Amsterdam May 10-18

Phyxius · May 4, 2009

:barb

I'll be in Amsterdam from May 10-18 with my grandfather and my cousin. My mother and her family moved to the US from the Netherlands in 1959. My grandfather was in the dutch marines and they're meeting up for a reunion and my cousin and I were invited to come along.

We'll be staying in Amsterdam but we'll also have a rental car. So, please post suggestions on both locations for photography and just interesting places to visit.

GSPeP · May 4, 2009

I think you best go on foot in Amsterdam centre. It is no nice place to drive a car. Everything is rather 'narrow' and almost impossible to find parking space. I think most dutch will agree with that.

Around this time the tulips (and other flowers) are at their best at the "Keukenhof" a bit south of Amsterdam. I don't know if it will still be like that in a week. The people from around that area will know best.

I'm sure some locals can give you more tips. There are several here on the forum.

Phyxius · May 4, 2009

GSPeP wrote:

I think you best go on foot in Amsterdam centre. It is no nice place to drive a car. Everything is rather 'narrow' and almost impossible to find parking space. I think most dutch will agree with that.

Around this time the tulips (and other flowers) are at their best at the "Keukenhof" a bit south of Amsterdam. I don't know if it will still be like that in a week. The people from around that area will know best.

I'm sure some locals can give you more tips. There are several here on the forum.

Oh yes, we definately plan to walk or rent bicycles for in Amsterdam. I mentioned the car to say that we'd be willing to travel during the day. We live in a rural area here so to us, travelling by car for 2-4 hours is not a big deal. The Netherlands is a small country and we hope to see much of it!

I hope the tulips are still in bloom. We are definately planning on visiting the Keukenhof. Also, both my mother and my aunt would like some delft to add to their collections and my mother has a request for washclothes, apparently the american ones are just not good enough. I need to get drop as supply and variety is sadly lacking here in the states.

I'd also like to see Het Vredespaleis, the Peace Palace, home of the World Court. Is that something to plan for, do you think?

ivar · May 4, 2009

Hi Christina,

I received your PM, and I saw this thread; I just got back from a two-day-rotation, but I'll get back to you shortly

GSPeP · May 5, 2009

I don't know the Peace Palace, but Amsterdam, Leiden, Den Haag seem to be interesting to visit.

If you are willing to travel 2 or more hours by car, you could visit Antwerp and/or Bruges. Antwerp is less than 2 hours from Amsterdam.

To get an idea if it's interesting enough:
- Antwerp: http://www.steendorp.info/gallery/2436579_vdh7z
- Bruges: http://www.steendorp.com/gallery/7184104_xNdwt

This is a trip we made to Amsterdam with some colleagues from work: http://www.steendorp.com/gallery/2094767_hyD3P

A good site to plan your trips is http://maps.google.com/

When you are travelling by car in Holland or Belgium, watch out for the speed cameras. They are everywhere

Amsterdam May 10-18

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