Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
recorded descriptions of the art. If you bring along your own pair
of headphones and a Y-jack, two people can sometimes share one
audioguide and save. Guided tours (widely ranging in quality) are
most likely to occur during peak season.
Expect changes—paintings can be on tour, on loan, out sick,
or shifted at the whim of the curator. To adapt, pick up any avail-
able free floor plans as you enter, and ask museum staff if you can't
find a particular painting.
Most important sights have an on-site café or cafeteria (usu-
ally a good place to rest and have a snack or light meal). The WCs
are free and generally clean.
Key sights and museums have bookstores selling postcards
and souvenirs. Before you leave, scan the postcards and thumb
through the biggest guidebook (or skim its index) to be sure you
haven't overlooked something that you'd like to see.
Most sights stop admitting people 30-60 minutes before clos-
ing time, and some rooms close early (generally about 45 minutes
before the actual closing time). Guards usher people out, so don't
save the best for last.
Every sight or museum offers more than what is covered in
this topic. Use the information in this topic as an introduction—
not the final word.
trAnSPortAtion
By Car or Train?
Because of the short distances and excellent public transportation
systems in the Low Countries, and the fact that this topic covers
three big cities, I recommend connecting Amsterdam, Bruges, and
Brussels by train, not by car. You absolutely do not want or need a
car in any of these cities.
Hourly trains connect each of these towns faster and easier
than you could by driving. Just buy tickets as you go. You don't
need advance reservations to ride a train between these cities,
unless you take the pricey Amsterdam-Brussels Thalys train (it's
avoidable; plenty of regular trains make this run). For specifics on
transportation in the Netherlands, see page 301; for Belgium, see
page 437. For more extensive travels beyond the Low Countries,
you may want to study your railpass options (see www.ricksteves
.com/rail).
SLEEPinG
I favor accommodations (and restaurants) handy to your sight-
seeing activities. Rather than list hotels scattered throughout a
city, I choose two or three favorite neighborhoods and recommend
