Best day trips from Amsterdam by train

The Netherlands is small, and its trains are fast and frequent, so from Amsterdam half the country is a day trip. Within an hour you reach windmills, a Golden Age town with Frans Hals, a canal city with a cathedral tower, the home town of Vermeer, the seat of government and a city of modern architecture. The short answer: Zaanse Schans is the classic windmill trip, Haarlem the easiest and most relaxed, Utrecht the best canal city after Amsterdam, and Keukenhof the trip of the spring. You don't need a car or a tour for any of them.

Day trips from Amsterdam at a glance

Times are typical direct trains from Amsterdam Centraal and include the walk or bus where needed. On NS trains you can check in and out with a contactless bank card, so you don't need to buy a ticket for each trip.

Zaanse Schans: windmills on the Zaan

How to get there: trains towards Alkmaar or Uitgeest run from Amsterdam Centraal to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans in about 17 minutes. From the station it is a walk of about 15 minutes, across the bridge over the river Zaan. Buses from Centraal also stop at the entrance.

What to see: a row of historic wooden windmills along the river, several of which still work – grinding spices, pressing oil or sawing wood – and some you can climb. Around them stand green wooden houses moved here from elsewhere in the region, a clog workshop, a cheese farm and the Zaans Museum about the industry of the area. Walking around the village is free; the mills and museum charge entry.

How long: half a day. Come early or late in the day: around midday, the tour coaches arrive.

Best for: first-time visitors, families, anyone who wants the classic Dutch picture without a long trip. Many coach tours combine Zaanse Schans with the fishing towns of Volendam and Marken; tours to Zaanse Schans^* can be compared on Viator.

Haarlem: Amsterdam's quiet neighbour

How to get there: trains run from Amsterdam Centraal to Haarlem about every few minutes and take around 15 minutes. The station, itself a fine Art Nouveau building, is a ten-minute walk from the centre.

What to see: the Grote Markt with the huge Gothic St Bavo's Church (Grote Kerk), whose organ Mozart played as a boy; the Frans Hals Museum with the group portraits of the Golden Age painter; the Teylers Museum, the oldest museum in the Netherlands, with fossils, instruments and drawings in its original 18th-century rooms; and the hofjes, quiet almshouse courtyards hidden behind ordinary doors. On a sunny day, the beach at Zandvoort is another 10 minutes by train.

How long: half a day, or a full day with the beach.

Best for: a calm day, art, anyone who finds Amsterdam too busy.

Utrecht: canals with wharves

How to get there: trains run from Amsterdam Centraal to Utrecht Centraal in about 30 minutes. From the station, the old town starts after a walk through the shopping centre.

What to see: the Dom Tower, the tallest church tower in the country, which you can climb with a guide; the Oudegracht, a canal with a lower level of wharves and cellars right at the waterline, now full of cafés; the Centraal Museum and the Miffy Museum for children; and, a little outside the centre, the Rietveld Schröder House, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of modern architecture.

How long: a full day.

Best for: canal lovers, students' city life, design and architecture.

Keukenhof: the spring flower gardens

How to get there: take the train from Amsterdam Centraal to Schiphol Airport, about 15 minutes, then the Keukenhof bus to the garden, about half an hour. In the season, Keukenhof buses also run from Leiden Centraal. Combination tickets with entry and bus are sold on the official website.

What to see: millions of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths in a park of about 32 hectares, pavilions with flower shows and, around Lisse, the colourful bulb fields themselves, best seen by bike.

When: Keukenhof opens for only about eight weeks in spring. For 2027, the official dates are 18 March to 9 May. The tulips usually peak around mid-April, depending on the weather.

How long: half a day for the garden, a full day with a bike ride through the fields.

Best for: flower lovers, photographers, a spring trip. Tickets are timed and weekends sell out; book on the official site or get Keukenhof tickets^* on Tiqets.

Delft and The Hague

How to get there: trains run from Amsterdam Centraal to Delft and to Den Haag Centraal in a little under an hour. The two cities are only about 10 minutes apart by train or tram, so they combine well.

What to see: in Delft, the market square between the New Church, with the tomb of William of Orange, and the town hall; quiet canals; the Vermeer Centrum; and Royal Delft, the last of the old factories making blue-and-white Delftware. In The Hague, the Mauritshuis with Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson; the Binnenhof, the seat of government; and the beach of Scheveningen, a tram ride away.

How long: a full day for both.

Best for: Dutch painting, history, a city and a beach in one day.

Rotterdam and the Kinderdijk windmills

How to get there: the Intercity Direct runs from Amsterdam Centraal to Rotterdam Centraal in about 40 minutes.

What to see: Rotterdam was rebuilt after the bombing of 1940 and is the country's showcase of modern architecture: the Markthal with its painted arch, the yellow Cube Houses, the Erasmus Bridge and the port, best seen on a harbour tour. The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen shows a museum's whole collection in a mirrored building. From Rotterdam, a waterbus goes to Kinderdijk, a row of 19 windmills from the 18th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – less touristy than Zaanse Schans, but a longer trip.

How long: a full day; with Kinderdijk, start early.

Best for: architecture, a modern city, windmills in open countryside.

Train or guided tour?

For almost every trip from Amsterdam, the train is the best choice. Trains run often, and a contactless card is enough. A coach tour mainly helps if you want to see Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken in one day, and for Keukenhof if you prefer a ticket that includes transport. Train journeys within the Netherlands don't need to be booked in advance. If you plan to travel on to Belgium or Germany, international train tickets^* can be compared on Omio.

How many day trips fit into an Amsterdam trip?

With three days, stay in Amsterdam: the canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House and the Jordaan fill them. From four days, one trip fits – Haarlem or Zaanse Schans. With five days or more, add Utrecht, Delft or Rotterdam. Our article how many days in Amsterdam explains the split, and our 5-day Amsterdam plan already contains Haarlem and Zaanse Schans.

How YesTrip helps you plan

YesTrip has a ready-made plan for Amsterdam, including a five-day version with Haarlem and Zaanse Schans. With one tap you copy it into the app, swap a trip for Utrecht or Delft and add your hotel. The app shows the weather for your travel days – useful for the beach at Zandvoort or a bike ride through the bulb fields – and with the offline package you have the map without a connection. YesTrip is free.

Amsterdam trip planDay by day, with map and tips

Dates, tickets and buses for the most popular spring trip are in Keukenhof 2027: dates, tickets, getting there.

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