Thanks so much for your suggestions! It’s nice to hear from a local!
The list of must-see museums now:
The Louvre
Van Gogh Museum
Rijksmuseum
Mauritshuis
Escher Museum
Possibily: Kunsthal art museum (looks like this has temporary exhibits only. I’ll need to check to see what’s there at that time)
Madurodam looks interesting. I’ll look into it! This must be one of the open-air museums that @TravelingOn mentioned. I’m intrigued by this open-air museum idea.
I love the wandering around idea @CarolynA. Thanks for the recommendation! I found a cheap hotel in Le Marais. If the wandering in that area isn’t too impressive, then I’ll head over to St. Lazare and wander there instead Or perhaps I’ll just do both!
The Anne Frank House sounds memorable but depressing! I’ve had a few people recommend it to me though. I’m a little worried about the need to schedule out so far in advance. I’m not sure that it’s enough of a priority for me to schedule out that far. If there’s availability while I’m there though, I might visit
Ha! Yes, you will. This trip sounds like an excellent start!!
I’ve found in the Netherlands and Belgium, and in Paris if you are polite (a kindly delivered “Parlez-vous anglais?” went a long way), English is spoken most everywhere and people are very helpful. And if it’s not spoken, I have great success with miming and my own made up brand of hand movements and sign language.
Rijksmuseum is definitely extraordinary, in particular for Delft school: that section may well be my favorite of any museum anywhere!
Van Gogh museum also amazing. You will probably already have seen every single painting in there, except that these are the real ones! If I remember properly, it was quite out of the way.
Second rijsttafel recommendation: I LOVE that dish and have made it at home many times since:-). Blauw is a famous place for that but not cheap. Cheaper but also good is Kartika. Of course, there are hundreds of Indonesian restaurants there where you can sample it.
Delft
I really like the Vermeer center: it is explaining in great detail everything about Vermeer’s painting technique and environment. I like the Oude Kerk church and the Beestenmarkt.
Paris
City of museums! Among the big ones, I love the Orsay. Among the small ones, my favorites are the Rodin Museum and the amazing Musee Des Arts Decoratifs. I love walking around everywhere in Paris in arrondissements 1-6. Be aware that some “pockets” in the Marais can be unsafe at night.
Together with the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum and the Concertgebouw (one of the best concert halls in the world ) it’s located at the museum square, which is just outside the old city centre with the canals. So it’s somewhat out of the way, but once you’re there, you can visit multiple things.
I’m so glad you recommended some smaller museums! I’ll check these out.
I’m actually staying on the edge of Le Marais and Bastille neighborhoods between the 4th and 11th arrondissements. Hopefully that’s safe? All the hotel reviews said it was a good location. Already reserved, so I’ll just have to make the best of it.
I’ve decided to do a day and night in Delft after all the recommendations. I’ll add your suggestions here to the list!
Bastille is a big up-and-coming neighborhood, used to be very blue-collar but has bohemized in a big way, now being yuppified. Still, at night you definitely need to be very aware of your surroundings. Will you be on your own or with a friend? Le Marais has very trendy parts, but also a few so-so parts. There are a few streets known for prostitution. Here again, you need to be aware of what is happening around you, particularly at night. In both areas there are neighborhoods with a high number of immigrants, where crime is higher. Just be aware, and you’ll be fine.
As a guy, during the day I feel quite safe in most any parts of these areas, and at night until midnight in most places as long as I keep a good eye out. There are streets where I would not walk in after midnight if there isn’t a good amount of life in them.
Both of these neighborhoods count a strong Muslim population, some members of which can be quite aggressive towards women there, a problem that several American women-friends of mine ran into. In particular, I would not wear any signs that can be associated with being Jewish in public around either. I know it seems incredible here, but, in Paris, you can’t get into many neighborhoods if you wear a kippa or a star of David. Be careful. Being an American doesn’t help either in these areas.
FYI, I lived in Paris in my late teens, and it was quite safe to walk around and clearly be a Jew, but not anymore. If you remember the famous NY walk by a woman followed by a camera, where she constantly gets whistles and catcalls: an organization did the same thing in/around Paris with a person wearing a kippa, but they had to stop the filming early because it became too dangerous, even though there were two security guards a few yards behind. My mother and sisters live in Paris, so I get direct reports on where/how they feel safe.
Gosh, I can’t believe I forgot! I have tons of recording on period instruments by Amsterdam-based ensembles: it is a world capital for baroque music, along with Vienna (Concentus Musicus) and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. So next time I am in Amsterdam, I would do the best I can to see a live performance from one of those, hopefully at the Concertgebouw! I am not sure how you feel about classical music, @Katers87, but this may be of interest to you.
Of course, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is one of the most accomplished in the world.
I love classical music- especially with a piano. They don’t have any concerts playing when i’m going to be in The Netherlands though . Maybe they’ll post a concert in the next month or two for those nights.
You’ve scared me @Michel! I didn’t realize there was that much discrimination in Paris. That’s terrible.
I’m staying right by the Palace de la Bastille. A 3 minute walk to the Bréguet - Sabin metro stop. My first night I’ll be alone, and then my friend will join me. All the reviews say it’s a really great location and a clean hotel. I think I’ll be alright that night as long as I get back to the hotel at reasonable time (which seems likely since I’ll be taking a red-eye the night before). I’ll be sure to be alert and aware though. I do live in a city, but most of DC is pretty safe. Thanks for the advice
I found that during the summer it isn’t so bad because many Parisians leave on holiday, while the tourists come in. But in the other seasons, Americans are not the favorite people of the French.
Just an observation - but you will be fine. Just use your head, and stay out of dark lonely places.
This is such a charged subject that I am a bit hesitant to comment further. I don’t mean to say that you don’t have a large segment of the general French population that is anti-semitic: it’s clearly true in France given the electoral scores of the extreme right, but these are equal opportunity anti-semites, and unlikely to be physically dangerous unless under the influence. Everyday violence specifically against people who wear symbols of Jewish faith, that you should take into consideration when you walk around, from (a) what I hear from my friends and family, and (b) what I experienced as an expat in the late-2000s, is only an issue in Muslim neighborhoods.
Your location should be plenty fine. As @kmichel writes:
This is a very worrying trend, not only in France, but in many European cities. Even in certain neighborhoods in Amsterdam some Jews don’t feel safe any more. That makes me said. I hoped/thought that Europe had learned its lesson. I hope we can still stop this trend.
I always enjoy things that you guys post about Jewish holidays and the dishes that you make for those holidays. In my own country I’ve never met anyone who practices Jewish customs, whether it be cultural or religious. Most Dutchmen probably never have. Before I joined TuD and later FUD, I didn’t know there was such a large active community in the US. I’m glad to see there is.
At the moment they may be trolling on social media, but hopefully they never start leaving their basements. Things could become so scary.
That’s the one thing that comes to mind when I think of Rotterdam. Rotterdam doesn’t have a historic city centre like Amsterdam due to the bombing of Rotterdam in May 1940. Some people might recommend the Markthal (market hall), which opened in 2014. Of course there are some museums in Rotterdam, e.g. Boijmans Van Beuningen. Other than that, I don’t know what Rotterdam has to offer.
It may be good to know that you have to go through some kind security to visit many of the popular museums in Paris. At the Eiffel Tower you even have to turn any bag you have inside out. At least that was the situation last summer. So leave anything you don’t need, (pocket) knives in particular, in your hotel.
Also, no one has mentioned that using Uber or Lyft is a good option late at night. Even in SF I have asked a driver to wait until they seem me get behind a locked gate if I’m under the influence. Totally a good investment in my safety I find. Do research beforehand to see what works where.
We used Uber extensively in Rio (using only available wifi, no phone service) and other places on the road this year and I felt quite safe. (I know some people are down on Uber because bad things happen there too, but I’ve had good drivers.)
Uber is illegal in many European countries, that may explain why no one has mentioned it.
Correction: Uber is not completely illegal in the Netherlands. UberPop is the service that is illegal in the Netherlands and probably other EU countries as well.
Yep. Delft made the cut . I shaved a day/night off of Rotterdam. The hotel you recommended was booked, but it worked out pretty well because we’ll be staying at an airbnb with a washer and dryer! I can travel lighter!
I’ll keep Uber in mind. I think we’ll mostly be in the downtown areas in the evenings, so I’ll likely just opt for the metro.
Or perhaps I’ll just do both!
Or even what I would recommend.
) it’s located at the museum square, which is just outside the old city centre with the canals. So it’s somewhat out of the way, but once you’re there, you can visit multiple things.
. Maybe they’ll post a concert in the next month or two for those nights.