Post by katieb4tom on Apr 21, 2014 14:44:36 GMT -5
If you were to find yourself in the Netherlands (northern Netherlands at that) for about two weeks, what would there be to do? Day trips (aside from Amsterdam of course)? Other cities to see? You would have a car and a place to stay.
Post by dutchgirl678 on Apr 21, 2014 15:18:58 GMT -5
ok that is good to know. Summer is nice, you can go biking a lot. Friesland is known for its pretty countryside and lots of lakes and rivers.
You could go on a sailing trip. Drive across the Afsluitdijk. Go to the Zuiderzeemuseum and visit Hoorn. Go to the cheese market in Alkmaar or visit Haarlem Look up 'wadlopen', it is a walking trip near the Waddeneilanden where you walk in the slick muddy water. You need disposable shoes but it is quite the adventure. You could also take a day trip to Schiermonnikoog. Check out the lovely little town of Giethoorn. Beautiful old houses and little canals.
I've got a whole trip planned:-) We were supposed to be going next week, but plans changed. We never actually booked anything. We were going to bike to Keukenhoff and through tulip fields (seasonal). Bike through Waterland (north of Amsterdam) Day trip to Alkmaar cheese market The Hague and Delft Maybe the wadlopen mentioned above Maybe go out to the national park with the art museum in the middle (vogue?? Sorry, too lazy to look it up) Utrecht There's the islands too (tex?)
Free bikes to ride at National Park De Hoge Veluwe (I've heard it's busy in the summer, so best on a weekday). Muiderslot Castle was cool. It's a small area so you can go far in your car, like drive along the coast.
This is terrific! Thanks so much for the ideas. It's a sudden opportunity that hadn't been anywhere on our radar, but we like to take advantage of opportunities! We will also have our 2.5 yr old with us--I am assuming most of this would be okay with her, we can get a kid cart for a bike easily, etc.? Walking in slick muddy water might be the only real no-go for her, or do I assume incorrectly? It sounds like a disaster with a two yr old.
Right now, I don't have lodging planned, but the idea was to be in Leeuwarden. Any good recs for that? I want something decent as a home base for two weeks, but also need it to be reasonable enough to get work to reimburse.
We used Utrecht as a base for a few days on our honeymoon. We really wanted to cycle through National Park De Hoge Veluwe like previously mentioned but we ran out of time.
We really enjoyed the Open Air museum in Arnhem, which has historical buildings from all over the country and recreated little farms and such. www.openairmuseum.nl/
Post by dutchgirl678 on Apr 22, 2014 11:47:02 GMT -5
I would not do the wadlopen with a 2.5 year old. My son is almost 3 . For a bike, you can easily rent a child seat that goes on the back. Perfect way for her to see around and she'll love it! Our kids thought it was such an adventure last year when we took them for a bike ride. The Zuiderzeemuseum has old toys that she can play with. There are also lots of pancake restaurants (pannenkoeken) that people go to for lunch or dinner (not breakfast) and she will love that as well. Most of them have a kid's pancake that comes with a surprise.
If you go to Utrecht for a day, the Nijntje museum is really fun for kids. There is also a railroad museum. I love De Hoge Veluwe and there are two museums there, Museonder, which is cool for kids, and Kroller-Muller which has lots of paintings including van Gogh.
I have never been to Leeuwarden so no ideas on where to stay.
Post by travelingturtle on Apr 22, 2014 12:08:57 GMT -5
I love Arnhem, we go frequently. The Open Air Museum and the De Hoge Veluwe are near there. There's also a really popular water museum that I haven't been to.
I also love the Hague/Scheveningen. Madurodam is a miniature NL, so that's fun.
I actually love every city I've been to, so I don't think you can go wrong whatever you choose. This site: www.museumkids.nl/ is all in Dutch, but can be translated with Google and has information about all of the museums in the country from a kid's perspective.