Some visitors see only the inside of a coffeeshop, which might be called a cultural experience I guess.
But for those of you who want to wander around town and get to know it a little better, here are some of my personal recommendations.
| My
home town Amsterdam is a city with many interesting sides. With only about
750.000 inhabitants it's more like a big village, easily covered on foot,
by bike, or by tram. Some visitors see only the inside of a coffeeshop, which might be called a cultural experience I guess. But for those of you who want to wander around town and get to know it a little better, here are some of my personal recommendations. |
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| Nice
areas for a stroll, some coffee, some shopping De Jordaan The part of the centre called De Jordaan is really nice. Beautiful centuries old houses, canals, quaint shops and restaurants. Good for a full day of strolling around. Grachtengordel The 'grachtengordel' (canal belt) right next to De Jordaan is also beautiful. It's part of the city centre and consists of Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Singel. I especially love the giftshops in Herenstraat and Prinsenstraat (not to be confused with the much bigger Herengracht and Prinsengracht). One of my favourite places for coffee or lunch is "Spanjer & Van Twist" on Leliegracht. One very famous house on Prinsengracht of course is Anne Frank's House. 
Haarlemmerstraat and Haarlemmerdijk This is actually one long street changing its name in the middle. It has many unique, cute little shops, no big chains. For example check out the ecologically and humanitarily responsible clothes shop Nukuhiva on Haarlemmerstraat 36. There are also various restaurants, coffee bars and lunch cafes (Stout has nice outdoor seating, you can lounge on the matrasses on the little wall). Du Lac is a popular place for drinks and a game of pool. Mint Hotel Amazing views all over the city, while enjoying a nice drink or some food. Just take the elevator to the 11th floor. 9 straatjes (9 little streets) One particular block of 3 x 3 streets in the centre is known as 9 straatjes and is very good at promoting itself. It has various expensive shops, some restaurants and bars and nice architecture. Prinseneiland Prinseneiland (Island of Princes) is a very nice area with beautiful old houses, draw bridges, canals. You'd never guess you're in the capital city of a country. Utrechtsestraat Lots of quaint little shops, hairdressers and terraces. If you're into music don't miss Concerto, the city's best record/ cd shop. (Can easily be combined with a visit to the photography museum FOAM.) Eastern islands (architecture) If you're into modern architecture, then a visit to the eastern islands of Amsterdam is well worth it. Wander around on Java-eiland and on KNSM-eiland. |
 De Jordaan |
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Prinseneiland |
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Java-eiland, eastern islands Amsterdam |
Scheepvaartmuseum and replica ship |
Museums Only visit Van Gogh museum if you actually like his work. I personally prefer other museums like - FOAM (photography) - Huis Marseille (photography) - Scheepvaartmuseum (naval museum) - NEMO (technology and science, lots of buttons, static instruments and other things to play with) - Stedelijk Museum (modern art and photography). - Verzetsmuseum / Dutch Resistance Museum (WWII) A very interesting sidestep could be to visit the NiNsee museum about the Dutch role in the transatlantic slave trade (16th-19th century). |
| Parks If it's not raining it might be nice to go for a walk through the Vondelpark, or rent inline skates there: www.vondeltuin.nl Have a drink at Blauwe Theehuis in the middle of Vondelpark or at above mentioned Vondeltuin (way in the back near Amstelveenseweg; less tourists!). Go see a show for free at the open air theatre (only a few weeks in summer, Wednesdays through Sundays). Westerpark is great in summer. Bring a picknick blanket and some food and drinks and you need nothing else to get through the day. The old part with lots of trees attracts mainly families and low key locals. The new part with the very big flat field and no trees attracts a hipper crowd not only from the neighbourhood but from the whole city, and more yuppies. In July a few big concerts are given in the park and you can listen in for free outside the gates. Big names such as Radiohead, R.E.M., Björk, Juanes have performed. There are also a few nice bars in the park. If you want to go for a stroll there is the ecological wilder park, and a 'kinderboerderij', a farm with animals like rabbits, goats and such for (grown-up) kids. Sarphatipark is also nice for summer picknicks, so are Oosterpark and Museumplein. City beaches Amsterdam has a number of small "city beaches" as well.
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 Vondelpark |
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 Westerpark (new part) |
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Boom Chicago Go to a Boom Chicago comedy show on Leidseplein. It's in English and takes the piss out of both American and Dutch culture. It's half improvised. You can also take improvisation classes. Try to get a balcony seat (be early). They also have a very good visitor's guide on their website. |
| Restaurants For good restaurants go to www.iens.nl, they have a button for English. You can search by area and by type of restaurant (Spanish, vegetarian, etc). The restaurants are graded and most have visitor's comments too (most in Dutch but some in English). |
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Some
of my personal favourite restaurants |
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NL20
free magazine Get a copy of the free magazine NL20 for tips on going out / movies. All in Dutch... |
| Rent
a bike and do tours in and out of town If you can steer a bike, it would be nice to rent bikes and cruise the city by bike. Please read this! How to bike safely through Amsterdam. (The same in French / Spanish / Italian.) There are special bike lanes and bike traffic lights. Don't get stuck in the tramway-lanes, do not ride on the wrong side of the street, and don't hit any other cyclists or pedestrians! :-) If the weather is good, it's also really easy to get out of the city and do a daytrip to the lovely countryside, with windmills and meadows, and a view on water with boats. For example to the picturesque village of Durgerdam (tiny wooden houses on a dyke) and further down on to Marken (old fishermen's village with wooden houses). Or to the area called Het Twiske (also a windmill), or a bit further to Zaanse Schans (lots of windmills). Or there are also other nice routes towards the east or the south of the city (the ones I mentioned are to the north), all routes will involve picturesque old villages (Ouderkerk or Abcoude or Weesp...). Buy maps at ANWB on Museumplein. A route that is also signposted is easiest to follow. For people who travel around the Netherlands by bike Cheap bed & breakfast: "Vrienden op de Fiets" This is an association for Dutch people and foreigners who travel through the Netherlands by bike (or even on inline skates, but NOT by car or public transport). It allows members to stay at one of the 3000+ bed and breakfast places for only €17 p/p/p/n. This way you won't need to lug around a tent and other camping gear on your bike and you'll have a decent bed, a hot shower after a day of hard cycling, and breakfast included. And at the same time it's an ideal way to taste some culture and get a peek inside people's houses. Families all over the country have rooms available, some are in farms, some are in the middle of popular cities, or anything inbetween. You'll find the addresses in the booklet that the association will send you as soon as you become a member. More info and rules on their website.
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 Durgerdam |
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 Zaanse Schans |
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 Zaanse Schans |
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Canal
boat A tacky canal boat trip is actually very interesting and nice! You will see a lot of the city in one hour, and hear a lot about the history and the reasons why the houses stand crooked, or how many bikes are stolen or thrown into the canals every year. Meyer on Damrak is the cheapest company and they offer the same as the others. There are also dinner cruises in the dark. The city is like a fairytale with all the little lights. When you pass nice places you want to visit more indepth later, just write down the names and go there afterwards. |
| Flea
markets / second hand clothes There is a flea market on Waterloo-plein 6 days a week, Mon-Sat from about 10 am to about 4 pm. More and more stands offer new clothes though... but the shop called Episode on the corner near Rembrandt House is nice for second hand clothes. A bit expensive though. They also have a shop on Keizersgracht. Petticoat on Lindengracht has really nice second hand clothes and fair prices. If you're there on a Monday, go to the Noordermarkt, with lots of second hand clothes and books and junk. A brand new second hand shop called Zora has opened on Linnaeusstraat in eastern Amsterdam (tram 9), opposite the police station. There are various quite expensive second hand shops in 9 straatjes, for example the shop called Lady Day. Some nice ordinary markets can be found on Dapperstraat, Albert Cuijpstraat, Ten Katestraat. More about markets.... |
Noordermarkt |
 Paradiso  UNK @ Club 8  Canvas restaurant and nightclub |
Nightlife
DJ Sandrien, my favourite DJ, lists where she plays on this site. Free downloads of sets available. She plays electro / dance / acid / glam / whatever it's called. Also check out the flyers in shops like Episode (Waterlooplein), bars and hip hairdresser shops, the website called www.good2b.nl and the listings in the free magazine NL20. |
| Where to stay Which neighbourhoods are nice? Which ones are to be avoided? If you're looking for a hotel, or want to live in Amsterdam, read my recommendations on zip codes to look for nice areas. |
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Links I Amsterdam |
| Amsterdam in
numbers Inhabitants in January 2006: 743,027 Nationalities: 174 Bikes: 600,000 Parks: 28 Trams: 232 Markets: 21 Canals: 165 Bridges: 1,281 Wooden drawbridges: 8 Canal tour boats: 110 Houseboats: 2,500 Windmills: 6 Museums: 51 Art galeries: 141 Animals at the Artis Zoo: 6,100 Concerts and theatre shows per year: 16,000 Cinema screens: 61 Cafes and bars: 1,215 Discotheques: 36 Restaurants: 755 Hotel beds: 37,763 Camp sites: 5 Number of overnight visitors per year: 7,037,000 Day-visits per year: 15,749,000 Source |
 View from Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ |
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Also check out my Amazing Travel Tips document which has a list of web sites about Amsterdam and the Netherlands. |
| Last updated: November 2011 |
