Let me start off by saying that I am not a big drinker, I do not even like beer, but my best friend did and we had heard that this place deserves a visit. Oh boy! Was everyone right.

As soon as you walk in, you immediately know you are going to have a good time. With the price of admission you get 3 tickets, 2 for beers and one for a gift.

You walk through and read and see some pretty interesting things. Let me take this chance to tell you that this is not a active brewery, this probably was back in the day, but it is more of a museum. Here is the good part, you get to the first bar, where you take your ticket, give it to the bartender and he gives you a nice size glass of the freshest beer I have tasted, beleive me I have tasted a couple of my friends beers and till then they all seemed the same. I do not know if the alcohol content is differ in the Netherlands but this ONE glass got me a little fuzzy.....

There are some great pics to be taken inside. The gift shop is nice and the whole thing is a cool little experience. Take into consideration I am not big on museums or any of that sort.

In regards to children, I personally do not think the kids would benefit at all from this unless they are interested in seeing the horses.

Heineken Experience
10am-6pm (7pm in July and August)
10 euros (no student discount)

The admission fee includes three drinks and a gift--a bottle opener.

I don't like beer that much. But I was DELIGHTED by this place. It was such fun. You get the history of Heineken beer making, as well as ridiculous diversions such as a show where you find out what it's like to be a beer bottle, make your own music video (which you can email to your friends), old Heineken commercials, and other silly things that make for great photo opportunities. Definitely visit with some travel buddies--you'll have a blast.

And you get three drinks--nice, big drinks. Like I said, like you know, I don't care for beer that much, but I really found myself enjoying this Heineken. In fact, I had just had a Heineken the night before at a bar, and the quality was much lower than the beer here.

Give yourself at least 2 hours for the experience. We had an hour and a half and felt a little rushed.

Heineken is the fourth largest beer-brewing company in the world, and its popular beverages can be sampled at almost any bar you go to stateside or abroad. This brewing company is an Amsterdam original, having been founded here in 1865. The brewery today is no longer in the city (they have since moved to larger facilities outside of Amsterdam), but the original factory is now open to the public in the form of museum.

Located convieniently near public transportation on Stadhouderskade, the Heineken Experience is a very popular tourist attraction for those visiting Amsterdam. Be sure to go either earlier in the day on a weekend or on a weekday to avoid excessive crowds. They don't stay open very late either, think more like museum hours instead of bar hours. The tour itself is self-guided, but visitors typically spend about an hour in the exhibit.

The drinking age in Amsterdam is a non-issue for most, but those that are 18-years of age or younger must be accompanied by an adult in order to embark on the Heineken Experience. For the most part, the crowd is in the 20- to 30-something range.

Outside the experience, the old "Heineken Brouwerie" sign still decorates the front of the building, confusing some people into thinking that the beer is still manufactured here. Inside the experience, it is obvious that this is not a factory environment anymore. The building has been converted into an ode-to-Heineken exhibit. Here you can learn about the founders, the process, and everybody who has helped Heineken become the massive conglomerate it is today.

The €10 admission includes a self-guided tour and tasting session. You can sample many of Heineken's famous brews in a plentiful quantity for this price (I believe you get three drink tickets with admission). It is advisable to visit the gift store before the tasting, otherwise you may be tempted to buy Heineken parephenalia that you don't really need in your partially inebriated state. The gift shop has many great souvenirs for friends back home though, so should not be skipped entirely.

We decided to visit the Heineken Experience (click here to find out more about the ins and outs - http://www.heinekenexperience.com) after a work colleague of mine told me about it. It is the old brewery house in Amsterdam of the famous Heineken lager. They had gone the month before us and had really enjoyed it, plus they told us if we made this sign with our hands at the cloakroom before you went in you would get ‘special’ beers at the end of the trip (during the tour you get 3 free beers) called longnecks.

So off we went. While we did feel a little bit silly making the sign, the lady behind the counter just smiled and got a couple of passes out and stamped them. I have loaded up a couple of pictures so you can see what you need to do.

The ‘experience’ is great, loads of interactive features, and well laid out, lots of staff on hand to ask questions of. We went on a Saturday and even though there appeared to be lots of people there it didn’t feel crowed or cramped.

As you get to the end of your trip you come into a large modern looking bar where people are drinking their ‘free’ beers which you get with your entrance ticket, here handover the pass you had stamped as you came in and you will receive the ‘longneck’ bottled beer rather than the small glass everyone else is drinking.

Even without the ‘special’ beer at the end of the Heineken Experience I would recommend anyone visiting Amsterdam to take some time out and go and visit. It is really worthwhile and if you remember to make the ‘h sign’ with your hand when you go in you will get the longnecks rather than the small tap glasses. Enjoy!

When we went the tour was only €5, and worth the money. You get three drinks during the tour, which is more of a historical tour rather than of a working brewery. There are a few interesting and entertaining parts of the tour. There was an area where you could interact with a beer barrel drum set, send family video e-mail, and take a picture with an advertising sign. We also got a free glass in a tin at the end of our tour. If you like the coasters they have at the drinking stations along the tour grab one, or a few, because they also sell them at the gift shop and they are kind of expensive. But each coaster was unique and different.