4 Days Itinerary in Rotterdam & The Hague + Keukenhof + Kinderdijk

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4 Days in Rotterdam & The Hague

April / May is the season to visit Netherlands, because of the blooming Tulips at Keukenhof.But, alot of places are out of Amsterdam, thus we decided to explore places out of Amsterdam first.

And also initially, we are planning for an Amsterdam trip but during the period of April, the hotels are almost fully booked that we can only book accommodation outside of Amsterdam. Then I realised, staying in Rotterdam or The Hague seem to be a viable option.

As we research for more accommodation options, we finalized with an awesome stay at Rotterdam, minutes walk away from Markthal and inside the city centre.​

Travel Expense Breakdown: How we spend less than €400 Per Person in this 4 Days (In fact, we spent alot lesser than this)

Day 1: Drive to Keukenhof

Driving from Sens to Keukenhof takes close to 7 hours. Along the way, we picked up our friend at Brussels and headed straight for Keukenhof.

14+ Hours Round Trip
40 Total Toll Fee
1400+ km Round Trip Distance

Driving in  Netherlands

Everything country have their different set of traffic rules, so be sure to check out them before entering the country. When we first reach Netherlands, we are pretty amazed by their well maintain road networks. There are even kerbs to guide you on the roundabout.

Some tips here for driving in Netherlands.

  • It is compulsory to carry a driving licence, car registration papers and insurance documents in the car (Dutch, EU and International Driving Licences are accepted)
  • Mobile cellular telephones may only be used with a hands-free system while driving. Even holding a mobile in a moving vehicle is considered an offence
  • Seatbelts are compulsory in the front and rear of the vehicle
  • Headlights should be dipped in built-up areas but it is prohibited to use side-lights only
  • Drivers should pay particular attention to cyclists who may ride two abreast
  • Unless otherwise signposted, vehicles coming from the right have priority
  • Busses have priority when pulling outTrams have priority except where signposted at major junctions
More importantly, always look out for cyclist

See: Keukenhof

Initially, we planned to reach Keukenhof by 16:00 hours. However, due to delays and traffic condition, we reach Keukenhof at 18:00 hours, with only 90 minutes to spare in the garden because they closed at 19:30 Hours.

We are parked so near to the Entrance!

Here we are! Keukenhof!

But I’m glad that we made it at such hours. In fact, if we can arrive by 1700 hours. That will be the most ideal! We have the nearest parking lot to the entrance. Many guests were already leaving the attraction. There was a long jam going out of the carpark and out of the area as well.

Keukenhof, also known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens. It is situated in Lisse, the Netherlands.

Luckily, we got our tickets online beforehand, so we are not so worried about being late, as the ticket office closes at 1800hrs.

Buy your tickets online to avoid the queues.

Keukenhof, The Tulips Garden is certainly beautiful and you should really visit them during this season or during the season they are operating. The entire park was well maintained! Flowers are also being tidied daily as well. At first we were thinking if we should rent a bicycle, but for €10 and 60 minutes duration, we decided not to as the bicycle rental operates till 1900hrs.

We started tour the garden clockwise and lastly ended with the big field of color tulips (i guess).

This big colorful tulips can be viewed from outside of the garden.

Taken on the roadside while leaving Keukenhof

We left Keukenhof at around 2000hrs, grab a quick dinner at KFC and headed for our stay.

Our stay is pretty awesome at €110 per night for 3 Person! Drop us a message for the contacts.

Our stay for 3 Nights!

Our Stay for 3 Nights

View of the City Centre!

Day 2: A Day trip to The Hague 

The Hague is a city on the North Sea coast of the western Netherlands. Its Gothic-style Binnenhof (or Inner Court) complex is the seat of the Dutch parliament, and 16th-century Noordeinde Palace is the king’s workplace. The city is also home to the U.N.’s International Court of Justice, headquartered in the Peace Palace, and the International Criminal Court.

We had a slow start (as usual), went to Markthal for brunch at close to 1100hrs. This is a huge food marketplace with a lot of cuisine. From Asian, Western to Dutch of course. We ended up having the Andalus Fish store as I guess seafood will taste good in Holland yeah?

Eat: Markthal - Andalus Fish

Outside of Markthal

Andalus Fish

Raw Herring - Like Sashimi

You can try Royal Fish. Welcome Card gives you some discount.

The Markthal is a residential and office building with a market hall underneath, located in Rotterdam. The building was opened on October 1, 2014, by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. 
Wikipedia

Ordered a Seafood Platter and a marinated fresh raw Herring. The herring is affordable, at €1.95 for 1. And if you are there, you must really try this. Even the local police is queuing up to buy this.

Share share eat lah..

See: Madurodam

After our meal at Markthal, we drove to The Hague, Madurodam. The Happy Mini World! The mood was certainly lively in this attraction. The same thing, we got our tickets online, and show them the reference number and off we go! We spent like 3 hours in the mini world. Taking alot alot of photos, playing with their interactive displays.

Buy your Tickets Online and save €2.

Entrance of Madurodam

Notice the Giant Shoe?

Felt like was i was kid!

And we also learnt alot on the dams surrounding Holland. Their water dams technology are so amazing.

See: De Pier @ Scheveningen

Next we went on to Scheveningen beach. Researched for the best place to park, 10mins walk from the seaside. It has been months since we really see the beach and the sea. While Sens or Paris are located in the centre of France. To go to the seaside will take 4-5 hours.

Wide Angle View. During Summer this beach will be very crowded.

The last time was during our trip to Mont St Michel. Weather at the Scheveningen beach was cold! But luckily I brought my scarf along. I guess the period we went was spring, that is why the beach was not so crowded. During summer time, it will definitely be crowded. And there are things to do like, Flying Fox, Bungy Jump and Ferris Wheel.

  • Flying Fox cost €25
  • Bungy Jump cost €75
  • Ferris wheel cost €9
Scheveningen

Bungee Jump for €75

Of course we chose Ferris Wheel. Old already, cannot play too exciting stuffs. But the Ferris Wheel was quite okay. Because we could not have a good view of the sunset. You can have a better view and instagram the sunset if you are at the edge of the Pier.

Camwhoring in the Ferris Wheel

Nonetheless, we had a great time.

We were supposed to have dinner at the Baek Restaurant, but unfortunately their kitchen is closed! Awwww! So we ordered some food from the kebab store just beside it. 10 Wings for €5.50! This is actually the cheapest we found in Europe!

Day 3: Tour Rotterdam - Things to Do in Rotterdam

If you like contemporary and creative architecture, then Rotterdam is the place for you. They are an amazing showcase of modern architecture after being destroyed by the German bombings in 1940. And also their busiest port in the whole of Europe. 

You can likely finish touring most of Rotterdam in 1 Day, but if you want to visit places like the Zoo and Mini World, you may need 1-2 more days. We cater for 1 day tour for Rotterdam and visiting most of their top 10 things to do.

The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe, located in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004 it was the world's busiest port, now overtaken first by Singapore and then Shanghai. Wikipedia

Eat: Hinoki Noodle Soup - Japanese

We started our day late as again, 1230hrs. Had our lunch at Hinoki Noodle Soup Japanese stall just across the street. Service was good, food was good too!

Teriyaki Chicken!

Their #1 Ramen Soup - Tonkotsu Black Special

Go: Rotterdam Tourist Center

We planned our day 3 to tour as much as possible the top 10 Things to Do in Rotterdam. So, we went to the Tourist Information Center to get our Welcome Card. 1 Day Welcome Card at €11. It is pretty worth it.

This is the nearest place to us to get the Rotterdam Welcome Card. This card gives you unlimited travels for ​their public transport (Bus, Metro, Trams). There are also several discounts for attractions as well.

If you are visiting Kinderdijk, you should really get this card.​

  • Euromast 25% discount on the admission fee
  • Cube Houses (Kijk-Kubus) 25% discount on the admission fee
  • ss Rotterdam 28% discount on the Sea Breeze Deluxe Tour
  • Miniworld Rotterdam 40% discount on the admission fee
  • Waterbus (line 18) Free one-way ticket
  • Boat excursion Rotterdam - Kinderdijk 25% discount on the excursion price (reservations recommended)
  • World Heritage Kinderdijk-site 25% discount on the admission fee

Travel Expense Breakdown: How we spend less than €400 Per Person in this 4 Days (In fact, we spent alot lesser than this)

See: Centraal Station

As we have free travel for the day, we decied to just take any public transport to our designation. First stop, Centraal station.

Rotterdam Centraal is the main railway station of the city Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The station received an average of 110,000 passengers daily in 2007. The current station building, located at Station Square, was officially opened in March 2014.

Centraal Station

Another Tourist information Center

And as we were touring around the area, we saw a huge bicycle park! No wonder they are the top cycling nation. 

Cycling is a ubiquitous mode of transport in the Netherlands. 27% of all trips are by bicycle. Highest percentage in the world!

Easily 2 x Foot ball field!

See: Cube House

Visited the Cube House, paid €2 (was €3) as we had the welcome card. Interior was nothing much, but the exterior is certainly interesting.

Cube Houses

See: Erasmusbrug

The Erasmus Bridge is a combined cable-stayed and bascule bridge in the centre of Rotterdam, connecting the north and south parts of this city, second largest in the Netherlands

We witnessed the bridge coming up for some boats when we were at Erasmusbrug. It feels like inception! Interesting things, but probably the Hollands would have see this daily.

​Eat: Fenix Food Factory

This small-scale food hub is located in the Fenixloods, a former warehouse, at the Katendrecht peninsula. Here you can enjoy artisanal food and products from among others the Kaapse Brouwers brewery, Booij Kaasmakers cheese, the Firma Bijten butchers, Jordy’s Bakery and Rechtstreex fruit and vegetables.

As we are crossing Erasmusbrug to SS Rotterdam, we passed by Fenix Food factory. So we decided to take a look inside. There is quite a crowd inside and it sells mostly their dutch food and cheese as well.

See: SS Rotterdam

Interestingly, visiting the SS Rotterdam is free! So we just ventured the entire cruise ship from top to bottom. Of course, having fun with more photos ya?

The fifth SS Rotterdam, also known as "The Grande Dame", is a former ocean liner and cruise ship, and has been a hotel ship in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, since 2010. She was launched by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in a gala ceremony on 13 September 1958, and was completed the following summer. The

And again, we wanted to have Baek for dinner. But it was closed for Easter! Ahhh! Ended up eating Elilis Burger though.

Go: Witte De Withstraat

Witte de Withstraat is known as the artistic and innovative street of Rotterdam. In this street you will find alternative boutiques and restaurants, nice pubs and some nice art galleries with ever changing exhibitions.

While strolling through the street, we realised that there are quite a number of "coffeeshops". And some even have gantries to go in. And if you are wondering, they are not like our Kopi Tiam, drink Kopi C or Teh O.

In the Netherlands, coffeeshops are establishments where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities.

Day 4: Rotterdam to Kinderdijk

Take: The Barge Across

Today will be just going to Kinderdijk and heading back home. When researching for kinderdijk, we found an interesting way to drive to Kinderdijk. We can cut across the canal by taking the barge! Paid €3 for being ferried over! Probably saved 15mins driving the entire detour to reach Kinderdijk.

Up on the Barge!

The entire Kinderdijk is very touristy. Even the car park is full at 11am when we are there. But we were directed to a nearby free carpark. Well, saved €6. Why not.

Rent: Bicycles

In Netherlands, you should really experience cycling! So we went ahead and rent the bicycles!

Rented at bike at the souvenir shop, and took 2 hours to tour the entire windmill. We did not enter the windmill museum, there is a discount if you purchase the welcome card. And discount for the boat ride as well.

A post shared by Travelvoila (@travelvoila) on

Overall, we had great fun and amazed on the systems Netherlands have in place. Their water dams technology, service quality and their infrastructure. We will be back to visit Amsterdam in 2 weeks times.

Till then, Voila!

Travel Expense Breakdown: How we spend less than €400 Per Person in this 4 Days (In fact, we spent alot lesser than this)

What Say You?

Want to see Tulips anot?

About the author 

Donovan

Don is a Kiasu Singaporean that blogs his journey while exploring Europe.
A Singapore Travel Blog that provides travel guides and tips on how to travel free and easy in Europe.

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