Amsterdam Day Trip Ideas

[crewsgirl]

We are planning to be in Amsterdam for a few days before our ship departs for Norway and we are looking at possible day trips. Which would you choose, Delft/Hague or Bruges? Or both?

 

We love walking through historic districts, sampling the city, I would love to see the pottery factory, but I am wondering if we can do 2 days of touring before getting on the ship. Is it worth it? Would you choose Viator tour groups to do these day trips? If not, then who?

Would love to hear your suggestions and thank you in advance.

[LHT28]

If you have the time then yes go to Bruges on the train you could also stop in Antwerp both great walking towns

I would hire local guide direct rather than through a 3rd party like Viator but that is just me

you could take the bus to Zaanse Schans for the day

[Ine]

Absolutely Delft, a charming city. In the church on Grote Markt dutch royal are buried. Maybe in combination with The Hague. Easy to do by frequent trains.

[crewsgirl]

Absolutely Delft, a charming city. In the church on Grote Markt dutch royal are buried. Maybe in combination with The Hague. Easy to do by frequent trains.

 

Do you happen to have a link to the train schedule? I hadn't considered that option, but maybe that would be faster and easier. Wonder if we could still have a local guide there? Thanks so much for the information.

 

and now, I definitely think we need to do both! LHT28, the information about Bruges looks wonderful!

[LHT28]

try this site

https://www.rome2rio.com/

 

I am sure Ine will have more info on getting around

[Globaliser]

Do you happen to have a link to the train schedule?

You should be able to find information very easily on https://www.ns.nl/en.

[crewsgirl]

try this site

https://www.rome2rio.com/

 

I am sure Ine will have more info on getting around

 

Thank you so much! I am there now and what a helpful site, LHT28!

[shofer]

We took a bus tour to Bruges and it was 3 hours each way. Bruges itself was very nice but I felt traveling for 6 hours for a 5 hour tour was a colossal waste of time.

Sue

[crewsgirl]

We took a bus tour to Bruges and it was 3 hours each way. Bruges itself was very nice but I felt traveling for 6 hours for a 5 hour tour was a colossal waste of time.

Sue

 

Oh shofer, you sound like my DH! He is not keen on spending all the time on the road, so we may opt for a great side trip to Delft/Hague and enjoy more of Amsterdam.

[Ine]

Do you happen to have a link to the train schedule? I hadn't considered that option, but maybe that would be faster and easier. Wonder if we could still have a local guide there? Thanks so much for the information.

 

and now, I definitely think we need to do both! LHT28, the information about Bruges looks wonderful!

 

Schedules and price here:

https://www.ns.nl/en

[metoo]

Before our river cruise, we booked a trip to Zaanse Schans. It's a historic village where you can watch wooden clogs being made, visit a cheese factory and a chocolate factory. Also tour windmills and a museum. All kinds of things to do. We didn't have time to see everything so would love to go back. Link to their website: https://www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/

[crewsgirl]

Schedules and price here:

https://www.ns.nl/en

 

Thank you Ine, I am looking at the train to Delft and can you tell me if we need to get the OV-chipkaart? Would that be the best thing to do? I don't really think we will be using the train much in Amsterdam, probably just for this one day trip is my current thinking. I appreciate your help!

[Globaliser]

Before our river cruise, we booked a trip to Zaanse Schans.

Indeed: Zaanse Schans is very easy to do under your own steam. There are frequent trains (currently about four an hour by the looks of things) and they take less than 20 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal.

[Ine]

Thank you Ine, I am looking at the train to Delft and can you tell me if we need to get the OV-chipkaart? Would that be the best thing to do? I don't really think we will be using the train much in Amsterdam, probably just for this one day trip is my current thinking. I appreciate your help!

 

If it is just for a dayticket to Delft buy traintickets in the machines or at a small surcharge at the window at the station. For trams or buses in Amsterdam you can pay single tickets also by creditcard or bankcard (no cash anymore) ) or get a one day ticket for all trams and buses for just E. 7.50 - 24 hours

In your case it isnot worth it to get an OV card.

 

https://en.gvb.nl/ontdek-amsterdam

 

Zaanse Schans can be done either by train (get off at staion Koog Zaanse Schans and walk for about 10/15 minutes) or get busnr. '391 which stops a bit closer to Zaanse Schans). No entrance fee there, but when you went to visit the inside of windmilkls you pay a fee. https://www.dezaanseschans.nl/en/

[Alex88]

Starting from today you can buy e-tickets for the dutch railways by creditcard on ns.nl. No need for an ov chipcard.

 

 

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[crewsgirl]

Thank you Ine for the information and good to know Alex88 about the credit cards too. I didn't think we needed a chipcard for such a short visit.

 

I do think we can do Zaanse Schans on our own using the bus. My husband really likes to use public transportation when we travel just to get that local feel. We were able to visit Kinderdijk on our last Viking river cruise and the Dutch engineers are absolutely brilliant! We enjoyed the history there so much.

 

I went ahead and booked a half day group trip to Delft/Hague/Madurodam as we enjoy meeting others and the trip sounded very easy to do this way. I can't wait to see the gorgeous Delft blue pottery! That is going to be a highlight for me and I am very excited about that.

 

I am still debating the Brugges trip. I would like to do it, but the DH is less inclined to want to do the day before we board the ship. What other must see/do things in Amsterdam can you recommend? I probably need tickets for Anne Frank and we might do the Heinken experience. Is that worth the time?

[Ine]

Thank you Ine for the information and good to know Alex88 about the credit cards too. I didn't think we needed a chipcard for such a short visit.

 

I do think we can do Zaanse Schans on our own using the bus. My husband really likes to use public transportation when we travel just to get that local feel. We were able to visit Kinderdijk on our last Viking river cruise and the Dutch engineers are absolutely brilliant! We enjoyed the history there so much.

 

I went ahead and booked a half day group trip to Delft/Hague/Madurodam as we enjoy meeting others and the trip sounded very easy to do this way. I can't wait to see the gorgeous Delft blue pottery! That is going to be a highlight for me and I am very excited about that.

 

I am still debating the Brugges trip. I would like to do it, but the DH is less inclined to want to do the day before we board the ship. What other must see/do things in Amsterdam can you recommend? I probably need tickets for Anne Frank and we might do the Heinken experience. Is that worth the time?

 

In case you want to visit Anne Frank be aware to make reservations 2 months prior, tickets sell fast and till July 1 no entrances without reservations.

Other ideas about a trip, maybe the outdoor Zuiderzee museum. It tells the history of those old fishing villages at now IJsselmeer and before that Zuiderzee. Nice to walk around and see it all. Take a train to Enkhuizen, a short ferryride from there will bring you the the museum. http://www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl/en/10/home/

Or take a train to Hoorn, take a short walk to the old steamtrain from there. It will bring you to Medemblik, walk trough the old town and take a boat back over Zuiderzee to Enkhuizen and the regular train to Hoorn or Amsterdam. Tickets and info here: http://www.stoomtram.nl/en

More close is the city of Haarlem, again a short 20 minutes trainride. Nice old town, big church at the Grote Markt, where even Mozart had played. Known also for the Corry ten Boomhuis, another place where jews were safe during WWII.https://www.haarlemmarketing.co.uk/visit-haarlem

https://www.corrietenboom.com/en/home

 

Plenty to do!

[crewsgirl]

Thank you Ine, I will be making our ticket reservations on Saturday for Anne Frank. We inadvertently missed that on our last visit so this will work very well.

 

Quick question for Amsterdam and Norway. Do I need a power converter or adapter to plug in our devices? Seems like I had one for our last trip and of course, now of course, I can't find it. We are staying at a traditional Dutch bed and breakfast in the canal area if that matters and sailing on HAL's K'Dam.

If you have a recommendation I am interested. Thanks.

[Ine]

Most appliances like laptop, camera, Iphone etc, will accept the 220V as used in Amsterdam and also in Norway. However the plug on the wall is indeed different. Very likely you can buy one at any international airport or major electric store. On board cruiseships you will find most of the time both of them. Even then it is handy to have that other plug too so you can use both and uploads more items at the same time. (That is what we do).

[sj-cruiser]

We spent a few days in Amsterdam in 2015 and one our our highlights was the Hungry Birds food tour we took while we were there. It was a lot of fun, introduced us to some delicious foods and gave is a tour of areas of the city we might not have visited otherwise.

 

We also found a great restaurant, Van Kerkwijk and ate there twice during our three nights in Amsterday. It was so good the first night we had to go back. Be sure to get there early if you don't want to have wait a long time for a table. When we were there the line started forming shortly after they opened.

[crewsgirl]

We spent a few days in Amsterdam in 2015 and one our our highlights was the Hungry Birds food tour we took while we were there. It was a lot of fun, introduced us to some delicious foods and gave is a tour of areas of the city we might not have visited otherwise.

 

We also found a great restaurant, Van Kerkwijk and ate there twice during our three nights in Amsterday. It was so good the first night we had to go back. Be sure to get there early if you don't want to have wait a long time for a table. When we were there the line started forming shortly after they opened.

 

 

Oh the Hungry Birds tour sounds so fun! Thanks for the tip, I will be looking for that one.

[AmazedByCruising]

You may also like Utrecht https://www.findingdutchland.com/utrecht-most-beautiful-canals-europe/

[Globaliser]

Do I need a power converter or adapter to plug in our devices?

Look at the label on each of your devices. If it says that it will accept inputs of 110-240V AC 50-60 Hz, as most now do, then you won't need anything more than an adapter to take the US plug and put it into a European socket, which is almost certainly the only type of socket you'll find ashore. You'd only need a transformer if the appliance will only take voltages of 110-130V or so, in which case plugging it into a 240V supply will probably blow it up.