Amsterdam must dos?

[MrsArcher2b]

We really enjoyed the hop on, hop off canal boat for visiting different places. Thought Anne Frank was very interesting. We had tickets but apparently early is best if you haven't got any.

There was also an amazing little cafe that did fantastic apple pie and hot chocolate near by. The name was something like Winkles. You should find it on trip advisor. It was so good though.

[Guest]

Ooh curious. Which theme parks? Duinrell and efteling?

[tiggertastic]

Efteling and Walibi Holland.

[tiggertastic]

Has anyone booked trains in Holland?

Have been trying to book trains but they don't seem available buy online. have put the app on my phone but it wont accept my log in? all rather annoying lol. Ta

[wanye]

I posted this on another thread just now...

ok, got back on monday. first trip back there in 10 years. a few tips and bits...

get the train from schiphol to centraal station. it costs €5.50 per person, there is a constant stream of trains pulling in, and takes 15 mins. you're looking at €30+ in an uber. its just not worth the hassle. get the train! also, don't spend ages queueing to buy a ticket from a person, there's loads of machines in the central concourse, and they take contactless/chip&pin. just press the ENGLISH button in the bottom corner of the screen at the start and you're good to go.

also buy the tram/metro/bus travel card. we bought the 5 day/120hr pass which worked out at around €5 per person per day. it means you can just jump on a tram. you will cover a LOT more ground with the pass. again, these can be bought from either the machines dotted around (there's one at most stops and a bunch at centraal station) or from the conductor in the entrance to the tram. the other option is buying a bunch of 1 hour travel tickets when you need them, but that will probably work out more expensive in the long run...

most shops take cards, most also have contactless. some only take maestro cards though (remember them?!) so visa debit and/or mastercard won't work there. use cash. we spent around €100 a day in cash (we paid for as much as we could on cards) between the two of us. if you want to pay on card, always check when you walk in if they take it first! (generally, the smaller bars/restaurants and most coffeeshops don;t take card. but a lot of restaurants will. just check first!)

prices aren't cheap anymore. hotels are 2-3x the price they were 10 years ago, and food&drink prices are quite high too (london prices generally)

apart from a few areas, most of the city closes at 11pm. if you want to stay out late, your best bets are probably the liedseplein area, or the red light district. however, the RLD is horrible to be walking around at 10pm on a saturday night. absolutely rammed and just constant stag/hen do's. stay on the perimeter (warmoestraat is my street of choice) and you'll be fine.

if you can, go during the week rather than a weekend, you'll find it so much more enjoyable

you cant buy booze in coffeeshops anymore. soft drinks only. if you want a beer, you need to go to a smoke-friendly bar. most coffeeshops, you need to buy some stuff. or at the very least a drink each.

why didn't i visit the rijksmuseum years ago? very impressed with it.
the banksy exhibit at MOCO was really good too.
bodyworlds was a fun hour or two as well. we bought tickets off groupon for €11 each
had a lovely walk through vondelpark too. never really explored it before.

also. take bug spray, especially if you're likely to be hanging out by the canals in warmer months. i've never noticed it to be this bad previously. but that might've been our loft apartment, coupled with the heat of last week (had to have windows open, resulting in lots of bites overnight)

after it, i'm really glad i went again, but for what we spent, we could've had a budget 2 week holiday in florida...

any other questions, just ask!

hth

[wanye]

also, a couple of recommendations...

cafe de klos. some of the best ribs i have *ever* eaten! you need to book a table. theres usually a 45-90 minute wait for tables around peak time, but theres a nice bar directly opposite, and you can have a drink there, and they fetch you when the table is ready. you can even take your beer over to the restaurant with you! - tripadvisor/Restau..._Province.html

metropolitan on warmoesstraat. so good we went there multiple times during our trip. the milk chocolate almond bits are amazin. as were all the icecreams we tried.

tripadvisor/Restau..._Province.html

[tiggertastic]

Originally Posted by wanye

I posted this on another thread just now...

ok, got back on monday. first trip back there in 10 years. a few tips and bits...

get the train from schiphol to centraal station. it costs €5.50 per person, there is a constant stream of trains pulling in, and takes 15 mins. you're looking at €30+ in an uber. its just not worth the hassle. get the train! also, don't spend ages queueing to buy a ticket from a person, there's loads of machines in the central concourse, and they take contactless/chip&pin. just press the ENGLISH button in the bottom corner of the screen at the start and you're good to go.

also buy the tram/metro/bus travel card. we bought the 5 day/120hr pass which worked out at around €5 per person per day. it means you can just jump on a tram. you will cover a LOT more ground with the pass. again, these can be bought from either the machines dotted around (there's one at most stops and a bunch at centraal station) or from the conductor in the entrance to the tram. the other option is buying a bunch of 1 hour travel tickets when you need them, but that will probably work out more expensive in the long run...

most shops take cards, most also have contactless. some only take maestro cards though (remember them?!) so visa debit and/or mastercard won't work there. use cash. we spent around €100 a day in cash (we paid for as much as we could on cards) between the two of us. if you want to pay on card, always check when you walk in if they take it first! (generally, the smaller bars/restaurants and most coffeeshops don;t take card. but a lot of restaurants will. just check first!)

prices aren't cheap anymore. hotels are 2-3x the price they were 10 years ago, and food&drink prices are quite high too (london prices generally)

apart from a few areas, most of the city closes at 11pm. if you want to stay out late, your best bets are probably the liedseplein area, or the red light district. however, the RLD is horrible to be walking around at 10pm on a saturday night. absolutely rammed and just constant stag/hen do's. stay on the perimeter (warmoestraat is my street of choice) and you'll be fine.

if you can, go during the week rather than a weekend, you'll find it so much more enjoyable

you cant buy booze in coffeeshops anymore. soft drinks only. if you want a beer, you need to go to a smoke-friendly bar. most coffeeshops, you need to buy some stuff. or at the very least a drink each.

why didn't i visit the rijksmuseum years ago? very impressed with it.
the banksy exhibit at MOCO was really good too.
bodyworlds was a fun hour or two as well. we bought tickets off groupon for €11 each
had a lovely walk through vondelpark too. never really explored it before.

also. take bug spray, especially if you're likely to be hanging out by the canals in warmer months. i've never noticed it to be this bad previously. but that might've been our loft apartment, coupled with the heat of last week (had to have windows open, resulting in lots of bites overnight)

after it, i'm really glad i went again, but for what we spent, we could've had a budget 2 week holiday in florida...

any other questions, just ask!

hth

See more...

Thank you for the comments! Very helpful especially your info regarding cards, that was worrying me when we have to get bus or trains when we are not in Amsterdam. Think we will have to get a chipcard thing.

Thanks for the bug spray tip. Wonder if I can get my part used bottle of soltan with bug spray through security? 🤔

[Gill H]

If you wanted to buy the iAmsterdam card, it includes all travel. It doesn’t cover entry to Anne Frank or the Rijksmuseum, but covers loads of other places, plus discounts on food.

[wanye]

Originally Posted by Gill H

If you wanted to buy the iAmsterdam card, it includes all travel. It doesn’t cover entry to Anne Frank or the Rijksmuseum, but covers loads of other places, plus discounts on food.

See more...

i debated getting the iamsterdam card, but unless you are planning on doing a *lot* of museums that are part of the card then it works out for you... but the rijksmuseum, moco (banksy exhibit) and bodyworlds (the ones we went to visit) aren't part of it. so as purely a travel card, it's not that good of a deal. you can get unlimited tram/bus/metro travel for ~5 euros a day just by getting a paper chipcard rather than nearer 30 euros per day for the iamsterdam (assuming you bought multiple days worth)...

[Bozza]

Gemma. I think that was her name anyway. Amazing.