sSpending a few days pre cruise in AMsterdam

[Excited to go crusing]

on our own, flying in a few days early, mostly to get over jet lag before we board our ship ( Viking). What would your recommendations be for sight seeing, & how far out does one have to go for tulip viewing?.

 

 

.ETA : we travel in April.

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

There are many posts re Amsterdam. Just put Amsterdam in the Search Mode at the top of the page. There is also a thread going a little down the page "How to get to Keukenhof Gardens from Cruise Port"? I suggest you also go to the "Ports of Call" Section of this wonderful Cruise Critic board and read all the posts re Amsterdam. You can also go to http://www.tripadvisor.com and see all the highlights. If you want to go to Ann Frank's house, you can go to their website and buy the tickets in advance. There are usually long lines. There is also a blue tourist bus that goes around Amsterdam for only one Euro. The concierge at your hotel can give you the brochure and map where it goes.

 

Have a great time. It's a wonderful city!!

 

Sheila

[mconthehighseas]

I have a couple of recommendations, other than seeing tulips. I have only been to Amsterdam in June and July, when the tulips are long gone.

 

Depending on how long you will be in Amsterdam, you might want to consider an iAmsterdam card. It gets you a card for unlimited travel on the trams for the period it is good for, plus free or discounted entrance fees for many museums and other places in Amsterdam. (Info about that here: http://www.iamsterdam.com/ ) The Anne Frank house is not included, and I do recommend buying your tickets on line. If your hotel has a business office, you can use the computer and printer there to do it, or your concierge can help.

 

One thing you MUST do is take a canal boat tour! If you get the iAmsterdam card, there is a company they list, but I haven't heard of a bad canal cruise there.

 

There is a cruise critic member, lairbear, who documented a walking tour he did with friends here: http://www.*****.com/Amsterdam.html Even if you don't want to follow it, I recommend reading it, since it gives you an idea of what is near what, and what can be accomplished in a few hours. (He did this with friends on a one day port stop, and I think this one was only in the afternoon.) He did a second tour in a different part of the city, but it isn't very far from the first one. http://www.*****.com/amsterdam2.html

Both of these tours have a link for a printable pdf file, and have a very readable map at the bottom of the page.

[lovetotravel62]

We spent 3 days in Amsterdam before a cruise last year, and thoroughly enjoyed the city. We stayed near Herengracht canal and spent one day going to the museums--Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. We spent little time in the VondelPark, and should have stayed there longer. Another day we went on a canal cruise and walked through the Old Center of town. Our last day we went to Rembrandtplein and the floating flower mart. If we had had another day, we would have gone outside of town to see the windmills, but we didn't have that luxury. Amsterdam is an easy town to walk, but get a GOOD map and still expect to be lost--and watch the bikes! They have the right of way. I used Frommer's guide and it was helpful. If you go to see Anne Frank's house, expect LONG lines--we skipped it this time as we had been there before. Have fun!

[gnome12]

On Uniworld's Tulips and Windmills we had a very good canal cruise included in our tour of Amsterdam. Make sure you know what you will be doing with the cruise line.

[Talisker92]

WE stayed at the Eden America hotel and it was in a fantastic location-right on a canal and at the junction of 2 tram lines. It is 2 tram stops away from The Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum.

A block away is a street full of restaurants!

[lcj4]

We arrived when it was just opening in the morning and the line was under 5 min. and we bought tickets inside. This was late September 2009.

[franski]

We bought our tickets (on line) for a time that a lecture (in English) is included. We paid a bit more, but I think it will be worth it.

[Excited to go crusing]

thank you. . The one Euro bus tour sounds good. I don't think our cruise includes Amsterdam, as we sail out of there, but we stop the next day at some windmills (Kinderdjik) I will be quite happy just wondering around & checking things out. DH has no interest in the AF house, I might like the Van Gogh museum, oh well, we'll see. Thanks again for the suggestions :D

[Paulinda]

Buy your Rijksmusem tickets on line. I think you will save a lot of time as you can walk through and not have to stand in the line. We didn't do this and waited for over an hour in the rain. We had a great time talking with the people in line but it was miserable standing for so long.

[gnome12]

The Rijksmuseum is included in the Museumkaart if you have that, and you go to the front of the line (or actually you skip it)

[UKBayern]

Spring is very early and mild this year. The Keukenhof was opened this week and everything is already in full bloom. Same with the fields. I doubt if there will be many fields outside the Keukenhof still in bloom in a few weeks time. Of course, the Keukenhof does a good job replanting.

 

Are you around on the 16th of April? If so, do not miss the Corso, the flower parade from Noordwijk to Haarlem. The wagons will be on display after the parade until Sunday evening the 17th in Haarlem. On Fridaynight the 15th the illuminated wagons will be on display in Noordwijkerhout. It is possible to see the hundreds of volunteers at work in Sassenheim to decorate the wagons from the 13th onwards. Look at the details and programm here (page 2 is summary in foreign languages).

 

If you need more info I'll help you out with the public transport. Driving there yourself is madness, my grandmother used to live in Sassenheim along the route and no way I could get to her house on the day.

[maltese mickey]

thank you. . The one Euro bus tour sounds good. I don't think our cruise includes Amsterdam, as we sail out of there, but we stop the next day at some windmills (Kinderdjik) I will be quite happy just wondering around & checking things out. DH has no interest in the AF house, I might like the Van Gogh museum, oh well, we'll see. Thanks again for the suggestions :D

what is the one euro bus tour? We'll be there April 12-13 taking the Viking Tulips and Windmills cruise.

[gnome12]

It isn't really a tour. It is the tourist shuttle bus, and it makes a circle (in 2 directions I think) of the main sights in Amsterdam. It stops right by the main river cruise dock, and goes around the centre of town.

 

http://www.amsterdam.info/transport/stop-go-bus/

 

When I took it, it did have set stops, but they were at all the main places.

 

However, it was run by the transit system (GVB) and I can't find anything about it on that site so it may not be running

[franski]

UKBayern -

 

We are scheduled to be in the Keukenhof on April 9th (ie: 2 weeks tomorrow...) We were thinking we would be there early - but thought we would likely see some spring flowers.

 

Is there a chance we will miss most of the flowers this year? I know, it is a crap shoot each year - but we took a chance that there might be an early spring. Just didn't expect it to be THIS early!!! (Still cold here in Canada...)

[Ine]

UKBayern -

 

We are scheduled to be in the Keukenhof on April 9th (ie: 2 weeks tomorrow...) We were thinking we would be there early - but thought we would likely see some spring flowers.

 

Is there a chance we will miss most of the flowers this year? I know, it is a crap shoot each year - but we took a chance that there might be an early spring. Just didn't expect it to be THIS early!!! (Still cold here in Canada...)

 

Although I am still in Mexico, I can asure you you will see plenty of flowers in April.

The weather might be a little warmer then usual, (which often doesnot last that long.), winter was severe.

Apart from that Keukenhof has a lot of shade because of the large trees.

In general hycianths bloom around mid or end of April, tulips depending on the type from mid April to beginning of May.

[shoshona2]

Hi Gnome12,

 

That's the one! You have the right website. Blue Stop/Go Bus! We used it going back from the museum district to the ship all for 1 Euro each person. When you want to stop, it will stop and when you see it, you just wave and it will pick you up. We had walked so much that day that we were so so happy to be taken back to the ship. The times are on the website you posted.

 

Sheila

[gnome12]

Sheila the problem is that the website is a tourist website, not the one operated by the transit company. I'm still not convinced that this bus is still running.

[mconthehighseas]

Nomi, your suspicion looks correct. I found a post on virtual tourist that shows it is no longer in operation.

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Netherlands/Provincie_Noord_Holland/Amsterdam-463377/Transportation-Amsterdam-Bus_StopGo-BR-1.html Since the person who said it is no longer in operation lives in Amsterdam, I believe it.

 

I kept finding sites referring to the Stop/Go and explaining how it worked, but nowhere was there any link for buying a ticket. Then I finally found the post I linked above

[gnome12]

It's a pity. I found the bus quite convenient, and an interesting ride around town.

[pjtraveler]

Here is a link on Trip Advisor to latest flower field update:

 

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g188590-i60-k4348160-Flower_field_update_2-Amsterdam_Noord_Holland.html

[Ine]

I just checked the flowersituation with a person that lives in Hillegom, which is more or less amidst of the fields.

Daffodils are blooming, hyacinths and tulips still have to start to bloom.

Due to a rather warm spring flowers are blooming about 10 days earlier than usual.

The yearly flowerparade is on April 16 and there will be plenty of flowers for this by then.

Keukenhof is always a bit later due to the large trees with lots of shades. Apart from that they often replant, so you will see plenty of flowers in the coming weeks.