Suggestions for a visit to the Netherlands

[ms_ann_thrope]

...besides trying to find Watser?'s house. :wink:

DH and I are heading to Europe in about 10 days and I wouldn't mind getting some input on things to do and see in the Netherlands (we are spending 9 days there and 5 in Milan, Italy). I purchased a travel book about the country and highlighted some things that look interesting to me; anyone have any direct experience with the items listed below (i.e., that they suck and should come off the list, or that they are worth the effort to see) or have suggested additions? We will be staying near The Hague and will be relying mostly on public transportation to get around, I think.

AMSTERDAM
Red light district (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Wallen)
Nieuwmarkt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nieuwmarkt)
Van Gogh Museum (http://www3.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp)
Stedelijk Museum (http://www.stedelijk.nl/)
[/URL][URL="http://www.albertcuypmarkt.com/"]Albert Cuypmarkt (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp)

ALKMAAR
Kaasmuseum (http://www.kaasmuseum.nl/welcome.asp?lang=0)
Nationaal Biermuseum de Boom (http://www.biermuseum.nl/)

UTRECHT
Rietveld Schroder-Huis (http://www.rietveldschroderhuis.nl/rshEng.jsp?color=yellow)

THE HAGUE
Binnenhof (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binnenhof)
Mauritshuis Museum (http://www.mauritshuis.nl/index.aspx?siteid=54)
Museum de Gevangenpoort (http://www.gevangenpoort.nl/engels/index_en.htm)
Vredespaleis (http://www.vredespaleis.nl/showpage.asp?pag_id=1)
Passage

ROTTERDAM
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (http://www.boijmans.nl/en/)
Kunsthal (http://www.kunsthal.nl/en-2-Kunsthal_Rotterdam.html)

GELDERLAND
Paleis Het Loo (http://paleishetloo.nl/templates/frontpage/page.asp?iPageId=0&iLangId=1)

MAASTRICHT
Bonnefantenmuseum (http://www.bonnefanten.nl/content/index.php?main=1&page_id=1)

:popcorn:

[ChuckF]

That sounds like a great trip! I'm jealous.

I had a pretty rocking time in Groningen. Great museum(s) and awesome restaurants and bars. I love the Netherlands because it's so easy to get around and you can walk everywhere in a city. Also, Watser?.

Hit up Bruges and/or Ghent if you get a spare moment. It's not far to Flanders.

[Stormlight]

Delft - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delft)

Go there. It's really great!

[Watser?]

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is where most of the famous paintings are, like Rembrandt's Night Watch. The Kröller-Müller Museum near Arnhem has good stuff too, but it is hard to get there with public transportation.

Also, I thought Paleis Het Loo was in the province of Utrecht, not in Gelderland :blush:

I am in Gelderland myself, in the town of Nijmegen (close to the German border).

[ms_ann_thrope]

I had a pretty rocking time in Groningen.You don't think that it's too far away? I'm thinking that even Gelderland might be a stretch. I'll admit, it looks pretty cool in the guidebook, especially the Groninger Museum.Hit up Bruges and/or Ghent if you get a spare moment. It's not far to Flanders.:whatthe: No information about Flanders in my guidebook... think I should pick up one on Belgium?DelftOh yes! :doh:Complete oversight on my part. Have you been on a tour of a Delftware factory that you could recommend?The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is where most of the famous paintings are, like Rembrandt's Night Watch.I originally had the Rijksmuseum on my list, but took it off because I read that the main building is closed for renovation until 2009, so they've basically crammed all the famous paintings into one wing? :sadcheer: I usually enjoy seeing non-famous works, too.

[ChuckF]

:nope: The Netherlands is compact and has excellent rail service. IIRC, the trip to Groningen from Amsterdam took about 2 hours.

[Watser?]

Yeah, it's a small country. From Nijmegen to Amsterdam is about 1.5 hours by train. I wouldn't call it an excellent rail service, though, it is getting better but for years the trains were not exactly running on schedule. Still, you can get pretty much anywhere in the country in 2 hours or so. Maastricht is about 1.5 or 2 hours away from Amsterdam too.

[Dingfod]

It's not like Luxembourg, where one can walk anywhere in a couple hours. Buy, it only takes that long because of a stop for beer.

[Stormlight]

You cannot walk anywhere in a couple of hours! :glare:
Well you can, but you shouldn't because one wrong step and you could end up in Belgium, Germany or even worse in France! :unfrown:

[Stormlight]

Oh yes! :doh:Complete oversight on my part. Have you been on a tour of a Delftware factory that you could recommend?

No, unfortunately not. We arrived on Saturday and left on Sunday morning. It was all a bit short. :(

[vremya]

Make sure you have some of those toast sprinkles while you're there!

[Shelli]

No toast sprinkles for you! I eated them all! HA!
:holytoast:

[godfry n. glad]

Hey...

I enjoyed the flower markets and just walking the Amsterdam core. I, of course, took in the coffee shops and did some inhaling.

I did the Anne Frank House, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone.

When you ride the trains, the coffee is good, not crap like they have on trains here in the US.

Your trip sounds like great fun. When you're in The Hague, would you find the spot where a war criminal stands trial and imagine Dick Cheney sitting in the defendant's seat for me?

[California Tanker]

I think a detour to Northern Germany should be in the cards. Stop at Arnhem, pose in front of the bridge.

Brussels is only a couple of hours by high-speed rail link as well, is it not? I found the Dutch rail service to be pretty reasonable.

NTM

[godfry n. glad]

I found the Dutch rail service to be pretty reasonable.

NTM

I'll second that. At least the run betwixt Amsterdam and Bruxelles. And, of course Bruxelles is one of the big military hardware markets of the world, particularly for aircraft...they have an annual air show that is not to miss, I've heard.

[ms_ann_thrope]

When you're in The Hague, would you find the spot where a war criminal stands trial and imagine Dick Cheney sitting in the defendant's seat for me?Indeed, I'll imagine the entire administration. :P

[godfry n. glad]

When you're in The Hague, would you find the spot where a war criminal stands trial and imagine Dick Cheney sitting in the defendant's seat for me?Indeed, I'll imagine the entire administration. :P

Oooo...Even better. I'll imagine you imagining it.

I always hoped to see them frog-marched out of the White House, but I guess that'll never come to pass. They all ought to be stamping out license plates, at minimum.

[ChuckF]

I found the Dutch rail service to be pretty reasonable.

NTM

I'll second that. At least the run betwixt Amsterdam and Bruxelles. And, of course Bruxelles is one of the big military hardware markets of the world, particularly for aircraft...they have an annual air show that is not to miss, I've heard.
Other than that, there ain't shit to see or do in Brussels. As far as I'm concerned, its only selling point is that it's sometimes cheaper to fly into Brussels than Paris or Amsterdam.

[godfry n. glad]

I found the Dutch rail service to be pretty reasonable.

NTM

I'll second that. At least the run betwixt Amsterdam and Bruxelles. And, of course Bruxelles is one of the big military hardware markets of the world, particularly for aircraft...they have an annual air show that is not to miss, I've heard.
Other than that, there ain't shit to see or do in Brussels. As far as I'm concerned, its only selling point is that it's sometimes cheaper to fly into Brussels than Paris or Amsterdam.

That's what you think.

That's because you're not in to bobbin lace making, or deco iron work.

Ivy found a button shop she spent nearly three hours in.

She thought Amsterdam was for college-aged potheads.

You're just another Phil S. Deane. We're all members of the Phil S. Deane Society. (I thought Bruxelles stuffy, Brugge more authentic, and Amsterdam, my kind of place.)

[ms_ann_thrope]

Thanks to all the :ff: suggestions, I picked up a guidebook on Belgium. :belgian: Looks like we'll do a day or two detour...

[godfry n. glad]

Thanks to all the :ff: suggestions, I picked up a guidebook on Belgium. :belgian: Looks like we'll do a day or two detour...

Oooo...oooo...if you like well-preserved medieval cities, then Brugge (Bruges) is the place for you. In pre-hegemony Europe, Brugge was one of the largest market cities in northwest Europe. I'm not sure when the city walls were built, but it was incorporated early in the twelfth century, even though siltation of the river had started in the previous century and would eventually leave it far from a decent saltwater port, dooming it as a market city. Hundreds of years of economic depression thereafter managed to preserve the city as it was when it was at it's peak.

[Dingfod]

So that's why the Flemish Navy never dominated the world.

[Watser?]

Antwerp still has a pretty large harbour. But during the 80-year Dutch war of independence a large part of the population of Antwerp fled the town (and the Spanish Inquisition) and settled in Amsterdam. The Dutch rebels pretty soon took control of the mouth of the river Scheldt which feeds Antwerpen and blocked traffic. Antwerp never really recovered after the decades-long blockade.