Netherlands

July 2017: We flew here from Glasgow, and then took the bus from the airport to our hotel (the stop was about a block away from our hotel). We stayed at Hotel Vossius Vondelpark, which had a decent price, considering it was right on the edge of the canal district. Having said that, we had a tiny room with a tiny bathroom, where water from the shower would leak into the room. We booked a “small” room, but this was quite uncomfortable. It was updated, but no room to put our bags or move around. The hotel has larger rooms, but you will be paying quite a bit more for one of those. The hotel is right beside a park, and really close to all museums and sites, so for the location this was worth it.

highlights

. Charming Canals . Museums . Rotterdam . Kinderdijk . The Hague .

lowlights

. Crowds . Red Light District . Bikes .

amsterdam

Amsterdam is exactly what you see in the pictures: scenic, beautiful, and charming. However, once you enter the canal district, it is all of those things, plus extremely crowded and cramped. We all know why most tourists visit Amsterdam, and it can get quite annoying when you actually just want to wander the streets and take in the beauty of the canals and buildings. So I suggest getting out early, when the streets are quieter, so you can enjoy all the charm that Amsterdam has to offer. We took a bus tour, which was a great way of seeing other parts of the city, and of course we took a canal tour. We visited a few museums: Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum, MOCO Museum (had a Banksy and Dali exhibit at the time), and the Heineken Experience. We enjoyed all of them. If you plan on visiting museums, I suggest getting tickets ahead of time, as the lineups are insane (especially Van Gogh and Anne Frank). The Van Gogh Museum was so busy and crowded (and we got there early), so it was a bit difficult to read some of the information, and just move around in general. I really enjoyed the Rijksmuseum, as it was not as crowded, and had some really great exhibits and paintings, such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. You will never run out of places to eat, drink, and shop in Amsterdam, so you will have your pick. We found the Red Light District a bit disturbing and sad, so we walked through very quickly. It is what it is, and were not surprised by what we saw. All in all, Amsterdam is charming, has great museums, but just be prepared for the crowds and bikes, and I would suggest getting out and exploring some of the other cities.

rotterdam

We decided to get out of Amsterdam one day, and took a 1 hour train ride to Rotterdam. We walked through the streets to the water, where we jumped on a waterbus and went to Kinderdijk (about a 30 minute ride). Kinderdijk is where all of the famous windmill pictures are from. You can rent a bike or walk down the path through all of the windmills. People still live in some of the windmills, so I would suggest staying on the path and be respectful of people’s homes. This little day trip was worth it, and we really enjoyed the walk along the water, looking at all of the windmills in the distance. There were lots of people along the path, obviously, but it still felt peaceful. We also showed up close to closing time, so there wasn’t as many people as there probably would be earlier in the day. Since we took the last waterbus over, we took the public bus back to Rotterdam, which was about 45mins - 1 hour. Rotterdam was really beautiful and clean, and way less crowded than Amsterdam. I would consider staying here for a day or two if we went back.

the hague

On our way back from Rotterdam, we stopped in The Hague. We arrived in the evening, and just wandered the streets. We found the Peace Palace (the house of the International Court of Justice), which was beautiful and lit up at night. Right beside it was the World Peace Flame, which is a monument with stones all around it, laid by nations committed to peace. On our way back to the train station, we wandered through the wide, clean, empty streets, including a cool China town section. Just like Rotterdam, I would have liked to have spent more time here.

Amsterdam is a great stop for coming into and out of Europe, as KLM has good flights from North America. If you are only spending a few days here, or just a layover, then explore the canal district and take in a museum or two. If you plan to spend longer here, then I would get out of Amsterdam and explore some of the other cities in the Netherlands, as the countryside is beautiful, the cities are clean, and the people are friendly.