Amsterdam is one of those places that has always been at the top of my list whenever I thought about traveling. It’s always had such a cloud of mystery around it; its beauty, tulips, the infamous red light district. It left me thinking that Amsterdam is like the Las Vegas of Europe just with less gambling. But after having visited, I can easily say that Amsterdam is so much more than the vices everyone talks about. My significant other was visiting from South Carolina on this trip and we made plans to experience all the different parts of the city.
Amsterdam Day 1:
After landing in Amsterdam Schipol Airport late Thursday night, we took a quick 20 minute train to the city center. We had about a 15 minute walk from the train station to our Hostel, “Hotel My Home.” After climbing 2 extremely steep flights of stairs we found a cozy, private room with decently clean facilities. Our hostel hosts made us breakfast in the morning which was a really nice touch before we set out for the day.
For our first day in Amsterdam we did a lot of walking around the city. We walked through many of the canals, parks, and even by the Ann Frank house. We ended up taking the tram to this huge thrift warehouse called Mevius, highly recommend checking it out if you’re into thrifting! I had made us reservations at PancakeHaus Upstairs so we stopped there for lunch and had the most amazing pancakes in the cutest, little restaurant.
From here we took the tram to the Heineken Brewery and went on a tour! It was 23 euros per person and it included two Heineken beers in their very own bar. It was a really interesting tour and I would definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of the brand or just good beer in general. After the brewery tour we went to one of the city’s main squares and checked out one of their winter markets. We got some mulled wine and had fun watching people ice skating on the rink they set up. From here we went to an Ice Bar! Although definitely a touristy thing to do, it was very fun. We got to have an ice cold drink in a negative 9 degree celsius bar! It was super unique although very cold so we didn’t stay too long.
Amsterdam Day 2:
For our second day in Amsterdam the weather wasn’t great but we were still able to walk through one of the local markets. We also tried some fresh stroopwafel that was very yummy. Afterwards we spent the day in the NEMO science museum. Although some would argue this is a museum for kids, we had so much fun and spent hours being entertained by all the interactive exhibits. Afterwards we stopped in a nearby restaurant for some tacos and caught a fun show at the end of the night.
Amsterdam Day 3:
Our third day in Amsterdam was one of my favorites. We rented two bikes from a shop close to our hostel and set out for the day! It was 25 euros for two bikes for three hours which was definitely worth it. Amsterdam’s infrastructure and roads are super generous to bicyclists as tons of the residents there use them. We had no issues navigating around and rode through the city to Amstelpark and caught part of a crew practice which was fun. It was a nice break from the business of the city. We also rode to an old windmill which was cool to see as people were still living in it! We headed back to the bike shop to drop off our rides and went to Takumi Tonkotsu to get some really delicious ramen to warm us up.
Later that same day we booked a ride on a canal tour! We went through Amsterdam Canal Tours and had a lot of fun with our guide and the other people on the boat. It was really beautiful seeing Amsterdam from the water and we went at the perfect time to see parts of the city during the day and at night after the sunset. We ended up going out for some drinks, playing pool at a local bar, and eating some delicious kebab!
Amsterdam Day 4:
We were originally supposed to leave at 2pm on this day but our flight was rescheduled for 9pm. While this definitely threw a wrench in our plans we tried to make the best of it. We put our luggage in the lockers at the train station and took one of the free ferries over to Amsterdam North. Although there wasn’t much to do on this side of the city we ended up at a cool art museum called NXT. We had some lunch afterwards before picking up our luggage and making our way to the airport as Amsterdam is notorious for long security lines. While our delay did take away from another night in Florence, we still had an incredible trip and I can’t wait to go back some day.
