Anonymous wrote:Has anyone traveled to the Netherlands and have suggestions for what areas to go to and where to stay? Museums are not at the top of my list. I would love to keep physically active (and of course will do some bike riding while there). Other active ideas?

Some possibilities:

Go on a tour of the cat cafes of the Netherlands: https://www.meowaround.com/countries/netherlands

Go on a ghost tour of one or more cities. For example: https://www.ghosttourrotterdam.com/en/Ghost-Tour/

Go on a kayak tour of a place like Amsterdam: https://www.kayakinamsterdam.com/

Take a cooking class: https://www.viator.com/tours/Amsterdam/Stroopwaffle-workshop-with-dark-beer/d525-210500P1

Stay in a castle hotel: https://www.visitingthedutchcountryside.com/explore-the-netherlands/netherlands-castle-hotels/

Amsterdam central (near the main train station.. Damrak area) is overrun with tourists most of the year. Since you don't want to see museums, pick a smaller city like others suggested, or stay on the outskirts of Amsterdam.

I studied abroad in Leiden NL in grad school and traveled quite a bit. It’s a beautiful country. In addition to Amsterdam, consider looking into Leiden, Delft, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Maastricht, Haarlem, or Gouda. Leiden is smaller than Amsterdam, but also has a canal system, as well as an extensive collection mural poetry. The cities are similar to many old European cities - plaza, church, etc. but they each have unique history and differences.

You said you’re not interested in museums - do you mean all museums? Or just history or art? There is so much of both in the NL so IMO if you’re skipping the museums you’re really missing out. What do you like to do when you travel?

For things that aren’t museums - if you go in the spring the tulips display at Keukenhof gardens is truly stunning, but so are the tulip fields around many of the towns. I can’t remember the name of the coastal towns, and I’m glad I went, but enjoyed the cities more. The windmills at Kinderdijk are very cool.

We like the Pulitzer hotel.

We stayed at the Kimpton DeWitt which was a short walk to the Central Train Station. Amsterdam is absolutely gorgeous. The public transportation is the best of any place we've visited. You can buy a daily or weekly train pass. Book tours on Viator in advance for Anne Frank House, Van Gogh, and other sites. Do a boat tour with a group of American guys if they're still there " Those Damn Boat Guys". Have fun!

Will you have kids with you?

Loved Amsterdam. Easy walk from the train station to loads of nice hotels, restaurants, and the canals. I could spend 1/2 of every day on a canal boat just drifting along taking in the sights.

I loved visiting the Netherlands. We stayed in Amsterdam and took easy train rides to rotterdam( full of really interesting post wwii architecture), the hague/schevenigan, and Antwerp in Belgium. We loved exploring neighborhoods by bike.

So I have family in the Netherlands.

I do think it's a chill place to visit, outside of a small section of Amsterdam.

I do enjoy biking out to the beach (you can also take the train). It is extremely flat so incredibly easy to bike everywhere.

There are a lot of cool museums in the Netherlands, if you're not into museums what are you interested in? There is a lot of fun markets and such to visit.

If you're more interested in partying, Amsterdam is the place to go.

It's completely flat so you can bike anywhere.
Read about the windmills, tulips, canals.
I visited twice in 2023. Once was to see the Vermeer exhibit and again for a conference, went a lot of art museums eg Van Gogh, Anne Frank house.

If you really don't intend to see museums, I think I'd travel elsewhere. Eg Italy, Spain to see mountains, hills.

Avoid the Netherlands. It's the most boring country I have ever visited.

Has anyone traveled to the Netherlands and have suggestions for what areas to go to and where to stay? Museums are not at the top of my list. I would love to keep physically active (and of course will do some bike riding while there). Other active ideas?