NETHERLANDS: RESOURCES GUIDE
About the Netherlands:
The Netherlands is a country of stunning landscapes, picturesque cities, and a rich cultural heritage that is sure to inspire and delight. With its iconic windmills, charming tulip fields, and world-class museums, there's something here for everyone.
One of the top destinations in the Netherlands is the vibrant city of Amsterdam, with its historic canals, world-class museums, and lively cafe culture. But there's much more to explore in this amazing country - from the charming university town of Leiden to the vibrant harbor city of Rotterdam.
Nature lovers will be delighted by the many national parks and nature reserves that dot the landscape, including the Hoge Veluwe National Park, the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve, and the Wadden Sea National Park - a UNESCO World Heritage site that is home to a wide range of birds and marine life.
For those interested in history and culture, the Netherlands has an incredible wealth of museums and historic sites to explore, including the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House, and the Rijksmuseum - home to some of the greatest works of Dutch art in the world.
Foodies will also find plenty to enjoy in the Netherlands, with its wide range of delicious dishes and delicacies to try, including fresh seafood, Dutch cheeses, and stroopwafels - delicious waffles made with caramel syrup.
And with its many scenic bike paths, hiking trails, and waterways, the Netherlands is the perfect destination for outdoor enthusiasts, offering endless opportunities for adventure and exploration.
With its stunning natural beauty, rich cultural heritage, and warm and welcoming people, the Netherlands is an amazing destination that should be on every traveler's bucket list. So why not book your trip today and experience all the wonders that this incredible country has to offer?
Welcome to Adventure Fares' Resources and Information Guide. These guides are compiled to provide a great "starting place" for planning. Here, we try to help you with the 4 big planning goals for any destination: Where to Stay / Where to Eat / What to See and Do / How to Budget. We even try to include some great itinerary links. Have fun planning your travel adventure! These resource pages are always being updated. If you would like to see a country / city / place not already in our resource guides, please email your requests or suggestions to: [email protected]
BUDGET RESOURCES:
We typically go to Budget Your Trip to research budgeting! We highly recommend their website. They do a fantastic job of compiling data from thousands of travelers around the world! This data is so useful for anyone who’s wanting to make the most of their travel budget. If you sign up and enter your own expenses - you contribute to the data and also get to access their fantastic planning tools - with charts, maps, graphs, and tables of your trip finances. Bookmark their site, and go there for a lot more in-depth budgeting research: BudgetYourTrip.com
With this chart, we just wanted to give you an idea of how your budget might look compared to a few familiar places here in the U.S
Rentals / Hotels / B&B Lists
Finding the perfect accommodation can make or break a trip. That's why we compile so many lodging lists - to help you find reliable and affordable recommendations for AirBNBs, VRBOs, boutique hotels, and B&Bs. These lists should give you a great starting place, and hopefully make that trip even better!
VRBO LISTS
(coming soon)
AIRBNB Resources:
airbnb.com - It has become a very popular resource for travelers. We try to limit our lists to rentals in great locations, with good pricing, and great views when we find them. We use AirBNB a lot. ALWAYS double-check reviews and avoid "new" listings most of the time. Be sure to double check for air conditioning in the summer, and feel free to reach out to the owner for tips / questions!
VRBO Resources:
vrbo.com - VRBO is another great one to use. Sometimes you find rentals here you won't see on AirBNB - its always great to have more options, especially during peak seasons when rentals book up fast. Always double-check reviews and avoid "new" listings when possible. The VRBO system won't let us filter neighborhoods as well as some others, so always double check location after finding a good property.
Bed and Breakfast Resources:
Booking.com - this is often our “go-to” for this category. We find their customer reviews to be very reliable!
bedandbreakfast.guide (B&B Guide) - this one screens out the worst-reviewed places, so their lists are pretty reliable.
bnbfinder.com - this one is promising, but they don’t have near as many listings as the others here. We hope they grow!
Boutique Hotels Resources:
BoutiqueHotel.me - this one is usually our favorite. However, their list will only provide you with hotels who allow booking through booking.com - so some great hotels won’t be on their lists.
MrandMrsSmith.com - This is fantastic and inspirational resource for finding places to stay around the world. Much of their focus is on premiere hotels (and not what we would call “budget” finds), but it can be a fantastic place to search. It’s fun to just click on their “Inspiration” tab and find some new places around the world.
TheHotelGuru.com - This site also links to booking.com, and can be a complimentary resource.
GreatSmallHotels.com - Another resource the books through booking.com, this one tends to go a little more upscale, especially in large European cities.
Some More Interesting Lodging Guides:
gounusual.com - Great Resource for those trying to find unique places to stay: Castles, igloos, boats, more!
eruoglamping.com - Just what it sounds like - a resource of upscale camping places in Europe:
goglamping.net - GoGlamping / More upscale camping experiences - UK and Europe
NOTE: No matter what form of lodging you book, we recommend you always confirm your booking one last time a week to 10 days ahead of your travel.
Restaurants / Dining Lists
Choosing dining options can be confusing and intimidating. We've compiled these lists to help you start planning some memorable meals. Lists are organized by city and include some of the best and most affordable dining destinations in each city/area. Every adventure deserves some great meals!
TripAdvisor Dining Lists:
TripAdvisor.com - We recommend using TripAdvisor’s dining directories whenever you find yourself needing good food in a place with which you’re unfamiliar. They have a huge volume of reviews, great genre help, and mapping.
Michelin Guide - Dining Lists:
Michelin Guide - For respected and relevant reviews of restaurants around the world, Michelin has been the Iconic dining guide since the 1800s. If you find a 1 star near you, book it. If you find a 2 star, you’re in for a treat. If you find a 3 star - make a travel detour if you need to and get there!
Wanderlog Dining Lists:
Wanderlog.com - Wanderlog is an interesting site - compiling lots of travel planning possibilities. Their trip-planning features are worth checking out, but we’ve come to really like their restaurant lists. They’re just a little pickier than TripAdvisor, but not as exclusive as Michelin. They’re worth checking out in most towns.
When trying to get a nicer restaurant into your travel plans, we recommend making reservations at least a couple of weeks ahead of time. Some of the Michelin star restaurants might even require more advance (varies).
Things to See and Do Lists
Finding what to see and do is always a travel priority. We've compiled lists/links from the world's most credible sources to help you find the best adventures for your destination. These lists will help you find the most popular attractions (and some hidden gems) for your travel adventures.
Things to See and Do Resources:
These are a few resources we trust. They will give you some great places to start. Rank your priorities (and your travel friends' priorities), see what works for your schedule, and plan an amazing travel adventure. *Don't try to cram too much in - it's those "unplanned" moments that often product the best adventures.
FodorsTravel.com - In our experience, Fodor’s is the best overall place to start when planning a trip. Once you search and find their guide to a city - they break the guide down into Sights, Nightlife, Shopping, Performing Arts, and Sports and Acitivities. There’s not tons of inspiration here, but good, reliable information. There are ads, but they do a good job of keeping the content credible. They also have a great “Map View” feature for the different sections so you can always check to see what’s close. Their Hotels and Restaurants guides are also pretty good.
RickSteves.com - Rick Steves has been an awesome resource for budget travelers for decades, and his content just keeps getting better. His reviews are reliable, his itineraries are fantastic, and his reputation for credibility is great. We check out his information on any destination we're thinking about visiting.
AtlasObscura.com - This is our favorite guide source! We don’t know how the team at Atlas Obscura finds so many cool, interesting, and odd things to see around the world - but they do it. It’s easy to find those top few things to do in any location, but these guys go beyond - and get you some off-the-beaten path adventures.
TripAdvisor - Trip Advisor is pretty commercial in nature, but they have really high traffic - so it's easy to see what's popular pretty much anywhere in the world. That can be helpful for planning what to see, and sometimes what to avoid. It's one of our go-to resources for seeing what might be in the town ahead on a road trip.
Wanderlog.com - Wanderlog is an interesting site - compiling lots of travel planning possibilities. Their trip-planning features are worth checking out, and we really like their “THINGS TO DO” lists. They’re pretty much ranked from most popular to least - so its a great place to figure out a priority list of things to see.
GetYourGuide.com - We really like this one! Get your guide is becoming a great source for planning as well as inspiration for travel adventures. Even if you aren’t looking for things to do on your trip, it’s a good place to get new trip ideas and browse exciting things to do. They have some "decent" pricing on local activities - worth considering for booking.
Nomadicmatt.com - Matt travels as much as any blogger / content creator we follow. He's a good writer, a good planner, and delivers entertaining content. We certainly recommend you check out his travel guides. If he's been somewhere, he shares great stuff!
OTHERS WORTH CHECKING OUT:
The Crazy Tourist - This is a travel resource that covers destinations all over the world. Just type the name of a country or city in their search section, and they have good
CultureTrip.com - This one is pretty commercial (lots of ads), but its also pretty reliable. They’ve been a travel industry leader for a long time, so there are enough reviews on things to know if you’re making good decisions. We always check out the Culture Trip guide for any location we’re planning on visiting.
Itineraries to Get You Started
Building an itinerary for your travel adventure can be a daunting task. Here are a few resources to help you get started without all the "noise" associated with online research. These are sample itineraries from travel pros who are credible, reliable, and know the places they're writing about. Itineraries are made to be broken, but hopefully these will start you out on the right path.
If you're planning a trip to the Netherlands, there's so much to see and do that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. To help you plan your itinerary, here's a comprehensive checklist of must-see destinations and off-the-beaten-path gems to explore. Below our checklist, you'll find several sample itineraries we recommend.
DON’T MISS:
- Explore the vibrant city of Amsterdam, and visit its historic canals, museums, and famous landmarks, such as the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, and the Van Gogh Museum.
- Discover the charming city of Utrecht, and enjoy its scenic canals, medieval buildings, and vibrant food scene.
- Visit the picturesque village of Giethoorn, and enjoy a boat ride through its canals, and admire its thatched-roof houses and traditional architecture.
- Experience the beauty of the Keukenhof Gardens, located near Lisse, and admire the colorful tulip fields and flower displays.
- Visit the historic city of Leiden, and explore its museums, windmills, and landmarks, such as the Pieterskerk and the Leiden Observatory.
IF YOU HAVE MORE TIME:
- Take a bike ride through the countryside, and explore the scenic landscape, traditional farms, and historic villages.
- Visit the city of Rotterdam, and discover its modern architecture, museums, and landmarks, such as the Erasmus Bridge and the Markthal.
- Explore the city of The Hague, and visit its museums, historic landmarks, and the beautiful beach of Scheveningen.
- Visit the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea, and explore its unique ecosystem, which is home to numerous bird species, seals, and other marine life.
- Discover the charming city of Delft, and admire its historic canals, Delft Blue pottery, and landmarks, such as the Old Church and the New Church.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
- Visit the Hoge Veluwe National Park, and explore its diverse landscape, wildlife, and art museum, which houses a large collection of works by Van Gogh and other Dutch artists.
- Discover the historic town of Maastricht, located in the southern part of the country, and enjoy its vibrant culture, beautiful architecture, and local cuisine.
- Visit the medieval town of Amersfoort, and explore its historic center, museums, and landmarks, such as the Koppelpoort and the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwetoren.
- Take a boat ride through the canals of the city of Haarlem, and admire its beautiful architecture, museums, and landmarks, such as the Teylers Museum and the Grote Markt.
- Visit the beautiful island of Texel, located in the Wadden Sea, and enjoy its beaches, nature reserves, and local products, such as cheese and beer.
ITINERARIES FOR THE NETHERLANDS:
Itineraries can be tough to build, but the process can also be really fun to research. We read hundreds of these a month - and are always looking for better ones for our resource guides. Here are a few we found that might be helpful to get you started. Some of these are from favorite sources, and few we just found for this country. Start planning that adventure!
Dozens of Great Netherlands Itineraries / kimkim
Netherlands Itinerary / 2 days - 12 days / Rick Steves
1 Week in the Netherlands / Eurail
One Week in the Netherlands: Travel Guide & Itinerary / solosophie
Netherlands Itineraries: 1 Week - 2 Weeks and More / TravelStride
Amsterdam Itineraries / TripScout
The Netherlands Itineraries and Travel Guides / Wanderlog
MORE RESOURCES:
Hiking in The Netherlands: The Best Trails / Backpack Adventures
Top 20 Hikes and Walks in The Netherlands / AllTrails
15 Delicious and Famous Foods in the Netherlands / Amsterdam Tourist Info.
Top Wine Regions in The Netherlands / Wine Tourism
Netherlands Food Travel / 2 Food Trippers
Netherlands History, Language and Culture / World Travel Guide
*photos from pixabay.com, pexels.com, unsplash.com and Darrell Potts
EMAIL Us - We Want to Hear From You!
We believe that the best travel advice comes from those who have experienced it firsthand. That's why we're inviting our members to share their travel tips, and recommendations with us. Whether it's a hidden gem of a restaurant, a must-see attraction, or an off-the-beaten-path adventure, we want to hear about it. Your contributions are helping us build a new database of "Member Suggestions." Email us when you get a chance - links, maps, and reviews all help! Email us at [email protected]
These resource pages have been fun to work on! We hope they keep getting better. Are we missing something? Are we missing one of your favorite travel resources? Please email me - I'd love to learn anything that can help make travel adventures even better! Darrell Potts.
