Amsterdam - Advise please

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Am going on a (non football related!) weekend to Amsterdam with the wife.

I have been there many years ago, however it was with football and apart from drink I did very little else.

Advise and suggestions please for reasonable hotels, mid price range.

This time I'd like to take in some of the City's attractions, so what are the 'must - see, must do's' sights please?

So far I've got the Heineiken Brewery Tour, Anne Frank's House, Coffee Houses, Van Gogh Museum.....

Over to you NSC

Thanks

 

[¸.·´¯`·.¸><((((º>]

The brothels, the sex shows and the cafes.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

advice 1, leave the wife here.

 

[PrestGull]

Try this for accomodation, good rates on late deals for apartments rather than rip off hotels

http://www.amsterdamescape.com/

 

[Raphael Meade]

i quite enjoyed the clothes shopping when we were over there last.... sounds silly, but the vintage/2nd hand stores that are now ridiculously expensive and fashionable over there have some WICKED stuff and all dirt cheap.

obviously the coffee shops are on your list.

and when i was there last month, burger king did some WELL nice cheese and bacon bites

...playing a show there monday again so will be indulging once more...

(maybe not in the BK innit)

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Tell the Mrs you're going to Broadstairs,
Take plenty of Johnys.

 

[Giraffe]

I took the wife earlier this year. Went to the Van Gogh museum, Anne Frank house, boat trip which was good. Also toured the red light district, did the sex museum (worth a visit) and some shopping. Its a three day city, not much longer unless you like art a lot.

And watch out for the bikes!!!

 

[Gully]

If you can manage it, take in a game at the Amsterdam Arena, you will not be disappointed.

 

[Raphael Meade]

If you can manage it, take in a game at the Amsterdam Arena, you will not be disappointed.

is it in the city centre dyou know? or do you have to go out of town to see it?

 

[Eric Potts]

Its out of town , but very easy to get to with regular trains .Splendid ground , a lot like the millennium stadium

 

[Gully]

Catch a train to the stadium, think you might be able to get a tram out there as well, it can't be more than 15 minutes from the city centre and is not far from where you change lines to go to the airport.

Have a look on this website: www.ns.nl

You can view the site in English, just in case your Dutch is a bit rusty.

 

[surrey jim]

The brothels, the sex shows and the cafes.

what he said

 

[Gully]

If you want to enjoy the products available in many cafes then you should do it sooner rather than later, I moved back to the UK from NL 3 years ago and at that stage the Dutch Govt wanted to ban smoking in all public buildings and places...that would mean an end to smoking weed in cafes.

 

[Skaville]

Hire bikes. Cycling around Amsterdam is great fun.

 

[Beach Hut]

When we went the highlights were the Anne Frank house (go later in the day as the queues are less) and the Amsterdam Arena Tour.

Also there was a nice town called Harleem a few train stations away which was pleasant.

Don't miss the Anne Frank house no matter what - very moving and the Arena is about 10 minutes out of town by train, underground about 25 minutes.

 

[Trufflehound]

If you're heading to the ArenA you want the Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station, about 10 mins from Centraal. The overland train is faster than the metro as Beach Hut says, as it makes fewer stops en route.

Haarlem is quite pretty, but only really worth the excursion if you're into Old Masters art, in which case you have to visit the Frans Hals Museum there. In terms of nearby cities I think Leiden and Utrecht are both nicer.

If you like decent (i.e. not Dutch) beer, then while in Amsterdam the two best serious bars for Belgian nectar are In De Wildeman (Kolksteeg 3) and Gollem (Raamsteeg 4), both pretty central close to the Singel canal.

For the record, the best beer bar in Haarlem is the Beiaard (Zijlstraat 56), and the best in Utrecht is the Cafe België (Oude Gracht 196). Not that I'm obsessed or anything... I'm still looking for a favourite haunt in Leiden.

I've given up the weed, so I can't vouch for coffee shops.

 

[Springal]

make sure you negoiate with the ladies of the night properly! Also goto the banana bar its the best one - alot of the other sex shows get very boring very quickly.

Dont talk to any of the black drug dealers just ignore them and walk on.

Amsterdam Arena is nice [went to see the england game there] get the metro/underground system its cheap and only 15-20minutes.

Also get the train from the airport works out about £2.50 and drops you fairly central.

We stayed in the Hotel Manofa, 5min walk from Red light district, think we paid about £75 a night for a twin bedroom. Its not exactly luxary but its liveable.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Avoid the cake with 'green herbs' in it.

Can knock you sideways....

 

[The Large One]

If you're going when it's not too cold, a canal trip can be mellow. There's the Rijksmuseum, the Liedseplein where you can see a superb keepy-uppy bloke (he climbs trees and lamposts while doing keepy-uppies), the Tulip market.

I've even got a couple of retro Ajax and Nederlands shirts if you want to blend in.

However, as you rightly point out - DO NOT miss Anne Frank Huis. Very moving, but not depressing.

 

[Stinky Kat]

Dont avoid the cake with 'green herbs' in it.

Can knock you sideways....