Rick Steves - Rick Steves’ Amsterdam, Bruges & Brussels

Rick Steves & Gene Openshaw

Belgium

Bruges

An Amsterdam canal

Guildballs on the Grand Place, Brussels

wooden clogs

A Bruges canal

Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brusselsthe three greatest cities of the Low Countriesare a delight to experience. Rattling on your bike over the cobbles, savoring fresh pralines, lingering in flower-carpeted squares, youll find a slow-down-and-smell-the-tulips world that enchants. Any time of year, you can enjoy the intimate charms of these cities.

Amsterdam is called the Venice of the North, both for its canals and for its past position as an economic powerhouse. Brugesonce mighty, now mighty cutecomes with fancy beers in fancy glasses, lilting carillons, and lacy Gothic souvenirs of a long-gone greatness. Brusselsthe de facto capital of Europe, with a low-rise Parisian ambienceexudes a joie de vivre, from its famous cuisine to its love of chocolate and comic strips.

Belgium and the Netherlands are called the Low Countries because nearly half their land is below sea level. Surrounded by mega-Europe, the Low Countries are easy to overlook. But travel here is a snap, the area is steeped in history, and all the charming icons of the regionwhirring windmills, Dutch Masters, dike hikes, one-speed bikes, and ladies tossing bobbins to make fine laceline up for you to enjoy. If ever an area were a travel clich come true, its the Low Countries.

This book covers the predictable biggies in and around Amsterdam, Bruges, and Brusselsand mixes in a healthy dose of Back Door intimacy. In Amsterdam you can see Vincent van Goghs Sunflowers... and climb through Captain Vincents tiny houseboat museum. Youll tour Brussels ultramodern European Parliament and enjoy a Michelangelo statue in small-town Bruges. Beyond these three cities youll discover the hidden charms of Haarlem, the funky, fashion-forward port of Antwerp, and the thriving urban scene of Ghent. And youll meet intriguing people who will show you how to swallow pickled herring, paddle you in a canoe through the polderland to a stuck-in-the-mud (and stuck-in-the-past) village, and pop a taste of the latest chocolate into your mouth.

This book is selective, including only the top sights. The best is, of course, only my opinion. But after spending more than half of my adult life exploring and researching Europe, Ive developed a sixth sense for what travelers enjoy.

Rick Steves Amsterdam, Bruges & Brussels is a personal tour guide in your pocket. Better yet, its actually two tour guides in your pocket: The co-author of this book is Gene Openshaw. Since our first Europe through the gutter trip together as high-school buddies in the 1970s, Gene and I have been exploring the wonders of the Old World. An inquisitive historian and lover of European culture, Gene wrote most of this books self-guided museum tours and neighborhood walks. Together, Gene and I keep this book up-to-date and accurate (though for simplicity, from this point we will shed our respective egos and become I).

This book is organized by destination. Each recommended destination is a mini-vacation on its own, filled with exciting sights, strollable neighborhoods, affordable places to stay, and memorable places to eat.

Youll find the following sections in this book:

Orientation includes specifics on public transportation, helpful hints, local tour options, tourist information, and easy-to-read maps. Planning Your Time sections suggest schedules for how to best use your limited time.

Sights describes the top attractions and includes their cost and hours.

Self-Guided Walks and Tours take you through interesting neighborhoods and must-see sights. In Amsterdam, these include the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, a city walk, the Jordaan neighborhood, the Red Light District, and more. In nearby Haarlem, tour the Grote Kerk and the Frans Hals Museum. In Bruges youll find a city walk and tours of the Groeninge and Memling museums, and in Brussels, take a Grand Place walk, an Upper Town walk, and a tour of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts and the Magritte Museum.

Sleeping describes my favorite hotels, from good-value deals to cushy splurges.

Eating serves up a range of options, from inexpensive cafs to fancy restaurants.

Smoking covers Amsterdams best coffeeshops, which openly sell marijuana.

Key to This Book

Updates

This book is updated regularly, but things change. For the latest, visit www.ricksteves.com/update. For a valuable list of reports and experiencesgood and badfrom fellow travelers, check www.ricksteves.com/feedback.

Abbreviations and Times

I use the following symbols and abbreviations in this book:

Sights are rated:

Tourist information offices are abbreviated as TI, and bathrooms are WCs. To categorize accommodations, I use a