Things to do in Amsterdam
Discussion
Oh so much to say about this but for a starters have a little trawl through the web. couple of mates and i did this a few years ago and got maps of where all the best coffee shops were and so on.
From experiance the best thing to do when you walk out the front of the train station is go straight to the hotle. if not you WILL forget which coffee shop you left your luggage in!!!!
First stop off should be The Grasshopper - you can't missit, it's right near the train station and is almost the 'entrance' to the most interesting evening areas... The upstairs is for drinking, the down for shmoking.
Might I recomend their Bubblegum...
Be warned the bars where they try to pull you in off the street - it looks crowded upstairs but they'll put you in the empty downstairs room and forget you for an hour, then just as you are about to leave will take your order.
There are of course many interesting sights to see as well as the pros and shmokes. Try the web for the best of these. If you are there for the weekend you might like to see if you can get tickets for an footie game.
p.s. Stay away from the juke boxes - Skunk Anansie and Faithless sound sooo much better in your head than in a crowded coffee shop...
From experiance the best thing to do when you walk out the front of the train station is go straight to the hotle. if not you WILL forget which coffee shop you left your luggage in!!!!
First stop off should be The Grasshopper - you can't missit, it's right near the train station and is almost the 'entrance' to the most interesting evening areas... The upstairs is for drinking, the down for shmoking.
Might I recomend their Bubblegum...
Be warned the bars where they try to pull you in off the street - it looks crowded upstairs but they'll put you in the empty downstairs room and forget you for an hour, then just as you are about to leave will take your order.
There are of course many interesting sights to see as well as the pros and shmokes. Try the web for the best of these. If you are there for the weekend you might like to see if you can get tickets for an footie game.
p.s. Stay away from the juke boxes - Skunk Anansie and Faithless sound sooo much better in your head than in a crowded coffee shop...
Prostitutes ... they are opposite the Heiniken brewrey too.
Walk around the Red Light District after dark for a laugh
Take a Canal tour, Visit Ann Frank's house... Visit the thinnest house in the world (I think)..
Visit Sex Museum, Visit Hash Marajuana and Hemp Museum.. If you have the urge to visit a NightClub DONOT go in the "Cock-Ring" ... I made that mistake.
Vondle Park is nice in summer .. watch out for druggies and needles though. If you wanna walk along the beach take a trip to Vandfoot and see the old F1 Track.
Vroom & Dresman (V&D) stores have loverly ham sandwiches too
>> Edited by jvaughan on Monday 31st January 17:18
Walk around the Red Light District after dark for a laugh
Take a Canal tour, Visit Ann Frank's house... Visit the thinnest house in the world (I think)..
Visit Sex Museum, Visit Hash Marajuana and Hemp Museum.. If you have the urge to visit a NightClub DONOT go in the "Cock-Ring" ... I made that mistake.
Vondle Park is nice in summer .. watch out for druggies and needles though. If you wanna walk along the beach take a trip to Vandfoot and see the old F1 Track.
Vroom & Dresman (V&D) stores have loverly ham sandwiches too
>> Edited by jvaughan on Monday 31st January 17:18
There was a 'sex tour' when we went there - a local explained how Amsterdam got where it is today, and showed us around the red light district. Very educational and a good way to learn about the many ways they fleece tourists for every last penny. The locals have absolutely no respect for the drunken Brits, and will happily take full advantage the moment they sense you don't know what you're doing.
Besides that, there are some cool breweries, museums, nice walks, great cafes, boat tours, and shopping if you care about the way you look. The trick seems to be to keep moving on and try a little of everything one evening, then you can go back to the good places the next day.
Besides that, there are some cool breweries, museums, nice walks, great cafes, boat tours, and shopping if you care about the way you look. The trick seems to be to keep moving on and try a little of everything one evening, then you can go back to the good places the next day.
There is a really good live Blues venue in the city centre "Blues Train" IIRC (not sure) - great place, quite small , lots of locals , beer not overpriced .... I think we ended up there everynight till about 5 am.
ALso - Indonesian restaurants "reiss-tafels" (sp?) are great - a bit like Thai /Indian food , Dutch food is rather dull.
Canal boats , Van Gogh museum.
ALso - Indonesian restaurants "reiss-tafels" (sp?) are great - a bit like Thai /Indian food , Dutch food is rather dull.
Canal boats , Van Gogh museum.
you have to try satay, it is the Dutch adopted national dish.
Frite saus is excellent on chips, like a sweet mayo.
For a night out you won't forget the supperclub is a fantastic (is it a he or a she??) experience although could be booked out at the weekend.
To start off the night shooters is reasonably cleanish fun. A large pub/bar with a novel way of drinking tequila (nowhere near as mucky as it could be).
Avoid bananabar unless you REALLY want interactive grot. Some of the shows are pretty awful too.
Heineken tour is good fun, as is a canal trip if you want to see the sights without walking too far.
Frite saus is excellent on chips, like a sweet mayo.
For a night out you won't forget the supperclub is a fantastic (is it a he or a she??) experience although could be booked out at the weekend.
To start off the night shooters is reasonably cleanish fun. A large pub/bar with a novel way of drinking tequila (nowhere near as mucky as it could be).
Avoid bananabar unless you REALLY want interactive grot. Some of the shows are pretty awful too.
Heineken tour is good fun, as is a canal trip if you want to see the sights without walking too far.
Search general gassing for Mrs Fish's hen night visit last year to the 'Dam.
Can only recommend (as I did on the the other thread) an Indonesian rijsttafel - literally rice table. Fantastic indonesian grub - just pick fish, chicken, beef, etc. and let the restaurant do the rest.
My personal favourite is the Kantjil en de Tijger down on Spuiistraat - 12 minutes walk from Dam square down towards Leidseplein. Website www.kantjil.nl/
Lots of good coffeeshops - you'll find them easily enough. A place with a reputation for the best grass is the Greenhouse - try their Hawaiian Snow.
Take good walking shoes coz it's the best way to see the place - you'll walk MILES (particularly when wasted - feel no pain)!
Van Gogh (NOT Rembrandt arggh! Thanks Ed It) and Rijks museums are worth visiting if you want to get cultural.
>> Edited by nel on Monday 31st January 20:09
Can only recommend (as I did on the the other thread) an Indonesian rijsttafel - literally rice table. Fantastic indonesian grub - just pick fish, chicken, beef, etc. and let the restaurant do the rest.
My personal favourite is the Kantjil en de Tijger down on Spuiistraat - 12 minutes walk from Dam square down towards Leidseplein. Website www.kantjil.nl/
Lots of good coffeeshops - you'll find them easily enough. A place with a reputation for the best grass is the Greenhouse - try their Hawaiian Snow.
Take good walking shoes coz it's the best way to see the place - you'll walk MILES (particularly when wasted - feel no pain)!
Van Gogh (NOT Rembrandt arggh! Thanks Ed It) and Rijks museums are worth visiting if you want to get cultural.
>> Edited by nel on Monday 31st January 20:09
Just got back been many times on other occasions too. Try Paradisco on the leidesplein area for a good night club and Casa Rosa theatre in red light district for the best sex show in town. It does get tedious trying to explain to african drug dealers that you dont take class A and if i did i wouldnt buy it from them. (approx once a minute in red light district)
Erm, lots, its a wonderful city full of wonderful people.
The Supper Club is fantastic. Probably my favourite restaurant in the world. Food is good, nothing outstanding but the entire experience just has be taken in.
Diagonally opposite The Greenhouse (Oezijds Voorburgwaal or similar, the central one) there is a Bedouin restaurant thats very very good also. Lamb tajin, apple tobacco, sitting on the floor the full bit. Highly recommended.
The museum district is also very good (should you be a smoker, Media is down here which I rate as the finest in town) Rijks, Modern Art and Van Gogh are all worth a look if you've not been before.
Its worth having a wander around the Heineken Brewery, that kills some time. The Sex Museum is crap, dont bother.
Other than that have fun and if you want a pukka recommendation on any particular part of town just ask a local, they are generally a friendly bunch. You'll probably get a more lucid answer the further away from Red Light you get though...
The Supper Club is fantastic. Probably my favourite restaurant in the world. Food is good, nothing outstanding but the entire experience just has be taken in.
Diagonally opposite The Greenhouse (Oezijds Voorburgwaal or similar, the central one) there is a Bedouin restaurant thats very very good also. Lamb tajin, apple tobacco, sitting on the floor the full bit. Highly recommended.
The museum district is also very good (should you be a smoker, Media is down here which I rate as the finest in town) Rijks, Modern Art and Van Gogh are all worth a look if you've not been before.
Its worth having a wander around the Heineken Brewery, that kills some time. The Sex Museum is crap, dont bother.
Other than that have fun and if you want a pukka recommendation on any particular part of town just ask a local, they are generally a friendly bunch. You'll probably get a more lucid answer the further away from Red Light you get though...
I get the idea Amsterdam is a place you have to visit in a certain state of mind. Go there for the culture, or go there on the lash, but don't 'just' go there or you might find the place winding you up a bit.
Haven't actually been there - would love to some time, but it strikes me that it's not somewhere you can go on the cheap if you want to see everything that's worth it.
Haven't actually been there - would love to some time, but it strikes me that it's not somewhere you can go on the cheap if you want to see everything that's worth it.
www.boomchicago.nl 
Located in Leidseplein Square, a great place to go generally, loads of restaurants and things to do on a night out.
Depending on whether it's your thing or not, there are loads of good museums around too. The Rijksmuseum has The Night Watch, and is next to a lovely park where you can just sit, chill and paddle for a whole afternoon.
I would definitely recommend the Van Gogh Museum - it has lots of things from his life as well as his paintings, including letters he wrote to his brother. It's a bit choking to read his letters saying "I have no talent, I'm wasting my time, no-one will ever want to look at this crap I churn out" and then look up and see people clamouring for space around his sunflower paintings. Really makes you think. 
Located in Leidseplein Square, a great place to go generally, loads of restaurants and things to do on a night out.
Depending on whether it's your thing or not, there are loads of good museums around too. The Rijksmuseum has The Night Watch, and is next to a lovely park where you can just sit, chill and paddle for a whole afternoon.
I would definitely recommend the Van Gogh Museum - it has lots of things from his life as well as his paintings, including letters he wrote to his brother. It's a bit choking to read his letters saying "I have no talent, I'm wasting my time, no-one will ever want to look at this crap I churn out" and then look up and see people clamouring for space around his sunflower paintings. Really makes you think. v8thunder said:
I get the idea Amsterdam is a place you have to visit in a certain state of mind. Go there for the culture, or go there on the lash, but don't 'just' go there or you might find the place winding you up a bit.
Haven't actually been there - would love to some time, but it strikes me that it's not somewhere you can go on the cheap if you want to see everything that's worth it.
The thing about the 'Dam is that you can do both or neither. It is a very chilled out place & there is so much to do that you really can bowl up and do what you fancy, depraved or not.
The city is big enough to get right away from the relatively small red light district and into surrounding areas like the Jordaan which is pretty funky, has great brown cafe's & no annoying Brits on the lash.
It's also a great city to find a quiet canalside bar, have a few strong belgian beers and people watch or read a book.
All I need now it to convince the wife to move there with me
Culture, art, history and nightlife. Plenty of hotels, restaurants, bars and shops. What more could you ask for in a small city? There's so much to do and see yet everything is within walking distance. The people are friendly and accommodating. It's a great place to 'people watch'. And the sheer number of bicycles is truly a sight to behold! I really enjoyed my stay there and would go back again...and again...
Went a couple of weeks ago, for shopping and pi55 up. I didn't bother with all the touristy stuff but friends went to Anne Frank, Heineken Museum, couple of Galleries and we all went to the sex museum.
Have a walk through the red light district but watch out for whats known as 'Black Corner' as it's supposedly a little dodgy if you venture inside the doors (we didn't do that so can't confirm the rumours).
I wouldn't bother with Casa Rosso, I thought it was quite boring after the first 5 mins. Better off going to a good Texan strip club without a 'no touching' policy.
Have a walk through the red light district but watch out for whats known as 'Black Corner' as it's supposedly a little dodgy if you venture inside the doors (we didn't do that so can't confirm the rumours).
I wouldn't bother with Casa Rosso, I thought it was quite boring after the first 5 mins. Better off going to a good Texan strip club without a 'no touching' policy.
I found the whole place dull, spectacularly unremarkable and pretty soul-less. I walked around and found precious little worthy of note, couldn't be bothered with any of the museums, food was average at best except in one Sushi bar where service was adequate and in the White Elephant Thai Restaurant - have no idea where it was apart from in der Pijp.
That and the cloggies being a bunch of typical Euro-nerds made for an entirely forgettable experience.
I would only go back if I HAD to with work and personally would go somewhere else more interesting if I was paying.
That and the cloggies being a bunch of typical Euro-nerds made for an entirely forgettable experience.
I would only go back if I HAD to with work and personally would go somewhere else more interesting if I was paying.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff