I can't blame you all for just visiting Amsterdam. It simply is the only city in the Netherlands that has the vibrant atmosphere of a large, tourist-attractive city. Along with that arguably the nicest coffeeshops in NL are located just there, so it's the prime location to go and smoke out. The Hague, Rotterdam and Maastricht are nice cities too, to name a few. If you like the franctic Amsterdam atmosphere, be prepared: it will be different, but it'll surely give a better view of what the Netherlands and its people are really like. After all, Amsterdam is not everything, contrary to what people tend to say
Is amstelveen near Amsterdamse Bos? We go hiking there every year when we visit. Anyway, I'm organizing a big ass american hippy tour group to amstelveen. Shall we drop by your place?