Day Trips from Amsterdam
Round up the girls and head for the road. Amsterdam has an efficient transport network that allows day trips to be affordable, safe, easily accessible and loads of fun!
Stores such as Albert Hein, Kruidvat, Hema and Blocker all run at regular intervals train day trip specials. Train journeys to anywhere in the Netherlands go from €13 for a return journey including a cup of coffee at the store. Each special differs so watch out for fine print such as weekends only or monday to friday during off peak hours. Specials are found on each companies website or app. Another way to get cheap transport is to regularly check the NS and NS International website and facebook page for their monthly specials. Specials to Belgium (€19 for one way) or France Lille (€22 one way on the thalys was a steal).
KEUKENHOF GARDENS
Everyone who know me knows that tulips are my favourite flowers. So visiting Keukenhof gardens has always been on my bucket list. Keukenhof is the largest flower garden on Earth with approximately seven million spring flowering bulbs. There are over 800 varieties of tulips and all of this artisticaly laid out in beautifully themed gardens spanning over 32 hectares.
Pack a picnic basket and gather the troops to plan a summer day appreciating flowers.
Besides the spectacular gardens there are flower arranging shows, orchid halls, art made out of flowers, meet and buy bulbs directly from the growers and enjoy tulip fields accessible by boat.
I would honestly plan a visit to Amsterdam in April just so that I could experience this once in a lifetime display of flowers. Keukenhof opens from the end of March for 8 weeks and there are different flowers that flower at different times. My suggestion would be to go mid-end April when the fields are in full bloom.
Transport to Keukenhof is via bus or car and there are various pick up points such as Schipol airport.(30minutes approximately from Schipol). If carrying a picnic is too much of a hassle there are numerous food outlets inside the garden.
For more information and to book online have a look at the website:
GIETHOORN
If the hobbits lived alongside canals this gem of a village would have fit right into the movie.
Located 90min from Amsterdam this old charm village transports the visitor back in time.
Picture a tiny village with thatched roof homes, centuries-old wooden bridges, and tree-lined footpaths.
Stroll through the town on cobblestone pathways or you can even rent your own boat to row down one of the gondolier-free waterways or join one of the many large tour boats.
Best enjoyed on a sunny day and if you are looking for a relaxing little escape filled with charm and cuteness this is a lovely little stop.
How to get there?
Public transport is one option with a few changes or I recommend joining Cherry travel & tours (find her on facebook or https://cherrytraveltours.com). Her warm personality and always going the extra mile adds to the charm of this beautiful tiny village.
Giethoorn is an actual tiny village and not a tourist attraction. There is no entrance fee to visit or controlled gate to go through... One just visits the village, walks or cycles around (takes approximately an hour ).
Relax and have some coffee in a house in the village or enjoy something to eat while overlooking the canals.
Take a guided boat ride( approx 1 hour ) or hire your own small boat and with a map navigate your way around the little village.
Best time of the year to visit?
Summer or any sunny day.
I would advise to stay away on a rainy gloomy day as it is an outdoor activity.
Peak tourist season is between May and July so during this time expect beautiful flower filled gardens and hoardes of tourist thronging the tiny village and clicking away
Food:
There are many restaurants in the area around the inner old village and beautiful restaurants IN the old homes WITHIN the old village overlooking the water canals. (These are much more beautiful to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and the view)
Please note that out of season most restaurants are closed so the options are limited. On a sunny day when spring has started in March you have only approximately 10 options of places to eat and browse as most places are closed but in peak summer season there are more options open ( I did not find any halal options but I did go at the very start of spring at the end of March so many restaurants were closed).
To be honest although it is a beautiful village filled with old world charm in my opinion it is nothing like Venice contrary to Conde Nast magazine which constantly punts it as a top must-see village to go to in the world.
Expect to see lots of tourists posing for selfis and peering through fences and the actual village is VERY VERY small.
If you have more than a week in Netherlands and have had a few hectic days in fast-paced Amsterdam & want to spend a few hours relaxing and experiencing time standing still, then a visit to this charming village that takes you back in time to the 1800s is worth a visit! Sometimes we all need to just stop and be taken back in time.
VAN GOGH VILLAGE IN NUENEN
One can't get any closer to Van Gogh…
One can sit in the sun and paint in the same spot of Vincent van Gogh in the beautiful village of Nuenen!
What makes this quaint village so special is that you can see and experience the stories about Van Gogh.
To celebrate his birthday we were lucky to have joined the inaugural tour and bus service to Nuenen.
The town will run a daily trip to Nuenen until the 5th of April and will operate every Saturday from then.
The Van Gogh museum is offering a ticket which will combine a visit to the museum with an experience in Neunen where one can walk in the footsteps of Van Gogh and enjoy the mini museum dedicated to this colourful character and larger than life artist.
Visitors purchasing a combined ticket will depart by coach from Amsterdam for Nuenen at 09:00 and round off the day with a visit to the Van Gogh Museum. Tickets cost €99 p.p. and can be booked through the Tour Company (link above) and also international booking portals such as Expedia, Viator, Get your Guide, as well as from the Van Gogh Museum.
See the same church that his father was the pastor of and is painted in the famous stolen & now recovered painting
"Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen" (1884).
The doors of the Van Gogh chapel will be open on the second Wednesday of each month from 13:30 to 17:00 and the last Sunday of each month from 13:30 to 17:00 until the end of october 2017.
Entrance to the church is free.
Alternative ways to get to the Van Gogh Village in Nuenen is via Eindhoven by train and thereafter a bus service runs every 10 minutes from Eindhoven to Nuenen. (Bus number 6)
The area is easy accessible and easy to get around by yourself. They have invested alot of money in self explanatory signage in Dutch and English which makes it very easy to get around and enjoy a day in this postcard pretty town
There are 23 locations that remind us of Van Gogh in Nuenen.
Of these 23 locations, 14 were painted or drawn by him. The other 9 are statues, buildings or places of special importance. There are Information columns in Dutch and English that have been placed at these locations. The mini museum dedicated to Van Gogh is informative and interactive and gives the visitor a greater understanding of Van Goghs family life.
So if you love art, You can now stand where Van Gogh once stood, see what he once saw and what he painted!
None of his actual paintings are in Nuenen
MAASTRICHT
Maastricht, a city on the southern tip of the Netherlands with its medieval-era architecture style and quaint cobblestone pathways creates a romantic atmosphere as one walks through the narrow alleyways and discovers quirky little shops.
Stroll alongside the Maas River or take a picturesque boat ride down the river
Train ride from Amsterdam: 2.5hrs
Enjoy a cup of coffee on the banks of the Maas river at one of the many restaurants and coffee shops that line this beautiful River.
Walk, ride a bicycle or hop on the many boats that are docked alongside the river to get a feel of this medieval town
Maastricht has become known, by way of the Maastricht Treaty, as the birthplace of the European Union, European citizenship, and the single European currency, the euro €
ROTTERDAM
Rotterdam is a vibrant city where the old meets the new. I love glass skyscraper and fell in love with the modern architecture between the old world war two reminders.
Start your day off by taking a romantic stroll on the Promenade and Erasmus Bridge. It's a fascinating area to visit or take a boat tour/ boat taxi across the harbour.
Once you have built up an appetite Try out the vast range of delicacies in the amazing Markthallen. This unusual food hall is what foodie dreams are made of with hundreds of options to choose from. From Kibbeling (famous in Holland - cubes of battered fish) and Frites (french fries served with a creamy mayonnaise or ketchup) to halal Turkish delicacies. End of the meal with freshly made crispy stroopwaffels (caramel Dutch waffel biscuit) or Yummy Dutch poffertjies (mini crumpets)
Watch a spectacular sunset over Rotterdam from one of the many restaurants and coffee shop roofs such as The Euromast which lies at the north entrance to the Maas Tunnel. Erected in 1960, this 185-meter-high tower affords a breathtaking view of Rotterdam
Located opposite the Markthallen one discovers the unusual Cube Houses known in Dutch as Kubuswoningen
The architect tilted the cube of a conventional house 45 degrees and rested it upon a hexagon-shaped pylon.
UTRECHT
Utrecht is a lively relaxed city filled with canals that allow you to sit outside below road level alongside the canals and enjoy the world going by unlike in Amsterdam.
The large Ulu Mosque in Utrecht can be found at Mosque square.
Close to the Utrecht Station by the Beatrix theatre side, go down the stairs and turn right. Keep walking till you see the beautiful modern minaret dominating the skyline. Follow the minaret and you will be surrounded with an amazing choice of halaal restaurants from Turkish to Moroccan the choices are endless.
It is the first square or street in the Netherlands named after an Islamic religious building. The building has muslim prayer facilities and also hosts a room for contemplation for people from any other denomination. The board of the mosque decided to create such a room, unique in the world, since the neighborhood surrounding the mosque has also a Christian and Jewish population.
Filled with restaurants, markets and the Beatrix theatre this is the perfect city for a day visit to enjoy a large range of halal food and a relaxing stroll in a quaint city.
For more information and tips to discovering Netherlands join me on my travels on my blog http://travellingmuslimah.blogspot.com or on instagram @travelling_muslimah
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