Amsterdam? At New Years? What to do!!!

November 1, 2005 5:09 PM

Folks who are in/around/have visited Amsterdam: Do you have any suggestions for things my Girlfriend and I could do on our vacation there over The Holidays(TM)?
posted by joe_from_accounting to Travel & Transportation around Amsterdam, The Netherlands (18 answers total)

There are several cheesy "sex museums" but the one near the train station, straight ahead on the right, has some really fabulous historical artifacts. Check out Napoleons silver tureen comprised of hundreds of individual erotic emblems.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:22 PM on November 1, 2005

If you fancy museums, I'd suggest the Rijksmuseum, very popular among tourists. There is also a Van Gogh musuem worth checking out. Personally, I try to visit a botanical gardens anywhere I travel, and the dutch know a quite a bit about growing plants. Check out the "Hortus Botanicus" it has a 400 year old tree growing out of the building and a wealth of beautiful plants. If you're not into the "check things off your list vacation," I'd suggest getting out and exploring the neighborhoods, the architecture is very diverse, and cool, for a lack of better term. As I recall, buildings are (were?) taxed based on the length / depth of the building, which is why many dwellings are very narrow, but rather tall.

It was always closed when I got there, but you might want to check out the Heineken brewery as well.

This is silly, having been there a couple times, the next time I visit, I'm going to get a shirt printed that reads "No Dude." This would be handy for the hordes of drug dealers / sex peddlers / generally bizarre people in and around the red light district. Save your breath and point to the shirt. Genius I say!
posted by AllesKlar at 5:33 PM on November 1, 2005

The Alto jazz cafe is fun any night I've been and I'm no particular jazz fan. http://www.jazz-cafe-alto.nl/
A tour on the canals is nice. Can you ride a bike? If so, its a nice way to get around.
I have walked past the long queue to get into the Anne Frank museum several times, but never had the patience.
Get some Frittes.
My favourite thing to do in Amsterdam is just wander around.
I'm with AllesKlar on the Heineken, is it ever open?
If you want to smoke pot, go to the guy in the back of the cafe sitting at a kind of desk with laminated menus on top.
I hear from residents that if the canals freeze the skating is great fun.
Have fun!
posted by bystander at 5:50 PM on November 1, 2005

I'm definately with the 'wander around' crowd. I've done the Heineken museum thing (fun), sat in brown cafes (very fun even babysitting), walked around in the snow (beautiful), and all that. Take the trains - the beaches at The Hague are amazing with their old wartime structures and such, great day trip. There's a nice little B&B type place there, in fact, called Hotel Petit that we enjoyed, to make a night out of it.

AMS is the bastard child of The Netherlands and most of the fun is just taking in all the different tourist nationalities and cultures coming together in one place.

And get fries.
posted by kcm at 6:02 PM on November 1, 2005

also, if you want to get REALLY high, make friends with a local in a cafe first and have him buy the stuff for you - the best is not on the menu and is reserved for the locals, from my observational experience.
posted by kcm at 6:04 PM on November 1, 2005

I'll second the suggestion for the Rijksmuseum...it was pretty good, although it was undergoing renovations when I was there. As for the Heineken tour, mentioned by AllesKlar and bystander, it wasn't closed when I went and it was definitely the best of the beer tours I went on...for 10 euros you get the tour, 4 free beers and a souvenir glass.

If you can stomach it, eat some of those herring that they sell on the street...YUM! Oh, and rent a bike...Amsterdam's a great place to bike around (everybody does it).

The red light district is over-rated...it made me feel kinda sick. Luckily it's not that big, so you can cross over it pretty quickly if you want to (watch out for the "friendly" beggars...they'll follow you and try to chat you up, so just try to let them know you're not interested as soon as you can). As for the pot, you can pretty well follow your nose...I didn't smell it quite as much as I thought I would, but it's generally pretty clear which stores it's coming from.
posted by johnsmith415 at 6:04 PM on November 1, 2005

A'dam rewards un-hurried travellers. So wander, wander, wander. It's quieter this time of year, especially during the week. (It still gets a bit insane with the weekend influx.) Go to markets, find a favourite bruin cafe. Jump on trams. Rent (or buy) a bike. If you're there in early December, watch Sinterklaas arrive. Enjoy the lights in the 9 Streets. Eat at the Cafe de Koe. (If you're feeling flush and want something special, book an evening at Supperclub. Or go to De Waag.) See a show at the Paradiso. And if you have time, take a day trip (The Hague, Delft, etc.) by train.

Wrap up warm. It gets cold.
posted by holgate at 6:21 PM on November 1, 2005

Rent bicycles, it is how everyone gets around and a good way to see the city. There are more then a few places to rent but one of the easiest is in the basement of the central train station. When leaving the main entrance take a left and walk a hundred feet or so you will see a ramp to the lower level where there is paid bike storage, a repair shop and rentals. They are kind of slap dash but the least expensive I found in the city. I think that the reason that they are bit off hand is that they are not geared to the tourist trade, this is a place for the the inhabitants, a welcome change from a very touristic but amazing city.

I would recommend going to the outdoor markets and not just the one over by the university but the food markets too. Get cheese, fruit, bread and fritas with gravy, mayo or cheese. The best though is the stroopwaffeln stand where they make two fresh griddle cooked biscuits which sandwich a layer of caramel toffee, hot, buttery and about the size of a salad plate.

I have always made a point of visiting The Van Gogh museum, it is small and to the point.
posted by flummox at 6:31 PM on November 1, 2005

I was there in September and all I really did was wander around for 12 hours every day. I had a wonderful time. Skip the red light district, it's boring and full of obnoxious tourists. A day trip to Den Haag is enjoyable, as is a day trip to Belgium (you can buy the tickets at the central station, quite handy). Go to as many hole in the wall pubs as you can, the bartenders are usually friendly and quite fun to chat with, particularly if they don't get many tourists.

Bring lots of money, Amsterdam will bleed you dry.

The Amsterdams Historich Museum is definitely worth the admission price if you're into museums.
posted by cmonkey at 6:41 PM on November 1, 2005

there's an ice rink they open during the holidays on Dam sq.

If there's time, a day trip to the Kroller-Muller museum inside a national park is wonderful, or to Rotterdam (really interesting modern buildings and a distinct change from Amsterdam--great museums too)
posted by amberglow at 8:06 PM on November 1, 2005

You might want to consider some psychedellic mushrooms, and a late night with Dutch television. They really compliment one another, I've found. When you are high, Dutch is surprisingly comprehensible, and the Dutch have a very interesting sense of what should be televised.

The fresh Columbian ones with the big round heads are the best, I've had mixed results with the dried Hawaian ones, avoid them.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:35 PM on November 1, 2005

I enjoyed the Tropenmuseum, an attempt at providing residents of colder, northern climes with an experience of the tropics.
posted by Rash at 8:42 PM on November 1, 2005

See absolutely anything that's playing in the Concertgebouw, acoustically near perfect according to experts and all seats are good.
posted by lois1950 at 12:55 AM on November 2, 2005

If you fancy a couple of hours out of the cold you could see a film at the Tuschinski, as well as Dutch films they show mainstream US stuff and subtitled into Dutch so still in English. You're really going there because the cinema itself is fantastic, outside it has an odd sort of gothic facade but inside it's plush art deco, multiple balconies, comfy seats, lovely popcorn and of course you can drink beer. Its obvious the staff are also into the whole place and making it a great cinema to visit. It's located here, pretty centrally.
posted by biffa at 3:23 AM on November 2, 2005

I'm really surprised that no one has mentioned Anne Frank's Haus. It's one of those obvious tourist attractions, but in my opinion it's very much worth going to.

Also don't look down your nose at going on one of those *very cheesy* boat tours around the canals. Yes, you will have to put up with the almost constant drone of 7 languages telling you what's going on, but it's a really interesting way to see the city, especially at night. Well worth it.

I also found it interesting just to walk around the city. The buildings are all just built on stacks of timber that are piled up in the water, which have all started rotting... which in turn means that many of the houses are now at very interesting angles...
posted by ancamp at 4:44 AM on November 2, 2005

Just to echo a few people here, it's really worth getting our of Amsterdam for a day or so. The Hague has some great things to see (such as the Parliament and the Mauritshuis) and Delft is very close if you want to see a beautiful town that was home to Vermeer.

If you want to go further the east of the country is great, I'd also suggest going to the Kroller-Muller, and if you're into WWII stuff, Operation Market Garden took place around Arnhem (the cemeteries are in Oosterbeek, if I remember correctly.)

If you go south Maastricht is a great town, and not too far from that are the only real hills in the country of the German/Belgian border.

In short there are plenty of things to see, and I really recommend getting a guide book, to see what you can get to inside and outside of Amsterdam. Just remember that due to the size of the country, you can get to see a lot of things in a short space of time.
posted by ob at 7:08 AM on November 2, 2005

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for your suggestions! :-)
posted by joe_from_accounting at 7:46 AM on November 2, 2005

Pannenkoeken for breakfast. With Stroop.
posted by sad_otter at 9:01 AM on November 2, 2005