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jasecat
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Amsterdam

Post by jasecat »

Hello all,

Can anyone recommend good/cool bars and clubs in Amsterdam?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

JC

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Jim Royle »

Just turn left and then any of them :wink:

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

Headed to Amsterdam myself next month for a weekend - Sat & Sun home on Mon. Just wondered views on any "must see's" :?: I have Anne Franks, the Sex area with girls in the windows and a walk around the canals on my list. Thanks in advance :)

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

bump

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Spencer4 »

Even if art's not your thing, the Van Gogh Museum is unmissable. I challenge anyone not to be amazed.

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Surprised »

Van Gogh is worth a visit. I go there a lot as it only a 5 min walk from my house. Buy a ticket online as it means you can go straight in without having to queue.

A canal tour is always pleasant.

The science center is meant to be good if you have kids with you.
http://www.e-nemo.nl/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Avoid the Leidseplein for bars and restaurants. They are OK but touristy.

The city is full of good restaurants and bars

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

Anything beyond Van Gogh? I was hoping for more 'Unseen' Amsterdam type advice, like the best view of the best canal from the best cafe type thing, where Cruyff was born for example - just a couple of other options outside of the tourist guidebook I got to consider :)

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Surprised »

His place of birth is now a hotel

The Brouwersgracht is a nice canal (voted the best in 2007 by readers of a dutch newspaper).
De Belhamel is a nice restaurant on that canal.

A nice bar is Spanjer en van Twist at Leliegracht 60. It's on the corner with Prinsengracht and a 2 min walk from the Anne Frank huis. You can sit right down at the edge of the canal but as there are no fences and the tables are very close to the edge don't drink too much as if you stumble you are in the canal.

For a nice view just stroll along the canals and find a bar and sit outside and drink and eat.

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

Dinner booked at De Belhamel :D Looking forward to that.
Anne Frank online tickets are booked out, getting there 9am Sunday morn might have to be a plan.
Have two eTickets to the Palace bought.
Have to source a wee Canal boat Tour and ID Spanjer en van Twist for a pint of 416!! :mrgreen:

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by stuboy »

When you going?

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

GF & I arrive in about 9am Sat 21st and go home lunchtime Mon 23rd. Its not long, so trying to make the most. De Behammel looks amazing and were lovely to speak to on the phone. I have my Red Light District walk route printed :lol: and Palace tickets. Anne Frank booked out and will do much Canal Walking! Staying near The Vondelpark in the Hilton so will need some Tram tickets too.

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Surprised »

Beerfuelledman wrote:Dinner booked at De Belhamel :D Looking forward to that.
Anne Frank online tickets are booked out, getting there 9am Sunday morn might have to be a plan.
Have two eTickets to the Palace bought.
Have to source a wee Canal boat Tour and ID Spanjer en van Twist for a pint of 416!! :mrgreen:

De Belhemel is nice. I used to live about a 30 sec walk from it.
There will be a long queue at the Anne Frank huis but it is worth it. I used to work nearby and even at 830am there were queues.
If you are hungry and hungover in the mornings a good breakfast is an uitsmijter. Ham and eggs on bread and you may get a bit of a small salad as well (a lettuce leave perhaps).

The best canal tours (boats are less crowded) are on the Stadhouderskade opposite the Park Hotel. It's just off Leidseplein towards the Rijksmusem.

For tram tickets check this site
http://en.gvb.nl/reisinformatie/welke-k ... isten.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by stuboy »

Here are some ideas from me (I'm younger than Surprised so can tell you the "cool" places to go :P )

Firstly, really consider getting some bikes for your two days here. It will save you a load of time and ensure you get to places a lot quicker than just walking or getting trams. You can either rent from companies like Mac bikes http://macbike.nl/en/ or yellow bikes http://www.yellowbike.nl/en/ Yellow bikes, and other companies like them, also do tours via bike but I'd recommend following your nose.

When you arrive, take the train from Schiphol to Amsterdam Central and jump on the 16 tram, getting off Emmastraat/Lairessestraat for your hotel.

Things I recommend:
Brunch at Podium Mozaiek - Authentic Turkish restaurant in a theatre. You need to book online. Highly recommend it and no tourists there http://www.podiummozaiek.nl/theatercafe

For another dinner option, try pont 13 http://www.pont13.nl/. You'll probably need to get a taxi there but it is a barge converted into a restaurant. Great place to sit outside, with a meal and drinks, especially on a summer's evening. If it is a sunny day, really nice place to end the day.

An alternative place to go where most tourist won't is the golden pheasant. If you go to the ferry terminal just north of central station, take the free ferry with your bike and have a meal there. Even though it is called "Hotel Golden Pheasant", it isn't a hotel, just a nice restaurant giving you views back across the city. http://www.hoteldegoudfazant.nl

You can also go for a drink pre dinner, or after at sky bar at the Double Tree hotel.

I've never found a really good canal cruise. They are all a muchness. So the best way I think to go round is to rent your own boat. This company http://www.amsterdamrentaboat.com/index.php?page=_ rents electrical boats; really easy to navigate and they give you really good maps of the city. All you need to make sure you bring are some beers, a french stick and some cheese and enjoy a 3 or 4 hours cruise around the city.

You want to find the hotel called Seven Bridges. Useless fact but it is next to an intersection where you can see the most canal bridges at anyone time - guess how many? Nice place to take some photos.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Sev ... 358f?hl=en

One final thing. When walking/cycling around the city, there is one fairly unknown spot right in the middle which most people walk past. Surprised might know more about it but it is a privately run women's institution which also has a church within in. Don't worry about having any interest in either of those topics - it's just a nice green area, enclosed by houses and walls and is so peaceful compared to the hustle bustle of the city https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Eng ... 5737?hl=en

It's entrance is along the Spui, next to the American book Center. It is a big wooden door and most people will not even realise there is anything interesting behind it.

If there are any other kind of suggestions you want, give us a shout.

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

Thanks Stuboy - some great options there :) :D

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Surprised »

The English reformed Church is nice to visit if town is busy as it is quiet in spring when there are fewer tourists but in summer can get busy with tourists.

Another option is to take a walk around the Negen Straatjes near the Anne Frank huis in the Jordaan area. Full of small shops and bars and a place tourists rarely visit in great numbers
http://www.de9straatjes.nl/en/home" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Beerfuelledman »

Thanks for all the help guys, thought I'd give a little feedback on my trip :D

Got in to Schipol and got the train to Amsterdam Central. Should have got day passes instead of singles but the machine was complicated :lol: we got our 48hr passes at Ams Central. Went to the hotel and got checked in. We'd emailed ahead for an early check in and they were able to facilitate - so that was nice. Got the shorts on.

We did the Van Gogh Museum first, long queue but quite quick moving, then passed the Bols Experience & Coster Diamonds to the Rijksmusem. Not wanting to do another Art museum I did enjoy the "I AMsterdam" square a lot. Then it was time to stop in the Cobra bar for some Heineken. We liked the Heineken so much we thought we'd do the tour - which would take us to the Stadhouderskade and hopefully a canal cruise. The Heineken experience was quite good actually, a nice surprise and we bottled our own bottle. The boats on Stadhouderskade were all glass enclosed mega buses though - not really what I was after.

So we hopped on a tram and had a look at The Anne Frank Huis. Mega queues, so strolled through the 'Negen Straatjes' and had a coffee & a meatball sandwich :) From there we mosied down to the Spui and found the English Reformed Church. Very peaceful indeed. Took a while to figure out how to get in - we found an enrance off Gedempte Begijnensloot but got out via the big wooden door!!! By now we were knackered! So back to the hotel to shower & change for the evening via the tram.

Sat evening was dinner in De Belhamel. The guy I had spoken to on the phone was brilliant, e'd reserved us a little table for 2 out the front with a view of the canals just like Id asked. Food and wine were brilliant, think we paid €120 in total for a 3 course. Noticed these strange Amsterdam cycle bars :shock: Everyone sits at a bar and pedals :lol:

Off we headed then to the Red Light District, which Id say centres around De Oude Kerk. My word that was an experience. I think because Im used to being the one telling the dirty jokes and making the women blush this really turned the tables. I was a little uncomfortable :lol: Some of the hookers looked like Victorias Secret models and some looked like they'd eaten the Victorias secret models - about 50 yrs ago. After that stroll we took a rickshaw back top the hotel and called it a day.

On Sunday we rose early, set off got the tram to Dam & walked to Anne Frank Huis stopping for a coffee & Croissant to go. We got there about 08:30 and the queue was an hr long already. By the time we were going in it was 5-6 times the length. I found it very awe inspiring how even now it seems to inspire hushed tones & whispers. By now we were famished and stopped for some "Uitsmijter" and a visit to the Royal Palace. It was ok, perhaps the most disappointing thing we went to though. The Beach football in Dam square was good fun to watch for a while then we went to Magna Plaza to see shopping cetres Amsterdam stylee. After this we headed to a spot Id seen on the tram, just off Damrak "Eco Tours" that did a small open topped boat trip. We thoroughly enjoyed that, the sun was out and the Captain imparted some good facts about the City.

After this we went back to the Cobra Bar near Rijksmuseum for some more Heineken. I tried a Wieckse but that was foul :lol: We climbed the I AMsterdam sign again then back to the Hotel to get reasdy for the evening (& have a doze :oops: ). For dinner, a friend of mine had recommended a floating Chinese restaurant and Mrs BFM had also been given the same recommendation by a friend of hers so we opted for The Sea Palace. It was very enjoyable, a meal for 2 with 4 mains in the Chinese fashion and I ate it all with chopsticks :D That was about €100. After that we did another stroll through the Red light District stopping for a Guiness at De Oude Kerk.

Last day (Flight at 13:00) we walked off to get coffee & a croissant and strolled through the Vondelpark. That was very nice, Id have been disappointed to miss that. Then we got a Taxi straight to the Airport for €35 which didnt seem too extortionate.

All in all we had a great time. Thanks very much for all your advices :D

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by Surprised »

Glad you enjoyed it

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Re: Amsterdam

Post by unc.si. »

Was a glorious day in Amsterdam today. Had a meeting near Schipol but got an early flight and jumped on the train to Centraal station for a wander round the canals and a coffee and breakfast sat in the sun. Very pleasant couple of hours :-)

Unfortunately stuck at Schipol for 3 hours after the meeting waiting for a flight back, but there's worse airports to spend a few hours at. It's my 7th airport in 10 days though, so could have done with the flight being on time to be honest.

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