Booked a week in Holland

jonnyburgo

Going in Easter, 4 days coastal at Noordwijk and 3 days in Haarlem, we will get the train into Amsterdam from Haarlem to see the sights and smells for a day. Amsterdam rentals are bananas, we looked at a family room in a youth hostel, nearly £900 for 3 days ouch! So opted for an AirBnB in Haarlem instead which I think will be the better option all round anyway, one day in the Dam will probably be enough, my lad wants to get baked, so we will let him, I will abstain. Any tips? Iast time I was in Amsterdam was 1991.

Shrews

I have been to Amsterdam three times in the last two years via Eurostar. Obviously it has been very quiet due to Covid. You need more than a day in Amsterdam IMO as there is loads to see and do. Your son won't have any worries getting baked (assuming it means what I think it does!). I assume he is going to stop in a hotel in Amsterdam for the night?  If so, I recommend Hotel Doria, just a few metres walk from Dam Square.  2 star at best, but rooms are clean enough, likewise showers/toilets and it's a hotel where staff have seen it all, done it all, and take no shit. I find it safe and all the staff friendly. It's also close to a few mini-supermarkets and above a pizza shop if he gets the munchies. 

Coffee shops for cannabis, smart shops for truffles.  Best to have somewhere to sleep it off if he chooses the latter.  Atlantis Forbidden Fruit!  Mild but spiritual, ask your questions and they will be answered!

If he's actually 5 years old and 'baked' doesn't mean what I think it does, then there's plenty of McDonalds around for Happy Meals!

I also took a day out to the beach at Zandvoort where the F1 Grand Prix is held. Just 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam and a nice, clean beach to walk along. There's a nudist section, so if you want to whip 'em off then you can, but as it's November I doubt many will be doing likewise. Some nice seafood stalls along the front. 

EricTheWeary

Taking a selfie outside a branch of C&A and posting it on Facebook as 'time travel' is obviously a must. 
The cannabis cafes were rammed with giggling teenage boys when we've been, they don't seem pleasant to me but I guess they are fine if you are a giggling teenage boy. 
The popular paid for attractions like the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh museum get busy so book online at least the night before (something like a two week waiting list for her house when we went in the summertime, still busy in the winter). 
If you fancy some fresh air the ferries from the back of the station are free. Get a nice view of the city and stop off at outlying areas. 
A tourist map should mark out where the red light district is, so you can visit or avoid as you choose. 
Get a big stick to poke all the annoying American tourists out of the way. 
Cycling is mental in Amsterdam. If you like mental then hire a bike. But walking and trams will get you around easy enough. 
Everyone speaks English and they don't like littering. 

Supportact

There's a nice pub called Cafe Gollem in De Pijp. Massive selection of nice European beers. De Pijp is a quieter neighbourhood so it's not as rowdy. There's a guitar shop nearby there as well, very small but with some weird old guitars on the walls. 

bertie

you footing the bill or going dutch

Sporky

Do NOT stand or walk in a bike path. Dutch bikes weigh more than a small car, and will go straight through/over you.

Also remember that the stereotype of Netherlanders as relaxed and laid back is nonsense. They're generally lovely, but their rigid adherence to rules makes the Swiss look like a bunch of limp hippies.

If you see a Jumbo supermarket, get some Stroopkoeken. Even better than stroopwaffels. 

EricTheWeary

Ahh, reminded me that we stayed near NDSM which is a (free) ferry ride but is the cool artsy area and they have a food festival which was quite cool. Lots of stroops! The crane hotel and the boat hotel and some of the quirkier bits are there.  Part of the area was going to be redeveloped for housing so how much remains I don't know. Happy memories of drinking beer and watching an Australian reggae band, Amsterdam is nothing if not cosmopolitan. 

scrumhalf

I was thinking of going to Amsterdam for a break for a few days. I'm not saying that accommodation was expensive but there wasn't much in it between staying there and doing successive day trips on Eurostar. 

BluesLover

The Mondrian exhibition at the national gallery in The Hague is good. Rest of gallery is good too.

mrkb

I stayed in Haarlem on a overnight work trip a few weeks ago, was a nice place and worth a good look around. Cobbled streets, loads of cyclists, large market hall and square and a chilled vibe. Amsterdam was a bit grubby and littered by comparison.

McSwaggerty

While on a 2-year sabbatical from 'real' work, I lived in Maastricht and Amsterdam for a while back in the 90's......before this Brexit Pish, you could do that sort of thing .......I still go over often, as I made many friends...all Holland is great for many things, not just weed....sights, food, exhibitions music, gigs etc, (check out the Legendary Paradiso in Amsterdam in case there's a gig you fancy when you visit ) and I totally recommend you hire a bike for ease of getting around.....maybe not Amsterdam, cos it will be rammed with tourists, but definately in Haarlem.
One thing to consider, The Mayor of Amsterdam is looking to ban Tourists entry into coffee shops, as early as next year.
However, there are always ways around these situations if you are keen enough. Stay away for from shitey commercial places like the Bulldog, Barneys or Hard Rock, and seek out an independently owned cafe....its not difficult.
I'm not sure if this will just apply just to Amsterdam or not.....but if so, you will find coffee shops in Haarlem ....and country wide, for that matter, easily.
Foreign visitors face ban from Amsterdam's cannabis cafes | Netherlands | The Guardian

chillidoggy

If you see 'Slagroom' written on a sandwich board, it's cream, don't make the same mistake that I did.

stufisher

One day in The Dam is just a 'toe in the water' (that's not a porn show BTW). Good steer from @McSwaggerty ; ... avoid the real touristy coffee shops and I'd say if yer lady's trying out gear for the first time then it might be prudent to try space-cake first. Buying a 'single' in a coffee shop is a lottery and might be a bit too heady (depending on what gear is in it and who rolled it) ... unless you are buying from a menu (7g = Q oz) and taking back to Haarlem.

You'll not need an hotel ... just walk/saunter/sit by the canals/stroll through a park (Vondelpark is plenty big) ... Easter is 9th April so it'll be crisp, sunny weather more than likely so outside sitting will be fine and you'll not have to deal with the Orange-mania known as the Queen's birthday (30th April).

I'd always suggest a visit to the Heineken brewery ... you can miss out the tour and go straight to the funky bar with the beer tokens they give you when you buy your entry ticket. You'll drink the best (freshest) Heineken anywhere, it'll be packed and the vibe is good (music, bants, decor).

If you want a nice, easy, simple lunch ... just have an uitsmijter (translates as bouncer) and a beer. It's the most popular lunch in The Netherlands ... you can look up what it is ... I love 'em  

Also, you might like to try some poffertjes (look it up) ... or if you are looking for good nosh for dinner then the little Chinatown/Asian zone at the end of Nieuwmarket is pretty good ... loads of choice.

If you wanna try some proper beer in a trad pub then go to De Wildeman just off Damraak, down a wee side street ... it's very famous and very good and there's also a little noodle bar right opposite it.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll both have a great day out ... The Dam is one of my fave places for a change of scene and a chill out.

Best,

Stu

Emiel

Dutchie here.

Remember that The Netherlands is a rather small country and virtually every major town can be reached in 1 to 2 hours by train. It's easy to stick to just Amsterdam but there's much more to see. Just use Google Maps to go from one place to another. Google maps is a good way to find a nice lunchroom or restaurant as well. Like in any other country, just head for those places where the locals are. 

Some recommendations:

- Leiden. Less than 30 minutes from Noordwijk. It's has one of the largest and prettiest historical centers in the Netherlands. Just one of those nice places to wander around. Not sure how old the lad is but I can definitely recommend visiting Naturalis there, it's the national museum of natural history. Lots of stuffed animals including plenty of dinosaurs (seeing a full skeleton of T-Rex is worth the visit alone).

- Utrecht. Very recommended if you've seen Amsterdam. Just a lovely town with lots of canals like Amsterdam, but not as crowded or cosmopolitan. Good for shopping too. Can be reached in less than 30 minutes from Amsterdam. 

- Den Haag (foreigners call it The Hague). As well as having a really nice city center, you can combine it with a visit to the nearby coastal town of Scheveningen. The latter is well worth visiting not just for the beach and excellent seafood restaurants but your kid will definitely love walking through Madurodam, an outdoor miniature park.

- Maastricht. If you fancy a day trip, this town in the southeast of the Netherlands is definitely worth visiting. About 2,5 hours from Amsterdam, Maastricht is perhaps the prettiest town in the Netherlands and very different to just about anything else. It's very 'southern' in both its looks and 'Burgundian' lifestyle (meaning: with good food and beverage). It's not too big so you can see most of it in a day. There are lots of great places to sit, eat and drink or do some shopping. You can visit the caves of St Pieter (an incredible network of tunnels in a nearby hill) too.

kin

My memories of the place are from probably thirty years ago but Haarlem was a very pretty place in the summer, Leiden was a interesting university town too. Noordwjkerhout was nice especially when all the bulbs flower.

DLM

stufisher said:you'll not have to deal with the Orange-mania known as the Queen's birthday (30th April).

Do keep up, 007! Beatrix abdicated in 2013. The "new" King's Day is 27 April (26 April if the 27th is a Sunday).

My recommendation is spending a while at a strandtent (beach hut) consuming kibbeling (battered pieces of fish) and drinking good beer (i.e. not Heineken, though of course YMMV).

Staying in Haarlem for Amsterdam makes sense as the public transport is very good.

See if you can find a way of paying by card/NFC/whatever, as cash is really on its way out, e.g. it might be extremely difficult to pay for public transport with cash. 

stufisher

Thanks @DLM ; ... good Q impression   ... I I certainly feel appropriately admonished and humiliated ... must try harder ... can do better