3 Days in the Netherlands: Keukenhof, Giethoorn and Why I Wouldn't Rent a Bike
A 3-day Netherlands itinerary from April — Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum, the tulips at Keukenhof, the canal village of Giethoorn, and honest takes on Zaanse Schans and renting a bike as a first-timer.
I did this trip solo in April, which turns out to be the single most important decision in the whole itinerary — it's the only window when Keukenhof is open, and it kept the crowds down everywhere else too.
Three days, three distinct days out, and a couple of opinions that go against the standard advice.
Go in April (or don't plan around Keukenhof at all)
Keukenhof only opens for roughly two months a year, around late March to mid-May. Outside that window it's shut, and a large part of this itinerary doesn't work.
So either time your trip for spring, or accept that day two needs replacing with something else. There's no way around it — this is the one genuinely season-locked destination in the country.
The wider benefit of April: I went to Giethoorn on a Friday outside the usual holiday period and had it almost entirely to myself, and I got into the Rijksmuseum spontaneously without a booking. Both of those would have been very different in July.
Day 1: Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum and Zaanse Schans
The Rijksmuseum — do this one
I only did the Rijksmuseum, and I can highly recommend it. Rembrandt, Vermeer, and a building that's worth walking into on its own terms.
Skip the Van Gogh Museum
This is my contrarian take and I'll stand behind it: the Van Gogh Museum doesn't have the masterpieces. The paintings you're picturing when you think of Van Gogh are largely in other collections around the world. It's not a bad museum, it's just not the museum most visitors think they're booking.
If you only have time for one, the Rijksmuseum is the one.
Book ahead for either of them. I got in on the day, but only because I was there on a weekday outside tourist season — that's luck, not a strategy.
Zaanse Schans — a tourist trap you should still go to
Let me be straight: Zaanse Schans is a tourist trap. It's an assembled open-air museum of windmills and wooden houses rather than a living village, and it's busy.
Go anyway. It's close enough to Amsterdam that the cost of going is basically nothing, and windmills are genuinely part of why you came to this country. Just go in with accurate expectations — it's an hour or two, not a half day.
Day 2: Keukenhof
A full day among the tulip displays and landscaped gardens. In April this is exactly what it's supposed to be, and there's not much to add — it's flowers, at enormous scale, done extremely well.
Take lunch and eat it among the beds rather than queueing for food.
Day 3: Giethoorn
A village of canals, thatched cottages and footbridges, with no roads through the middle of it.
Boat tour or rent your own?
I took a guided boat tour, and only because I was travelling alone. That's the honest reasoning.
If I'd had even one other person with me, I'd have rented a boat instead. The small electric boats are easy to handle, they're better value split between two, and having the canals at your own pace is the entire appeal of the place. Solo, the maths didn't work.
So: two or more people, rent the boat. On your own, take the tour.
On the crowds
Giethoorn has a reputation for being overrun, and it's deserved in season. I went on a Friday outside the main holiday period and it was mostly empty, which was a completely different experience.
If you can go on a weekday outside peak summer, do. It's the difference between a quiet village and a queue of tour boats.
Don't rent a bike (unless you've cycled in Europe before)
Every guide to the Netherlands tells you to rent a bike. I didn't, and I wouldn't.
Here's why. Dutch cyclists are fast and genuinely aggressive, the cycling infrastructure has real rules and conventions, and if you don't know them you will get yelled at. Amsterdam's bike lanes are commuter infrastructure being used at commuter speed — they are not a leisure activity, and a hesitant tourist in the middle of one is a hazard to everyone including themselves.
What I'd recommend instead: walk, and use public transport for anything further out. Amsterdam is small and walkable, and the trains handle everything else in this itinerary comfortably.
The exception: if you've cycled in European cities before and you're comfortable in traffic, absolutely rent one. It's a great way to see the city if you already have the instincts. It's just not the beginner-friendly experience it gets sold as.
Worth knowing
- April or early May if Keukenhof matters to you.
- Weekdays outside peak season transform Giethoorn and make museum walk-ups possible.
- Book the Rijksmuseum ahead unless you're deliberately going off-season on a weekday.
- Buy train tickets early for better prices.
- Everything in this itinerary works on public transport. You don't need a car and you don't need a bike.
Related reading
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- 3 days in Switzerland on a budget
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