Leiden is a large city gem a really neat town with lots of canals and white humpacked wooden bridged - a lively pedestrian zone with a famous market some days and it is also a university town, home to one of Europe's most prestigious universities, so in February should be livelier than most Dutch towns.

No Leiden is a gem - check out some of its museums.

Eindhoven to me is basically a modern town which though very pleasant never did much to make me go back - it is a technology center - famous science museum (I believe it is science but something technical)

Never heard of those other towns.

Near Bakkeveen is Groningen, a 1000 year old city which is worth seeing. Visit the VVV and get a walking tour of the city which you can do yourself. You might even consider spending a night there as it would have to be hard to get accommodation in some of the smaller places you mention. A Saturday would be good as there is a weekly market which is kind of fun. If you have time afterwards wend your way through the neat-as-a-pin townships (all with canals the whole way) to tiny Bourtange, which is a star-shaped village / fortress near the German border. While some people actually live there, its main purpose nowadays is tourism. It was star-shaped in the 17th century and gradually became modernised and due to urban sprawl the star shape was lost. More recently the village's council decided to restore the village in an effort to save it because it lost a lot of inhabitants and went downhill. You can get archaeological artifacts from the gift shop, spoils from the restoration. It's very cute - but not very well signposted!!!

Lavandula

I hope you do not mean 5 one niters---can you not do it from 2 hotels?

Yes 5 one nighters!!! I know it's crazy! ...my friend is a musician and playing a series of gigs there. Some of our lodging will be arranged. I don't need to plan any of the lodging. Just looking for some ideas to fill in our time beyond getting to the next performance. We are also mothers used to traveling with children and so frankly 5 one nighters doesn't seem that big of deal if I don't have multiple other people to manage.

Thanks for the ideas

Looking forward to Leiden...

Eindhoven is now a design center, if I recall correctly. Worth a trip, but far fromGroningen, which has a fascinating modern museum, and a nice city center.

Wish I could be more help. Enjoy the countryside, though it sounds like probably a lot of motorway.

Eindhoven has a pleasant center of town, lots of restaurants, cafés. If you happen to be there February 9 to 12; that's carnival. It will be one big party.

Do you mean Lage Vuursche? Very pleasant area; upmarket and expensive place to live. I believe the Queen lived there before she was Queen, and certainly Queen Juliana lived in nearby Soestdijk. Utrecht is the nearest large town - worth a visit to the old center of town, with its canals.

Ottersum is near the German border, nearest large town is Nijmegen; another university town. I think there are some WW2 related museums nearby.

Leiden is, as PalenQ pointed out, a lovely town.

I too assume you mean Lage Vuursche, which is just down the road from me. It gets packed on fine weekends, as it is a popular place to walk in the woods, have poffertjes or pancakes. Queen Beatrix has her private residence there, though you can see very little of it.
There is a good midget golf in Lage Vuursche and you can walk for miles through the woods.
Paleis Soestdijk, which is where Queen Juliana lived, it is open at the weekend, but you have to book a ticket, and to be honest it is not worth the money imho.
Baarn is a nice enough little village, but you may enjoy a visit to Spakenburg more. It is a former Zuiderzee fishing village, now on the Eemmeer. Some of the older women still wear their traditional clothes. There are a couple of interesting museums there.

Or maybe Naarden would appeal - a fortified town with it's walls intact. A lovely church at the centre of it.

Amersfoort, whilst a major shopping centre and city also has places of interest - old town gates, wall remnants, Mondriaan's birthplace, A good museum, and just outside Kamp Amersfoort. This is the remains of a WW2 concentration camp. There is not a lot of it left, but it is free to visit and the atmosphere is incredible. Oh, another free museum is the airforce museum in Soesterberg.

The Michelin Route Planner is an excellent resource for planning your road trip - select the sightseeing directions.

http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Routes

Have fun on your journey through the Netherlands.

Robyn

Yes not sure what happened to Lage Vuurshe. Thanks for the thoughts. Hetismij2 I will definitely consider Spakenburg. Will check out the Michelin Route Planner as well.

Bakkeveen is great for walking. As is Lage Vuursche, and also Ottersum. But in february... Bring books. As to visiting Groningen from Bakkeveen: if you don't have your own transport it's doable in a day, just: public transport is very scant there. Get someone to drive you to Groningen.

Are you renting cars for your road trip? That would make it a little easier.

Veere, Middelburg and Goes all lovely little towns with some 1600 bits in the middle though you need a car or a bike

It will be February - brrrrrrrrr!
Will not your vehicle have a heater?
There is lots to do in Eindhoven . As suggested you may be there during carnaval.(08-Feb-2013 until 12-Feb-2013)
This is the website http://www.lampegatscarnaval.nl/ You have to dress up to join in the fun, hire a costume or make something silly out of cheap cloths.
The rest of the information about what is on can be found at the tourism office website. www.vvveindhoven.nl
Stratumseind is great for a bar crawl. There something like 40 bars.
Wilhelminaplein is a location for live music in small bars.
But I have to ask what are you looking for?

This is a great thread with a lot of useful information. Leiden is an incredible city, so worth a visit with lots to explore. I would recommend it for the holidays as it's very festive and the energy in the city is palpable.

I studied in Leiden, but for the life of me I wouldn't know what to do there. It's got good bars though (student town) and the city itself is beautiful. Also you can see where Rembrandt van Rijn was born and there's a few cityscapes that appear in his sketches and etchings as well (around Galgewater)

Indonesian food of exceptional quality can be had at Bunga Mas (Janvossensteeg 61)
Victor Russo's Osteria is a great Italian restaurant I've been to recently (Vrouwensteeg 16)

Eindhoven around Carnaval is great: just do the most basic dress up (famer's smock and handkerchief, some facepaint) and immerse yourself for 3 days.

Our lodging in Ottersum is up in the air. We are trying to decide where we stay Sunday night wiht show on Monday in Eindhoven. Eindhoven sounds iteresting in some ways but not sure if I want to go to modern town. Utrecht might be a little out of the way... Any other ideas?

SO your friend is in Ottersum Sunday night but you have no lodging there?
If you are going to Eindhoven on Monday then consider Den Bosch. Not small but an interesting city nonetheless. Or Deurne maybe if you want somewhere smaller. Venlo/Venray/Tegelen are all possibilities, as of course is Nijmegen if you want somewhere bigger and Den Bosch doesn't appeal.

We are pondering utrecht Saturday night, show in Ottersum Sunday afternoon, back to Utrect sunday evening, then Monday mid-day head on to Eindhoven. Will spend some time researching those towns you suggested hetismij2.

There is a fantastic carnaval (Mardi Gras) celebration in Maastricht, February 10-12. See http://tinyurl.com/a9yt9po.

There are some nice village near Eindhoven; Valkenswaard and Eersel for example.

I see that the new King to be graduated from the university in Leiden.
The Pilgrim Museum and church are located in Leiden too.