So I was going to do SXSW, but my exam schedule has put the screws to that, so I figured I’d do the next best thing: pot and hookers.
Just kidding about the pot and hookers. Maybe.
I have absolutely no knowledge of the city other than the most superficial impression of the attractions. I’m generally musically inclined - mostly underground garage rock stuff and punk - and I dig mostly-hep-but-not-douchebaggy nightlife.
I’m also interested in checking out the Stedelijk and Van Gogh museums.
And I like cheap street food. I’m not really the five-star-restaurant-and-ballet type.
Both the NH Carlton Amsterdam and Hotel Die Port Van Cleve appear to be decent and relatively reasonably priced - are those good locations for the kind of attractions I’m in to?
Can anybody provide me with any pointers for the kind of thing I’m interested in? Anything else I should check out?
The Stedelijk is closed right now but will reopen in the spring, as will a lot of other museums–you might want to check websites and be sure you book your trip after they reopen. For some reason you can find yourself reeeeeeally apprecating the art there. Heh.
For music, the Paradiso and the Melkweg get the bigger acts. There are free papers around with listings for smaller clubs.
Pot is not hard to find. Cheap food and good coffee and fresh beer are also not hard to find. It’s a good place to be.
My wife and I have visited the city twice now, and we’ve learned that the city is great for just playing it by ear. Once at central station, there will be plenty of fliers being handed-out to figure out any good concerts or shows. I’m not saying don’t plan anything, but leave yourself enough time to improvise . Last time when there for six days we planned to go just to the Anne Frank House and Boom Chicago. The rest of the time we filled in as we went and ended up having a blast.
There are few cities like Amsterdam in the world, enjoy it fully.
I spent a couple of weeks in Amsterdam. The food sucks, sorry. You’ll have to spend at least fifteen euro per plate to get anything that isn’t total shit, and even then it’s a crapshoot. The one bright spot was “Sara’s Pancakes”, which is about five minutes from the Dam square (central area), and cost maybe eight euro per plate.
If you haven’t booked a place to stay yet, there are a few houseboat hostels and hotels that are reasonably inexpensive and really fun to stay in.
If the Rijksmuseum isn’t closed you should give it a look; I definitely enjoyed getting my my Vermeer on.
For ‘coffee shops,’ avoid the ones in the red light district or around Centraal Station, as they’re pretty touristy and sketchy; try ones a little farther out instead. The eccentric little hole-in-the-wall places are nicer and have a better and cheaper selection of goods than the big, famous places like the Bulldog and the Grasshopper.
If you like cheap street food, develop a taste for herring.
Don’t try to take pictures of the prostitutes in the windows.
Don’t give up on the Rijkmuseum. When I was there a couple of years ago, the renovation had begun, but they had one wing open. They moved all the famous pieces into that one wing, and it was a great experience.
Don’t miss the Ann Frank House.
Yes, pot is a lot more potent than it was in the 60s.
If you are going in the spring, try to be there around april 30th. That day you won’t need any indoor places to have a party, as the city’s streets will be filled with partying people because of Queensday.
There are some really nice cheap Chinese restaurants in the red light district, china town style…that is if you were looking for a different reason to visit the red light district.
the Indonesian parents of my Ex girlfriend used to treat us there to authentic Chinese food.
The street food is crap. Crap crap crappity crap. Nicer restaurants are decent, but they’re the only place you’re going to get anything worth eating.
I don’t have to visit every place in a city to tell you the street food is mostly horrible. I’ve visited a couple dozen European cities and never have I consistently had so much difficulty finding good food. I’m sure there are a few gems here and there, but you can’t just walk up to any eatery and expect quality like you can in, say, Munich or Geneva.
Don’ t know if its all crap…but Dutch food is not something we are known for…A famous french food critic recently said that only thing worth eating in holland was a Uitsmijter,
There are plenty of good Asian restaurants and some nice pubs in the vicinity of the nieuwmarkt. Restaurant prices vary, but you can get good meals from about 15 euros up if you look around. If you want very cheap fast food, get falafel. Pizza and döner kebab is also plentiful and cheap.
Rent a bike if you’re not too scared of biking in traffic - there are plenty of bike lanes but the traffic can be hectic some times. It’s the cheap and efficient way to get around in the city. Even if you’re not biking, learn the difference between sidewalks and bike lanes (the sidewalks are off to the side, the bike lanes are on the asphalt or between the sidewalk and the main road) - if you don’t, that ringing sound is a bicycle about to hit you.
As been mentioned: definitely check out the schedule for Paradiso and the Melkweg.
Oh, and both hotels are right in the center of the city, so that should be a good if you have to crawl back from Paradiso.
I wouldn’t take it personally; most street food in Amsterdam seems to be run by immigrants (Spanish and Turkish, I think. I’m not particularly great at this game) looking to make a quick buck off of tourists.
I will admit that I didn’t get to try the Chinese places, which did look pretty nice with their roast duck hanging in the windows. My girlfriend at the time was icked out by them, so we had to stick to more normal fare.
This “food is crap” is nonsense. The best fast food I have ever ever ever tasted is the Febo croquette, that you can get out of a coin-operated hatch for less than €2. Absolutely lovely and I could eat them all day. Not very good for you, but hey, they’re good at any time of the day, and triply so if you have the munchies.
Also try a rijstafel at any Indonesian restaurant, or go to Cafe de Klos for the biggest and tastiest racks of barbecued ribs you have ever seen, with salad and a baked potato, for an amazingly low price.
