Guide for to Amsterdam

[jackh707]

Any help advice, for getting around amsterdam, me and my mates are going for a long weekend in a few weeks, just looking to absorb some culture, and have a good time.

Can anyone recommend any good places to go, want to got the van gogh, and rembrant, have some good food, and nice beer.
We have no interest whatsoever in the sexual tourism, think we are staying quite central, near to the park, any help appreciated.

[a311]

There's plety of women just standing about in front of the various building fronts. Perhaps one of them know their way 'around' and can offer guiding/other services......

On a more serious note I found Anne Franks house/museum interesting, also the flower market and cananal tour. I stayed well away from the redlight district and there were still several brothels dotted around. Tended to be ropier women.

[richardxjr]

Cultural, eh?

http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/ possibly NSFW

[Shay HTFC]

Heineken factory is worth a visit, pus theres a nice bit down at the water front with a sloped roof museum that you can walk onto up for free (and get a great view).

[halfpenny43]

Buy yourself a tram card - available in Schiphol from the newsagents pre-loaded with credit (you hold them up against a pad type card reader when you get on the tram and have to make sure you do the same when you get off the tram)

Plenty of nice little boutique hotels close to Vondelpark / Stadhouderskade area.

Take a walk down PC Hoofdstraat and have lunch there people watching - the "Bond Street" of Amsterdam - often see some nice cars parked up. It's also very close to the Van Gogh & Rijks Museums and Concertgebouw.

Restaurants around that area - I like these two;
L'entrecote la dame - http://www.entrecote-et-les-dames.nl

Cafe Loetje - http://www.cafeloetje.nl/index.html - lovely steaks, and liver & bacon.

All the other usual stuff - Red Light District, canal boat trip, Anne Frank House, Oude Kerk, Nieuwe kerk, The Dam, Flower Market etc etc etc.

[Fas1975]

BEst restaurant I've ever been to. Supperclub. There's two in amsterdam, one on a boat and one in a building. Need to book.

http://www.supperclub.com/

[Electric Beaver]

We did a tour of a diamond factory which was really interesting. They sat us around a table and produced some huge diamonds for us to look at and hold. Completely free too (except for the £300 solitaire ring we bought)

[jackh707]

Some great ideas and links, thanks folks... that supper club looks brilliant if expensive. We were planning on the heineken tour aswell.

[jackh707]

richardxjr said:

Cultural, eh?

http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/ possibly NSFW

and yes 'cultural'

[Pulse]

We'll be there in just over a week - we go once a year to see friends out there.

We have STILL not been to the Ann Frank Museum, even though we always mean to. My advice would be to BOOK BEFORE YOU GO. Far easier, as the queues are always extremely long, come rain or shine.

There is a nice bar just off Dam Square which we always go to (my friend's 'local' as he works on Dam Square) called 'Cafe de Dam'. It's tiny and always full, but a nice place to be.

[Bradgate]

Even if you have no interest in purchasing the wares on offer, the red light district is still a must-see. there is simply nothing like it in the UK.

It is at its best, busiest, and safest at night, when hundreds of sightseeing couples are also walking around. In addition to the hundreds of 'windows' there are coffee shops, clubs, bars and restaurants. There are museums and visitor centres telling the history of the area.

If you walk round with a group of lads, the girls will view you as potential customers. If you walk round as part of a couple, they will ignore you.