I’m going to be visiting Wageningen, The Netherlands in October of this year for work and I’d love some insight into what to expect. I’m hoping to take a few extra days and turn this trip into a mini-vacation too. I see that Amsterdam is only an hour or so away by car so that seems like a can’t-miss, but what else should I make a point of checking out?
How safe is it there? I’m thinking about bringing my wife and one-year old along. Will there be enough, reasonably things for them to do while I’m working during the day?
I’d be wary about taking a car too far into Amsterdam - there’s nowhere to park for one thing. Look on http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers the trains lookpretty frequent, and Dutch railways in general are ace.
Pretty much totally safe, completely gorgeous, wonderful people, fabulous food, and if you’re concerned about the language, don’t be: nearly everyone, of every age, speaks English. Don’t bother with a car - just take the train. Everywhere. There’s no place in the Netherlands I wouldn’t recommend. It’s one of my favourite countries.
I used to go to The Hague on business and always enjoyed the country. Been to Bruges and recommend it, also Antwerp. There are casinos out by Scheveningen near The Hague, if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
Neither Bruges nor Antwerp are in the Netherlands. Just so you know. Though the borders aren’t even noticeable any more, there is actually plenty within the country to keep you going, though it’s small. We planned to be there for a few days and ended up staying almost a month and then repeatedly going back.
I can’t even agree with that! We went there first in mid-September (well, first since I was a child), and spent a week at the beach, swimming, sunbathing etc. We were in the Netherlands until mid-October and spent pretty much the whole time in shorts. In fact looking at our pictures of the Netherlands from all the different times of year we’ve been there, it seems we’ve been unusually blessed in the weather department.
We spent a week in Amsterdam one July, and never saw a ray of sunshine. In spite of that we had a totally wonderful time and can’t wait to go back and see more of the country.
Lesson learned: Always look both ways, to avoid getting hit by a bicycle.
It’s funny you brought up Wageningen today, since today is probably the busiest day of the year there. (Today is the day of liberation from the German occupation from WWII, and about 100,000 people - about 3 times the total population - gather in the city).
The Netherlands is pretty safe. You can’t let your 1 year old run off completely unsupervised, but that’s pretty much for the same reasons you won’t let your kid run around unsupervised in your garden.
Personally I like Wageningen for the nice medieval center and its nice cafes and market stalls, but even though there’s a university there, it’s fairly boring if you fancy the wild city life - then again, with a 1 year old you probably don’t want to get drunk as hell in some dance club - or maybe you do I can understand.
I’d recommend you rent a few bicycles for the week and check out at least the “Veluwe” nature reserve/area because it’s one of the quietest and prettiest places in the Netherlands. Really, go by bike if you’re able - it’s by far the best way to check out that part of the country. There’s a whole (complicated sounding but) easy to understand and use map system in place that will make it completely easy to see the country side. ETA: you don’t even need a map, though it helps if you want to plan. You should be able to get one at the VVV (tourist information) shops.
PS: If you want to know more, just ask. I’ve lived here most of my life, so me (and the other Dutch dopers) can probably give you more info. It’s just that your post is fairly sparse on your interests.
I thought Edam and Volendam were cute little towns just a little bit outside Amsterdam. I’d also recommend a canal cruise while in Amsterdam, the van Gogh museum, and a stop at de Poezenboot.
While we’re still throwing ideas around, you might want to check out the city of Utrecht. The Central Museum is pretty good - it has sections on Rietveld, Bruna (the creator of Miffy) and the quite interesting period from the late middle ages (when Utrecht was one of the most powerful bishopdoms in the country) till the early 20th century.
Utrecht (city) also has a very pretty inner city with canals, good food, great bars and a generally relaxed and friendly attitude.
Cripes, I lived in Brussels for two years and should know better. “Antwerp” should have been Amsterdam, and I guess Bruges got in my head from another post.
Last time I went the the Netherlands, we took a train to the center of Amsterdam and put our bags in a locker, hung out for the day then rented a car and drove it out to Delft where we stayed for a couple days. The city is right between The Hague and Rotterdam both of which are pretty cool to check out. If you go to the Hague, check out Madurodam, Miniature City. Take pictures of your 1 year old like Godzilla with the city.
One day we went out to Scheningen which is a coastal city and walked out on the boardwalk. A misturn while following the GPS lead us to Leidschendam another day which is a great walking town for shopping and street vendors selling lumpias (so good I started crying). We never really had a problem finding a parking spot since we didn’t mind find an area and then walking a couple blocks.
There are a ton of cute cities in the Netherlands that you might miss by taking a train.
(After that, we went to Bruges, Paris and back to Amsterdam).
One restaurant recommendation is The Pancake Bakery. Their indonesian pancake makes it a must-go place everytime we’re in town.
My SO told me that that city was used by the Dutch as a test if the person was a citizen or a German spy. If they couldn’t pronounce it, they were “outed”. (I’m not sure if that’s fact or not.)
Well, the Dutch ruled Indonesia up until World War II. There are also restaurants that serve the “rijsttafel”.
Also because the Dutch ruled Surinam, there are some good Surinamese restaurants too. Those were real fun as I’d never been exposed to the food before and it was really tasty. (The one we went to was in the center of the Hague and had counter seating only.)
I can understand.