5 Fun Netherlands Day Trips from Amsterdam or Rotterdam

The Netherlands is a pretty small country, about twice the size of New Jersey.  Every year millions of travelers to the Netherlands stay only in Amsterdam.  Some visit the Netherlands’ second largest city, Rotterdam.  Smart travelers with enough time head outside of the biggest cities to visit some of the Netherlands’ unique day trip destinations which are easily reachable from Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

10 Things to Do in Rotterdam

The Netherlands’ second largest city, Rotterdam, is very different from its largest city, Amsterdam.  While Amsterdam is old-world architecture, Rotterdam is a very modern city.  The reason for that is because, except for a small handful of buildings, the city of Rotterdam was obliterated in less than 15 minutes by a World War II bombing campaign.  Rather than trying to rebuild in its old style, the people of Rotterdam decided to show their resiliency by using the devastation as an opportunity to start over with innovative and creative architecture.  The result is that the things to do in Rotterdam are an interesting mix of old and new.

Amsterdam Vacation: Things to Do and Neighborhoods to Visit

Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most popular vacation spots.  Based on feedback from 100,000 millennials, Amsterdam came in number two for most popular travel destinations on earth.  That’s not a huge surprise considering Amsterdam is a picturesque city of canals, architecture, world-famous museums, and more bicycles than people.  It’s also very affordable.  All of this also means Amsterdam is quite crowded, especially in the city center.  Fortunately, the many things to do in Amsterdam include a number of places to visit in Amsterdam’s unique neighborhoods just outside of the city center.