Amsterdam - How long pre-cruise

I know this is an impossible question....

We are just about to press go on HAL VoV July 13-30 2019. Leaves Rotterdam, ends Boston.

I have NEVER been to Europe. I'm a pretty conservative traveller, hence the cruise. I would like to spend a few days pre-cruise in Amsterdam. We come from Canada, so that means an overnight flight where we will try to sleep.

I am trying to decide how many days pre-cruise to arrive in Amsterdam to get a feel for the city, not trying to "see everything"

We would probably want to do a of walking tour. Maybe a HoHo bus, not sure. We want to see canals and windmills. Anne Frank for sure, other museums probably not, they can keep until a future trip. The red light district and nightlife hold little appeal, we're just not night people, usually in bed with a book by 8 pm. I would like to book an airbnb, probably on a houseboat

We need to take the train to Rotterdam for the cruise. Also deciding whether to go the day before or day of. Cruise leaves at 5 pm. We would like to see the Market Hall, and the Kinderdijk molen there if possible.

Any thoughts on how many pre-cruise days would be good?

We are late 40s/early 50s. Until now, our longest vaycay has been 7 days. VoV is already 17 days and then I'm adding days so...I want to make the airfare worth it, but I don't want to overwhelm myself either.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

For reference, here is your itinerary:

Sat, Jul 13 Rotterdam, Holland 5:00pm

Sun, Jul 14 At Sea

Mon, Jul 15 Lerwick, Shetland Islands 8:00am 4:00pm

Tue, Jul 16 At Sea

Wed, Jul 17 Reykjavik, Iceland 8:00am

Thu, Jul 18 2:00pm

Fri, Jul 19 Akureyri, Iceland 11:00am 8:00pm

Sat, Jul 20 Isafjordur, Iceland 8:00am 6:00pm

Sun, Jul 21 At Sea

Mon, Jul 22 Prince Christian Sound (Cruising)

Tue, Jul 23 Nanortalik, Greenland 7:00am 2:00pm

Wed, Jul 24 At Sea

Thu, Jul 25 St. John's, Canada 12:00pm 8:00pm

Fri, Jul 26 St. Pierre And Miquelon, France 9:00am 5:00pm

Sat, Jul 27 Sydney, Canada 8:00am 5:00pm

Sun, Jul 28 Halifax, Canada 8:00am 11:00pm

Mon, Jul 29 At Sea

Tue, Jul 30 Boston, MA 7:00am

So, basically, you are not really spending ANY time on the continent of Europe aside from whatever you do pre-cruise...

So, my basic advice would be to spend as many days pre-cruise as you can afford (in terms of time and money). Assuming you fly into Amsterdam, I would spend at least two or three nights in Amsterdam--more if I could afford it...But you are not going to see things like windmills in the city...For that, you need to go out into the countryside--perhaps Zaandam, a little to the northwest of Amsterdam...Make reservations for the Anne Frank House--there are usually long lines. And I would head over to Rotterdam at least the day prior to embarkation--which should leave you some time to see what you want to see there. If you can afford to take off a little more time, you might consider seeing a few other towns in the region. Rotterdam to Bruges can be as little as a two hour express train ride...and Bruges is incredible. Well worth a visit.

Also, remember that you will be several time zones off schedule when you arrive, so factor that into your plans.

Have fun...

If you do not want to be overwhelmed try for 3-4 days in Amsterdam & maybe a day in Rotterdam before the cruise to get to the places near there

If you can afford it go for the lie flat BUS seats on A/C or Premium Economy they are more comfortable for the long haul flight

Our recent flight to AMS left about 9:30pm so a light snack on the plane then off to sleep by the time we arrived at our hotel it was close to 11:30am so we had a quick walk & bite to eat then got to check in about 3pm had a short nap & up & out about 6pm for a walk & dinner in bed by 9pm the next day we felt fine & tried to schedule our meals same time we would do at home only on Amsterdam time

pre book the tickets for Anne Frank for the 2nd day then you will be semi rested

JMO

enjoy

You MUST prebook Anne Frank tickets. (Currently they are not allowing any walk-ins.)

Check out the information here https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/tickets-address-opening-hours/

As a local I would say a minimum of 3 days;

Day 1. arriving dag. just stroll around city centre (Dam square etc) have lunch/dinner etc and get fit for the next days

Day 2. pre book Anne Frank Tickets for this day (morning is best), then have a stroll around de "Jordaan" this is an old area whit a lot of small streets and is shows how pple lived like from 1700 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordaan). Have some lunch and in the afternoon and then go for a canal tour. If you would like a typical dutch dinner try (https://www.tripadvisor.nl/Restaurant_Review-g188590-d697000-Reviews-Restaurant_Haesje_Claes-Amsterdam_North_Holland_Province.html)

Day 3. Go to Zaanse Schans and Volendam. http://oldhollandtour.com/ for lunch i would recommend "kibbeling" or "paling" or some other fresh fish in Volendam of pancakes in Zaanse Schans (also eat some fish in Volendam tho... its my favorite).

Day 4. Take an early train to Rotterdam, This city is upcoming and also have a lot to do and see. If you only want to go to Markthallen then 1 day is enough.

Hope this helps!

As a local I would say a minimum of 3 days;

Day 1. arriving dag. just stroll around city centre (Dam square etc) have lunch/dinner etc and get fit for the next days

Day 2. pre book Anne Frank Tickets for this day (morning is best), then have a stroll around de "Jordaan" this is an old area whit a lot of small streets and is shows how pple lived like from 1700 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordaan). Have some lunch and in the afternoon and then go for a canal tour. If you would like a typical dutch dinner try (https://www.tripadvisor.nl/Restaurant_Review-g188590-d697000-Reviews-Restaurant_Haesje_Claes-Amsterdam_North_Holland_Province.html)

Day 3. Go to Zaanse Schans and Volendam. http://oldhollandtour.com/ for lunch i would recommend "kibbeling" or "paling" or some other fresh fish in Volendam of pancakes in Zaanse Schans (also eat some fish in Volendam tho... its my favorite).

Day 4. Take an early train to Rotterdam, This city is upcoming and also have a lot to do and see. If you only want to go to Markthallen then 1 day is enough.

Hope this helps!

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for - thank you so much!

If you do not want to be overwhelmed try for 3-4 days in Amsterdam & maybe a day in Rotterdam before the cruise to get to the places near there

 

If you can afford it go for the lie flat BUS seats on A/C or Premium Economy they are more comfortable for the long haul flight

 

Our recent flight to AMS left about 9:30pm so a light snack on the plane then off to sleep by the time we arrived at our hotel it was close to 11:30am so we had a quick walk & bite to eat then got to check in about 3pm had a short nap & up & out about 6pm for a walk & dinner in bed by 9pm the next day we felt fine & tried to schedule our meals same time we would do at home only on Amsterdam time

 

 

pre book the tickets for Anne Frank for the 2nd day then you will be semi rested

JMO

enjoy

This is kind of how I was leaning - nice to have confirmation that I'm not crazy. Thank you.

You MUST prebook Anne Frank tickets. (Currently they are not allowing any walk-ins.)

 

Check out the information here https://www.annefrank.org/en/museum/tickets-address-opening-hours/

Yes, I have discovered that in my research travels, which makes it all that much more important to nail down dates. Thank you!

Your welcome :)

You can easily fill up more days in Amsterdam, with a HoHo tour, a citywalk with a local, visit to Vondelpark area, museums (Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum to see the famous Night watch) go to the Albert Cuyp market area, beautiful Zoo, and many many more options.

For Rotterdam i like the area called " Katendrecht" its near the sail point of the original Holland America Line, lots of people left Europe here to go to America and further. Also the architecture is very nice, totally different from Amsterdam because Rotterdam was bombed so there is almost no "old" but mostly new buildings and it is more vibrant then Amsterdam now days (and hardly any tourists). You can do a harbour boottour or even a speedboat tour. Markthal is a nice place to eat something en is in city centre so also nice to just have a walk around that area. Hope you enjoy your stay!

Kibbeling ...oh how I love this !!! Amsterdam is an easy city to get around ...I would recommend at least 4 days to get a feel for Europe ...there are many tours you can take ..Start looking now at some that you might like to get an idea of how long to be there ....but really I feel it is a city that you can just stay put in and find so much to do and see without rushing about if you like

Kibbeling ...oh how I love this !!! Amsterdam is an easy city to get around ...I would recommend at least 4 days to get a feel for Europe ...there are many tours you can take ..Start looking now at some that you might like to get an idea of how long to be there ....but really I feel it is a city that you can just stay put in and find so much to do and see without rushing about if you like

Oh we are definitely resisting the urge to "see" 9 countries in three days or whatever. Amsterdam and immediate environs and then down to Rotterdam seems very doable. I'm also trying to be flexible in flights from here - there are some good ones on the 8th, but even better ones on the 5th, so I am waiting to see what my TA can get me in terms of cheap flights.

My wife and I just returned from Amsterdam and a 12 day Baltic cruise.

We live on the west coast and we flew in 4 days in advance.

We used frequent flier miles so we were up front and able to lay flat and get some sleep on the overnight flight.

Even with that, jet lag caught up to us on the second day there and knocked us out for 15 hours. So that day was wasted.

4 days was perfect for us.

Interesting opinion piece in a UK newspaper today, comparing Amsterdam to Venice (Quote: “Venice” is shorthand for a city so flooded by tourists that it no longer feels like a city at all.)

My Amsterdam is being un-created by mass tourism

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/08/amsterdam-ian-mcewan-mass-tourism-stag-parties-cities-europe?CMP=fb_gu#comment-119200666