Must sees and dining in Amsterdam for a two-day visit.

[Breedlove]

The flight is still listed , but says no longer available KLM and Air France . This is the best site for us to get airline tickets .
Houston to Malaga Spain for 470.00 RT on Air France !





https://escapehouston.com/

 

[audreyh1]

The flight is still listed , but says no longer available KLM and Air France . This is the best site for us to get airline tickets .
Houston to Malaga Spain for 470.00 RT on Air France !





https://escapehouston.com/

Thanks. Since we are flying July returning August we weren't in that window anyway. But thanks for the link.

 

[Totoro]

Two dining options to consider:

• Fries: go to Sonny at Eerste van der Helststraat 43. It's a street stall which also sells falafel. Much better fries than any other I have eaten in Amsterdam. Sonny is a fun guy too. Walking distance from Albert Cuyp.
• Indian/Nepali: really tasty. Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 58III. You won't regret it.

Other than that: +5 on the Concertgebouw. Every Tuesday there is a free concert there at lunch time, but queues tend to fill up. Robeco Summer Nights is nice too right about now. Take into account that they are primarily geared to local audience, but it is one of the Top-3 concert halls in the world!

[Edit] and Ijscuypje for an ice cream in summer - near albert cuyp. 1e Van der Helststraat 27. Freshly made, much yummy.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh, yeah, IJscuypjes are in many locations in Amsterdam.

 

[6miths]

Favourite place in the world is the Keukenhof. Preferably in May though. It's too far outside of Amsterdam to visit on a two-day stay I would say.

 

[Totoro]

Another one: The Eye is a nice place to have lunch, take the ferry at the back of the central train station.

It's also a film museum.

 

[audreyh1]

Another one: The Eye is a nice place to have lunch, take the ferry at the back of the central train station.

It's also a film museum.

Yes - we've been there. A good destination excuse for the free ferry ride across the river IJ. Great views of the river.

 

[rt-texas]

Rented a houseboat, Ideall II on KNSM Island some years back for 19 nights. Just get up every morning, have coffee and then wander out for the day/evening. Out of the center of town, but maybe 10 minutes by tram to Central Station.

The Supper Club was a very cool experience back then. They have moved locations and I haven't been to the current version, but it was a killer evening that my wife still talks about to this day. Google it.

 

[bltkmt]

We will be visiting Amsterdam this summer - myself, DW and two sons (21 and 24). I love this thread and its suggestions - anything new to add two years later? We will be there for a week and have an overnight trip to Bruges planned so far.

 

[Moemg]

I will also be visiting Amsterdam so I need a suggestion on best hotel locations .

 

[Lsbcal]

I will also be visiting Amsterdam so I need a suggestion on best hotel locations .

We stayed at the Hotel Piet Hein. It is near a nice park and feels like a retreat from some of the busier sections of the city. There are some good restaurants within walking distance too.

If one has more time I'd consider staying in Haarlem and just visiting Amsterdam via train. We really enjoyed Stempels Hotel near the cathedral and square in beautiful Haarlem.

 

[EarlyBirdly]

Use to layover here frequently. Nice country setting in the little town of Badhoevedorp and very quiet even though it is quite close to Schiphol. Free bicycles to use anytime. ( Well, when I stayed there anyway..YMMV) Nice little town and about 7 miles or so on the bicycle route into Amsterdam. I believe you can also take the free shuttle to the airport and ride the train quite economically if you don't care to drive. This was a very nice hotel before Ramada bought it and the upgrades and the rooms look even better now.

https://www.hotels.com/ho181796/?q-...=6&q-room-0-adults=1&YGF=14&MGT=6&ZSX=0&SYE=3

 

[kimcdougc]

Thanks for all the tips about Amsterdam. We will be visiting there for a two day visit in May.

 

[Bamaman]

We absolutely love the Indonesian Ristoffel restaurants when visiting Amsterdam. They bring small dish after small dish out. Depending on how many are in your party, you might get 10-15 courses.

The Argentine steak houses are also very good--serving beef of quality we seldom see in the U.S.

Amsterdam is also famous for their pancake houses.

For street food, many street hawkers are selling hot fries in a cone with mayonnaise as side. And there are some small restaurants selling food in vending machines on side streets, and their soft serve ice cream is like eating straight cream--great stuff.

 

[nhcycling]

Ann Frank House is a must visit; traveling by bicycle or at least a bike tour; Rijsttafel and Dutch pancakes.

 

[brokrken]

Ann Frank House is a must visit; traveling by bicycle or at least a bike tour; Rijsttafel and Dutch pancakes.

FYI, you now need a reservation to go to the Anne Frank House. Make sure you prepare well in advance, otherwise you won't get in.

I work for a Dutch company and have been 50ish times over the last 10 years, so I can offer a bit of guidance.

For rijsttafel, I think the best a place called Blauw near the Vondelpark. Sorry, but I have to disagree with Bamaman on the Argentine steakhouses. I have found them targeted for tourist and average, at best. But, of course YMMV. For a really good place with decent cut of beef (I always get Biefstuk Bali, with a spicy sauce) among other items is a very Dutch place called Loetje. There are now a few locations, but the original one is behind and near the Rijks. For a hole in wall, bar atmosphere, with great spare ribs and an even better lamb shank, go to de Klos a few streets from the Leidseplein. For excellent Italian, go to Casa di David on the Singel. Best frites in the city is a place called Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx, which is down a small sidestreet not far from the flowermarket. For a great whiskey bar with over 2000 bottles, go to L&B, also down a side street near the Leidseplein. Don't eat anywhere on or immediate off the Leiseplein, its very touristy and not very good food. There is a good beer bar called Gollem that has a few locations throughout the city.

Hotels - All of the NHs in the city are decently priced and most have been recently renovated. Also Hotel Estherea is a nice boutique on the Singel.

Hope this helps. Any other questions, let me know.

 

[Dreamer]

We will be there for a 2 night stay in May also. Thanks to all for the tips.

 

[Scrapr]

a little different but try a hostel! I was setting up lodgings for a trip & told Mrs Scrapr we are going to stay in a hostel in Amsterdam. Later she says you said hotel!

I only booked 1 night because i wasn't sure if she would like it. Turned out she loved it! The units are pods, 1 up & 1 down.
This one is not necessarily close to the central action. But there a Foodhallen next door.

https://cityhub.com/amsterdam/

We also did a walk with a guide through the Jewish quarter. Very interesting and sobering. We enjoyed it a lot

https://www.historywalks.eu/

 

[audreyh1]

I will also be visiting Amsterdam so I need a suggestion on best hotel locations .

That really depends on what you are going to be doing. For example, if museums are a priority you might want to stay near Museumplein.

 

[BigNick]

I have had good rates and rooms recently at two Ramada properties in the Amsterdam area: "Ramada Amsterdam Airport" (on the edge of the village of Badhoevedorp) and "Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre" (in reality a little bit west of the center). Amsterdam can be expensive for hotels, but in both cases I paid less than 110 Euros.

Amsterdam itself suffers somewhat from "overtourism". It can be hard to find anyone speaking Dutch in the center, and the restaurants all seem to serve international hipster food. (The bartender at the Ramada Apollo when I was there was Spanish and spoke no Dutch at all.) I'd recommend getting the train down to Utrecht, which has all the architecture and canals while also still being authentically Dutch.

 

[walkinwood]

I thought I'd share some of the research on transport & tourist passes



GVB - all day amsterdam pass This is GVB only and doesn't include buses/trains to the airport.
https://en.gvb.nl/gvb-dag-meerdagenkaart

Days	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Amsterdam Day Pass	€8.00	€13.50	€19.00	€24.50	€29.50	€33.50	€36.50
Discount		15.63%	20.83%	23.44%	26.25%	30.21%	34.82%
Per day cost	€8.00	€6.75	€6.33	€6.13	€5.90	€5.58	€5.21

The iamsterdam city card is a popular tourist discount pass that includes the transport pass above. Is it worth it for you? It depends on the museums/attractions you plan to visit. For us, it will be worth it just based on the places we wish to visit, but it will also allow us to do some quick visits to museums we would not have otherwise felt like paying for.

Days	1	2	3	4	5
iamsterdam City Card	€60.00	€80.00	€93.00	€105	€115
Minus value of Day transport Pass	€52.00	€66.50	€74.00	€80.50	€85.50
Delta		€14.50	€7.50	€6.50	€5.00

 

[6miths]

Amsterdam is a wonderful city, DW and I spent part of our honeymoon there. For DW it is Rijksmuseum. For me in spring it is a bus ride to Lisse and a day at Keukenhof!

 

[audreyh1]

I have had good rates and rooms recently at two Ramada properties in the Amsterdam area: "Ramada Amsterdam Airport" (on the edge of the village of Badhoevedorp) and "Ramada Apollo Amsterdam Centre" (in reality a little bit west of the center). Amsterdam can be expensive for hotels, but in both cases I paid less than 110 Euros.

Amsterdam itself suffers somewhat from "overtourism". It can be hard to find anyone speaking Dutch in the center, and the restaurants all seem to serve international hipster food. (The bartender at the Ramada Apollo when I was there was Spanish and spoke no Dutch at all.) I'd recommend getting the train down to Utrecht, which has all the architecture and canals while also still being authentically Dutch.

Amsterdam is indeed heavily visited by tourists, but the city itself is still a gem. A canal sightseeing trip is well worth it. There a numerous excellent museums. Some beautiful in city parks such as Vondelpark. Great coffee. Great historical buildings and some interesting modern ones. A few places such as Dam Square get way overcrowded, but it is still worth visiting nearby places such as the palace - well worth a tour.

It might be best to stay just outside of the city center where it will be a little less crowded and more quiet, and then use the extensive and convenient tram system to get around.

The Jordaan district is very nice, yet close to downtown. Don't know about hotels there.

Dutch cuisine is itself not that interesting, but Dutch seafood is outstanding. And other cuisines such as Indonesian is well worth trying.

 

[audreyh1]

We use the OV-chipkaart for transportation which covers trains as well. But it's really only worth it for a long visit, and especially if you are returning annually. You pay €7.50 just for the card which is good for 3-4 years, and it requires a €20 balance for train access. You can get funds reimbursed if you have a high balance remaining.

We also used the Amsterdam Museum pass which is good for a month, a year if you have a local address. Again - it's worth it if you are in for an extended visit and are going to do at least 5 museums visits.

So I can't speak to the shorter term tourist cards for transportation or otherwise. But it's super easy to get around Amsterdam by tram and bus.

 

[Gotadimple]

If you're not going to be in Amsterdam long enough to justify the OV Card, you can buy hop-on hop-off passes. If you transport from Schiopol to your hotel consider the Amsterdam Travel Ticket. You can buy a 1 2 or 3 day pass. With the 2- or 3-day pass you get train travel from Schiopol to any station in Amsterdam and your return to the airport from ability to ride any bus or tram in the city.


Two years ago a friend and I went for 3 days and bought the 3 day pass. It turned out to be less expensive than a hop-on/hop-off plus cost of the train to/from the airport. Buy the ticket in Schiopol, the train platform is right there as well.



/www.holland.com/global/tourism/plan-your-holiday/getting-around-in-holland/public-transport/amsterdam-travel-ticket-1.htm