No. of Recommendations: 4
DW and I just arrived back from a month in the Netherlands and France. We hadn't been to Amsterdam for some years, mostly because it's typically jammed with raucous tourists and, despite its many great attractions, has lost some of its charm for us. So after some research, we decided to spend five nights in Haarlem instead, which is a short tram ride away from Amsterdam and is close to the Keukenhof tulip gardens and the North Sea beaches.
It was a great decision. Initially, we thought we'd zip into Amsterdam to visit the museums and such, but it turned out that Haarlem has a number of fine museums of its own, not to mention its pedestrian-only streets lined with shops and restaurants, its own canals and canal boat rides, and a generally peaceful, contented vibe. We managed to visit the huge Keukenhof on the final week of the tulip season. The weather was lovely the whole time, and we even spent a day at the North Sea beach of Bloemendaal aan Zee, which we walked to (it took more than an hour) and would have been better off renting bikes and riding to. We rode the bus back to Haarlem.
Getting from Schiphol Airport to Haarlem and back is a breeze on the #300 bus and takes less than 30 minutes. You can pay your fare right on the bus with a credit card.
All in all, we had so much fun that we never even made it into Amsterdam.
We stayed at Malts Hotel B&B, which we recommend highly. Book the one room with a terrace if you can. The husband and wife hosts/owners are kind and thoughtful, and you have 24-hour access to the eating area with coffee, tea, fruit, and an honor bar of drinks and snacks.
