Where should I go in the Netherlands? (Difficulty level: not Holland.)

June 8, 2017 1:38 AM

I live in Leiden and work in Amsterdam. I recently bought six unlimited day train tickets, valid for use throughout the Netherlands, not realising that they'd expire at the end of July. I originally planned to use them throughout the summer & autumn with my husband, but he's out of the country till the end of July, so I'd like to take the opportunity to take some solo day trips, ideally outside the Holland area. Where should I go?

I'm interested in travelling anywhere east of Utrecht and south of Rotterdam. I'm already planning to use one ticket to visit Efteling, and I'll almost certainly go to Groningen (I went there once before and loved it). I'll be travelling out of Leiden Centraal, and I'm fine with long train journeys, but would like to minimise transfers.

I'm especially interested in cool museums (I have a museumkaart), excellent food, out-of-the-way bookshops and vintage stores, beautiful natural areas, good walking, unusual solo experiences, and any neat one-off events that are taking place in the next couple of months. I like cities and rural areas, though I imagine the latter will be harder to get to. I'm not super interested in loud music or overly crowded events, and I won't be able to stay late/overnight anywhere. Given these parameters, what are some places that are worth a visit?

posted by littlegreen to Travel & Transportation around Netherlands (14 answers total)

You should definitely not miss out on the Kröller-Muller museum near Arnhem. It's situated in a wonderful National Park, where you can borrow a bicycle and ride around, or just walk.
posted by Too-Ticky at 2:15 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Seconding the Kröller-Müller Museum, and De Veluwe in general. I also highly recommend Middelburg; the city center is lovely, the Zeeuws Museum is cool, and De Gespleten Arent is an amazing restaurant.

For rural areas, De Loonse en Drunense Duinen is really cool; it's about an hour from Station Tilburg by bus (you want to go to postal code 5071RC). Also, in Tilburg itself, there's the Textile Museum and De Pont art museum, and quite a few good restaurants.

This is north of Utrecht, but another rural area that's interesting is Oostvaardersplassen, between Almere and Lelystad. You could go to Station Almere Centrum, rent a bike, and ride there in about 20 minutes (it's only about 5 minutes' ride from Station Almere Oostvaarders, but I don't think there's a bike shop or OV-fiets there).
posted by neushoorn at 2:38 AM on June 8, 2017

There's a direct line from Leiden to Goes/Vlissingen. While I don't know those cities specifically, I always find Zeeland pretty special. You could rent a bicycle (or ov-fiets) and explore the nature and the villages. Here is the website of the Zeeland VVV.

Antwerp is also nice and not too far. You can buy a cheap ticket for just the portion from the border to Antwerp.
posted by blub at 2:42 AM on June 8, 2017

Best answer: South: Check out Maastricht, it's kind of different from other Dutch cities. And anyway, Zuid Limburg (Valkenburg/Gulpoen/Heerlen) offers a quite un-Hollands landscape, which you'll find refreshing after life and work in the flat lands.
The islands south of Rotterdam: to Middelburg there are trains (Some other islands: only buses, and I don't recall whether the ticket system is the same).
East/Northeast: Deventer. Charming city center, and I had some good Indonesian food there (also: Deventerkoek!)
If you're going to Groningen, try other cities along the line, too; Apeldoorn, Zwolle, Assen...there's always something that's special. Just check online or get yourself a bunch of vvv-gidsen and go already!

I lived in Hengelo for a while and while the area was calmer than the west at the time, the Hengelo-Enschede corner didn't really speak to me as a tourist, as opposed to the other options above.
Along the lines off what blub says , you can also look for places where you can hop over the German border, for instance visiting Leer (or Aachen).

Oh and the zoo in Emmen perhaps...
posted by Namlit at 2:50 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Having read Etty Hillesum's diaries, I think it would be interesting to visit the transit camp exhibit at Westerbork. I've never made the journey because it's quite a long way out there, but it sounds like you have a good excuse. According to the website, the closest stations are Assen and Beilen ("although only stopping trains stop at Beilen")

I've also always wanted to go to the Wadden Sea islands, but I don't know how accessible they are by train on a day trip.
posted by sagwalla at 3:17 AM on June 8, 2017

You could take the train to Den Helder and hop on a ferry to Texel, the first and largest of the Wadden Sea Islands. You can then rent a bike and explore the island, which has a lot to offer. It may be a little ambitious for a day trip, but it's doable and enjoyable.

Also, Breda is a most charming city and would make for an easy day trip.
posted by Desertshore at 6:28 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

For something special, go to visit the White City of Thorn in Limburg. Fascinating little city, ruled by nuns until Napoleon stepped in-- at one point the smallest independent state in the German Holy Roman Empire.
posted by frumiousb at 7:24 AM on June 8, 2017

Seconding Maastricht. It is lovely for an extended weekend with plenty of sightseeing, shopping, foodie and art options.
posted by Fallbala at 7:42 AM on June 8, 2017

OK, it's out of your area, but if you haven't visited Groningen I recommend it. Lovely old city centre.

I never got to Frisia or the islands but that might be really nice in the summer.
posted by zadcat at 9:04 AM on June 8, 2017

Thirding Kröller-Muller; thirding Maastricht: the Bonnefanten museum is neat and there's a bookstore in a 700-year old church.
posted by farlukar at 9:34 AM on June 8, 2017

Seconding Texel. It is not east of Utrecht and south of Rotterdam, and doesn't work well as a day trip, but if you have not been to the Wadden Islands I recommend it. Take the train to Den Helder, then the ferry to the island. There is a small historical museum in Den Burg and Ecomare, a museum dedicated to the unique Waddenzee ecosystem. Plus, great landscapes, farmscapes, dunescapes, beaches, birding, shopping.
posted by beagle at 11:03 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks so much for the responses! I'll definitely be checking out Arnhem and the Kröller-Müller Museum, as well as Maastricht, and many of the other suggestions sound wonderful too. I also looked into it and I think I can use these tickets for certain international journeys, so a trip to Antwerp is in order.

Marked a couple of best answers but all were very helpful!
posted by littlegreen at 12:54 AM on June 9, 2017

It involves transfer to a bus, as I recall, but I highly recommend visiting Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog, the conjoined dutch/belgian town down near the border. It is such a weird political entities, and there is an excellent beer store.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 10:04 AM on June 9, 2017

If you have some time left before/after Kröller-Müller, try to visit Museum Arnhem if only for having a cup of coffee/tea in the museum café, because the view from there is awesome.
posted by farlukar at 1:53 PM on June 9, 2017