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The busiest outdoor market in Europe, it's got more than 300 stalls - it makes a change from doing the normal tourist stuff!
De Pijp District
We got our bearings in Amsterdam by taking a Canal Bus ticket - did all three lines before it ran out at midday the day after buying. We're kicking ourselves for not buying the Museum Card - it has national coverage, which we didn't realise. It can also save you queueing to buy tickets, just buy at the first museum you go to, €39 per adult. Ann Frank House is not included, but you can buy tickets in advance online for that one - it's the only place with long queues.
The Modern Art Museum is closed but is partially relocated to the old post office, the Maritime museum is currently closed, and the Rijksmuseum is being renovated but has a condensed version of its collections on display in one wing including Rembrandt's 'Night Watch'. If you like van Gogh, it's worth going to the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Hogue Veluwe National Park, as they have a great collection of modern, VG and old masters.
Apartment booking website, easy to deal with, we had a quiet spacious apartment near Haarlemmerplein for €750 for a week. Ten minutes walk from city centre and Jordaan. Local shops and restaurants good.
google Citymundo
Set in the Museum Quarter, the restaurant is only a stone's throw from the city's most popular museums and makes an ideal dinnertime stop. It is also fairly reasonably priced in what is otherwise a rather pricey area. The service was friendly, personal and relaxed. More importantly, the food was divine. Good quality, carefully cooked - relaxed dining as it should be on holiday.
Willemsparkweg 6, Museum Quarter
Tel: 020 662 62 06
Full of character, situated in the trendy Jordaan area. Excellent Dutch apple cake, and a wonderful array of interesting lunchtime snacks with healthy options. Very reasonably priced as well. Sit outside on the canal and watch the world go by.
Brouwersgracht 107, Jordaan. + 31 20 6238 994
Amsterdam’s Museum of Modern Art has a fabulous collection from Piat Mondrian to Karel Appel. There’s a host of galleries in the city centre but this has one of the best collections of contemporary art and is definitely worth a look. It’s free with a Museumkaart or Amsterdam Stadspas and there’s a nice little café on the second floor where you can grab a coffee and discuss the exhibits.
Oosterdokskade 3–5
Magazijn is an unpretentious club without a door policy in the heart of Amsterdam. The drinks are affordable despite the stylish atmosphere and the retro interior and squishy leather sofas make for a great night out in the city. Local DJs spin a mixture of cool, chilled out tunes.
170 Warmoesstraat
www.clubmagazijn.com
One of ‘the’ things to do in Amsterdam is visit one of the notorious coffeehouses. Although they are mostly good quality, Gaeper is one of the best in the city. It has a laidback but funky atmosphere and is usually crammed with an international studenty crowd.
Staalstraat 4
Massive electronic music festival at the beginning of July each year which transforms Amsterdam into a hub of dancing and revelry! 50 Euros for a ticket is a steal, with loads of concerts and experimental films, electronic music videos and art installation all available over five days.
This year’s highlights were Justice and Erol Alkan. Awesome performances!
Around the city
www.5daysoff.nl
This Amsterdam hostel was very friendly and fun, with some very cheap pints in its ‘Uptown Bar.’
It’s among some lively coffeeshops and bars or is just a few hundred metres from the Van Gogh and Modern Art Museums for something more cultural!
Accommodation is cheap and includes breakfast and internet.
Vossiussstraat 46-47, Amsterdam, 1071AJ
www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/netherlands/amsterdam/1461/
From the outside, it just looks like a bar near the red light district, but this place serves the highest quality Thai food in Amsterdam. The rice noodles are particularly fresh and delicious. Thoroughly recommended!
The clientele are sometimes very interesting….
www.butterfly-thaicafe.nl/
Phone: 020 6232064
Address: Oudezijds Achterburgwal 160
CitizenM offers affordable luxury hotels near or in European metropolitan locations. The hotel has a lobby with a check-in kiosk and offers “canteenM”, a bar/lounge for light food and drinks. The rooms are 13x10 and integrate cutting-edge technology represented by LED lights, black out remote curtain, and a Phillips mood pad and flat screen TV. The hotel is modular in that each room is built in a warehouse and is brought in by truck and dropped into the building infrastructure.
Good site to get accommodation in amsterdam.
A beautiful Japanese garden which opens to the public for a short period (April - June) and is free. The Japanese Garden is not the only attraction, as Clingendael Park itself is impressive and well worth an afternoon if you're looking for tranquility and nature within the Hague. Child-friendly and a great place for a picnic. Accessible by public transport from Central Station.
www.denhaag.nl/smartsite.html?id=33271
www.denhaag.nl/Pics/dsb/Ststr/clingendael/Japanse%20tuin%20Engels.pdf
This is the biggest park in the city and has millions of visitors a year. That said, it always seems like a tranquil place to be with many people strolling through the various gardens. A number of people go to Amsterdam, and never get to the Vondelpark ... don't make this mistake!
Try to catch one of the outdoor plays, as they really are a magical experience. The park also houses a fascinating museum, The Filmmuseum which is well worth a visit.
Both the museum and the outdoor plays, have great facilities for children.
This is a blue multi-strip ticket which can be used on trams, metros and buses in Amsterdam and all over Holland. Works out about half the price of buying a ticket on board.
See www.gvb.nl (Amsterdam Transport organisation, mainly in Dutch)
Good English explanation of the Strippenkaart at
www.amsterdamtips.com/getting-around-amsterdam-the-strippenkaart.php
Right opposite the excellent Café Gollem (a lovely, cosy little bar where you can sample up to 200 Belgian beers) is one of the best beer shops in Holland. Selling about 500 beers from all over the world and specialising in beers from small independent brewers, it's an absolute treasure trove for the beer lover. You can buy Westvleteren there (which is reputedly the best beer in the world and extremely hard to come by), as well as some truly stunning Scandinavian and American beers. Try the Norwegian Porters and Imperial Stouts. Highly recommended.
And once you've bought some for later, why not pop into Café Gollem to try a couple on tap and maybe a Kaasplank (literally a plank with cheese & bread on it). Very satisfying. There's also a second branch of Café Gollem right by the Albert Cuyp Market in the Pijp district.
crackedkettle.nl/store/
www.cafegollem.nl/default_EN.asp
www.cafegollem.nl/bierkeuken/default_EN.asp
Both The Cracked Kettle and Café Gollem are on Raamsteeg, a small alley between Spuistraat and the Singel canal. The other Gollem is on Daniel Stalpertstraat, round the corner from the Albert Cuyp Market and the Heineken brewery
One of the best organic farmer's markets I've ever been to. Amazing cheese, bread, vegetable stalls, even a stall selling all sorts of mushrooms in season (bought some chanterelles and a black truffle last time). Smoked mozzarellas, huge focaccias, stunning veg - a truly superb market. 9am - 4pm Saturdays (the rest of the week it's a flea market).
Noordermarkt is in the shadow of Noorderkerk, about 10 minutes' walk from Centraal Station, on the edge of the Jordaan district.
About 45 kms from Amsterdam, Aalsmeer is the "Wall Street of flower trade". It has an average daily turnover of 6.6 million Euros, with about 60,000 clock transactions every morning.
silenteloquence.suryaonline.org/2007/05/29/wall-street-of-flower-trade/
www.vba.nl/
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 doesn't work, take a dive in the sparkling clear waters of the Gaasperplas.
metro 53 or 54: station Bijlmer/Arena or Gaasperplas
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