Amsterdam info needed please! (cruises, cost, rentals, cycle)
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We went last May - it was my 40th birthday trip, a couple months early. Are you looking to stay in a hotel or an apartment? We rented a one bedroom apartment in the Jordaan neighborhood, mostly because I like the experience of grocery shopping at the local market & saving $$ on eating some home-cooked meals. I get sick of eating out every single meal when I'm on vacation for more than a couple days!
We took the EcoTours Amsterdam canal tour instead of one of the bigger covered tours. It was one of the highlights of the trip. They have smaller open boats. We choose to go on a nice sunny day & it was soooo nice with the boat being open. This was our boat & captain:
The other major highlight of our trip was going to Keukenhof & seeing all the flowers. We just missed seeing the fields full of flowers by a couple of weeks, but the grounds were still lovely & gorgeous. We had a lot of fun, as well, on the Randy Roy's Red Light District tour. We had walked through the area on our own, but the guide showed us a lot of things we missed.
Amsterdam is a great city - I'm sure you'll have fun! 98% of the people we encountered spoke English - I never even had to open my language translation book. We went to see a movie at the theater & it was in English with Dutch subtitles. The only odd thing was that the movie theater seats were assigned, which was weird for us when they asked us what section of the theater we wanted to sit in as we bought our tickets!
It is a great city. Very compact. I don't remember many specific food places, but if you just wander around you'll find many options. Not to be prejudice or stereotyping, but the city has had some issue with Argentinian food places copying credit card information, if that is your method of payment, be wary with that.
Some cool things to do/see are a visit of the Heineken Brewery and the Rijksmuseum. I've never stayed in a hotel there (have family in Holland), so I can't help with that.
My experiences with the city have been more as a local and not as a tourist.
Ahh, Amsterdam - its a trip indeed! Sorry, can't help much on accommodations or dining. Our multiple visits have been on river ships so we've never rented or done 3 squares a day on our own. The city is relatively small but the numerous canals can be confusing to get around when walking outside the main areas.
Several of our acquaintances have found great lodging deals staying outside the city proper along the train lines and used the excellent rail service to avoid the premium in-city costs. As wisnowbird noted, there are many short term apartment or canal boat rentals available within the city.
Dining - we primarily only did lunch at any of the innumerable cafes in the city as other meals were included on our ship trips. We never had a bad experience at the cafes so I haven't any specific recommendations for you. A couple of formal dining experiences in the city proper are remembered as mostly being a bit pricey. Its generally (IMO) not a great place to go looking for US style steak. I'm certainly not an expert so hopefully other more knowledgable folks will chime in on the subject.
I assume you've probably already acquired any of the excellent tour books available outlining all the usual attractions so I won't repeat them herein. In general, one should (IMO), definitely take a canal tour or two (say hello to house #7 for me).
Simply taking tram rides around the city is a nice way to get a a good city view. Water taxis are also a convenient way to get around. If you rent bicycles, just remember that you're on the Indianapolis 500 of the bicycling world in the main areas.
The flower market is delightful, not to be missed. You'll find English is very common, language is not a problem. One could people watch at a Dam Square cafe for days, its a fascinating scene, though it is a very crowded environment.
A couple of hopefully useful tips:
1) The bicyclists OWN the city on the bikeways - be VERY careful not to impede the bike paths or you will get run over and its your fault. There are HUGE hoards of them and its unlike any other city in the world in our experience. Its a natural tendency while taking photos to move for the best shot - do so only after checking the bike path.
On one of our trips a woman stepped onto a bike path to get a better angle for a photo, got hit and ended up with a broken leg and badly bruised ribs. You'll understand what I'm warning you about the first time you're on the street - be careful.
2) You may well encounter some charming young man or woman on the street who appears to be seeking a signature regarding some petition - save the whales, the icebergs, etc.. Its possible its innocent - its also not uncommon that you're being targeted for a pickpocket setup by the folks who suddenly appear at your side if you stop.
We travel in Europe fairly frequently and Amsterdam is on our high threat city list. Street violence is very uncommon but theft is a real problem. Its similar to being at the Trevi Fountain in Rome or on the subway in Paris.
3) Be prepared for rain - in our experience its pretty common and we've been there in several different seasons over the years.
4) Ditto on the previous recommendation for a visit to the Central Library cafe, its a neat place. Likewise (and this is definitely an odd one) - there is a huge, multi-building custom furniture store down by the tour ship dock. We were just wandering around and visited it offhand. Its an excellent exposure to European interior design and beautiful furniture if that might interest you.
Amsterdam is a fascinating city - I'm sure you will have a delightful experience, just beware the bicycles. Safe travels .
Last edited by Pilgrim21784; 03-23-2013 at 10:49 AM..
My wife and I are planing to spend 10 days in Amsterdam in May.
We are in our low 40's. Not very crazy party people either!
Where would you recommend to stay?
What restaurants should we try?
Any other attractions: Museums, open markets, cruises on the river,...etc
We thank you in advance for your feedback?
Amsterdam is one of my favourite cities, and is fun to get lost in. That said, bring a map when you walk around the old centre. It is very easy to get turned around, especially your first visit!
I stay with friends so I can't comment on accommodation too much and without knowing your price range it's hard to suggest places, but a place I did stay at many years ago and loved was The Seven Bridges Hotel.
It is in a great location and will give you a feel of Amsterdam living.
If the weather is nice and you like to bike ride it is very easy to get out of the centre. Take the number 53 metro to Gaasperplas, it's the last stop and takes about 25 or so minutes. You can bring your bike on the metro. The park has bike paths to ride around without the fear of traffic or falling into canals. If you are up for it you can bike from here to Abcoude, about 5K away. The route is simple ( but bring that map ! ) and takes you through some countryside. You can have lunch in Abcoude and then head back.
If this is your first trip to The Netherlands I would also suggest you hop on a train and go to Utrecht, less than an hour away. It gives you a better idea of what cities are like there. As many dutch say, Amsterdam is not The Netherlands.
Focus on the Indonesian, Chinese, and Turkish food. They're much tastier than the Dutch food, which is heavy, plain, and includes lots of potato. That said, among the Dutch food not to be missed are pannekoeken (sweet of savory pancakes), chocolates, cheeses.
I wanted to thank every one for their input!
We are going on our own...no tours. I am planing to use airbnb.com for our lodging!
All the above info is very helpful to us!
Thanks again!
Be sure to have rijsttafel (Indonesian) to eat. Lots of good restaurants for it.
But yeah, the museums in Amsterdam were the highlights for me. And the Anne Frank House ... read her diary/see the play/watch the movie before you go, if you haven't.
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