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Netherlands
In summer the temperatures in Amsterdam, like in any city, can get quite unbearable. Hire a bike and head for the green Bijlmermeer in the south-east of the city, only half an hour from the centre.
On summer weekends there is the Kwakoe Afro-Caribbean festival, which makes Notting Hill look like a family picnic. Football, food and kaseko and no multicultural pretensions.
When you get really hot and even the ginger beer don't work, take a dive in the sparkling clear waters of the Gaasperplas.
metro 53 or 54: station Bijlmer/Arena or Gaasperplas
Open air food and music in Amsterdam's little known Afro-Caribbean area.
Friday: Amsterdamse Poort
Saturday: Ganzenhoef
Nearest metro stations:
Amsterdamse Poort: Bijlmer/Arena
Ganzenhoef: Ganzenhoef
You pay upfront to have free entrance to key museums and art galleries and free tram, bus, metro transport. I bought one for 48 hours and found it very good value for money. I certainly got more than 43 Euros worth of museum, canal trip and transport from it.
You can buy it from Holland Tourist Information at Schipol by credit card and it makes it easier to work out a budget for the rest of your stay and you can hop on and off the fantastic trams without having to worry about buying and stamping tickets.
Based in the newly developing southern edge of town international business sector, this pod type hotel with self-service check in, has some nice features in the rooms: chaise longue and mood lighting.
The room space is above average for the price and the beds are massive and comfy. The pod is like a four poster bed with a wetroom and stools attached at either end. It lodges in the World Trade Centre and so there are cafes etc in the building for breakfast and cyclist watching.
The women all seem to turn up for work in black high heel boots, cycling, of course, and the men struggle to steer and hold their briefcases at the same time. They then disappear underground on a moving walk way to park their bikes. Dutch transport efficiency at its best.
Anyway, it's well linked to Schipol airport (train) and to Centraal on number 5 line tram, all in the same station Zuid. Very good value for money and pleasant escape from the city rush.
Station Zuid, World Trade Centre, www.qbichotels.com/
Great campsite on the edge of the city, 15 mins to Dam Square on a tram. Cheap tent rates or hire a little cabin, central heating and bedding included in the cost of these. Good breakfast can be bought from the bar in the morning, and food all day at not extortionate prices. Good clean showers, if a little cramped when you are taking one. Bike hire on site as well, and saves you having to find parking in the city centre at very expensive rates, you just leave your car at the campsite!
Yes, I know that Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania, not Ethiopia, but this little eatery specialises in Ethiopian-style dishes - and you can hold the predictable jokes too.
There's a limited but great-value repertoire here, and on an empty stomach the all-in get-your-hands-dirty dishes are to die for. If there's a group of you, order a variety of mains (all served on a stodgy bed of pancakes) and you can pull off a massive dinner for under 15 Euros per head.
Rapenburgerplein 6
+31 20 6223485
Bus no.22 from Centraal Station
Get an 'I Amsterdam' card, it gives you free travel, free entrance to a heap of attractions (including a boat trip on the canals) and 25% off a range of restaurants.
It's very moderately priced and comes in 24-, 48-and 72-hour sizes and can be obtained at the VVV Information Offices of the Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board.
Take a folding bike on the train with you for free on Eurostar. There's no better way to get the feel of a new place than cycling around. No waiting around for buses or taxis either and you save the fare too.
If you get caught out after a long explore far from where you're staying or the weather turns, just fold up the bike and jump on the nearest public transport back.
The Brompton is the best folder and with the travel pannier, there's plenty of room for everything you need for a long weekend. It's a superb design too that always causes interest and therefore breaks the ice especially as it's actually one of the tiny handful of bikes still manufactured in the UK. Take a folding bike - you won't regret it!
Sometimes you want to experiment, sometimes you want to splash out - but on other occasions you just need somewhere safe and simple (especially if the family's in tow). This tidy little restaurant just off Prinsengracht does the job, with friendly service and main courses from about 12 Euros. A lot of locals hanging out here, so it must be decent. There's a fair selection of fish dishes; check out also the pork sate.
Berenstraat 12
(0031) 206232373
restaurant@zwaantje.demon.nl
www.zwaantje.demon.nl
Very friendly small restaurant serving traditional Dutch food. Great chef gives good tips, not only on food but places to visit! Delicious three course meal for two costs 33 Euros!
In a quiet canalside location a stone's throw from the Anne Frank Museum, De Prins is a lively English pub-style eatery with a limited number of tables and a warm, friendly atmosphere on a cold winter's night. The menu is limited but the food is top quality and perfectly prepared. The fondue is well up to Swiss standards and is a perfect protection against Amsterdam's cold winds. As in many restaurants in this enlightened city, smokers are still welcomed, so if you are not addicted to tobacco you may be better elsewhere.
Plancius, in the former Jewish quarter next door to the excellent Dutch Resistance Museum, is a busy modern restaurant popular with locals. We lunched on superb home-made soup and lighter-than-air omlettes, and had swift and friendly service.
De Prins: Prinsengracht 124, Amsterdam 1015 AE
Public Transport - Tram: 6, 13, 14, or 17 to Westermarkt and a short walk.
www.diningcity.nl/deprins/
Plancius; Plantage Kerklaan 61a, 1018 CX Amsterdam.
Tel: (020) 330 94 69
Public Transport - Tram 6,9, 14 (stop: Artis)
www.restaurantplancius.nl/
The Inner Amsterdam Student House is a great budget place to stay. It has dorm rooms, but I stayed in a twin-room with ensuite bathroom for 40 euros for the night (November). Unfortunately I left too early for the free buffet breakfast. It is situated behind the Concert Hall, with the Van Gogh museum nearby. From Centraal Station take tram #5 to Museumplein (the tram starts from Centraal so that's the only direction it's headed). Trams takes about 15 minutes, it's then about 2 minutes walk away.
Wanningstraat 1, 1071 LA Amsterdam, Tel: +31 (0)20 662 5792, www.innerhotel.nl
This is an informal and welcoming bed and breakfast. It's 20 minutes on the 53 metro line to the centre, making this a quiet place to stay.
The hosts Jan and Cecile make every effort to make your stay a comfortable and enjoyable one. The breakfast is particularly recommended.
Bed & Breakfast Apostrophe
Geerdinkhof 258
1103 RA Amsterdam
www.apostropheamsterdam.nl
This is a small restaurant run by an energetic chef, Peter van der Linden. We visited it 13 years ago and on our return it was still as friendly, plus the locally sourced food is excellent - both in presentation and price. Meal of the day is about 11 euros.
Roelof Hartstraat 26, 1071 VJ, Amsterdam-Zuid;
tel: 020 662 5454;
www.lafalote.nl
In spring and autumn, when the sun comes out but there's still a nip in the air, there's no better place for an al-fresco lunchbreak. En Zo serves a variety of home-made soups in weird and wonderful flavours (for example spicy peanut or spinach and cream) at prices from about 3 Euros - ideal for a hearty but healthy meal.
Jodenbreestraat 94A, near Waterlooplein and opposite Albert Hijn supermarket;
tel: 020-422 22 43;
www.soupenzo.nl/eng/index.html
This interesting and thought-provoking museum chronicles how the occupation of the Netherlands affected the populace and the different ways the population resisted this occupation.
Many of the exhibits take the form of personal testimony, written and verbal. There is a fascinating display of the ingenuity of people who hid radio transmitters in matchboxes or Vim containers and microfilm in a shaving razor.
The museum does not shy away from the difficult choices people had to, and did, make. Some chose to be actively involved, others helped when asked but didn’t volunteer their services, others refused. The museum makes no judgement on these decisions, rather it puts you in the position of thinking “what would I do were I in that situation” and asks you to imagine what it must have been like to try and carry on with a ‘normal’ life under an occupying force.
For a long time the question “What would I do?” stays in your thoughts.
Most of the exhibits have explanations in Dutch and English though some on the poster displays have not been translated from Dutch.
Entrance Fee: 4.50 euros
Open: 10.00am-5.00pm Tues-Fri
12.00-5.00pm Sat-Mon
Plantage kerklaan 61 a
620 25 35
www.verzetsmuseum.org
There are a million and one bicycle rental stores. It costs next to nothing, and is easily the best way to see Amsterdam. A world-class, cycle-friendly system - it's an enjoyable way of seeing this unique city without having to spend your day in coffee shops or gawping at the ladies of the night.
Central train station and just about anywhere...
Het Papeneiland is a wonderful brown café in a great location overlooking Prinsengracht.
The name – Pope’s Island – reflects the time when a tunnel ran between the café and a secret Catholic Church across the canal.
The eclectic decoration includes blue Delft tiles, a mixture of wooden furniture, ceramic beer barrels and a stuffed bird!
Take a seat near the bar downstairs – if there’s room – or venture upstairs and sit, as we did, in the window overlooking the canal and passing cyclists. Give yourself over to the atmosphere and let the beers flow!
Prinsengracht 2
Open: Mon-Thur 10am-1am
Fri-Sat 10am-2am
Sun 12pm-1am
If you're in Amsterdam for anything longer than a weekend then you'll kick yourself for not getting one of these. On average you'll pay 10 euros a time to get into each of Amsterdam's museums; shell out 30 euros for one of these Museumkaarts and you're entitled to free entry to hundreds of museums and galleries all over The Netherlands for a whole year. Well worth it and saves you queuing too.
Available over the counter at major attractions such as the Rijksmuseum. Check out www.amsterdam.info/museums/museumkaart/ for info; see also www.museumkaart.nl - but website only in Dutch and prices are a bit out of date
An office on Damark offers a range of cheesy tours round Amsterdam and its environs. I recommend the 24 euros Holland countryside tour, comprising of a cheese-tasting visit to Edam, a look at the area's windmills, a visit to a clog factory and a lunchtime stop-off at a lakeside fishing village.
Touristy and tacky, but a great way of spending four-and-a-half hours (especially if it's raining - which it was). The guide talks in English and Spanish, and it's a great way of learning about the area's history and geography without spending hours with your nose in a guidebook.
City centre, on Damark. A few doors down from the Sex Museum and quite near Centraal Station
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