With a little bit of luck, I’ll be spending a week in early November in the Netherlands. What are some things I should go do or see? I love history and art, as well as the quirky or strange.
My husband is going for work and we’ll be staying in the town of Waardenburg. How much difficulty will I have going from there to other cities? And what should I expect as far as weather?
Well the Rijksmuseum for one.
The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum are definitely on my list! I’m also considering the Mauritshuis in the Hague - is it a good museum/worth the trip?
And does anyone know if I can use my iPhone 4 there? I doubt I would need to use it to make calls, but it would be nice to use to connect to WiFi.
If you get REALLY bored, and after you have spent plenty of time at the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum, (both amazing places to spend a long afternoon) you could always take a visitor’s tour of the Heineken Brewery; The tour, called the Heineken Experience, is kind of like a mediocre attraction at Disneyland, complete with little movies, rides and activities, and of course a HUGE gift-shop and a couple of TINY sample beers…
I found out today I will actually be there for the first 2 weeks in November. Since I’ll have so much time, I’d like to do some traveling outside of the Netherlands. Any suggestions on places that would be good day trips, and how best to get there?
So you’re staying in Waardenburg, which I’ve had to look up. Looks like you won’t have terribly good access to public transport but it should still be possible to make tons of daytrips to all the major towns. Obviously you will want to go to Amsterdam (MPB in Salt Lake thinks it is such a foregone conclusion he does not even mention that the places he lists are in Amsterdam). There’s so much more to The Netherlands, though, so would strongly encourage you to visit some other places as well. You’ll be relatively close to Utrecht, which is a great city, but The Hague (where I’m from, so I’m admittedly a bit partisan) is also great. The Mauritshuis is relatively small but there’s also an Escher museum, and the Municipal Museum in The Hague is actually one of my favorites. In addition, it’s on the beach so that would be nice. You can also try and go on tours of the Peace Palace and the Dutch Parliament.
Leiden or Delft are also accessible. But even, provided the weather allows for it (which it probably won’t) going for a long bike ride around the area that Waardenburg is in would presumably (I’ve not been there) be very rewarding. As for the weather, though, it would likely be rainy and windy in November, so prepare for lots of indoors fun and have an umbrella with you at all times. Perhaps though, the weather might get more wintery which means more cold but less rain and more sun. Who knows, you might get lucky.
Hope you have a great trip.
It’s a fair point, and I for some reason thought that the OP had mentioned that she was planning on Amsterdam for a large part of her itinerary.
For what it’s worth, I have never been too fond of Amsterdam as a destination in and of itself, preferring to use it as a springboard to smaller, more “authentic” towns in the Netherlands, like Den Haag, Utrecht (I have been to several concerts at Vredenburg Muziek Centrum over the years) Eindhoven or even Rotterdam—A’Dam is just too touristy for my tastes, although I have had some very enjoyable visits there over the years.
I once spent a weekend in Groningen (Los Lobos) and thought it was one of the most beautiful, friendly, and enjoyable places I have ever visited…
If you’re in the Amsterdam area, swing down to Haarlem to see the Teylers Museum.
Catch a cab/bus to Zaltbommel, get on a train to 's Hertogenbosch and from there onto Maastricht - if you want to see a different side to the Netherlands you have to visit Maastricht - easy to walk, great churches and museums, amazing shopping (both high-street and boutiques), tons of bars and the best restaurants hands down…
Or catch a cab/bus to Zaltbommel and then train it to Brussels (3hours away)
A stroll through the Oudezijdsvoorburgwal in Amsterdam can be very educational too! It sure ain’t Oklahoma.
Should you visit Maastricht, and you are looking for nice restaurant, I would recommend De Branding
Great Indonesian food, lots of vegetarian options, choose from one of there excellent “rijst tafels”, great value for money
Authentic Indonesian is actually the best choice for great eating in Holland
Seconding Maastricht, and restaurant the Branding 
and Haarlem’s Teylers museum.
You can make daytrips to the awesome Belgian cities of Gent, Brugge and Leuven.
Do a google search for Maasticht on SDMB.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7594071&highlight=Maastricht#post7594071
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7399638&highlight=Maastricht#post7399638
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7310611&highlight=Maastricht#post7310611
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=354712&highlight=Maastricht
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=305845&highlight=Maastricht
Take the train or rent a car. In 6 hours you can be in Paris!
I second Bruges, Belgium. Pretty little walled city that you can explore on foot once you get there. Climb up the bell tower for the view and check out the Madonna in the Church of Our Lady.
The Anne Frank house is worth visiting. The last time I was in Amsterdam, I decided to visit and read the book on the plane ride over from the US. It was a very fascinating to read her diary and then a few days later tour the very house that it was set in.
Thirding ‘De Branding’ but have to put forward ‘Cafe Sjiek’ - the place for local traditional dishes in the cosiest bar in Maastricht
It’s mostly closed until 2013 due to renovations.
You have to get up pretty early for this, but it’s definitely worth it: the flower auction in Aalsmeer.
I went there a couple of weeks ago and was totally blown away. There are hundreds of people on electric carts zipping back and forth like giant flowercutter ants. I have never seen so many flowers in one place.
It has been a while…but there is plenty to do and see. Unfotunately, the days are short in November, and the skies tend to be gray. So go to the “brown cafes”-try the local beers. Also, the “Five flies restaurant” is interesting a nd good. Do the canal boat tours run in November? If so, its a good way to see the town.
I’d receommend a side trip to Delft-very nice.
The local seafood is very good-grilled sole “zeetong” is qite good.
Hope yo don’t mind smoke-the brown cafes often are full of it.
Enjoy!