Spring Visit to the Netherlands
There’s nothing more bucket-list-worthy than a spring trip to the Netherlands. Tulips, windmills, cheese, clogs – all images conjured up when thinking of this beautiful country. So, after moving to Germany last spring, our first big trip away was to the Netherlands. This post is all about the details of our trip! See the post of just our itinerary here.
Haarlem
We decided to base our stay in picturesque Haarlem. Located just outside Amsterdam and close to the beach, we chose Haarlem for its historic charm and central location. We knew that we wanted to visit Amsterdam, but we also wanted to tour the countryside and visit the beach. The Haarlem train station offers a short 15-minute train ride into Amsterdam. We could walk to the train station from our lodging. We rented a small townhome on Airbnb along the canals of Haarlem and began our short 3.5-hour drive from Germany.
The drive into Haarlem was super easy and our apartment came with a parking spot! We picked up the keys from a local café and then started up the steepest stairs I’ve ever seen! The family we rented the apartment from has 3 young kids and all I could imagine was carrying the kids and groceries up and down those stairs!
But, we managed and warned the kids to stay away from the stairs! The apartment was open, airy and had the most beautiful sunsets from the back balcony! The 3 bedrooms were perfect and we had a wonderful view of the historic church located right behind the house. Our hosts left us a booklet with tons of information on the area and were easily accessible via WhatsApp all weekend!
King’s Day Celebration
After unpacking our things and checking out the apartment, we ventured into downtown Haarlem for the afternoon. What we knew little about before arriving was that we were visiting the Netherlands on the biggest party day of the year – King’s Day!
King’s Day, celebrated on April 27th, is a national holiday celebrating the birthday of King Willem-Alexander. We began walking toward the central square of Haarlem and were greeted by a sea of people in orange. People were decked out in the national color and partying in the streets and on the canals. It was quite the celebration!
The main city square, Grote Markt, was filled with carnival rides galore. Our kids were thrilled, but we were a little bummed to miss out on the ambiance of this beautiful central square. We indulged a few rides for the kids and then walked out of the city center along the canals of Haarlem. Because of the holiday, most businesses were closed, so we just wandered the beautiful streets and visited the De Adriaan Windmill.
As the sun began to set, we wandered back toward our townhome and cooked dinner in the kitchen. The kids enjoyed some relaxing time exploring all the new toys in our temporary home.
Corrie Ten Boom House
On our first full day in the Netherlands, we walked through Haarlem over to the Corrie Ten Boom House. The Ten Boom family owned and operated a watch shop in central Haarlem during the 19th and early 20th centuries. A devout Christian family, the Ten Booms were known for their charity work throughout the community.
During the start of WWII, Corrie and Betsy Ten Boom became part of the Dutch resistance. The family helped those who were attempting to escape the repressive Nazi regime. Eventually, the family began housing those attempting to flee illegally. In February 1944, the family was betrayed and 6 members of the Ten Boom family were arrested and taken into Nazi custody. Six refugees were safely hidden in “the hiding place” behind a false wall in Corrie’s bedroom. They stayed hidden for 47 hours before being released to safety.
The Ten Boom family spent years in Nazi Concentration Camps and prisons. Corrie was the only surviving family member and she was released from Ravensbruck Concentration Camp in 1945. She spent the remainder of her life traveling the world and telling others about the love of Jesus. Her book, “The Hiding Place”, tells her incredible story.
The Ten Boom House is open for tours. Tours are free of charge and available at several different times each day, Tuesday-Saturday. Reservations are possible by emailing ahead of time. The home still houses many of the same artifacts that were in the home during the early 1940s. You can visit Corrie’s bedroom and even attempt to climb into the hiding place.
There is also a small museum with many relics from the family’s history as well as a book store. A small donation is requested but not required. The tour was incredibly informative, and the all-volunteer staff was knowledgeable and kind. We had a slight snafu with our stroller during the tour, and the staff was attentive to our needs and so helpful! The front of the shop is also still a watch shop!
Keukenhof Gardens
After our tour of the Ten Boom House, we walked back to our AirBnB to pick up our car. We picked up a quick snack at Cleeff, a local café near our Airbnb, and then began the drive to Keukenhof Gardens. The drive to the famous Keukenhof Gardens was about 30 minutes and very picturesque. We drove through tree-lined streets, past a castle, and through the famous tulip fields.
Once we arrived, we parked in the back-parking lot. I purchased our tickets and parking ahead of time online. There was not a long line when we visited thankfully, but I think that was partially due to it being the afternoon. I read that visiting in the afternoon was best for the crowds and for the light for photographs. We entered the gardens and were immediately blown away!
Wow! There is no other way to describe the fields and fields of tulips and other incredible flowers at Keukenhof! We used our map as guidance, but we could’ve just wandered aimlessly for hours and never visited the same area twice!
We walked through fields of multi-colored tulips, around lakes with swans, through greenhouses and art exhibits, and even to a playground! The stroller was a blessing at Keukenhof because it was a lot of walking for the kids, but beware that there are a few areas only accessible via stairs. We just carried the stroller up the stairs, but it can be a hassle.
After wandering the gardens for over an hour, we stopped for a snack break near the front entrance and listened to an old automatic organ near a fountain. We thankfully had beautiful weather, and while it was crowded, we never felt overwhelmed by the number of people.
After our snack break, we made a stop at the fantastic children’s playground near the center of the gardens. The kids loved the big rope tire swing and a little zipline. There were also food trucks next to the playground with local specialties.
Before winding our way back toward the exit, we made a stop at the little windmill and clog shoe for some photo opportunities.
We were completely blown away by the gardens and thoroughly enjoyed our time exploring the miles of flowers. I’m sure we even missed some areas.
Tulip Fields
As we were leaving the area, we still had some daylight, so we stopped and wandered through some of the nearby tulip fields. I dare say that these fields with rows and rows of different colored tulips are even more impressive that the miles of planted beds in Keukenhof.
It was just unbelievable to see all of the colors in perfect rows. I only wish we could’ve gotten an aerial view!
Zandvoort Beach Town
On our way back to Haarlem, we made an impromptu stop in Zandvoort, a beach town on the North Sea. The weather was cool, but the sun was setting and the beach was calling our name. We wandered out onto the beach and dipped our cold toes into the North Sea!
The kids had a blast wandering along the shore in the sand. We miss the beach! The beach town was still pretty quiet, but we found a nearby restaurant that was open for dinner, Hippie Fish.
The building is located on the sand with a gorgeous view of the sun setting over the water. Inside, the restaurant was a modern, beautiful space and thankfully they said they could squeeze us in for a quick dinner. We were thankful because they did seem busy. Dinner was delicious and we enjoyed a fantastic sunset view over the North Sea. What a beautiful day!
Amsterdam
On our third day in the Netherlands, we decided to take the train into Amsterdam. From our Airbnb, the train station was about a 15-minute walk away. Once we bought our tickets and boarded the train, it was about a 15-minute ride into Amsterdam central.
I’m pretty sure the kids loved the train ride more than anything else on our trip! This is probably why it’s best for us to stay outside a big city and ride the train in. The kids always appreciate the train ride more than anything!
Canal Cruise
Once we arrived at Amsterdam Central, we walked out of the station into beautiful Amsterdam! We walked directly over to Pier 6 for a morning canal cruise. We picked Stromma because we wanted to do an open-boat cruise. It was a nice, partly-cloudy day, so we wanted to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air!
Maarten, our tour guide, loaded 10-15 people in our boat, and we left the dock promptly at 11AM. We cruised the Amsterdam Canals, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for an hour while Maarten gave us details about the history of Amsterdam, the science behind the canals and a tour of the famous city.
While we felt lost amongst the winding canals, Maarten knew exactly which side alley to take and where to turn. He pointed out important landmarks and interesting tidbits about the houseboats and homes that line the canals. We learned about churches and museums, dates and pulleys attached to the homes as well as a few details about that famous district with red lights.
The kids were entertained by wildlife that Maarten pointed out, helping to steer the boat, waving to others and trying to touch the top of the 1000 bridges we ducked underneath.
Maarten answered all of our questions, and we had a great time! I thought this was a great way to start our visit to Amsterdam. It’s a classic experience in Amsterdam, but also a great way to get a feel for the layout of the city before exploring.
After our cruise, we walked across the bridge to the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the main Catholic church in Amsterdam. It’s beautiful façade and interior were built in the 19th century in the Old Centre district of Amsterdam.
NEMO Science Museum
By this point, it was getting close to lunchtime, so we made our way down the street and over to the Island of Green, otherwise known as the NEMO Science Museum. We met one of my sorority sisters from college, Liz, who lives in Amsterdam for lunch at the rooftop café. One side of the building has large stairs that you can use to walk all the way to the café. It’s free to visit the rooftop displays and to enjoy the café. The views of Amsterdam from the café are beautiful!
After lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring all of the exhibits in the NEMO Science Museum.
The five floors of interactive science-themed exhibits and displays are exciting and entertaining. The kids had a fantastic time, as did the adults! Our kids especially enjoyed the gravity experiments, the giant bubble station, the life-size bright light display and the science show.
There is only one area to maybe avoid with young kid – there’s a small sex-themed area up on the 4th floor that we just skipped. Thankfully our kids were oblivious, but older kids might have some questions! Overall it was a fantastic afternoon. We were all exhausted and enjoyed the quiet train ride back to Haarlem and some pizza for dinner!
Amsterdam – Day 2
For our fourth day, we decided to venture back into Amsterdam for another day exploring this beautiful city. The one thing on our list that I had been disappointed not to be able book in advance was a tour of the Anne Frank House. Tickets can be purchased online in advance, but we booked our trip too late and tickets were all sold out. You can also wait in line for same day entrance, but the line can be hours long, especially during tulip season. I knew that waiting in line with the kids wasn’t an option, so we decided if we couldn’t get tickets we’d just have to come back another time. I kept checking the website over and over for more tickets to be released as I’d heard this can happen sometimes. Sure enough, while getting ready on our fourth day, I checked around 8:15AM and there were tickets for the afternoon available! I snatched 2 tickets (the kids were free) and we reworked our day plan!
IAmsterdam and Rijksmuseum
After arriving at Amsterdam Central Station, we walked across the city and over many canals to the famous IAmsterdam sign. The sign is located just outside the beautiful Rijksmuseum. The kids enjoyed climbing over and through many of the letters.
It was quite crowded, but we still had some fun before entering the Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum, known as the museum of the Netherlands, is filled with Dutch art from the Middle Ages to present day.
After checking our bags and coats at the bag check station, we entered the museum with our trusty Rick Steves Guide Book and made our way up the stairs to the stunning Great Hall. The large corridor is filled with stained glass windows dedicated to the arts and depicting different famous artists. The ornate arches and mosaic tile floor make you feel as though you’re in a cathedral and not an art museum.
Turning out of the Great Hall and down the Gallery of Honour, the most famous piece in the museum, Rembrandt’s Night Watch is visible at the end of the long gallery. Walking down the Gallery of Honour, small alcoves are filled with famous paintings from artists of the seventeenth century including Rembrandt, Vermeer, Steen and Hals. We slowly made our way toward the Night Watch Gallery. Crowds of people surrounded the painting. In the gallery, laminated cards with details about the painting in many languages were available for viewing.
Two other famous Rembrandt paintings lined the side walls of the gallery along with a large sculpture. After viewing the paintings, we made our way through the corridors of this floor following Rick Steves Guide for touring the museum. Of special interest to the kids were the room of ancient Doll Houses and the airplane models on the 3rd floor. Educational tours geared toward children are available in the museum.
We chose not to do a tour in favor of going at our own pace, and we never felt overwhelmed or rushed. The museum is large, but not overwhelming. After several hours of wandering the four floors of art, we made our way to the Rijks Café for some lunch and a treat. The café is modern and light, located just above the main entrance floor. We shared a few sandwiches and some delicious dessert before making our way back outside.
Anne Frank House and Museum
We wandered the canal-lined streets over to the Anne Frank House where a long and winding line greeted us outside. We were SO thankful to have snatched the last-minute tickets that morning! Because we had the stroller, we entered through a side door, presented our tickets, picked up our audio guides and made our way inside for the tour.
The Anne Frank House and Museum is located in central Amsterdam in a 17th century canal house. The tour takes you through what was once the offices and store location for Anne’s father, Frank’s business and the back rooms of the building. These back, hidden rooms eventually became a small home for the Frank family and several others hiding from Nazi persecution during World War 2. The Frank family hid in the space for over two years before they were compromised and deported to concentration camps in Germany. Only Frank Otto, Anne’s father, survived the war.
The tour of the house using listening devices takes you through the front of the building and to the secret annex in the back. No pictures may be taken inside. The first few rooms have permanent exhibitions highlighting the atrocities of the persecution from World War 2 and also a little about the Frank family.
After touring these first few rooms, you turn a corner and climb a narrow, steep staircase to the secret annex. In this area, you can see how the Frank family and several others lived in this 500 square meter space for over two years. The home looks as though the family just left yesterday. Posters and photographs are on the walls, left by Anne and her sister.
Most memorable, for us, was a spot on the wall where Anne’s father measured the girl’s heights over time. One small skylight in the attic gave a glimpse into the outside world. The tiny space was hard to maneuver but gave you a true sense of what it might have been like to live in this space for over 2 years without any connection to the outside world!
In the rest of the museum space, there are several permanent exhibitions with artifacts, photographs and a few videos of the Frank family. Near the exit, there is a museum dedicated to all forms of persecution and discrimination, a café and a bookstore. Following the moving tour, we exited the building and made our way a block down the road to the statue of Anne Frank.
Our kids were surprisingly very well behaved during the tour. It was a tight space, and it was difficult to keep them from touching walls and artifacts, but they each had a headset to listen throughout the tour. We could not take the stroller into the small space, so they had to walk, but overall, they did quite well. You can spend unlimited amount of time touring the home and museum, but we chose to move through quickly so as to not distract others if our kids became unmanageable.
Though they might not remember this tour, I think it was a fantastic piece of history for kids to view. Anne Frank was also a kid, so the Anne Frank House is the perfect place to begin the discussion of how other kids have lived and suffered. We talked with Emelia about the tour and what she was going to see, while still leaving out any difficult details to explain at her age. She was interested in Anne Frank and to see her house, but obviously didn’t understand the true significance of the space. Hopefully we can bring her back again in the future!
Pancakes Amsterdam
Following our tour of the Anne Frank house, we sat down at Pancakes Amsterdam for a traditional taste of some Dutch Pancakes. We chose a ham and cheese pancake and a mini chocolate pancakes to share. Dutch pancakes are more like crepes, served on a large plate with the toppings baked right in. Both the sweet and the savory choices were delicious. The kids especially loved the mini pancakes that they could dip right into the chocolate sauce.
After our bellies were stuffed with more dessert, we started the walk through the canal-lined streets back over to Amsterdam Central Station to catch our train back to Haarlem. We spent our last night in Haarlem enjoying the beautiful spring weather on the playground near our Airbnb.
Zaanse Schans
On our fifth and final day in the Netherlands, we packed up and checked out of our Airbnb in the morning. After saying goodbye to the steep stairs and our temporary home, we drove about 30 minutes over to Zaanse Schans, a recreation of a tiny 18th century Dutch town. Windmills and small wooden houses line the little village where you can visit workshops that highlight the traditional Dutch crafts.
Visiting the village and the craft workshops is free, but there is a fee to tour the zaans museum and to enter several of the windmills. The Zaans museum is a collection of traditional Dutch clothing, model windmills and examples of the trades including chocolate-making on display. We chose not to enter the museum, but instead wandered through the village and visited several of the workshop buildings. The first building we entered was a cheese-making display. We watched as a woman in traditional clothing demonstrated the process of making one of the staples of the Netherlands, cheese. It was fascinating!
Then, we entered a huge store where we could sample and then purchase cheeses of all kinds. It was delicious and we left with many cheese options for later consumption. We visited with the goats and cows just outside the building while enjoying some cheese nachos before moving on. Several other buildings offered demonstrations on pewter-casting, chocolate-making, and clog-carving. We wandered along the windmill path and then watched the fascinating technique of clog-carving before making our way back to the car.
The village was incredibly fascinating and we could’ve spent several more hours wandering the grounds. But, we wanted to begin the 4-hour drive home before too much of the day got away from us.
The kids napped in the car on the way home while we reminisced about our first big European adventure to the Netherlands! We even enjoyed some cheese on the drive home!
Details:
Activities:
King’s Day Celebration in Haarlem
Molen De Adriaan Windmill in Haarlem
Corrie Ten Boom House in Haarlem
Open Boat Canal Cruise from Stromma Damrak, Pier 6 with Maarten
Food:
Hippie Fish Restaurant in Zandvoort
Cleeff Café in Haarlem
Nemo Science Museum Rooftop Café
Lodging:
2 thoughts on “Spring Visit to the Netherlands”
Great blog post! Netherlands was one of our favorite countries, and you captured it perfectly!
Thank you for your kind words! The Netherlands is so fascinating and we only touched the surface of what there is to see! We can’t wait to go back!