Holland Untour, Spring of 2005
by Douglas & Judy Campbell, Union, KY
The Netherlands apartments are conveniently located about 20 minutes walk from train station, although the Idyll rep gives you bus tickets at orientation, and after a long day sightseeing, we all took the bus back from train station...usually in a.m. also, actually.
Use the agents at the train station...they all speak English, and they are so helpful with schedules, etc...will even print out detailed schedules for you. Buses leave from the station, so also very convenient.
Actually, Leiden is a wonderful small university city, full of life, students on bikes. Be warned to watch your left when you step off the curb, as bikes rule over cars, pedestrians, and even buses in this city!
The apartments are not plush, but adequate, and you have about 5 English TV stations. We discovered that in Holland, English and American programs are shown in English with Dutch subtitles...thus, most Dutch speak fluent English...a surprise to those of us who work at languages before our Untours!
Washer and dryer are on the first floor, and an ironing room is located on the second floor. Several restaurants are within walking distance...we enjoyed the Sorrento nearby. There are 2 grocery stores within walking distance, also.
We had a walking tour of Amsterdam included as an Idyll activity, and we returned another day, as there's so much to see. Enjoyed the World War II museum in Amsterdam, the Museum Amstelkfing...church in an attic, the Amsterdam Historical Museum...saw the Anne Frank House, but it is so crowded and commercialized, it was a bit disappointing. We also did a canal tour...and of course Marike, the Idyll rep, took us through the Rijksmuseum. Art is her specialty, and Idyll is fortunate to have her in place here! (Purchase the 29 euro museum pass ASAP in Leiden...it gets you into nearly every museum in Holland.)
Leiden, itself, has several wonderful museums, and we agree with previous Untourists that you can spend much time just exploring the wonderful museum offerings in your home city...favorites were the "de Valk" windmill, the Museum of Antiquities, and the Museum Boerhaave, complete with a medieval anatomy theatre. You can have free internet access at the Ethnology Museum near the train station...ask at the desk. The public library also has internet access for a small fee.
Your Untours booklet will have lots of ideas...Everyone has favorites, but we loved the Museum of Clocks and Street Organs in Utrecht...just a thoroughly delightful musical experience. Utrecht also has a huge shopping mall at the train station, if you are interested.
We had to see "The Girl with a Pearl Earring" at the wonderful Mauritshuis in the Hague...also had an English tour of the medieval torture prison across the street. With an interesting film preceding the tour, it was quite different from the usual display of torture instruments! Fair walk from train station here to museums...be warned! We spent a day here...lovely town.
Gouda has a walking tour, and this also is a good day's outing.
Haarlem is available either by bus or train...(if you wish to save a train pass one day)...we were in the Frans Hals apartment, so we enjoyed the museum here...Liked the Corrie Ten Boom house; better than Anne Frank's house, as it wasn't as commercialized, and I had also read her book. If you like engineering antiquities, see the Teylers Museum...all walkable...
(I should probably note, we walk a lot...and perhaps cover more ground than some choose to in a day!)
We chose a wonderful sunny day to head north to Enkhuizen, but we changed the itinerary that other Untourists had mentioned. Realized if you do the steam train from Hoorn and then the 75 minute ferry to Enkhuizen, you've spent nearly 2 hours just getting to the Zuider Zee Museum...we took the train directly to Enkhuizen and then spent time at the Zuider Zee Museum...The indoor museum has little English, and we didn't feel it warranted a visit, if your time is limited. Had time to train back and see Hoorn. Don't miss the Westfries Museum there...took a pizza from the New York Pizza parlor near the train station and had "supper" on the train back to Leiden.
As we'd always wanted to see Bruge, we reserved a B&B in advance, used our Dutch train pass to the border, saving money on this trip, and spent the afternoon and evening in Brugge. Took an early morning train to Middelburg and 30 minute bus ride to the Delta Expo...site of the amazing dike project from the 80's. (If you don't do the dike project, Middelbourg is worth a visit...lovely city, where we had dinner before returning "home".)
Another long day was the train to Arnhem for the Airborne Museum...interesting for those who've seen the film, "A Bridge Too Far" and enjoy WWII history...caught a train back to Ede/Wageningen, where the bus runs to the Kroller-Muller park and art museum...used free bikes and left them at another entrance where you can catch a bus back to the train station. Ask in advance about schedules if you choose to do this trip.
Obviously, we did not get to see everything in the book. Don't bring Dutch tour books with you...the apartments have a wonderful collection of guides/maps/etc. I wouldn't have brought my Frommer's had I known!
Don't hesitate to contact us with any questions...The Netherlands is a delightful country packed with more than you can possible see and do in two weeks!