Amsterdam

Welcome to Amsterdam!

Top activities

1. Rent a bike & explore: Rent a bicycle and discover Amsterdam and it surroundings on bike → See below
2. Anne Frank House: Visit the Anne Frank House → See below
3. Waterlooplein Flea Market: Visit the Waterlooplein flea market - Always nice, and handy if you want to buy a bit more original souvenirs
4. Read Light District: Visit the Red Light District - Not a personal favourite of mine, but most of my guest do visit this area. At the very least, it will impress you and will make you think.

Rent a bicycle

Amsterdam is probably the bicycle capitol of the world, and exploring the city by bike, is definitely my number one recommendation.

Fun

Amsterdam and its surroundings is much more fun on bicycle than by public transport or by car. You become part of the city when traveling by bike and you'll experience a freedom that you can't get by any other means of transportation.

Fast

Traveling by bike is usually the fastest way to get anywhere in the city. Amsterdam is flat and very compact, meaning that you never have to do big distances.

Safe

Contrary to probably most major cities in the world, Amsterdam (and The Netherlands for that), is very bicycle friendly: No hills and usually with separate lanes for bikes. Car drivers are used to having cyclists all around them.

I love my car!

I understand that you love your car. And changes are, that without your car you wouldn't even come to Amsterdam. But once in Amsterdam, you're car is a liability, rather than an asset: Parking is very expensive (e.g., € 7.50 around where I live) and Amsterdam is difficult to navigate by car. Simply because there are few parking lots (in 2020, the city removed another 10,000 parking lots!) and few throughgoing roads.

Fortunately, there are easy ways to ditch your car while enjoying Amsterdam: At the various P+R (Park + Ride) places, you can park your car for something like € 1 per day. Two catches: Max. parking time is 4 days, and this low price only counts when you can proof to the parking machine that you travelled to it by public transport. It's still a very convenient way to leave your car behind for a couple of days. The exact conditions change from place to place, but I have good experience with P+R Noord, lastly used in May 2023:

• P+R Amsterdam Noord at Google Maps
• P+R at Amsterdam.nl

How?

• Prices seem pretty much te be the same everywhere: Around € 13,-- for the first day, and around only € 5,-- per day when you rent more than 5 days
• A deposit is required. Usually, a credit card will do, or alternatively, your driving license or passport.

Where?

There are lots of bike rental places all around town, including at Central Station and close to where I live:

• Rent A Bike Amsterdam: At about 500 meters from where I live, for what seems to be astonishing good prices (around € 6.50/day)
• No. 1 Rental: At about 250 meters from where I live. Prices start at € 13.50 per day
• There is a Mac Bike at Central Station, if that's more convenient. Prices are around € 13 per day.

Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House (Anne Frankhuis in Dutch) is probably the most famous and impressive thing to see in Amsterdam. I also think it's the best museum in Amsterdam, if you could actually call it a museum.

In the past, you could just go to the Anne Frank House and buy a ticket. The only problem: The queue sometimes was more than 1km long - Thank God they changed this. Nowadays, tickets can only be bought online. I think their new policy is really good. From their website:

80% of tickets are released exactly two months in advance 
at noon, 20% on the day itself. 

Every day at 9:00 am, the tickets for the day are made 
available on this site.

So, if you're not yet in Amsterdam, try the first option and see if you can still buy tickets.

If you're already in Amsterdam, try the second option: Log in (e.g., with your mobile phone) at 9:00 in the morning, and get your tickets for the day - This usually works. I even had guests who could still get tickets around 11:00 (I think they were really lucky!)

Discover Amsterdam

Various

• ADM
• Buurtboerderij: Former farm within the Westerpark. Now a pub & restaurant, run by volunteers
• End of the World: Restaurant on a ship, run by volunteers. Dinner is available on Wednesday and Friday only
• Ferry to Amsterdam North - Free for pedestrians and cyclists
• Food halls: Former tram depot (tram garage?), turned into a mall with lots of food stuff and cinemas. Maybe nice for rainy days for non-museum-lovers
• Nemo roof terrace
• NDSM wharf - Take the ferry from behind Central Station to this former wharf-turned-into-hippy village - Lots to see
• Red Light District
• REM-eiland: Former sea platform, in the western port-area. Nowadays a restaurant. Worthwhile to just cycle to it, without even visiting the restaurant
• Stonehead (Stenen Hoofd) - Nice for swimming in the open water
• Prinseneiland, Realeneiland & Bickerseiland: Close to where I live, there are these three islands, like hidden gems. I especially like the small park at the north-west-corner of the Realeneiland (Vierwindenstraat)
• Waterlooplein-market
• Vrankrijk - Squatted house in the Spuistraat. Check agenda for opening hours
• Cafe Soundgarden: Rock pub
• Vondelbunker is one of the two nuclear shelters in Amsterdam from the cold war-era. It's nowadays something very left-wing and punk-like. They often have screenings. About 20 to 30 minutes walk from where I live

Museums

You probably know these already:

• Anne Frank House
• Nemo: Technology museum. Mostly for kids, but they have a great roof terrace with free entrance and a great view
• Rijksmuseum
• Van Gogh Museum - You need to reserve in advance (online).

Places to meditate

• Various parks at Prinseneiland, Realeneiland & Bickerseiland. I especially like the small park at the north-west-corner of the Realeneiland (Vierwindenstraat)
• Buurtboerderij - garden
• Westerpark - Japanese garden

Yards

Amsterdam has a bunch of inner yards within old building complexes. E.g.:

• Two yards at Westerstraat (around the corner from where I live)
• Jodenbreestraat
• More: https://www.amsterdamsehofjes.nl/

Windmills

There's a bunch of windmills close by - No need to go all the way to Zaansche Schans, if you ask me:

• De Otter: Just 500 meters off where I live, at the Gilles van Ledenborchstraat
• Haarlemmerweg: There are two windmills on this road to Haarlem. Easy on bike, too far by foot
• Brouwerij het IJ: Impressive mill in Amsterdam-East, part of the beer brewery Het IJ

Surroundings of Amsterdam

• Marken: Former island
• Ruigoord: A 'hippy village' at about 15km West of Amsterdam. About 45 minutes on bike, or by bus
• Rural Amsterdam North: Durgerdam, Holysloot, Ransdorp, Broek in Waterland, etc.
• Stelling van Amsterdam: Ring of fortresses around Amsterdam, build from the end of the 19th century, until about 1939.

Bike tours outside Amsterdam

Some of my favourite day trips by bike:

• Rural Amsterdam North: Oranjesluizen (water locks) » Durgerdam » Ransdorp » Holysloot » Ferry to the other side of the Holysloter Die » Back to Amsterdam » Ferry behind Central Station
• Marken: Ferry behind Central Station » Nieuwendammerdijk » Durgerdam » Uitdam » Marken » Back to Amsterdam
• Ruigoord: Westerpark » Park Spaarnwoude » Ruigoord
• Muiden: Flevopark » Camping Zeeburg » Diemerpark » Diemer Vijfhoek » Muiden

Het Stenen Hoofd (Stonehead)

Het Stenen Hoofd is a lovely 'city beach'. It's close to where I live and you can swim there in open water. It's for free and easy to find

Het Stenen Hoofd

Het Stenen Hoofd

Het Stenen Hoofd - A long time ago

Het Stenen Hoofd - Google Maps

Sources

• https://www.amsterdamsehofjes.nl/ - yards
• https://www.amsterdamsebinnenstad.nl/binnenstad/269/stenen-hoofd.html