One for all – Amsterdam, Netherlands
It was one fine summer when we landed in the city of canals!! We always counted on time and wished to visit and see the lovely city on our own.
Amsterdam is one of the most popular and a small city in Europe attracting visitors around the world. It’s the capital of Netherlands. This is a city of more than 1000 bridges, canals, windmills and not to forget some of world’s best cheese. The city is decorated with uniform buildings, narrow houses to flower decked bridges. Either you love vintage art or graffiti street, Amsterdam has everything for all. It’s also famous for coffee shops, red light districts and is a hub for amazing nightlife.
Amsterdam and it’s Attractions:
Canal Ride
One of the best thing to do in this city is to go for a canal ride and get an overview of historic Amsterdam. It was an amazing experience for both of us, so would suggest don’t miss the canal cruises at least for once. The view from the boats were just like postcards. Most of us have always walked down the roads between buildings, but sailing between those was nothing less a than a dream!!
Amsterdam’s canal ring are very unique and ages 400 years which is also added to UNESCO World Heritage site. You will find number of departure points(charges around 18 Euro) of canal rides across the city and these tours are conducted in multiple languages and you can easily understand the heritage and culture the buildings hold.
Surprisingly we learned houses in Amsterdam and their canal design depends on the class of merchant residing. Isn’t it interesting!! You will find the buildings across the canals are very symmetric which is built up to 4 -5 storeys and the houses look uniform from outside but with different style off course.
Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle friendly city in the world and also it’s a great way to get around the city. Do you know The Prime Minister of Netherlands also paddles his way to office. Also Netherlands exports the Heineken beer which is its actual place of origin.
Once you come out to the city from the water canals you can visit some of beautiful & famous parks and museums.
The Rijksmuseum
It is a world class Dutch National Museum which is home for more than 1 Mn artworks(Entry Fee – 18 Euro). It has the Cuypers Library which is the largest and oldest art history library in Netherlands. It might take 3 – 4hrs to go through the art gallery.
Anne Frank House
You can also make a visit to Anne Frank’s house which is just an ordinary canal house, where Anne Frank and the family hid for 2yrs from the Nazis during WWII. Later this house was opened as a museum(Entry 13 Euro) which has secret chambers and room where they hid. The museum remains busy in the afternoon so try to visit in the morning hours. Can you spot the red open windows? That’s the house.
Madurodam
We were sad!! You might be thinking why? As we visited Amsterdam by end of May we could not reach the Tulip festival in Keukenhof. Instead for consolation we visited Madurodam(Entry 19 Euro, 1hr drive from Amsterdam) which is a miniature city park of Netherlands. It’s an architectural & serene place to spend some time, which holds a realistic view of Netherlands in miniature form.
Vondel Park
Go take a stroll at Vondel Park which is an public park which hosts events in an open air theatre. It’s a perfect place to bath in the summer sun and this park is surrounded by cottages from 14th century
The post card picture Windmills
When you are in Amsterdam you just cannot miss visiting the windmills with the gorgeous back drop you cannot find anywhere else. Windmills are the ironic part of the Dutch people. We assure you if you miss this then you are likely to miss the perfect landscapes which you can only find in the city outskirts. Discover the vintage city!!
Volendam Cheese & Clog Factory
What has excited me the most of visiting Amsterdam was that I could bring home lots and lots of cheese. I go gaga over cheese!! Yes you heard it right if you didn’t knew Amsterdam exports one of the best ‘Gauda’ cheese worldwide. You can also visit the clog(wooden shoes) factory. Bring home lots of cheese and clog shoes.
Additional Info:
Best Time to Visit:
You can visit Amsterdam all year round but from Nov to Mar its winter and it really might get cold. So be prepared with your wearables if you are travelling during those period. One of the most attractive time is during the Tulip festival which is from mid Apr – beginning of May in the Tulip Garden of Keukenhof, the town of Lisse.
Cafes or Coffee Shops:
You can find 100 of coffee shops here in Amsterdam, secret it is where you are allowed to buy small amount of marijuana/hash for personal use. Shhhhh…Those are the most popular ones in the world you can get your hands at! Go get high but please be careful. So cafes here serve the best caffeine(Koffie verkeerd – a wrong coffee), which you should not miss trying. So in the evening get yourself a coffee fix, pair it with a dutch cookie and enjoy the best canal side view.
We couldn’t think of anything better than that.
We hope our blog excites you to pack your bags soon!! 🙂
