Suggested itineraries in Visual Studio .NET

Painting Code 128 Code Set A in Visual Studio .NET Suggested itineraries

If you re pressed for time and prefer to organize your own tour, this section offers tips for building your own Amsterdam itinerary

Start off the day early with a canal cruise at 9 am Get to the Rijksmuseum when it opens and spend about 90 minutes enjoying the Rembrandts and Vermeers Then pop down the block for another 45 minutes in the company of Holland s towering master modernist at the Vincent van Gogh Museum Head to the Pancake Bakery for a quick canalside lunch, then stroll up the street to pay your respects at the Anne Frankhuis

Because Amsterdam attracts all types, I leave the late afternoon up to you: Explore the town by bike, titillate at one of the sex museums, stroll the canals, or make the rounds of the brown cafes (or the other kind of cafe) In the early evening, take the requisite shocked spin through the Red-Light District before sunset if possible (that is, before the seedy night elements come out, but while the ladies are putting their best, er, foot forward for the businessmen who stop by on their way home) Cap the day off with an Indonesian feast at Kantjil en de Tiger

Start off Day 1 with the ol canal cruise the best intro to the charming side of Amsterdam that money can buy Head to the masterpieces in the Rijksmuseum next and spend two hours or so perusing the Old Masters After lunch, pay homage to The Earless One at the nearby Vincent van Gogh Museum Head back up to the Centraal Station neighborhood to check out the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art before wandering back down to the Damrak so you can spend the early evening visiting the RedLight District Settle in for a thoroughly Dutch dinner at Restaurant d Vijff Vlieghen Begin Day 2 indulging in a favorite Dutch pastime: Rent a bike and tool around on your own, or take one of Mike s excellent guided bike tours Lunch at the Pancake Bakery before seeing the Anne Frankhuis, and then head across to the old part of town to see the Oude Kirk and the bizarre Museum Amstelkring, also known as Our Lord in the Attic Spend the early evening hopping between brown and gin cafes, and then poke around the Leidseplein district for the best little Indonesian restaurant you can find for dinner

Spend Day 1 and Day 2 as outlined in the preceding section, and take Day 3 to visit either the re-created folk village of Zaanse Schans in the morning and Haarlem in the afternoon, or especially if you re in town for the spring flower season Haarlem in the morning followed by a drive, bike ride, or train trip through the flower-bedecked Bloembollenstreek I cover all these sights in the next section

Several interesting destinations are an easy daytrip from Amsterdam among them the tulip region near Haarlem, the traditional village of Zaanse Schans, and the Vincent van Gogh Museum in Hoge Veluwe national park

Haarlem makes perhaps the most pleasant daytrip from Amsterdam, offering a much more laid-back and less hectic version of a tidy Dutch city Haarlem boasts a great museum, too

Every half-hour or so, a train makes the 20-minute jaunt to Haarlem from Amsterdam The local VVV tourist office (% 0900-616-1600 or 023-6161600; wwwvvvzknl) is outside the station at Stationplein 1

The town s pretty central square, Grote Markt, is anchored by the late Gothic style church St Bavokerk, better known as the Grote Kerk Inside are artist Frans Hals s tombstone and a cannonball embedded in the wall during the Spanish siege of 1572 to 1573 The church also houses one of the world s great organs, a 68-stop 5,068-pipe beauty built by Christian M ller from 1735 to 1738 both Handel and a 10-year-old Mozart once came to play it Late April to late September, you can enjoy free organ recitals Saturdays from 3 to 4 pm On the church s south side, 17th-century shops and houses nestle together like barnacles These were built so they could be rented for additional income to help with the church s upkeep Haarlem s biggest attraction is the Frans Hals Museum, Groot Heiligeland 62 (% 023-511-5775; wwwfranshalsmuseumnl), set up in the pensioner s home where the painter spent his last days in 1666 Frans Hals s works make up the bulk of the collections, but many Dutch painters from the 16th century to the present are represented as well The works are all displayed in 17th-century-style rooms that often bear a striking resemblance to the settings in the works themselves Admission is 540 ($620) adults, 4 ($460) over 65, and free under age 19 It s open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday from noon to 5 pm