Nov 28th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Amsterdam has plenty of day trip opportunities. Smaller cities such as Delft are a short train ride away and the pretty countryside has many historic attractions.
Ruïne van Brederode is a castle in the town of Santpoort Zuid, about 25 minutes away by train from Centraal Station. From the Santpoort Zuid station, signs lead through quiet, tree-lined streets to the castle. The ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Amsterdam day trip: Van Brederode castle
Nov 28th, 2011 at 11:00AM:
Amsterdam has plenty of day trip opportunities. Smaller cities such as Delft are a short train ride away and the pretty countryside has many historic attractions.
Ruïne van Brederode is a castle in the town of Santpoort Zuid, about 25 minutes away by train from Centraal Station. From the Santpoort Zuid station, signs lead through quiet, tree-lined streets to the castle. The ...One luxury and two budget hotels in Amsterdam
Nov 27th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
Visitors to Amsterdam are spoiled for choice when it comes to hotels. From flea-bitten junky flophouses all the way up to five-star luxury accommodation, hotels in Amsterdam offer something for everyone. Picking one can be tricky, though. Here are three places I've stayed at.
The four-star Hotel Estheréa is a good choice if you want to splash out. Its location on a broad canal in ...Amsterdam's Torture Museum
Nov 25th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Like many travelers, I have a soft spot in my heart for tourist traps. Whether it's the politically incorrect cheesiness of South of the Border or the shabby weirdness of The Thing, nothing brings a smile to my face better than some cheap, gaudy attempt to capture my attention.
Amsterdam's Torture Museum fits the bill perfectly. Behind a pseudo-spooky facade are reproductions of torture ...Down-home Dutch cooking in Amsterdam
Nov 24th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Dutch cooking isn't one of Europe's famous cuisines. Yet while it can't compete on the world stage with Italian or Spanish cuisine, Dutch cooking can been really good and travelers to The Netherlands shouldn't dismiss the culinary side of their trip. Here are three cheap to mid-priced restaurants that will make you appreciate Dutch cooking.
De Stadskantine
This "city canteen" at Van Woustraat ...Tasting gourmet Dutch cheese in Amsterdam
Nov 20th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
I'm addicted to it. Every time I'm in Amsterdam the first thing I do is get some to satisfy my craving. I couldn't think of a trip to Amsterdam without it. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Eating Dutch cheese!
I've always wondered why some countries get famous for certain foods. Why is Belgian chocolate so great? Why do the Dutch make such fine cheese? Why aren't the Dutch the chocolate experts ...Amsterdam's Maritime Museum
Nov 17th, 2011 at 3:00PM: Amsterdam owes its wealth to the sea. In the Golden Age of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch sailed around the world looking for rare products to bring back to Europe. They were one of the great maritime powers and are still important in shipping today.
Amsterdam is a city made for the sea. Its canals are laid out like a spider's web, where every family that could afford it built a narrow ...Hagelslag: Belgian chocolate for breakfast
Nov 10th, 2011 at 7:00AM: Chocolate. You gotta love it. You can eat it, cook with it, even snort it. It's good at every meal. Even breakfast, as I discovered on a recent trip to Antwerp.
The Belgians enjoy a special breakfast treat called Hagelslag. These are basically chocolate sprinkles put on toast. The heat of the toast melts the bottom sprinkles, making a nice gooey mess, while the top sprinkles scatter all over ...The oldest printing press in the world
Nov 9th, 2011 at 10:00AM: Antwerp has been an important port and center of commerce for centuries. Because of this it has a long history of printing and the elegant mansion/workshop of one of its early printing companies has been turned into a museum
The Museum Plantin-Moretus houses a huge collection, including the oldest printing press in the world. Actually there are two of them, both from about 1600 and complete ...Luxury accommodation in the heart of Antwerp
Nov 8th, 2011 at 2:00PM:
Antwerp is a compact city with bad weather, so while it's walkable, it pays to be in the center of town. During my visit I stayed at the Hotel Julien, a recently renovated and expanded hotel within sight of the cathedral. In fact, I could see it from my bathroom window!
The Hotel Julien is firmly in the luxury hotel bracket with prices from 195€ ($268) and up, breakfast included. The ...Masterpieces of silver in Antwerp
Nov 7th, 2011 at 3:30PM: Belgium is famous for its silver. Belgian silversmiths have a history stretching back hundreds of years. Their work has always been sought after for its high degree of craftsmanship and so it's no surprise there's a Silver Museum in Antwerp dedicated to the craftsmen that make these works of art.
Besides talent, they have a sense of humor too. This wine cup, shown here in a photo copyright Hugo ...Fine dining in Antwerp
Nov 3rd, 2011 at 12:00PM: For such a small country, Belgium certainly has contributed to world cuisine. French fries, for example, are actually Belgian, making that whole "freedom fries" movement back in 2003 even stupider than it appeared. They also gave us Belgian waffles, although over here they're called "Brussels waffles" after the capital. And let's not forget about Belgian chocolate!
I've been exploring Antwerp, ...Antwerp: Belgium's historic and modern port
Oct 27th, 2011 at 2:00PM: I've often wondered why Belgium is such a rich country. Its main claims to fame--chocolate, beer, Tintin, and a heroic fight against the Kaiser's army in World War One--are all noteworthy but hardly the stuff to earn billions. Some background research for this series taught me that Antwerp has a lot to do with Belgium's wealth.
It's the second largest port in Europe, and one of the top ten in ...Belgian chocolate: so good you can snort it
Oct 25th, 2011 at 4:00PM:
Back in grade school, my friends and I used to eat Smarties, those little sugar tablets that were so popular back then. Some of us, wanting to show off, used to pound them up and snort them. There was no better sugar rush. We used to call them "Snorties".
Well, we should have copyrighted it, because now in Belgium they're snorting chocolate. Not just any chocolate, but gourmet Belgian ...New Gadling travel series: the lowdown on the Low Countries
Oct 24th, 2011 at 2:00PM: Today I'm starting a new travel series here on Gadling. While Alex explores Far Europe, I'm checking out Near Europe. I'm spending the next ten days seeing the sights and sampling the cuisine of the Low Countries. My first stop is Antwerp, Belgium, and from there I'll head to Amsterdam and the Hague in The Netherlands.
There's a lot to explore and I have a full schedule. I'll be seeing castles, ...
