I'll be there for a week before heading to Kosovo for two months. Spending a lot of that week working, doing research on the new rock opera my company's creating with Black Francis based on the life and work of Dutch rocker/painter Herman Brood. I'll also be traveling to Brood's hometown of Zwolle. Then it's off to Kosovo to direct a play in Albanian. What should I do in Amsterdam when I'm not working? arno_ed?
Amsterdam is fun as hell and the people are really cool. Here's a few things that you should check out: Van Gogh Museum Heineken Brewery Anne Frank Museum Coffee Shops (Hill Street Blues, Alibaba, etc.) The Grasshopper Vondelpark If you want to see the traditional landscape with the tulips and windmills you'll have to leave the city and head towards the country. As far as accomodations, it's best to stay near the Centraal train station near Warmungstraat. Oh, and don't take pictures in the Red Light District.
Pretty much sums it up. If you don't do either of these two main things, then your time in Amsterdamntheygotgoodweed won't be fully spent.
Walk. Seriously. It is such a neat city, just let the day take you wherever, and you won't be disappointed. In fact, if I was working there, I'd make sure I took an hour or so each morning and evening just to walk off in a different direction and scout out things I want see in more detail later. They also have hop on, hop off canal buses that are a neat way to get around and see different parts of the city. Dutch food is.........an acquired taste, but the city if full of great ethnic food at little out of the way places. Try some Indonesian food.......much better than what we can get here in Houston. I'll be there in a few weeks, and I can't wait. It's really a great city, and even if you went there without one thing on your slate that you just had to do, I'm sure you'd have a great time. And if you don't walk.........rent a bicycle; you will certainly blend in that way.
All of this is true. It's a great city to walk with all the canals and stuff. Also, get your Doner Kebab on! Those things are incredible.
Thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming. I don't go near psychedelics. I'm crazy enough already. We're staying at Anne's Room, which is just off the Red Light District. It seems pretty central. And the room is at the back of the house so it shouldn't be too noisy. Also, my girlfriend and I are both vegan. Any veg restaurant suggestions especially appreciated.
You will not have any trouble finding good vegan food there. We did a boat canal cruise, which we enjoyed. Do the longer one that takes you out into the ocean. The Anne Frank house has long lines, there is some way to get tickets ahead of time. Research that. We stayed near the red light district also, walk around, visit some bars. We spent a fair amount of evening time in an Irish Pub (Murphy's, I think) near there. The Van Gogh museum is great, we visited later in the day and they had a chamber music group performing while we were touring. It made the experience very special. I agree with the poster who said get out and walk around. The people watching and the sights are great. I had done a lot of Great Britain and France in the past, and found the history of The Netherlands to be every interesting. It had a very different society setup.
Check out this place. It's been years, but I had a great time going there. http://www.melkweg.nl/voorpagina.jsp?language=nederlands&disciplineid=muziek By all means, walk around. Rent bikes and tour the central city. Very easy to do. The architecture is amazing. As was said earlier, you won't have a problem getting vegan there. Certainly, it was there at the beginning of the '70's and the early '80's, when I spent most of my time in Amsterdam. Eat Indonesian food! Maybe they have a vegan place that has it. The Rijks Museum is another world class art museum. Much, much larger than the Van Gogh, which you can't miss. http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/ Is the tulip festival this year? If it is, it's well worth an easy train ride. Nothing is really far in the Netherlands. See if there are any free concerts at the parks. They have a lot of them. If you have the chance to get out to one of the historic small towns and villages, you'll enjoy it. Drink lots of beer. Dutch beer is excellent. Like any good beer, it's better "at the source." I love the Netherlands. Some of the finest people in the world, if you get the chance to know them.
I can't attest personally, but people were raving about this place on one of the vegetarian boards I read: http://www.communitywalk.com/location/de_peper/info/58142
Everything that has been said, including the National Gallery with all the Rembrandt stuff. You won't be disappointed And don't let any preconceived notions of the Red Light District turn you off (not that you have any....): it's in about the oldest, most historic part of the city and is just awesome.
i highly recommend taking this opportunity to try all of the "tastes" of amsterdam. the red light district is pretty cool. dont buy coke or xtc from the black dudes pushing it. some of the hookers are beyond hot. be sure to use your best negotiating skills at the door. if you come off like a rich american tourist, then you'll get treated like one and miss out on some of the fun of the experience. the bud is amazing. try different kinds! the hash is bomb. everything is. there's space cake (brownie-ish), vacuums, and even milkshakes all dedicated to the glorious buds which we are all grateful for. try all different kinds and different forms. i liked 'the bulldog' quite a bit - very cool coffee house. i would encourage you to try mushrooms. i've done it a few times... enough to say it increased my appreciation for life. and the rembrandt museum was one of my favorite in all of europe. amsterdam is a glorious place. have fun and be safe!
van gogh is great. do it for sure and rijksmuseum has been having some work done but it has some nice collections as well. since you're there a week, i would recommend driving out to the hague if possible.
Careful with the space cake. That stuff will knock your ass out if you eat the whole piece. It is VERY strong. My favorite bud was White Widow and Bubble Gum.
It is always good to be asked a question. Cool that you are going to do Rock Opera of Herman Brood. I'wasn't a big fan of him. But his suicide was big news in the Netherlands when it happened. When will you be in Amsterdam (there might be some events that are worth a visit)? How will you travel in the Netherlands? by carr or public transportation? How much free time will you have? will you have whole days of or only afternoons? Most ideas you heard here are good. Personally I'm not a big fan of Museums, but like most mentioned: Rijksmuseum and Van gogh museum are supossed to be great. I have heard that the Amsterdams Historisch Museum (Amsterdam historical Museum) is also nice. And if you want to see a decorated Grachtenpand (the houses next to the canals) you can go to the Museum Willet-holthuysen, altough I do not know if it is a nice museum. Both the Rijksmuseum and the van Gogh museum are situated at teh Museumplein, there are more interesting buildings at that townsquare (like the concertgebouw) Ofcourse the Anne Frank house is worth a visit. And some people like Madam Tussauds (althoug I went there like 15 years ago, and i didn't really like it that much, I'm not that fond of Wax sculptures). Artis Zoo is also a nice place to visit (but I'm sure there are bigger Zoos in Houston). Walking around in Amsterdam is always a nice thing to do (go see the vondellpark, and Leidseplein (where you see the Stadsschouwburg, a nice building, and both Paradiso and de Melkweg are close by). Rembrandtplein is also a nice place to visit, it is a good place to have a beer. If you want to see the country site you should travel outside of the city, you can do this by car or public transportation. If you go to the west you can see the dunes and if you like nature the AWD (amsterdamse waterleiding duinen) is a nice area to visit, there are many Roe deers there (actually to many). actually going to the coast is also worth a visit. You should then visit the hondsbosche zeewering (One of the most famous levee in the Netherlands), it is at a small town called Petten, if you go there I know a nice restaurant which isn't that expensive and has an amazing view of the Northsea and the sunset. An easy way to see dutch landscape is go by train (or car) to Utrecht (if you do that you will pass the town I grew up in Breukelen, which you can recoginze because of a Hotel which looks like a Chinees building). The trip to Utrecht will take you about 40 minutes. If you plan on riding a bike you can also go to the vecht area (also between Amsterdam and Utrecht), it is really beautiful to ride a bike next to the Vecht (a small River), especially if the weather is ok. I never did drugs so i cannot recommend any place or drugs, but I do want to stress that if you are planning on buying drugs do it at a Coffeshop, and not on the street. The drugs which you can by on streets might not be safe. The funny thing is that the only problems we Dutch have of people using drugs are the Tourists (like a french tourist which ate a mushroom and Killed herself later that day, which caused a big discussion in the dutch politics about wether mushrooms should be illiegal). And the tourists that are stoned and cause trouble. The red light district is not very interesting to me, but that might be because I'm Dutch and most big dutch cities have such an area. Altough Amsterdam is thinking about Closing the area, so if you want to see it it might be wise to do it this trip. The restaurant Finalsbound mentioned is supossed ot be good, I never went there but I have heard of it from some vegetarian friends. Are you a vegetarian or a vegan (so do you do eat Cheese?) if you eat cheese it is not difficult to find restaurants which have nice meals for you. If you do not eat cheese it is a little more difficult, and if that is the case I can ask around if anybody knows a nice vegan restaurant. My brother in law lifes in Amsterdam, and works in the american hotel. So he might know some nice vegan restaurant. I think this is the longest post I ever made. Are you also going to stay in zwolle for some time? And how are you going to travel there?
Wow, thanks arno_ed! That's great stuff! I have a lot of work to do today so I'll be brief now, but I'll write more later tonight. We're vegan, so no cheese. We're going to have a very hard time eating in Kosovo so we're hoping for good luck in Amsterdam. All suggestions this way are appreciated. We're not looking for drugs or hookers. But we will visit the Red Light District just to see it. I'm not sure yet what my schedule will be like. I'm meeting with old associates of Brood's and visiting key sites. His studio, the museum they've created to honor him in Zwolle, his statue there, his grave, his wax statue (next to Elvis'), the Amsterdam Hilton, etc. But we want to make a vacation of it too since we'll be working very hard in Kosovo. As for transportation, we'll take a cab to the hotel and then we'll be on foot. We're not getting a car. We'll take a train to Zwolle and try to do that trip all in one day, though it might take two. There's a lot related to Brood to see there. But since we're only there six days (June 2-7), I think our travels will be limited to Amsterdam and Zwolle. Will write more later. Thanks to everybody for the info!
was just in amsterdam for a few days in the end of april The only thing that's been suggested that I wouldnt recommend is the heinneken brewery. Its like 15 euro for a really crappy tour, a stupid video we watched 5 secs of before leaving, one of those stick ur head in the hole for a funny picture, and some old advertising stuff. U get 2 free beers, but if ur friendly u can get a couple more for free. although i got my 15 euros worth of beer, i would have rather just gone to a bar and been in a better environment w/ more interesting people. the only museum i went to was the Rijks museum and enjoyed it. The area around there was very beautiful. vodelpark isnt far from there either and suggest checking out that place especially if ur w/ a chick. its nice and pretty. the tulips are in bloom and the weather is great there at this time so get ur romance on. The van gogh and anne frank house had lines wrapping around their buildings so we decided not to go to those. There was a shop in the 9-streets area (shopping/art gallery area) on reestraat that was called something like the best sandwich shop in amsterdam. the name is pretty accurate, they have some damn good sandwiches. dont worry if u dont have anything planned, just walk around the awesome city and u will see things that will interest you and can keep yourself entertained. have fun.
If you take a train from Amsterdam to Zwolle it takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes (you have to go to Amersfoort and than take another train to Zwolle), it is a good way to see dutch landscapes. I'm asking around for A vegan restaurant, I'll let you know what comes up. If you like shopping walking around the Kalverstraat is a nice idea, however it is pretty expansive, but it is a nice way to see Amsterdam, your girlfriend might like it. In the Kalverstraat is one of the best ice cream shops in the Netherlands (not sure if you can eat them since you are vegan). If you need help with anything let me know.
