Day Trips from Amsterdam: Haarlem, Delft, and Utrecht

My sister lives in Amsterdam. It’s a nice, clean city, lots of bikes, most of my friends want to go to do drugs. I have to admit that it isn’t my favorite city. I do, however, really like the surrounding towns. They’re less crowded with tourist traffic and feel more authentic, probably because of the lack of tourists.

Haarlem

Haarlem is a cute little seaside town just outside of Amsterdam. If you want to cut down on commute time while still getting out of the bustle of the city, this is the place to go. 

I went with my family for a short day trip. All we did was eat lunch and walk around. I’ve found that the more people you travel with, the less things you need to do to stay entertained. This was true with my family.

Flowing with boats and lined with flowers, the canals by the windmill were beautiful. The surrounding cobblestone streets and adorable houses made for a very enjoyable walk. Supposedly there are some really nice art museums that I’ll have to check out on my next visit.

Delft

I went to Delft with my sister, and our sole purpose was to relax and have some sister bonding time. Delft is a small university town, famous for its pottery.

We had high tea at a place called Lunchcafé Leonidas. It was the type of meal that should be eaten slowly, which is exactly what we did. Endless tea, a plate of savory pastries and a whole nother plate of sweet pastries made me feel like I was in heaven (seriously, the cream puffs were the best I’ve ever had). I finished everything, and it was a great tragedy that I did.

The majority of our time in Delft was spent eating, but when we did finally left our meal, we discovered a really quaint town. Since neither of us had made any sort of plans or had done any research beforehand on what to do, we were in full wander-mode. The New Church (Nieuwe Kerk in Dutch) had a wonderfully organized exhibit that tells the history of the church and the history of who’s buried there, specifically William of Orange and the rest of the Orange family. 

There is also an Old Church that we didn’t have the time to see, so maybe I’ll explore it on my next endeavor.

Utrecht

Utrecht is another university town. I came alone and was early to the walking tour I’d signed up for, so I sat in the entrance of the St. Martin’s Cathedral and listened to the choir practicing. They were brilliant to say the least.

The Dom Tower was under construction and will be for the next five years (keep that in mind when you’re planning trips), but you can still go up the tower. It is the most famous monument of Utrecht, with a lot of history surrounding it and the formerly connected church. One of my favorite stories about the tower was that a guard that had watch duty got really bored during his shifts, so he opened up a bar from his watch station. Unfortunately for the bishop, the stairs to the newly opened ‘bar’ went straight through his living quarters. He told the guard that the bar-goers were not allowed to use the stairs, so the guard set up a rope ladder instead (mind you, this is the tallest tower in the Netherlands). According to the tour guide, the surrounding residents would set up chairs to watch drunk people try to make it down the ladder.

Outside the cathedral, is a beautiful garden filled with statues, carvings, and flowers even in October. I could’ve sat there for hours if not for being on a tour.

The town itself is busier than Haarlem and Delft. The train station opens up into a mall with a lot of name-brand stores. Outside of the mall, there are smaller shops and restaurants along cobblestone streets. You can take some stairs down to the level of the canals and eat at a restaurant right along the water. My tour guide said they’re more about the ambience than they are the food. I didn’t eat at any of them, so I couldn’t say.

When I hit the bigger streets, I could detect some of the quirkiness of a student town. There’s a flying saucer sticking right out of an office building that’s there for no other reason than that cityfolk like it. (There was a space exhibition a while back where they set up all sorts of space-themed attractions, but the city liked the flying saucer so much that they paid for it to be permanent.)

I ended my day at Leonidas, a Belgian chocolate store with some pretty awesome truffles. There’s no better way to end the day than with chocolate, at least in my opinion.

More to come soon.