Two of my friends and I are going to be beginning roughly two weeks of vacation/travel time in Amsterdam, in August.
What cool things can we do there? What other places should we travel to? Is getting a Europass worth it?
n.b. We are poor students, so money is definitely an issue.
Someone else will arrive with detailed Amsterdam ideas, of course. If you want to escape from the city for a bit check out Haarlem-- you can ride bikes that far if you’re reasonable healthy. Utrecht is nice and has some swell churches. The Hague is, well, ok-- sort of a banking government-y town but very pleasant and has the Mauritshuis, which rocks if you’re into that kind of thing (17th c painting), and Scheveningen (sp?) is right close by with a northern sort of beach-- there’s a fireworks festival there in the summer but I don’t know when exactly.
In A-dam, the maritime museum is cool, which I had never been to until last summer. Rijksmueum, but that goes wihtout saying. If you are REALLY into art, I just learned that you can arrange tours of the Six collection, but it’s very hush-hush how to go about doing it.
Get hotels arranged ASAP-- very tight accomodations scene, especially if you don’t want to stay in hostels.
Wow! An American pronouncing Scheveningen correct. 
LaurAnge; check this out: http://www.channels.nl/
If you need more info, just holler.
Have a great time.;j
Coldy should be by here soon…
Try and get up EARLY and go see the flower auction in Aalsmeer. Well worth the trip if you like pretty things that grow. It’s over and done with by 8 am, and is about 30 minutes from A’dam, so…it might be worth going on a guided tour. I was there doing business when I went, so I don’t know about the tours themselves, sorry.
Of course the museums are incredible, and fairly economical considering you can hang out at the Riksmuseum for 6 hours easy. Canal rides are sorta neat as well.
If you need straightforward advice on everything from how to fold the damned tram tickets to how to buy pot and get a hooker for the night, go to Boom Chicago’s homepage here. They have a comedy club there that is fun and not too expensive, plus their city guide fills you in on just about everything you need to know. I wish other cities in Europe had guides like theirs.
Take care, have fun-
-Tcat
I wouldn’t get a Europass for two weeks, really (I’m assuming this is the Pan-European railway thing, right?). I’d just buy return tickets for cities like Brussels, Antwerp, and Paris. The former two can actually be day trips, if you get up early.
Now, for Amsterdam. Without being too chauvinistic, it’s one of the most pleasant cities on the planet - or at least from what I’ve seen so far. 
A laid back atmosphere, beautiful architecture, a rich cultural history, a great nightlife, a wide variety of restaurants from all over the globe.
And then there’s the legal marihuana and hookers.
Things to do:
[ul][li]Anne Frank Huis[/li][li]Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh-museum[/li][li]The Amsterdam, a replica of an 18th century VOC ship, located outside the maritime museum[/li][li]A pub crawl with yours truly ;)[/ul][/li]
What stuff do you like to do? We can narrow it down to your personal tastes, if you give me a few pointers. There’s a lot to do here, given that it’s a relatively small city (750,000 people).
Don’t forget the “Stedelijk” museum [contemporary art] eating pancakes, visit some “brown” bars, eating raw herring, visiting “Waterloo square market” [except on Sunday], visit “Begijnhof”, dance at “Paradiso” or “Melkweg”, drinking a “kopstoot” [beer and jenever]
Like I said; Need anything? Just say so.
I’m definitely going to print this thread out and show it to my friends.
We will be interested in going to France for a little while, I don’t think we want to stay in Amsterdam the entire time, we figured we’d use it as a starting off point as that is where the flight takes us.
Hmm… Interests… I’m a history person. Though my friends might want some pot (I won’t) I doubt any of us will want hookers
Thanks again!
France?
If you can stay in Amsterdam? :eek:
Hey Coldfire and anyone else who has experienced Queen’s Day…
Being from Amsterdam, can you give me the low down on Queen’s Day, the activities, what to expect as a backpacker and what not? I will be in Amsterdam this April 30th…
Thanks!
mark
Warn your friends: the places selling pot will explain to you that it is possibly stronger than you are used to. Your friends will not believe them. They should, though. Especially the spacecake. Oh, God, the spacecake (shudders in disbelief and traumatic memories. . .)
I think Belgium rocks. You guys could do a great 2 weeks in A-dam, Brussels and Antwerp and surrounding spots and have a great, coherent and cohesive time. Maybe save France for another visit. Antwerp is great-- it’s sort of like if the throngs hadn’t found Amsterdam…
Just want to reiterate that the Anne Frank house/museum/thing is really moving and well worth the effort. Especially if you’re a history person. We also did one of the touristy canal cruise hop on/hop off tours - lots of intersecting routes for one price - and I enjoyed it a lot too.
I also want to give public love to the Ibis Hotel chain. Magnificent showers.
(Oh, and I had two joints and a space cake - I really didn’t find the pot that strong. It was really good, but I didn’t freak out or get paranoid or anything. Of course, it was incredibly cold when I was there, which might have sobered me up a bit.)
Rijksmuseum is just amazing - you could easily spend a day there.
Van Gogh museum is also great, but much smaller.
The canal tour is worth every penny (ask Shayna & Spiny)
The area around Dam Square kept me busy for days… shops and cafes and so much stuff!
I got stoned sitting in a shop, and I wasn’t even smoking!
Amsterdam is magnificent - I am dying to go back
Very cool city. It can be a little colder there than in most temperate places in the summer, so bring a sweater.
The coffeeshops are usually pretty cool even if you don’t smoke, as most are simply either bars or (duh) coffeeshops that simply happen to sell pot, as opposed to a strictly stoner hangout. About half of them serve alcohol as well, many serve food.
I took a canal tour that was pretty cool , but I wish I we hadn’t hopped on the boat that was about to depart the second we showed up–we should have waited to get a better seat on the next boat.
Get a map–I found that compared to the US, the street signs were somewhat hard to find and follow, and are in some places nonexistant. It can also be very easy to get lost in all of the streets, canals, and bridges.
Hoo boy!
You’re in for a treat. It’s going to be busy. The usual festivities include rock concerts, there will be over a million visitors to the city (that normally holds 750,000), people will be drinking in the streets, generally having a good time. It’s hard to explain. Lots of boats on the canals.
Be sure to have a place to store your backpack, carry lots of Euros, and don’t forget to eat between all those beers. 
and make sure to * get * there. Trains will be crowded and so will be the streets.
Don’t eat something from the many stalls though. I got a nasty salmonella poisoning once by eating a hotdog sold by people trying to make some money for this day.
A relatively quiet place on Queen’s Day is the Vondelpark. Just kids there - although they can make a godawful noise on their violins and flutes- it’s not as packed as the rest of A’dam.
Wear something orange.
Queen’s day-- really crowded, very hard to get hotel reservations (and more expensive) but a lot of fun-- especially the streetside rummage sales all over the place-- don’t forget to wear oranje.
Boom Chicago-- a second rate act from the second city-- yawn-- last thing I’D want to do is watch some silly unfunny americans when i’m in the netherlands (want bad american comedy? stay in the usa)
Bike rentals-- DO NOT DO IT. you will only piss off every single dutch bike rider-- they take it very seriously and don’t screw around, while inevitably you won’t understand the bike lanes/signals/rules and will be looking everywhere but on the road. someone (you) could get hurt.
DO however buy a strippenkaart for the trams, buses and shorter train trips. And walking is a great way to get around the city centrum.
Pot-- the dutch pot is very good quality, but not appreciably better than fresh, indoor sensi grown in california, B.C. and other places. if you are used to typical mexican schwag then yes, the dutch wiet will seem quite strong by comparison. beware.
hash/weed cake-- the coffeshop person will inevitably warn you to not eat too much-- you should take their advice-- unless you are a serious pothead with tons of THC in your system already. in that case, take twice the prescibed amount.
other drugs-- mushrooms, peyote and other natural drugs are available in “smart shops” have fun and enjoy. BE SURE TO NEVER buy any drugs from “dudes on the corner.” these substances are almost always at best, inert, and at worst, poisonous.
beer-- heineken may seem like a good beer when all you have to compare it to is bud light and miller at your local tavern-- but in holland, heineken is the same as budwieser. cheap, available everywhere but not even close to the best beer you can find. serious dutch beer lovers usually drink belgian beers-- trappist ales, doubles and triples, witbiers, and fruit beers all beat the hell out of watery heineken, oranjeboom, amstel and brand. WARNING-- some belgian beers have a higher alcohol content than american and dutch beers. alcohol content should be printed on the lable.
prostitutes-- basically legal. it’s kinda fun to walk through the red-light district and watch the girls in the doorways and the tourists gawk at them. but even though they seem inexcpensive (25-50 dollars a pop) they will inevitably try to seperate you from all the money in your wallet once things get underway. unless you can “finish” in a few quick minutes you may be badgered/insulted by the girl until you either cough up more dough or want to leave. if you REALLY want to rent a girl, pay several hundred to a thousand for a call girl/escort. better yet, skip the whole thing.
museums- they’re great. the rijksmuseum may be more than you can handle in one day. but i think “the mikmaid” by vermeer and rembrandt’s “nightwatch” are worth the admission price alone. van gogh museum is cool because van gogh paintings are cool. but that’s all there is there-- so it’s for serious van gogh junkies only.
don’t go to the sex museums-- they are not true museums but merely cheap tourist traps.
take a canal boat tour. a great way to see the canals and the canal houses. views that can only be seen from the water level.
exchange rate is good right now so even if you don’t have much money you may want to buy some stuff that you would need to buy anyway (like some new sneakers or a camera) the value added tax is refundable if over a certain amount (you have to get forms stamped at the airport and then the company will mail you a check)
try not to act too american, and don’t cry just because the dutch all look better than you, your friends, and everyone you know. they dress well, and take care of themselves–truly a beautiful people.
if you can, fly KLM (NOT northwest-- careful!! they may tell you it’s a KLM flight but actually use a Northwest crew and plane) the service is very nice, and the price should be compatable with other airlines
DO NOT fly Martinair. just don’t-- it sucks.
have fun!
In Amsterdam itself - the Concertgebouw is amazing. Get tickets for anything playing in the Grote Zal (the Great Hall), since the sound is like nothing you’ll ever hear. I’m not big on symphonies usually, but this was worth every penny. Also, if you’re under 27 (I think), you can go right before a performance and get the best seat that they have available for 7 Euros (a little over $6).
The usual things that everybody says to do - take a canal boat ride, even though it’s touristy - there’s a reason everybody goes on them. Don’t worry about the tram system being impossible to figure out from the guidebook, since once you’re there, it seems simpler. The Anne Frankhuis, Rijksmuseum, and the Amsterdam Historical Museum were all good. Go to the floating flower market, which is basically a bunch of flower shops on boats anchored in one of the canals.
Walk a lot. It’s a small city, and you can really get most places on foot, and you get a much better sense of what a place is like that way.
I really liked Delft in the hour and a half that I had there. It’s smaller, friendlier, and with more of an old-time feel than Amsterdam. I loved just wandering around and gong into random shops.
Everybody speaks English, although I took it as a compliment that I didn’t look too touristy when they spoke to me in Dutch. People really went out of their way to be helpful. It’s a lovely city.
I’ve been to Boom Chicago both times I’ve been to Amsterdam, and can say that both nights were amongst the most entertaining and funny evenings I’ve ever spent.
Also recommend Dutch BBQ ribs in a brown café.