Well, I am going to Amsterdam for the weekend of the 14th and 15th.... Anyone been there and what do you recommend? DD
Look both ways before you cross the street. Taxis there do not slow down for pedestrians. Since my accident I've spoken to two people who live there that know people who were killed by taxis while on foot. It's like it's just normal there. One Dutchman I know wrote to me, "It's horrible what happened to you. The taxis are crazy. A client of mine was killed by one after our meeting last month." Get travelers' insurance. I'd never even heard of such a thing -- I figured being fully covered meant I was fully covered. But if anything happens to you overseas your American insurance won't do you any good. I'll never leave the country without travelers' insurance again.
I went there for a weekend and I don't think it was worth it. I hardly got to see any of the stuff I wanted to see. I don't know your travel plans but I would hold off on amsterdam until you have more time.
I'm headed there in December too. Going to be staying for a few days before continuing my trip to Saudi. Can't wait. Used to go through Amsterdam like 3 times a year, now I haven't been there in 6 years.
This is what I wrote in the Thread of batma jones: 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, although 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 town square (like the concertgebouw) Of course the Anne Frank house is worth a visit. And some people like Madam Tussauds (although 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 deer 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. But if you are going by car from germany you already saw enough dutch landscape. 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 that are stoned (like a french tourist which ate a mushroom and Killed herself later that day, which caused a big discussion in the dutch politics about whether mushrooms should be illegal). 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. Although Amsterdam is thinking about Closing the area, so if you want to see it it might be wise to do it this trip. So you go to Amsterdam on the 14th? And return to germany on the 16th?
Sorry, have to do this... Amsterdam = this scene <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MVae1A7RRg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4MVae1A7RRg&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I'll be there Aug. 11 and 12 (on business, though, so not much time for sightseeing, but have been there many times) and will be happy to report back on current things going on in the city before your trip.
I just got back from two nights in Amsterdam. We went there after a few days in Paris to see the end of the Tour de France. The only things we really did (besides drink Grolsch) were the Van Gogh museum and one of those canal tours. I would suggest both. The Van Gogh museum was very, very crowded and it was actually challenging at times to get good views of the paintings.
Van Gogh Museum Anne Frank House Heinekin Brewery (all you can drink at the end of the tour) and it doesn't have that piss aftertaste it has in the States And I could recommend some coffee shops but I doubt you are interested
The only thing to look out for is the alcohol content in the local beers. If you have a few beers, it would be like having a 6-pack of American beer. Just keep that in mind.
Batman was the first thing I thought about given his recent trip. If something happens to you I'm calling it a conspiracy against ClutchFans.
