starrs

Trying to decide on a last day and night of a trip and basically want a quiet place to spend the night, wander around, have a nice dinner, etc. Something more interesting than a hotel near the airport.

menachem

Leiden. 10 minutes to Schiphol. Frequent trains. A more functional city than Delft. Also because trains on the Delft - Den Haag stretch are known for delays due to signal faults etc.
In Leiden you'll be closer to Schiphol. In fact, just as far away as some Airport Hotels. So it's a safe and carefree bet.

bdokeefe

I agree with menachem...Leiden seemed to have more energy, probably due to all the students. It also has a very nice botanical garden. Leiden was my first stop on my Netherlands trip last year, and super easy to arrive from Schipol (easier to me than staying in Amsterdam). Delft just didn't wow me.

Returning this spring, and it'll be to Leiden. I really liked this small hotel, great location from train station and it's in an old Army barracks that is attached to one of the town gates.

https://www.boutiquehoteldeoudemorsch.nl/en/

hetismij2

Third vote for Leiden.

hetismij2

If you do opt for Leiden you might enjoy the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. We went to a formal dinner there one evening a few years back (yes black tie, cummerbund, long evening dress compulsory if you can imagine us dressed up to the nines and beyond ) and we had the run of the place after dinner. We found it really interesting.
https://www.rmo.nl/en/

The other museums there you might like are Corpus and Naturalis.
https://corpusexperience.nl/en/#!/plan-your-visit

https://www.naturalis.nl/en

menachem

That hotel is excellent and the location is beautiful. Right opposite Galgenwater is where Rembrandt van Rijn was born, indeed, on the Rijn.

menachem

And the Volkenkundig museum: beautiful exhibition about shamanic traditions at the moment and of course an impressive collection and three large Nakamura Buddha statues.

Also interesting is the Von Sieboldhuis: https://www.sieboldhuis.org/ Also an excellent chance to get a look inside one of those Professors' mansions on Rapenburg.
Bakery tip: Us Bertus on Groenhazengracht is a Frisian baker: the scent of aniseed and cumin can can be noticed a block away.

I don't like the Corpus thing much, it's way out of the city (a bus to the edge of town) and it's gadgety and underwhelming to me.

Dayle

starrs, when I visited the Netherlands about 3 years ago, I started in Delft and loved it. I trains I took happened to be on time and I didn't notice any problems. I took the bus through Leiden on my way to staying in Lisse. Leiden looked very nice too. I enjoyed the scenic route bus ride!

I was rather surprised that I enjoyed both Delft and Haarlem, as far as cities and how pleasant they were, a lot more than Amsterdam!

bdokeefe

Dayle- Very true, and there are many smaller cities that get you away from the hustle and crowds of Amsterdam, while still having canals and great architecture. Alkmaar comes to mind. Arnhem doesn't have canals, but a great zoo, park, open air museum and WW2 museum more than make up for it. Both easy to get to via train, and your helping to relieve the tourist overcrowding of Amsterdam. Groningen a bit further away, but worth the effort.

And I know there are more, all the reason to explore outside the same old-same old.

hetismij2

Starrs is very happy to explore outside the same old. She came up to me in harlingen last year. This year she has her reasons for Leiden and or Delft.
I have been trying to get people to look beyond the usual suspects in the Netherlands for years, with limited success.

menachem

The Big Secret. Everywhere is saner and nicer than Amsterdam.

menachem

I salute you

menachem

I lived in The Hague when I studied in Leiden in the early 1990s, at the Hendrik Kern institute of Indology. Back then the institute had lecture rooms in the attic of the Volkenkundig museum, so I've walked the stretch from the Arsenaal (where the institute proper was, later at Nonnensteeg, looking out on the Hortus) to the Volkenkundig Museum, along Galgenwater and past Morspoort. An everyday pleasure.

starrs

I can get a late afternoon flight so am leaning toward Delft. Thanks for all the great info.

Heti, I hate that I don't have enough vacation time to head north this year. Hopefully next!

Dayle

Starrs, I stayed at a lovely historic inn in Delft. Let me look it up if you don't already have an idea of where you want to stay. Good location, fabulous breakfast, excellent owners, quiet and cute rooms.
I chose to start in Delft so I could visit Kinderjick (I have no idea if I'm spelling it right 3 years later.....) on the first day they started up all the windmills at once. Loved it and really enjoyed getting there, very scenic. Train to Rotterdam (which looked like a great city to visit), boat to Kinkderjick, beautiful weather, lucky me! A delightful day.

Dayle

Here it is if you want to check it out for current reviews:

Hotel De Esmauspoort

Vrouwenregt 69

2611 KK Delft, Netherlands

Phone: +31 15 219 0219

menachem

Kinderdijk.

Anyway. I still think Leiden is better, because of the close proximity to schiphol and because Leiden and Schiphol are also served by trains from The Hague CS.
The Rotterdam to Amsterdam trunkline suffers delays and interruptions rather often. Signal failures happen mostly between Delft and Den Haag and between Den Haag and Voorschoten. Hence the advice to choose Leiden: less risk when traveling to Schiphol.

IMO Delft is nice for an afternoon.

starrs

Delft calls to me. I actually had reservations there for the last trip. It's one place that I've always wanted to go, maybe since my grandmother visited when I was a child. If I can get that afternoon flight, I'll have plenty of time and get another morning of vacation. I'll add in buffer time in case there's a problem with the train. But if I miss the flight, that week is 4th of July week and there won't be anything vital going on at work anyway. I'll hold my room at the airport for now, but may change to to Leiden as a backup instead.

Dayle, I booked the hotel! Thanks!

starrs

Dayle, I've really enjoyed your posts! I think we have similar travel styles and interests. We will be staying in Rotterdam for the previous two nights and visiting the windmills the day before. I hope we are as lucky with the weather!

menachem

Just as a reminder: the whole of the Randstad, the agglomeration around Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht, can be seen as one urban area. Because of Dutch urban design there is very little sprawl, so what you get is "Cities with park=like landscapes between them". Distances and travel times are just very short. That's why I never really understand the resistance people have about staying outside of Amsterdam.

I need to ask, why, if you're in Rotterdam the two previous nights, the shift to Delft, while Rotterdam has a super connection to Schiphol (20 minutes by ICD). Rotterdam is 10 minutes from Delft by train.
Just pointing all this out, not trying to sway you in your choices, but just really curious what the reasoning is.