Thinking of taking a holiday in the Netherlands

[TheDoctor]

BTW is there anyway to get around the 4 (?) month Eurostar booking window ? Is it possible to book a lot further ahead ?

There is no way round it, according to Seat61.
The actual times don't change, and although you can't book 6 months ahead - nor can anyone else!!
Just book on the day the bookings open, and you'll get them as cheap as they'll ever be.

 

[Fietslogies]

£80 for overnighting? If choosing the already mentioned organisation of 'Vrienden op de Fiets' you pay max. 19 euro for one person or 38 for you and your daughter. And don't worry about crossing the borders with Belgium or Germany, as there are hosts over there too.

 

[Speicher]

Slightly off topic, I have a question for Willem and NickC.

In Amsterham, have they finished all the building/digging work for the rail link for the Main Station to the one on the opposite side of town. When I was there in 2007, parts of the centre of the City ressembled a building site. It did not spoil the visit, but if I go back again, I would do so when they have finished. I cannot remember if the finishing date was 2012 or 2020?

 

[willem]

Not sure what the supposed finishing date is, but the project has been so plagued with technical issues that any timetable should be taken with a pinch of salt. Anyway, we were there for the Christmas holidays, and work was still in full swing. To be honest, it did not bother me much as it did not affect the best parts. I would be much more concerned by the renovation works of the Rijksmuseum (our National Gallery) and the Gemeentemuseum (the Amsterdam museum of modern art). The Van Gogh museum was fine, however, as were a number of other great museums.
Willem

 

[psmiffy]

Stay only a few miles further west, in the sanddunes immediately next to the coast, and you will find a wonderful landscape instead, with quiet long distance cycles routes.
Willem

So basically you would suggest that it is better to ignore Holland

 

[vorsprung]

Me (45 yr bloke) + Mrs V (43 F) + V Jnr (13yr gurl) did a weeks cycle touring of the Netherlands in August
I can cycle any distance, Mrs V has been doing a 10 mile commute in the recent past and V Jnr had been on a cycle holiday with her school

To work out the route beforehand I looked at the "Long Distance" LF cycle paths

Park car at Harwich, bike onto Ferry
Max mileage per day was 60km. Trains were used for bridging longer distances. This was pretty much the limit for Mrs V and V Jnr
All accommodation was prebooked "Stay OK" Hostels
Once we got there we realised that the easiest way to navigate was with the VVV cycle maps, see http://www.vvvfietsrouteplanner.nl/ The little numbers on the map are excellently and reliably signed pretty much all over the Netherlands.

We went Hook of Holland up the LF1 to Nordwijk, stayed two nights. Then continued North to Heemskerk, stayed the night, back to Haarlem, took the train to Suid Soest, two nights in Soest explored the Utrech area, train to Rotterdam, stayed over night had a day in Rotterdam then back to the ferry

We were lucky with the weather in August. Didn't get rained on at all. But apparently August normally has lots of rain.

 

[User169]

Slightly off topic, I have a question for Willem and NickC.

In Amsterham, have they finished all the building/digging work for the rail link for the Main Station to the one on the opposite side of town. When I was there in 2007, parts of the centre of the City ressembled a building site. It did not spoil the visit, but if I go back again, I would do so when they have finished. I cannot remember if the finishing date was 2012 or 2020?

It was supposed to be finished 2012. The construction companies are now contractually obliged to finish by 2017, although I wouldn't hold your breath.