Round trip in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a car and a tent

Round trip in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a car and a tent - Camper offroader with roof top tent and awning camping in nature among green trees in sunny day

I have this weird plan for September. We're a couple, and we have one week in Amsterdam. It seems Amsterdam is not large enough to keep us busy for a week, and in any case we're more people of adventures.

So my plan was to take a car for 4 of these days, take a tent, and do a round trip around these 3 countries that follows roughly this route:

  • Having a day and a half in Amsterdam, without a car, and then
  • Haarlem
  • Leiden
  • Delft
  • Rotterdam
  • Brugge
  • Brussel
  • Maastricht
  • Bonn
  • Köln
  • Münster
  • Groningen
  • Harlingen
  • Utrecht
  • Amsterdam, another full day without a car

Perhaps it sounds crazy - so many cities in about 24X4 hours... but on the other hand, the entire trip is no more than 1300km, and I've done something similar (less cities, more or less same length, in almost 5 days) in east Germany + Prague.

But is it crazy? Perhaps I shall remove Belgium and Germany from the plan to make it sane?



Best Answer

"If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium."

To each their own, but I think you're trying to do too much in too little time.

You have 4 x 24 = 96 hours. If you manage to drive non-stop, that's at least 15-16 hours (I checked Google maps, but that's assuming you won't get stuck in traffic.
You'll also have to sleep, eat, find a spot, set up the tent, and put it away again the following morning. Even if you do everything very efficiently and sleep short, it'll take about 8 hours out of every 24. Not counting the nights before and after, that's 3 x 8 = 24 hrs. So that leaves you with 56 hours — for 13 cities (not counting Amsterdam).

That's four hours per city and no time to spare.

So what do you want to do? Get out of the car, walk around the city, take a picture to prove you were there and drive on?


What I would do if I were you, is focus on Amsterdam and everything that's doable with a day trip from Amsterdam.

First of all, there's Amsterdam itself, with the big three museums: the Rijksmuseum (Rembrandt, Frans Hals to name but a few), the van Goghmuseum, and the Stedelijk (City) Museum (modern art). That's a day at least.
Then there's the Red Light District, the almost obligatory boat trip through the canals, or alternatively, a bike tour. And that's just focusing on the main tourist attractions.

I you decide to visit Brussels, that's doable as a day trip by train. Brussels has a number of things to see and to visit, including Manneken Pis, the Atomium, the Comics Museum, the Museum of Natural Sciences (featuring the largest group of Iguanodons ever found). That's more than enough for a day.

Going back to The Netherlands, there are day trips to The Hague, where you can visit the Gemeentemuseum (City Museum) for the Mondriaan paintings, Madurodam to see The Netherlands in miniature, the Vredespaleis (Peace Palace), Panorama Mesdag, Escher in the Palace; more than enough for a day.

Other day trips could include Volendam or Urk (authentic fishermen's villages), the Openluchtmuseum (Open Air Musuem, where historical buildings have been transported to, to show how people lived in 'ye olde times'), the Afsluitdijk in the north or the Delta works in the south-west.

But by staying in Amsterdam and day tripping, you'll lose less time then when doing a roundtrip by car.


If you're looking for a way to see as much as possible without travelling too much, I can recommend both Madurodam in The Hague, which has all the highlights of the Netherlands in miniature, and the Openluchtmuseum in Arnhem, which shows you quite a nice slice of Dutch history. Both allow you to see a lot of different aspects of The Netherlands, concentrated in one place.




Pictures about "Round trip in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a car and a tent"

Round trip in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a car and a tent - Unrecognizable woman standing on ladder near boyfriend recreating in tent during camping at lakeside
Round trip in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a car and a tent - Happy young multiracial couple spending time in forest during camping in summer
Round trip in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany with a car and a tent - Man sitting under awning placed near offroader with tent on roof in forest



How many days in Netherlands is enough?

After over three years of living in the Netherlands, I've been asked a lot about how much time to spend in the Netherlands. A lot of people speed through the Netherlands only stopping for one day in Amsterdam, but I'd recommend enjoying at least 7 days in the Netherlands if you have the chance.

How long does it take to drive across Holland?

Distance is relative Distance here in the Netherlands, mostly because the Netherlands is small, is relative. It takes 2.5 hours to drive across the Netherlands total. An hour is far or enough so that someone might say that they can't meet you as they're in another city.

How do you get from Netherlands to Germany?

The best way to get from Netherlands to Germany is to train which takes 6h 27m and costs \u20ac50 - \u20ac160. Alternatively, you can bus, which costs \u20ac30 - \u20ac45 and takes 11h 58m.

Can you do a day trip to Amsterdam?

One day is enough to get a taste of Amsterdam: tour the canals, walk around the city, explore some local neighborhoods, and visit at least one museum. Of course, you can't see everything that Amsterdam has to offer in just a day.



ROADTRIP in EUROPE - Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Uriel Mont, Uriel Mont, Uriel Mont, Uriel Mont