Netherlands Travel Forum

Where can our grandson (a student) purchase groceries for a "thanksgiving dinner" in Utrecht? This would be items like cranberries, pumpkin pie mix, etc.
He can possibly shop in person (on his bike) or have the items delivered. He lives on Cambridgelaan.

Would appreciate an early response. Thank you.

Am planning a trip back to Amsterdam after not having been to your beautiful city for 20 years. I am a smoker (please no lectures). Can anyone shed some light on what the smoking policies are in hotel rooms now? Also, am planning a side trip to Budapest then back to Amsterdam for my flight back to California. Any suggestions for a fairly low cost airline for this side trip to Budapest? Thanks for any information you can offer on either or both of these questions.

I want to go to Holland but this time I don't want to do the obvious and go to Amsterdam. I want to know about the rest of the country and the other special places it harbours...

Please share your experiences and give me some ideas!!!

Thanks :)

How many rooms are in the Huis Doorn Manor House and in the Gate House? Did the Kaiser's staff live there also. My grandfather Otto Schwarz, German musician performed there weekly in 1923 with a small ensemble. What room would music have been performed in? I am presently writing my grandfather's biography, and would appreciate a photo of the manor house, and possibly the music room to use in the book. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Daniel Schwarz, Albany, New York, USA

Hi, we will be travelling between Cologne and Amsterdam around Ascension Day next year which is on Thursday May 13.
My question is should we expect museums ect. to be restricted or not operating at all in Amsterdam and Cologne?
Our plan was to have spent our second day, May 13 in Cologne, meeting up with friends but if we are to be fairly restricted with restaurants,traffic and the like then maybe we should make that our day to drive to Amsterdam. If everything is closed then it may be the day to return our car and familiarise ourselves our surroundings.
Can anyone advise us on what to expect. Many thanks, A&K

I would like to ask for the calling card information. I have to buy a SIM card preferred to have the following items.
1) free incoming call as my friends and family would call via PC
2) dial to Asia cheaply probably using the call back technology.
3) more or less same rates when I went to Belgium.

Currently I searched from the internet that there are some SIM cards like this. But it would be very expensive to ship it. So i would like to know whether I can purchase the SIM card locally in Amsterdam. Please share the name of the SIM cards I can purchase and then I can make a search online for the rate.

Appreciated if you would help. Thanks.

Hi there,

Does anyone have any advice/experience to share regarding lounges at Schiphol airport? I've booked flights from Cardiff to Singapore on KLM for a family of four. The children are aged two and four. They're flying Economy class, so are not entitled to access KLM's lounge. They are looking to pay to access a lounge that is family friendly.

Many thanks in advance!

Hayley

Just heard this from a Dutch colleague .
He said that the Dutch or Amsterdam police can stop you at any time and demand your ID /papers.
If say you didn't have a form of ID on you , it can get awkward..
First of all if a Police guy stopped me and asked me for anything , i would'nt have a clue what he s saying as i don't speak a word of Dutch ?
I would much rather not have to carry my Passport on me around Amsterdam in case of loss/theft e.t.c
Have any body had this happen in recent times.?
Going end of October

Hi All,

I will be going to Amsterdam in two weeks for a weekend trip. Can you give me an idea of what the weather is like there at the minute?

Also, I am trying to find a hotel that allows smoking as I lot of hotels I checked are non smoking. I was looking at the NH Caransa. Is that a decent hotel or can anyone recommend another nice smoking friendly hotel?

Thanks for all your help :)

can you use the electrical adapters that we use in france when you go to holland?

This is really a question for Americans who have previously visited Amsterdam....
My husband and I are considering a trip to the city next year and we must be two of the few who have no interest in the coffee shops. It's not a moral issue at all - it's just that random US workplace testing and the questionable wisdom of befuddling one's brain in unfamiliar surroundings will have us pursing other forms of recreation. We DO, however, drink coffee - and lots of it.

So, my question is: have any of you (users or not) had any issues with the customs process once back in the states? Our last experience, after returning from Italy via Amsterdam, was a nightmare of questions, searches and being thoroughly sniffed over by drug-searching canines with very sensitive noses. I'm concerned about a suitcase full of clothing that could likely smell faintly of cannabis if we'd been in the shops for nothing more than a cuppa joe! What about bars (we'd do a few of those too) - is smoking legal there? Let's just say that I'd like to do whatever possible to avoid a potentially longer, even more painful customs process than we had last time! They even gave me heck for not declaring the remainder of a package of Lifesavers I'd bought, at our local airport, BEFORE we left! Unbelievable.

Hi,

I am going to travel from İstanbul to Hengelo tomorrow(18th October) I will be there for a month. As far as I understand there is not a lot of option to doing something at week days. I may go Amsterdam, Rotterdam, such like big cities at weekends. Do you have any comments? Anyone want to join with me?

Thank you in advance.

An acquaintance is going to NL to attend a conference. She'll be arriving at AMS Schiphol and would immediately proceed to Zeist. She'll spend a day in Zeist and has to be in Noordwijkerhout the next day. She'll fly out of NL via AMS again. Hope you could help with the following:

1. From Schiphol, is there a direct train to Zeist or does she have to go to Central first and take the train from there? Whichever is the case, what train must she take?

2. From Zeist, is there a night train to Noordwijkerhout? How long is the travel time?

3. From Noordwijkerhout, is there a direct train to AMS? If none, what should be her route? How long is the travel time?

4. For train travels, can she purchase tickets online? From what website?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Hey,

Does anybody know of any stores/supermarkets near Prinsenstraat street (that's where we are staying) where I can buy beer? I still plan to go to bars, but why pay higher prices for certain brands when I can buy them in supermarkets. I like trying different beers and that could get expensive after a while. So since I'll be in Amsterdam I'd like to try as many beers as I can, expecially the ones that are not available in United States.

P.S. I hope Amstel is available. In US we only have Amstel Light

Thanks

Hi Everyone,

I'm going to be starting my vacation in Amsterdam, and will be landing there on X-mas day. Is there anything open on X-mas day, or does the city pretty much shut down?

Thanks for your help...

Jim

What would be the best way for a group of 5 people to get from Amsterdam Airport at about noon hour to the Baarn/Soest area. We are traveling with one elderly person.

Hi.
I am going to spend the whole day tomorrow 5.october in Amsterdam. Any tips on what to do? I have already done the "obvious" sights like Anne Frank and Rijksmuseum.

I have a business-meeting that with a bit of luck will only take half an hour, but with some bad luck will take 12 hours... (In Telecity 2, Amsterdam South-East)

Hi
i would like to take a nice trip around Netherlands.

I have a few questions :

1. I saw that i can rent a bicycle for something like 20-25 Euro per day - sounds very expensive to me - i can bring my bicycle with me - is this a good options

2. is it possible to to such trip ? any recommendations ?
3. how can i find places to sleep on VT members houses ?

i am trying to travel for 2 weeks with the minimal budget.

Thanks
Ophir

Arriving by train from Brussels to Centraal station. Need a B&B or similarly inexpensive hotel for one night. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Bedankt
Rolf

Hi,

I'm planning on going to Eindhoven for a weekend in Oct, and was wondering which would be the best way to get there by train and how much would it cost for return tickets. Thanks

A friend and I will be meeting in Holland Dec 4-6. We both know Amsterdam really well and collectively have been to Arnehm, Groenigen, Utrecht, Alkmaar, Maastricht, Haarlem and we want to see somewhere new.

We would arrive around 10pm on Friday and need to be at the Amsterdam airport by 3pm. I can see that many cities are within an hour's range, like
Rotterdam
Den Haag
Leiden
Delft

What we're looking for is
*an evening out with pubs
*an afternoon in a cool museum/cinema
*compact center or easy, convenient transportation
*we'll trade some cosmopolitan for more student-like prices
*good connections to amsterdam airport
*a couple of coffeeshops
*possible to be out late but still safe and mellow

what do you guys suggest? Is it better to stay in a smaller city and visit one of the bigger towns for Saturday afternoon or vice versa?

Will be in Amsterdam Oct 2nd thru 4th and not sure where best area to search for a hotel to max sightseeing in that short time. Usually just walk the city and want to see as much as I can. Can anyone help?

hello all

I am heading to Amsterdam in early October for a little over a week and currently in search of a short term sublet or rent of an apartment or apart-hotel.

Please any info or references would be appreciated.

ciao

as the title suggest my mate and I have a 12 hour layover in Amsterdam starting at 10pm, leaving at 10am.. This will start new years day, that night.

I personally would like to dump my stuff off somewhere, go straight to town and party as long as I can and then back to the airport and sleep all the way home!!

1) can anyone give me an exact location to go to? I would like some booze and I would like to get as high as I can.
2) is the airport going to give me grief coming back through customs?? And how much time should I allow for this??

Thanks

Hello,
I wanted to know if there is a direct bus from Lelystad to Walibi World.

I come from amsterdam and I have to 2 options:
a. To travel to Harederwijk and a shuttle from there
b. To lelysted.

The road to Lelystad is shorter but I didnt find a way to get from there to Walibi World.
Thanks

I am trying to find information on how to use the luggage lockers located in Central Station. I have used them in the past but they are no longer accepting coins but rather some sort of a "credit card" or pin card. Can someone explain how a person obtains one of these cards so they can make use of the lockers.

My husband and I have a 9 hour layover at night. Will there be anything to do between 11pm and 8am? If not, will there be sleeping accommodations nearby or in the airport? Is it expensive? Thank you!

i read somewere that it will be ban on tourist bying soft drugs in cofee shops.how true is it and if it is when is it going to be inforced.

Mainly two questions regarding above trip.

1. Will weather between Oct. 10-20 be adequate for this journey? I live in Southern California so am rain-averse but if it's not real cold then will be OK.

2. There are three places I insist on stopping at, Kinderdijk, Middleburg, and Ghent, along the way. Can anyone please assist with other nice places to detour to along this route? Some small town I don't know of? Or, a castle or chateau somewhere off the beaten path?

I want to see Amsterdam & see the canals lit up but I REALLY DON'T want to see the red light district. Do ALL cruises go there - anyone know a cruise/walking tour that DOESN'T go there? Also on the subject of cruises, anyone know of ones that have (a) vegie/fish options and (b) non-alcoholic options? (and any that can tick both the dietary boxes plus the see the canals WITHOUT the red light district boxes? If so, THAT'S my cruise, baby!! Thanks in advance