so thought I would share for anyone who is going soon or thinking about going. We are a mid 40s couple, no kids. Our interests include history, art, architecture, beer, and food.
The Hague & Delft. Spent the morning in Delft which was an easy and quick tram ride from The Hague (use your tap-enabled credit card to tap in and tap out). Followed Rick's walking tour, visited the Nieuwe Kerk, including climbing the tower which was not an easy climb (take breaks and watch your head!), and walked down to the Royal Delft Porcelain factory store. Delft is a very cute little town but there didn't seem to be much going on. Took the tram back to The Hauge for our reservations at the Mauritshuis Museum. This was the only place outside of Amsterdam that we had issues with crowds. It's a smaller museum with small rooms, so that didn't help. Enjoyed the museum despite the crowds. We spent two hours there to see everything, however those only interested in the highlights can figure about an hour to an hour and a half is enough time. In hindsight, I think we should have flipped the itinerary and done the Mauritshuis first thing and then went to Delft in the afternoon and then maybe we would have avoided the crowds at the museum and Delft would have been livelier.
Leiden. Leiden was the surprise hit of our trip. We were going mainly for the American Pilgrim Museum but ended up falling for the city itself. There was a Saturday market going on which provided a lot of atmosphere. Did the Rick walking tour, visited the Hortus Botanicus gardens, and finally the Pilgrim Museum, which was amazing. The guide did an excellent job of bringing the museum and its objects to life and was very knowledgeable about all of my questions regarding the Pilgrims time in Leiden.
Haarlem: Really loved this city as well. Visited the Grote Kerk, which was our favourite church visit in The Netherlands, and the Frans Hals Museum, which was nice but not a highlight. If there's one art museum in your Netherlands itinerary to skip it's probably this one, especially as 1/3 of the museum is currently closed for renovations. We spent a little under an hour there. Had the best frites (fries) of the trip at Friet Hoes on the walk between the Markt and the train station.
Amsterdam: We knew there would be a lot of tourists, but we were struck by just how many tourists there were. I can't imagine what it's like in the summer. Seemed like mostly young people from elsewhere in Europe who were there for the "sin city" atmosphere and activities. Nevertheless, Amsterdam is a beautiful place and a joy to simply wander around. Went to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museums, both with reservations for as soon as they opened. It worked out well at the Rijksmuseunn as we headed straight for the great hall and the Vermeers and had them practically all to ourselves. After an hour or so the museum started to get very crowded, especially with groups. Time spent: about 2 and a half hours. The Van Gogh Museum, on the other hand, seemed to get very crowded very fast. By the end of the visit we had to fight through 10-20 people taking selfies and photos of each painting just to get close enough to appreciate the work of art. Beautiful art but hard to appreciate if you're feeling uncomfortable. I hope this museum tries to further restrict visitation and please consider banning photos. We spent a little over 2 hours at the Van Gogh.
Tips:
The Netherlands, like much of Europe, has gone mostly cashless. Many attractions, bars, and restaurants won't even accept cash anymore. Be sure to get a TAP enabled credit card before visiting if you don't have one already.
Best beers I had were from the Hertog Jan brewery. If you see one available at a bar/restaurant then I highly recommend them. Also, the Brouwerij 't IJ, a brewery in Amsterdam made excellent beers.