Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [82]
Day-trips from the city
Amsterdammers always try to persuade you that there’s nothing remotely worth seeing outside their city, but the truth is very much the opposite – indeed, you’re spoilt for choice. The fast and efficient Dutch railway network puts a whole swathe of the Netherlands within easy reach, including all of the Randstad (literally “Ring City”), a sprawling conurbation that stretches south of Amsterdam to encompass the country’s other big cities, primarily The Hague, Utrecht and Rotterdam. Amid the urban sprawl, and very close to Amsterdam, is one especially appealing medium-sized town, Haarlem, whose attractive centre is home to the outstanding Frans Hals Museum. Further south – about 40km from Amsterdam and 15km from Haarlem – is another enticing attraction, the world–famous Keukenhof Gardens, the springtime showcase for the country’s flower growers, the land striped by long lines of brilliant blooms. To the north of Amsterdam, there’s more countryside and less city. The most obvious targets are the old seaports bordering the freshwater Markermeer, comprising the southern part of the IJsselmeer, created when the Afsluitdijk dam cut the former Zuider Zee off from the North Sea in 1932. No trains venture out along this coast, but it’s an easy bus ride from Amsterdam to the nearest three places of interest: the former fishing village of Marken, the port of Volendam and – best of the lot – the beguiling, one-time shipbuilding centre of Edam. Edam is, of course, famous for its cheese, but its open-air cheese market is not a patch on that of Alkmaar, itself an amiable and attractive small town forty minutes by train north of Amsterdam.
Day-trips from the city |
Haarlem
Though only fifteen minutes from Amsterdam by train, HAARLEM has a very different pace and feel from its big-city neighbour. It is an easy-going, medium-sized town of around 15,000 souls, benefiting from an old, attractive centre that’s easily absorbed in a few hours or an overnight stay. Founded on the banks of the River Spaarne in the tenth century, the town first prospered when the counts of Holland decided to levy shipping tolls here, but later it developed as a cloth-making centre. In 1572 the townsfolk sided with the Protestant rebels against the Habsburgs, a decision they must have regretted when a large Spanish army led by Frederick of Toledo besieged them later in the same year. The siege was a desperate affair that lasted for eight months, but finally the town surrendered after receiving various assurances of good treatment – assurances which Frederick promptly broke, massacring over two thousand of the Protestant garrison and all their Calvinist ministers. Recaptured in 1577 by the Protestant army of William the Silent, Haarlem went on to enjoy its greatest prosperity in the seventeenth century, becoming a centre for the arts and home to a flourishing school of painters, whose canvases are displayed at the first-rate Frans Hals Museum, located in the almshouse where the artist spent his last – and, for some, his most brilliant – years.
Day-trips from the city | Haarlem |
Arrival and information
There are fast and very frequent train services between Amsterdam and Haarlem; trains leave every ten minutes or so and take about fifteen minutes. The city’s train station is just north of the city centre, about ten minutes’ walk from the main square, the Grote Markt; buses stop just in front. The VVV is on the other side of the centre, at Verwulft 11 (April–Sept Mon–Fri 9.30am–5.30pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 11am–3pm; Oct–March same hours, closed Sun; 0900/61 61 600, www.vvvhaarlem.nl), and issues free city maps and brochures. Bike rental is available at the train station.
Day-trips from the city | Haarlem |
Accommodation
The VVV has details of a small number of rooms in private houses, mostly on the outskirts of town and costing in the region of €45 per double per night, and can provide