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Rick Steves' Amsterdam, Bruges & Brussels

Updates since the eighth edition

Amsterdam

Orientation

Frederic Rent-a-Bike has raised their prices for 2012: €15/24 hours, €25/48 hours, €60/week; still with a 10 percent discount off multiday rentals for Rick Steves readers. They now offer three-hour rental for €8, and one-day rental for €10 if the bike is returned by 17:30.

Sights

The Maritime Museum has reopened after four years of renovations (€15, daily 9:00–17:00).

While you can use a Museumkaart to cover entry to the Anne Frank House, you can't use it to skip the ticket line. To avoid a long wait, arrive right when it opens, or late in the day.

The Van Gogh Museum will close for renovations in October 2012, and reopen (with a new entrance, oriented toward Museumplein) in March 2013. While the museum is closed, about 75 of the collection's highlights will be on display at the nearby Hermitage Amsterdam.

Admission to the Tassen Museum is now covered by both the Museumkaart and I amsterdam City Card.

The Willet-Holthuysen Museum now has an audioguide (€3).

Admission to the Dutch Theater is no longer free, but requires the €12 combo-ticket that covers admission to the Jewish Historical Museum.

The Tropical Museum is now closed on Mondays.

The De Hortus Botanical Garden is now open daily 10:00–17:00 year-round.

Bruges

The Begijnhof now closes in the evening (open daily 6:30–18:30).

The correct email for the lovely folks at Gastenhuis Sint-Andriescruyse is luc.cloet@telenet.be (without the second U). Also, the map on page 392 incorrectly shows the B&B's location; the dot for it (#13) should be farther south, near the K in "Verversdijk."

B&B Gheeraert, where Inne enthusiastically greets her guests, has lower room prices for 2012: Sb-€75, Db-€85, Tb-€95 (breakfast still included).

Hotel 't Keizershof has new prices for 2012: S-€30–45, D-€45, T-€66, Q-€84. They now offer free Wi-Fi.

Hotel Cavilier has a new price: Tb-€90 if you book direct.

't Geerwijn B&B has new prices for 2012: Ds/Db-€75–80 depending on season, Tb-€85–90.

Brussels

USE-IT has moved to Quai à la Houille/Steenkoolkaai 9B (Metro: St. Cathérine).

Hotel Ibis Centre Ste. Catherine no longer offers its €50 summer rate.

Updates for those still traveling with the seventh edition

General

Holland's train-station lockers now take US credit cards.

Amsterdam

Orientation

There's no longer a TI in Central Station; instead, visit the TI just outside the station.

The TI (VVV office) on Leidseplein is no longer located in a kiosk but is now tucked into the side of the giant Stadsschouwburg Theater, sharing an office with the AUB Last-Minute Ticket Shop (Mon–Fri 10:00–19:30, Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun 12:00–18:00, doesn't book hotel rooms).

Strippenkaarten are no longer sold in in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam, they've been replaced by electronic "OV-chipkaarts." While residents carry reloadable chip cards, travelers buy single tickets and daypasses that work just like any other city's tickets, and are only nominally "chip cards." Single tickets now cost €2.60 (transfers OK within one hour), and passes come in one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-day passes, for the same prices currently listed in the book. Cards must be read when entering and leaving the transit. Single tickets and passes can be bought on board trams and buses for no extra fee.

The Wetlands Safari canoe tours now meet at the bus stops behind and an escalator ride up from the West passage of Amsterdam Central Station, rather than at the VVV office in front of the station.

Amsterdam Weekley is no longer published.

Sights

If you purchase tickets online in advance of your visit to the Anne Frank House, you must print them out and bring a copy with you to the museum — the confirmation number alone is no longer accepted. (After buying the tickets, you'll receive an email from the museum with your confirmation, which allows you to print the tickets from the road. Each ticket has a unique barcode which must be scanned at the museum.)

The Royal Palace on Dam Square is once again open to the public, after three years of extensive renovations. You can tour the interior and see several lavishly decorated rooms of chandeliers, paintings, statues, and furniture that reflect Amsterdam's former status as the center of global trade (€7.50, daily 12:00–17:00).

The Rijksmuseum is no longer open late on Fridays (open daily 9:00–18:00) and last entry is 30 minutes before closing.

The Hermitage Amsterdam is open daily 10:00–17:00, Wed until 20:00, and admission is now €15.

The Westerkerk's tower climb has new hours: April–Sept Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00, July–Aug until 20:00, last tour leaves 30 minutes earlier, closed Sun; Oct–March it's only tourable by reserving a private tour (call 020/689-2525 or email anna@buscher-malocca.nl).

The Hash, Marijuana, and Hemp Museum is now open until 23:00 daily, and admission is now €9.

The Red Light District's Prostitution Information Center is now only open on Saturdays (16:00–19:00).

Sleeping

The correct price for a double room at Boogaard's B&B is €120.

Hotel Hegra now has an email address: info@hotelhegra.nl.

Tulips B&B no longer has a fax number.

The Ibis Amsterdam Hotel has new phone and fax numbers: tel. 020/522-2899, fax 020/588-2889.

Eating

The café on the second floor (i.e. one floor up) of the Bijenkorf department store is no longer called "La Ruche." It's now Dam Café, still serving light meals during store hours.

Taman Sari Restaurant, in southeast Amsterdam, has closed.

Nightlife

Boom Chicago doesn't have a later second show every Friday.

Transportation Connections

The Amsterdam–Vienna and the Amsterdam–Milan night trains are no more (Amsterdam–Vienna overnight routing now requires a change of trains at Köln). The Amsterdam–Paris high-speed Thalys trains are faster than before, down to three hours and 18 minutes on direct runs, because of a new track opening. The travel time for the Amsterdam–Brussels leg of the Thalys drops to under two hours, but we still recommend the cheaper non-Thalys trains for that route, which don't require a reservation.

Haarlem

Buses from Schiphol Airport to Haarlem now leave from lane B6 (not B2) in Schiphol Plaza, in front of the airport.

The area in front of Haarlem's train station, formerly home to its collection of bus stops, is a chaotic construction zone. The initial blocks of the two streets that lead from the station into town, Jansweg and Kruisweg, are also being repaved (not at the same time — if you're on a muddy mess of a street, walk one block over to the other one).

The GWK office in the station is now closed on Sundays.

Haarlem's post office has closed. You can buy stamps at newsstands displaying TNT signs; ask your hotelier for assistance if you need to mail a package.

The Grote Kerk is now open Monday–Saturday until 17:00. Its entrance has moved to a new entrance on the Market Square side of the church, near the north transept. (Enter on the south side only for the Tuesday evening organ concerts.)

Bed-and-Breakfast House de Kiefte has closed.

Indrapoera Hotel and Hostel has closed.

The Vincent's Eethuis and Wisma Hilda restaurants have closed.

Jakobus Piek Eetlokal is now open for lunch on Mondays (11:00–16:00).

Lamberon's Restaurant is in a new location (very near its old one): where Anegang and Melkstraat meet Lange Veerstraat (near High Times coffeehouse).

Delft

In some printings of the book, on the map of Delft on page 242, the labels for the New Church and Old Church are switched. They should be reversed; the New Church is on Markt square.

The Royal Dutch Delftware Manufactory no longer offers English-language tours (but the museum is now well-explained in English, and the audioguide works fine). There is no longer a "Delft Express" tourist train to the fatory. Instead, catch bus #40 from the station to the Jaffelaan stop (or, better yet, walk — it's only a 25-minute stroll south of Delft's Market Square).

't Raedthuys hotel is now called Het Konings Huys. It still offers basic rooms for reasonable prices, given its on-the-main-square location.

The Hague

The Prison Tower Museum now costs €7.50. Tours now last 30 minutes (the movie is no more) and depart at :45 after the hour, and at :15 after the hour as well, during busy times (last tour at 15:45).

Utrecht

The National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ no longer requires a tour to visit (but a tour's the only way to see the calliopes and organs in action).

Dutch Day Trips

To make the 11:00 steam train leaving from Hoorn, leave Amsterdam's Central Station before 10:00 (trains run 2/hour, 35 minutes to Hoorn). If you take an earlier train, you should have plenty of time to buy your tickets and explore the old station and the station exhibits.

Bruges

The €15 city-wide museum combo ticket is now valid for 3 days, rather than indefinitely.

The treasury at the Basilica of the Holy Blood is no longer closed for visitors Wednesday afternoons, and has the same hours every day (9:30–12:00 & 14:00–18:00).

The Groeninge Museum has reopened after a significant renovation. In spring 2011, some rooms may still be closed to visitors.

The B&B listed as Paul and Roos Gheeraert-Vandevelde is now called B&B Gheeraert.

Hotel ter Reien now offers a 5 percent discount for Rick Steves readers. To get the discount, book directly with the hotel and show your book when registering.

Hotel Imperial does now have email (info@hotelimperial.be, still Paul and Hilde).

Pili Pili restaurant has closed.

Bistro in den Wittenkop has new owners, and is still recommended (now only open for dinner, but not lunch).

L'Estaminet is no longer closed Mondays (daily 11:30–24:00, except opens at 16:00 on Thu).

Pub 't Gezelleke has new owners, and is still recommended (now open Saturday as well, from noon until late).

Brussels

USE-IT is a friendly TI geared toward younger travelers. They provide free city guides for Brussels as well as several other Belgian cities, including Bruges (Tue–Fri 9:00–12:30 & 13:00–18:00, Sat 13:00–17:00, closed Mon, Steenkoolkaai 9B Quai à la Houille, Metro: St. Cathérine).

Private guide Claude Janssens has a new email address and website: claude@discover-b.be, www.discover-b.be.

The city now subsidizes a network of cheap bikes designed to be borrowed for short rides within the city. The program, called Villo, has rental stations around town. After you register at the automated kiosk with your credit card (€1.50/day, €7/week), you can borrow bikes at will for short durations, then drop them off at any other station (free for up to 30 minutes, €0.50/30–60 minutes, €1/1–1.5 hours, €2/1.5–2 hours). Stations with an automated kiosk also show which nearby stations have bikes available, and how many. But bike stands at higher altitudes (in the Upper Town) are often empty, whereas they're full — surprise, surprise — at lower altitudes (in the Lower Town).

At the Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium, a €13 combo-ticket covers all three museums: Ancient Art, Modern Art, and Magritte Museum. The Death of Marat has been moved from the Modern Art wing to the Ancient Art wing.

The Atomium is now open 10:00–18:00, and last entry is 30 minutes before closing.

Hotel Ibis off Grand Place has new phone number: tel. 02-514-4040

Hotel the Moon offers a 10 percent discount only to Rick Steves readers who book directly with the hotel (discount not valid when booking through other websites). The hotel does not have an elevator...but it does have a new website: www.hotelthemoon.com.

Hotel Welcome has a new URL for its website: www.hotelwelcome.com.