Tulips! a visit to Keukenhof Gardens

I woke up early on a Saturday morning to visit the world's largest flower garden. And it was worth it! You should definitely consider making a trip to Keukenhof Gardens soon. The tulips are blooming, and they are beautiful.

Getting there: the gardens are in a small town called Lisse. You can take a long bike ride to the gardens, drive, or take the bus. A bus runs from Den Haag Central Station during the week, but on the weekend you can take the train to Leiden and from there buy your bus ticket to reach Keukenhof. The bus ticket is 20 euro and includes the return bus trip and entrance to the gardens. It's not a long bus ride, and you pass some of the tulip fields when you are close to the gardens. (When you arrive at the Leiden train station, get your tickets at the Connexxion booth.)

Timing: GO EARLY. Or go during the week if you can. The crowds really get in the way of strolling at a leisurely pace and enjoying the flowers. The garden is huge, and you will want to see as much as you can before you get tired. Plus the views are much prettier with fewer people around. I went on a Saturday, got to Leiden around 9:45, only had to wait about 20 minutes for a bus, and had a few peaceful hours in the gardens before it became packed. By 2:00 when I left, there were large crowds to enter the park and to get on the bus in Leiden.

Food: There are a lot of cafes and food stands in the garden, so you could eat breakfast there if you want. And if you're there for a long time, you can keep your energy up with food breaks.

ISTANBUL

Istanbul is a fantastic city! We were told it's neither really Europe nor Turkey. Istanbul has its own character. Here are a lot of tips from five happy tourists:

- OTRAKOY: definitely take the time to visit Ortakoy mosque and eat the street food right outside. The food is great and you can eat right next to the water. It's a great place to watch people and boats go by. They have stalls of baked potatoes with a ridiculous number of toppings, and we have decided this is the place to get the BEST street food dessert IN THE WORLD: Ortakoy Waffles. You get a waffle topped with your choice of about 20 toppings! (including various types of chocolate, bananas, kiwi, strawberries, coconut, pistachios, cherries, chocolate chips, etc.) They are FANTASTIC. Try to go on a Sunday so you can shop at the Ortakoy sunday market. To reach Ortakoy, take the tram to the end of the Kabatas line, then walk or take a cheap taksi. You'll pass Dolmabache Palace on the way if you walk.

- Dolmabache Palace: worth the trip, but to avoid the lines, try to go around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. They don't allow you to go on both the general tour and harem tour around those times, so fewer people go then it seems.

- Arasta Bazaar: a small bazaar right by the Blue Mosque that is a much easier place to shop than the Grand Bazaar, plus it seems you can get better deals there.

- Taksim at night: a great place to hang out, go for drinks or dinner, and shop.

- Taksis (taxis) are cheap if you are in a group, and reasonable if you are not. Make sure you ask the driver to use the meter before you get into the cab. The meter is the cheapest way to go. If you are trying to give directions if you are right by your hotel/hostel and you know where you are, use so (left) and sa (right) and your taksi driver might give you a big grin like the one we got!

- Expect to pay for whatever food is brought to the table at a restaurant. If you don't want something, kindly refuse the dish. The meze (small plates) will sometimes be given to you, assuming you want them as starters.

- You might see brochures for the She Tour of the Bosphorous and Spize Bazaar. It's 30 euro. It's a great trip on the Bosphorous, but stay at the spice bazaar (don’t go to the leather "production" - trust us) at the end. Or just take the ferries along the river, which are cheaper but might not have a tour guide telling you what you are seeing... just look around for your Bosphorous options.

- Try Turkish Delight if you've never had it - but make sure to ask the shopkeeper for the kind made with honey instead of sugar. If you taste both you'll see the Turkish Delight made with honey is a lot better. Usually you can ask for samples.

- The street corn might look good, but there is better street food around.

- You can bargain in most shops around the city.

- At the Galata Bridge, there is a tall building with a restaurant called Storks at the top. It has great food and wonderful views (both an outside deck and seats inside with glass windows for the view).

- Hamdi Restaurant: also at Galata Bridge, close to the Spize Bazaar. You'll see it, or ask any of the street vendors where it is. You will need a reservation. Also a place for great views and good food.

- Get to Aya Sofia early in the morning to avoid the line. It's the only Mosque where we paid an entry fee, and the lines are often long.

- Topkapi Palace is not the same as the archeological museum section! When you get inside the gate, the garden is in front of you. The way to get to the palace is to the right, before you go through the gardens. Once up there, the archeological museum is right in front of you, and you keep walking to get to the Palace.

- On a nice day, walk through the garden at Topkapi Palace. At the end of your walk, have Turkish tea or Turkish coffee at the café, overlooking the Bosphorous. (If you order Turkish tea, make sure to mix the tea with the hot water that comes with it. We learned from experience.)

- It's hard to find ATMs and you can't always use credit cards, so keep Turkish lire on you.

- Wander through the gardens of Istanbul University by the New Mosque. You can even go into the school, even though all the students seem to have to show ID to enter.

- New Mosque (next to the Spice Bazaar at the Eminonu tram stop and Galata Bridge)

- Spice Bazaar

- Grand Bazaar (overwhelming at times but very fun; can be more expensive to shop here than other shops)

- If you are going to visit the grand mosque of Sulemaniye, stroll through Istanbul University on your way. (The mosque is magnificent so it's worth seeing the outside, but it's getting renovated so we couldn't see inside)

- Visit a hammam! A Turkish Bath will rejuvenate you after a few days of sightseeing.

- Don't stir you Turkish coffee! It might seem like a futile comment, but in practice this is crucial.

- Mehraba (meh’-rah-bah) = hello

- Tesekur ederim (tesh’-eh-kuhr-ed’-eh-reem’) = thank you

- Nes’-sel-sin’-iz (phoenetic spelling) = how are you

- Women should bring a scarf to mosques (for a head covering)

- Wear shoes that you can slip on and off easily for mosque entry

- The little shops bordering the outside of the Blue Mosque were cheaper than a lot of the shops at the various bazaars

- If you want to hang out under the bridge, grab a drink instead of eating at the restaurants there because the food isn't great, however the cheap food stands selling fish sandwiches and mussels close to the bridge, next to the water were cheap and delicious and you can hang with the locals.

- You might be surrounded by a random swarm of Turkish school children! They are charming and talking with them helps them practice their English.

- Turkish shopkeepers will talk you up but might not be happy when you decline to come in - it's probably better to talk to them if you are genuinely curious or interested in what they have to offer in their shop

- The Baklava is good everywhere!

Maastricht

Maastricht, the oldest city in The Netherlands, is a small town around 3 hours from The Hague by train. It is very similar to The Hague in some ways, such as the architecture, the small town feel, the European chain stores that you can find in both towns, and the food/bar options. A friend tells me the lifestyle of people in the south is very different from those up here in The Hague, but you probably won't be able to tell on a weekend visit. It's supposed to be a very nice place to visit in the spring/summer, when the flowers are out and you can sit for hours at a cafe along the river or in the squares. The Vrijthof Square, in the center of old town, is a short walk across the river from the central station.

A few things worth visiting if you go:

1. Selexys book store in an old church
2. Roman Ruins under the Hotel Derlon (at Olvrouweplein 6, not far from Vrijthof Square)

Bruges

Bruges is a very sweet, small town. There aren't many new buildings, so you can imagine you are living in the 17th century when you walk around. The canals add to the scene, and if you want you can take an open boat ride (small boats, nothing fancy) on the canals with a tour guide. The town is small enough that you can meander and find things as you go, but if you want some guidance, these suggestions might come in handy:

1. two churches are very close to each other, and you can go into both. one of them is home to a small Michaelangelo sculpture of the Madonna and Child, which is one of the few scupltures by him that is outside Italy
2. chocolate, chocolate, chocolate - you could spend the entire day going into all the chocolate shops. they each have great displays and mouthwatering offerings. try looking for the Chocoladhuis at 15 Woolestraat, a street off the markt square.
3. Belgian waffles - a must
4. the Burg - this square has buildings with pretty architecture. an information booth can also be found here. you can go inside some of the buildings for a fee, or just go into the lobbies to take a peek.
5. Markt Square - lively and the center of town. don't eat in the restaurants/cafes in the square because they are overpriced. instead try the restaurants on the streets that stem from the square.
6. clock tower - you can climb the tower of the church located in the markt square (be prepared for 300+ steps)
7. Belgian beer - you can tour a brewery or sit in a bar offering 400+ beers on the menu
8. The Chocolate Museum - interesting history of chocolate, plus at the end you can see chocolate being made
9. Lybeer Hostel - a nice lobby and gathering area, good breakfast included in the price, and a good location. just make sure your shower works (hot water issues) before you pay for your room.

Copenhagen

last year, we went on a great intern holiday to copenhagen, the weather was soooo much better than here in den haag, i highly recommend :)

*nyhavn: nice area with beautiful houses. very touristy though, you can have a beer, but don't eat there, prices are insane.
*istedgade: nice area with shops, bars and cafes, behind central station (our hotel was in that area, perfectly situated because you can just walk to the centre
*straedet (kompagnistraede): nice cafes and restaurants
*christiania: must-see, it is an autonomos spot, a "free town" in town. you can smoke and have drinks there, funny place, although its inhabitants say it's going down. we had a few beers there (crazy enough, you have to go to a hippie place in denmark to be able to pay for your drinks with a credit card, which you can't in most places here ;)
*black diamond exhibition
*vestergade&studiestrade: student's quarter, really fun for a stroll and lunch
*nice food-places are cafe luna, sweet treat or wilders
*if you have australian friends, buy and send a postcard with princess mary. they will love that.

if you really WANT a picture of yourself and the little mermaid, be prepared to fight other tourists for that. you can walk around and see most of the sights in a day or two, and don't need to rush. they have great vintage and art shops.
prepare to meet lots and lots of nice people, and if you are nice to them in return, you might end up with great recommendations for clubs, concerts and restaurants, and even be invited for a sailing trip :)
denmark doesn't have the euro, so you get to play with funky money...eat a hot dog and enjoy watching the really fashionable copenhageners!!

Bonn

Tipps for having a good time in my hometown...

Sightseeing
*The centre of Bonn is relatively small, just like The Hague's, so once you arrive at central station, you can just start walking around, you will very hardly get lost.
Beautiful parts of Bonn are the "Südstadt" and the "Altstadt", where you find 18th and 19th century houses and many nice cafes and little bars. Südstadt is a little more posh, Altstadt is a bit more indie. Also "Poppelsdorf" is nice, you can walk from the centre to the castle, former residency of the elector.

* You should definitely try the "Haus der Geschichte" (House of History), the entry is free, and it is a very interactive, cool spot, that I drag all my visitors to. They collect "real" items of German history from 1945 until today. Especially for US Americans, this is super-interesting as it all starts with the Berlin airlift. Their shop sells funny stuff, like the American soldier's manual for Germany which nowadays really makes you laugh ;)
http://www.hdg.de/index.php?id=1&L=1&cHash=d1f02bd227

*"Path of Democracy": walking along this "path" leads you along the most significant spots for German contemporary history, and it is beautiful as well, along the river, passing by the UN building, the former parliament, Petersberg (Afghanistan conference), Palais Schaumburg, etc.
http://www.wegderdemokratie.de/tour/index.html

*Beethoven House: Beethoven was born in Bonn, and you can visit his birthplace. It is right in the city centre.
http://www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de/sixcms/detail.php//portal_en

*The university castle...you cannot miss it. Right in the centre.


Bars & Restaurants
*The sleezy hole-like bar of Bonn is undoubtedly the "Blow up", which used to be a brothel-nightclub-thing while the town was still the captial of Germany. Now it is a popular spot that is open the longest, until 5 am or now maybe even longer. It fills up after 10 pm, and the music is sometimes a bit weird, but it is always fun to go :) (Rathausgasse 10)

*Good food is available at Giacomo, Pathos, the Tapas Bar Take Two, Cafe Extro, to name a few.
An all-time students' favourite place is the Cafe Blau (Franziskanerstr. 9), which by day is a restaurant with good, not too pricy food, and a bar in the evenings. Especially when the weather is good, it's nice to sit outside, as it is directly next to the main university builiding, a former castle.

*Alter Zoll: this is an open-air bar, a "Biergarten" as we call it, right on the spot where the trade ships used to dock at the Rhine. In the summer, you can have beer, coffee and food there, and if there's no free spot, you can buy stuff and sit on the grass or even on the big lawn in front of the Uni castle (called "Hofgarten") (http://www.wegderdemokratie.de/tour/index.html)

*3RaumWohnung, a bar/small disco thing in the centre. (Am Böselagerhof 15)

Leisure :)
*Go to the Rheinauen park. It is really beautiful and huge. You can walk along the Rhine there or take the metro no. 66, stop Rheinaue. Lawns, small ponds, always a 60s-icecream-truck and the post-tower, Bonn's most controversial building. Every first Saturday of the month, they have one of Germany's best fleamarkets there, if you're early, you can get great stuff.

*Take the boat from the "Alter Zoll" if you need to go to the other side of the Rhine. 70 cents!! Much nicer than going by metro ;)

*As you're used to biking in The Hague, go rent bikes and get around by bike. It is what most people do, and takes you everywhere...


For clubbing, well, you have to go to Cologne :)
Which, btw, is only a 20 minute-trainride away, trains run all night from Friday-Sunday, and quite late during the week as well.

PS: If you book your ticket at least a week in advance, it's 19 Euros from DH Centraal to Cologne. Even without discount card.

Addition: A tavola con Rossini is a great little Italian restaurant in Cologne near the train station. If you leave the main exit of the train station, you will see the cathedral on your left and in front of you is the Rolex building. Follow the street that is straight ahead of you, to the left of the Rolex Building. Take your first right, at the circle. Continue on that street for a little while, under a bridge and past the gate (looks like an arch) to the old city. The gate is beautiful at night, by the way. Just past the gate, on the left, is the restaurant. Very good Italian food, and the waiters are very nice. They don't speak a lot of English, but if you speak a little Italian you'll be good to go. Otherwise, just pick something that looks great and point!

Request for tips

Hi all, looking for travel tips for the following cities:

1. Cologne
2. Bonn
3. Maastricht
4. Lille
5. Bruges

Thanks!