3 Day Traveler

It’s already the last day of your tour of Amsterdam!  On day 1, we got our bearings, got to understand public transit, visited a brewery and enjoyed some Dutch food.  Day 2 was just as busy with a walking tour, and stops at some of the best museums in town.

Day 3 will make a few assumptions.  First, we are assuming that your flight out of town is not today, or much later today.  Most flights out of Amsterdam to the United States are in the morning or early afternoon, so that the travelers can reach connections back to the rest of the country.  If this is the case, then hopefully you are flying out tomorrow!  Second, we’re also assuming you have made this trip during the best time of the year: the spring!

Today, we will find our way out of town, for a quick trip to Lisse.  Lisse, a town about 20 or 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam, is home to the famous Keukenhof Gardens – an impressive display of what Holland does best: flowers!

Getting There

Keukenhof Gardens

There a few ways to do this depending on your comfort level.  3DT enjoys driving in foreign countries, so our preference is to rent a car and take the trip ourselves.  Holland is a very modern country with great roadways, lots of parking facilities, and more.  In our experience, on a three day trip, taking the train back to Schiphol and picking up a car is the path we’ve taken, especially if we don’t spend our night before traveling home in the city itself.  There are car rental agencies in Amsterdam, but the airport offers better prices and more options. 

For those of you that aren’t interested in driving, you can take a train from Centraal Station to Lisse.  From there it is a quick bus ride to the gardens.

Tips & Tricks: Keukenhof

Tulips in Bloom

There are a few tips and tricks that you can employ to make your visit to the Keukenhof more enjoyable.  First, visit on a weekday!  The Keukenhof is open for less than 2 months, and weekends can get busy.  Unlike many tourist spots, locals actually do visit!  So pick a day mid-week, if you can.

When you do go, pick a time as early as possible to visit.  People on weekdays tend to roll in slowly.  Cruise ships, big groups, and other masses of people show up after 10:30, or so it seems.  Having less people will give you more time to get great pictures.  And, the food, bathrooms, etc., can get quite crowded.

The Keukenhof offers a variety of displays.  The area around the windmill gets packed, fast.  So try to find your way there quickly if you want to grab some photos or climb to the top to get a view of the flower fields.  From there, check out the special exhibits that year.  This year, there was a celebration of the link between New York and Holland, with a rendition of the Statue of Liberty in flowers.

While here, take the must-have photo of yourself and your friends in the giant wooden shoes!  Also, take the opportunity to buy some flower bulbs if you are interested in taking them home and planting them.

Moving On

You can easily spend 3 – 4 (or more) hours roaming around the gardens.  From here, where you go really depends on how you got here.  So, we’ll present you with a few options:

DRIVERS

If you have a car, there are many options from here.  It is probably 12:30 or 1:00 now, and you have a lot of daylight left.  If you really want to see some of the outside world, lets go for a drive!  Now, if you are a Dutch local and read this, you’ll think we’re crazy.  But the goal here is to show people in hours, what you have seen in a lifetime.  Wish us luck!

Driver Tour

This one will put on a few miles, but lets go for it.  From Lisse, take a drive around the flower fields surrounding the Keukenhof.  Move in a southward direction and aim back towards the A4 highway.  Our ultimate destination is Delft.

Central Square, Delft

Delft is, in our opinion, the quintessential Dutch town.  Its smaller than Amsterdam, yet still large enough to present lots of options.  Art enthusiasts will identify Delft as the home of Vermeer.  Others may identify with Delftware, hand painted pottery created here.  Either way, the canals, inspiring central square and multiple cathedrals make it a worthwhile stop.

You can expect to arrive in Delft within an hour of leaving Lisse, depending upon any stops you may make.  Follow signs to the Centrum and you will find a few parking garages available to you.  From there, enjoy a stroll to the central square, where you can buy some local souvenirs and enjoy a nice lunch in the square itself.  There are other things we want to see, but take your time to enjoy a “light” lunch before we move on.  On our way out, buy admission to the Nieuwe Kerk, the new church, which is located directly in the town square.  This church has a crypt containing William of Orange, the historical figure from the Dutch Revolt of the 1600′s.  Yes, this is why the Dutch are so enamored by everything orange!

On the way out of town, stop by the Oude Kerk, The Old Church.  From the outside, you may doubt the structural integrity of the building – but rest assured this building is secure.  Built in 1246, the tower is leaning more than 2 meters in one direction!  You can access both churches with the same admission ticket.  The tower of the New Church is extra. 

Peace Palace: Den Haag

Moving out of Delft, our next driving stop will be downtown in Den Haag, or The Hague.  Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands, but The Hague is where the queen resides and… queens.  The Hague is a vastly international city.  It is home to the vast majority of foreign embassies, the world court, and more.  Most of The Hague is easily accessible by car, though traffic can build around certain areas.  Following signs for Centrum, we prefer parking at Heulstraat 21, which is within a 2 minute walk of the government buildings and the direct shopping area.  From here you can walk all about and get a good lay of the land.  On your way in, be sure to drive past the Peace Palace, which houses the World Court!

 Den Haag is a great town.  For drivers, you may want to consider staying your last night in town.  If that is your plan, right above the parking garage is a terrific Indonesian Restaurant, Garoeda.  For a hotel, we love the old style of the Kurhaus in Scheveningen.   Not the cheapest place to stay, but by far the most appealing.  You have a feeling of “The Shining” meets old school European luxury.  Enjoy a drink in the romantic ballroom lounge – it really is a one of the time experience.

Train Travel

For those of you traveling by train, luckily, the above itinerary can work just as well for you.  Only, without a car, you have less options and probably have to return to your hotel in Amsterdam.  After all, who wants to carry bags all day?

Lisse can be easily connected to Delft and to Den Haag.  However, doing both would be difficult.  So, you have to determine which is of greater interest to you.  Both towns have central stations that allow easy access to the sights mentioned above.   Look at what each has to offer and think about it.  Maybe, you can work out a way to do both.

Stay tuned for our “End of Trip” guide with some last minute impressions and takeaways from our trip to Amsterdam, including:

• What to do on your way to Schiphol;
• Shopping opportunities;
• What to buy