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4 days in Amsterdam, what would you do?

Ski_Banker

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Post up. I'll be there on holiday in a few weeks and have never seen the city. Should be fun but I'd love to hear any and all tips (but keep the stupid remarks to a minimum :rolleyes: ). Thanks!

Sights?
Places to stay?
Place to eat?
Things to see?
Things to do?


grazie
 
Was just there in March for SB. As far as accomodation, we used amsterdamby.com for an apartment. The apartment is called ultravioletstudios. Right outside the Red Light District (so it's not trashy), and in the best location for coffeeshops and good food. Van Gough museum (obviously) is a must. We never ended up visiting the Anne Frank House, but heard good things about it. As far as food, honestly I can't even remember the names but practically every Chinese restaurant we walked in to was great. They have a chain of pizza restaurants called New York's or Brooklyn's, amazing Tandoori Chicken Pizza. Are you planning on going to any coffeeshops? Even if you're not into smoking, you should visit the DampKring (sp?), it's in the central part of Amsterdam. It was where that famous Ocean's 12 scene was shot. If you need some more coffee shop suggestions, just let me know.
 
Do you really want to ask this question on this forum? You know what type of answerers you're going to get. On a side note, watch for the dog poop all over the sidewalks.:eek:
 
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I would live life to the fullest, smoke, eat, drink, smoke, and enjoy some adult entertainment. It's true freedom, enjoy it.
 
Off the top of my head.........

1. Anne Frank house
2. Van Gogh museum
3. Heineken brewery

watch out for the bikes!
 
I usually stay at the Renaissance:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/amsrd-renaissance-amsterdam-hotel/

Its pretty nice and near the main train station.

The only piece of advice I will give you is watch out for pick pockets and baggage scams. If you set you bag down to buy a train ticket at the machine its not going to be there when you reach down to get it.
 
I know Amsterdam pretty well.

Rent a bicycle. The City is designed for it and it will help you have a more Dutch experience. This is very important.

Check out www.iamsterdam.com for what is going on and some good background, and www.timeout.com/amsterdam/ for the local scene and where to eat.

If the Reiksmuseum is still mostly closed, you can see the Dutch masters collection, basically the best of their collection, in an afternoon. There are many other museums, from tropical plunder to modern art, not to mention the Van Gogh museum.

If you are going to the Anne Frank huis, go in the afternoon closer to when it closes. The line will be much shorter.

Restaurant Nam Kee on the Zeedijk has amazing Chinese food and black bean oysters that they made a movie about. There are a lot of impostors on that street, so make sure it is the real Nam Kee. (Google the name with oysters and/or movie and note the address). Not particularly fancy or expensive.

Brasserie Harkema located on Nes, just off Dam Square is a decent place for dinner with a nice, hip atmosphere.

There is great food in Amsterdam. A lot of fusion and indonesian influence. You should definitely have a rice tafel at a nice indo restaurant. I like Sama Sebo, near PC Hoofstraat in the Museum quarter.

If you want American sports, try a Sky Sports cafe. The one on the Leidseplein is open very late and serves great late-night food.

Catch a show at Paradiso or Melkweg. Hotel Winston usually has decent live music.

If you like improv, try Boom Chicago, also on the Leidseplein.

Great shopping. The Kalverstraat is their shopping district. PC Hoofstraat is their Rodeo Drive.

I could go on and on, but you are only going to be there for four days. PM me if you have any questions.
 
I know Amsterdam pretty well.

Rent a bicycle. The City is designed for it and it will help you have a more Dutch experience. This is very important.

Check out www.iamsterdam.com for what is going on and some good background, and www.timeout.com/amsterdam/ for the local scene and where to eat.

If the Reiksmuseum is still mostly closed, you can see the Dutch masters collection, basically the best of their collection, in an afternoon. There are many other museums, from tropical plunder to modern art, not to mention the Van Gogh museum.

If you are going to the Anne Frank huis, go in the afternoon closer to when it closes. The line will be much shorter.

Restaurant Nam Kee on the Zeedijk has amazing Chinese food and black bean oysters that they made a movie about. There are a lot of impostors on that street, so make sure it is the real Nam Kee. (Google the name with oysters and/or movie and note the address). Not particularly fancy or expensive.

Brasserie Harkema located on Nes, just off Dam Square is a decent place for dinner with a nice, hip atmosphere.

There is great food in Amsterdam. A lot of fusion and indonesian influence. You should definitely have a rice tafel at a nice indo restaurant. I like Sama Sebo, near PC Hoofstraat in the Museum quarter.

If you want American sports, try a Sky Sports cafe. The one on the Leidseplein is open very late and serves great late-night food.

Catch a show at Paradiso or Melkweg. Hotel Winston usually has decent live music.

If you like improv, try Boom Chicago, also on the Leidseplein.

Great shopping. The Kalverstraat is their shopping district. PC Hoofstraat is their Rodeo Drive.

I could go on and on, but you are only going to be there for four days. PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks for the writeup! I hadn't thought about Timeout so I'll check that out too. Any thoughts on places to stay (or where to get hotel deals...hotels.com?)? Nothing too fancy, just clean and near the town center(s).

Much appreciated everyone!
(thanks for keeping the responses clean too. :smile: )
 
i thought people visted Amsterdam for the weed. :rolleyes: :smile:

I have cousins that live in Amsterdam. They have less drug abuse and other social issues, even though its legal to some extent, girls are nice and slender:biggrin:
 
Try the bulldog cafe fo yo smoke,but be prepared to love smoke of any kind because the nightclubs make Bejing and LA look like the rain forest for air purity:eek: If you like yachts making and who dos'nt take a side trip to Monikadam(sp) Hakvoort(sp) resides there(nice fast) yachts.Touristy as it is canal boat ride at night will have you falling in love with yourself all over again:wink:
 
They have less drug abuse and other social issues, even though its legal to some extent, girls are nice and slender:biggrin:

Amsterdam is a great city, culturally rich, and a ton of fun. However,if "they" refers to the residents of Amsterdam, I disagree with the contention they have fewer drug abuse and social issues. There are massive/wide-spread social and substance abuse issues in Amsterdam... and I am not including pot in that equation. Much like any other city, the upstanding citizens of the region are far less likely to experience those issues. As for the social issues in Amsterdam, in all of the Netherlands for that matter, there are some very heavy issues at play right now on quite a few fronts. All of which are very unlikely to affect a tourist though.

Things to do:
The Van Gogh museum is amazing. I really enjoyed the Anne Frank house. For a laugh and expensive beers, grab some new friends or old friends... and head over to the Casa Rosa one night. Dine at as many restaurants as you can... they all tend to provide a unique experience.
 
Thanks for the writeup! I hadn't thought about Timeout so I'll check that out too. Any thoughts on places to stay (or where to get hotel deals...hotels.com?)? Nothing too fancy, just clean and near the town center(s).

Much appreciated everyone!
(thanks for keeping the responses clean too. :smile: )

IMO, the best way to stay is in an apartment, not a hotel.

I have a friend who owns and rents some very nice apartments, for the same or less than a hotel room.

http://www.homeandaway.nl/

Ask for Neils.

Don't waste your time at tourist traps like the Bulldog, Grasshopper, etc. They are worthless. If you do partake, try Funny People, the Gray Area, Rusland and Katsu, and of course the famous Dampkring (from Ocean's Eleven, which they play non-stop on a loop) and their sister store Tweede Kamer.

For great beer, try Golem. Another favorite bar is Int Apjean, on the Zeedijk.

Cafe Cuba is pretty cool as well. Absinthe is a neat place, just down from Dam Square on the NZ Voorburgwal, but only open late at night.
 
Amsterdam is a great city, culturally rich, and a ton of fun. However,if "they" refers to the residents of Amsterdam, I disagree with the contention they have fewer drug abuse and social issues. There are massive/wide-spread social and substance abuse issues in Amsterdam... and I am not including pot in that equation. Much like any other city, the upstanding citizens of the region are far less likely to experience those issues. As for the social issues in Amsterdam, in all of the Netherlands for that matter, there are some very heavy issues at play right now on quite a few fronts. All of which are very unlikely to affect a tourist though.
.

True I agree, there are issues such as crime and distort which plague all societies, however in terms numbers statisticaly speaking compared to Us here in the states, there is less murder and intoxicant abuse even though there is leniancy in Holland. Now I know our population is greater so deviation is greater etc.. Just speaking from statistics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_homicide_rate

http://www.fedstats.gov/regional.html

We rank 23 on this list 5.9 murders per 100k population, while Netherlands is .97 almost bottem of the list.
 
Amsterdam is a very safe city. The junkies are not nearly as present as they used to be, particularly around Central Station, although you will have some try to sell you hard drugs when you walk around the Red Light District at night (which is great for window shopping).

Culturally, Amsterdam and Holland in general are in a bit of state of flux. There is a real tension between immigrants and the native Dutch, particularly those of islamic faith, usually Moroccan, but you don't really notice it in Amsterdam.

The Dutch suffered under the conversion to the Euro (prices essentially doubled while wages remained the same, they basically switched the symbol from the Gilder to the Euro and did not change the number, effectively doubling the cost of everything). There is a fair amount of resentment towards immigrants and the perception that they consume too much of the resources and social services.

I was there just after Van Gogh was murdered, November of 2004 IIRC, when they were raiding Islamic schools in response, but things have calmed down a lot since then.

BTW, I can not stress enough the importance of renting a bike. This makes a huge difference and is much more likely to lead to a 'gezelig' experience, which is what you want.
 
There is a fair amount of resentment towards immigrants and the perception that they consume too much of the resources and social services.

Yeh the unfortunate effects of post-colonization of north africa last 150 years, immigrants flocked to europe.
Same thing happened when Soviet Union and England colonized central asia in the era of the great game, divided central asia and Indian sub continent, similar issues plague UK.
 
Try the bulldog cafe fo yo smoke

If there is any coffee-shop in a-dam you need to avoid it's the bulldog. Number one commercial tourist rip off shop.

I got three recommendations for your coffee-shop needs. The Extase, Oude Hoogstraat, small shop in the red light district not crowded with tourists, many interesting people, ok prices. The Dolphins, Kerkstraat, small snacks, beer and free w-lan, I mostly use it for the free w-lan if you're a customer just ask for the key and check e-mail relaxed :). De Rokerij, Leidsedwarsstraat, pool table, table football, alcoholic drinks, small snacks, fair prices, loads of poeple to meet, good place to start the evening.

Klayton
 
If there is any coffee-shop in a-dam you need to avoid it's the bulldog. Number one commercial tourist rip off shop.

I got three recommendations for your coffee-shop needs. The Extase, Oude Hoogstraat, small shop in the red light district not crowded with tourists, many interesting people, ok prices. The Dolphins, Kerkstraat, small snacks, beer and free w-lan, I mostly use it for the free w-lan if you're a customer just ask for the key and check e-mail relaxed :). De Rokerij, Leidsedwarsstraat, pool table, table football, alcoholic drinks, small snacks, fair prices, loads of poeple to meet, good place to start the evening.

Klayton

alright guys give me a break, I'm talking from my experience 17 yrs ago:redface: To a first timer with no recomendations from anyone it seemed like a good time:redface:
 
Look at the College Hotel - won awards for best design in EU last year - I've stayed there - loved it - a bit out of the center, but who cares, short taxi ride.

Reccos:

Red is THE meat and Lobster place - but only serves steak and lobster. Le garage is a great restaurant and grasshopper is a great coffee shop next to grand hotel.
 
IMO, the best way to stay is in an apartment, not a hotel.

I have a friend who owns and rents some very nice apartments, for the same or less than a hotel room.

http://www.homeandaway.nl/

Ask for Neils.

Don't waste your time at tourist traps like the Bulldog, Grasshopper, etc. They are worthless. If you do partake, try Funny People, the Gray Area, Rusland and Katsu, and of course the famous Dampkring (from Ocean's Eleven, which they play non-stop on a loop) and their sister store Tweede Kamer.

For great beer, try Golem. Another favorite bar is Int Apjean, on the Zeedijk.

Cafe Cuba is pretty cool as well. Absinthe is a neat place, just down from Dam Square on the NZ Voorburgwal, but only open late at night.

This guy knows.

I've been there at least 5 times, all under the guilder. Check out the usual tourist places as others have mentioned. Try the cupcakes, watch your bags, and obviously don't even attempt to take anything with you. Are you going anywhere else like London or Dublin?
 
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