Cannabis, Canals and Culture

Begijnhof, is a former convent dating from the 14th century. You can enter the peaceful courtyard and take photographs of the tiny, picturesque houses surrounding it from 10am until 5pm.

The Rijksmuseum is the largest museum in the Netherlands and is well worth at least a few hours of your time. The road running under the museum leads to Museumplein-you’ll find the Van Gogh and Stedelijk museums on the right hand side of the attractive, grassy square. Tram numbers 16 and 24 run from Centraal past the Heineken Brewery and along Museumplein.

Walk through Museumplein, turn right in front of the beautiful Concertgebouw building and walk along Van Baerlestraat for five minutes until you see the vast Vondel Park on your left. This English-style park is 1.5 km long and hosts free open-air concerts in the summer.

Dam Square is notable for the imposing Royal Palace and the Nieuwe Kerk, the coronation church of Dutch Royalty. Walk between the two and you’ll see the magnificent Magna Plaza building on the opposite side of the street.

I’d also recommend the Jewish History Museum and the Heineken Experience Tour.

Quick Tips:

The circular metal things lining the canals in the Red Light district are male urinals. Don’t be tempted to urinate in the street, as the police are very strict about combating Amsterdam’s official number one (though dog dirt runs a close second) nuisance.

Don’t bother with the pointless canal bikes. If you want to cycle, be at the west entrance to the Rijksmuseum at 11.30am or 4pm (May 5-August 31st, 12.30 pm in April) and try the meritorious Mike’s Bike Tours of Amsterdam.

As most budget hotels require you to check out at 10am you’ll probably end up looking for somewhere to stash your bags. There are some safe lockers inside Centraal Station (to the right of the main concourse as you enter, which can be hired for 24 hours and should be big enough to fit at least two bags in.

If you have some time on your hands before taking the train back to the airport, I’d recommend taking the free ferry across the IJ to Amsterdam North and back. Just walk out of the back entrance to Centraal, cross the road and get on board for an interesting fifteen-minute diversion.

Best Way To Get Around:

As well as being a great city to walk around, Amsterdam has superb public transportation. I’d highly recommend at least one ride on tram number 20, which departs from a stand immediately to the left of Centraal Station and travels in a loop past most of the main tourist sights. Strip-tickets (strippen-kaart) are available from the main tram office in front of Centraal, the VVV and at a large number of newsagents. These are extremely easy to use-simply fold the strip and stamp two tickets in the yellow machines on the tram for each journey. If a conductor is present at the back of the tram, state your destination and he will stamp the requisite number of strips for you.

The Hotel Continental's main selling point is undoubtedly its exceptional location. Located halfway up Damrak a matter of minutes from both Centraal Station and Dam Square, what this place loses in facilities it more than makes up for in terms of convenience.

The rooms are not huge, but then this is Amsterdam so you shouldn't be spending too much time inside your hotel anyway. Clean and bright, my centrally heated triple room contained a small bathroom, two beds (one double, one single), a wardrobe and a bedside table. A small wall mounted TV had a number of channels including BBC1 from across the North Sea. There are no locker facilities available, though Centraal Station provides a convenient, affordable option if you wish to have a last, luggage free look around the city on your final day.

Breakfast, which is served between 7.30 and 9am, is served in a small room adjacent to the reception. The views over Damrak offer slightly more sustenance than the combination of bread, cake, cold meat and cheese, though the lack of culinary quality is reflected in the price of the accommodation, and Amsterdam has more than its fair share of superb restaurants when lunchtime comes along.

The hotel is open 24 hours and is located a short distance from the Easy Everything Internet Cafe. This place definitely attracts a younger clientele, which is probably just as well as the steep, winding steps leading up from ground level should be attempted with no little degree of trepidation in the early hours.

Full details and reservations are available on http://www.hotelcontinental.nl/rooms.html

The Red Light district, Leidseplein and Rembrantplein all have vibrant drinking scenes. If you want to experience the traditional ‘brown cafes’ -small, basic Dutch bars effortlessly achieving everything the JD Wetherspoon’s chain aspires to in this country-your best bet is in the Medieval Centre. One great brown café is ‘The Pilsener Club’, a slightly ramshackle place full of character, which has hardly changed since it opened in 1893. To get there, start at the small street running between the Peek & Cloppenburg building and Rabobank on Dam Square. Walk along this street for 3-4 minutes, past Marks & Spencer and the Ajax Supporters’ Store, until you see a large branch of Foot Locker on your right. Turn right at this corner and you’ll see the bar about ten metres further up.

There are also some good bars on Spui Square, a couple of minutes walk from ‘The Pilsener Club’. Simply continue on past Foot Locker for another hundred metres until you see the branch of Waterstones in front of you. Turn right here and you’ll see an attractive, tree-lined square with two brown cafes, Hoppe and Luxembourg, facing you.

Amsterdam, like most places these days, has an abundance of Irish bars. Two of the better ones are O’Donnell’s, on Marie Heinekenplein directly behind the Heineken Brewery, and Durty Nellys. To get to the latter, located on the edge of the Red Light district, walk along Damrak until you come to the main entrance of C&A. Cross the road, follow the small street running to the left of the car park entrance for the Bijenkorf Department Store and you’ll see the bar and the adjacent Hotel Winston on your left.

Disturbing, touching, profoundly sad and deeply emotive, the Joods Historich Museum is located in the heart of the old Jewish quarter near the City Hall and Rembranthuis, just to the south of the busy square at JD Meijerplein. Easily accessible by public transport-tram numbers 9,14 and 20 stop nearby and the Waterlooplein Metro Station is a five minute walk away-the museum is a unique combination of four seventeenth and eighteenth century Ashkenazic synagogues-including the Great Synagogue (1671), the first public synagogue in western Europe-linked together by modern steel and class constructions. The permanent and temporary exhibitions covering Jewish identity, the social history of Dutch Jewry and the Jewish religion in general are extremely well presented and thought provoking.

The first exhibition hall is devoted to the German Occupation and Zionism- the Jews’ struggle to establish their own homeland. There are some extremely moving exhibits here, including a pretty harrowing painting of a line of Jews being led into one of the ‘death trains’ and some pictures of the old Ghetto. After walking through a temporary exhibition space-currently displaying some excellent photos by a Czech-born female photographer who was active in the Dutch Resistance-the next permanent exhibition displays pre-war artifacts (downstairs) as well as a variety of exhibits detailing the growth of Jewish industries prior to WW2.

Mokum-the old Jewish name for Amsterdam-is imaginatively brought to life in the museum’s final section. In an imaginative display aimed primarily at children, visitors walk through a series of rooms modelled on a typical Jewish home in Mokum. I particularly liked the talking wall, which shared some interesting recollections of life before and during the war, and the collection of children’s toys.

The tours run from 10am until 6pm (Tuesday through Sunday, last ticket sales 5pm).

STAGE 1
Walk along a cobbled street featuring a recreation of a traditional pub typical of those found in Amsterdam’s medieval quarter.
STAGE 2
This section honors three generations of the Heineken family from the founder, Gerard Adrian Heineken, to his grandson, Alfred Henry Heineken. Various models depict important figures at work and biographies of both the company and the family from which it takes its name.
STAGE 3
After a short ride up in a lift, you walk through the old silos for the hops and barley. There are some interactive displays and a few interesting facts and figures here.
STAGE 4
Wall displays showing how barley is transformed into malt.
STAGE 5
More displays showing changes and improvements to the brewing process through the centuries.
STAGE 6
Look through a window into Dr. Elion’s laboratory as he isolates the Heineken ‘A’ yeast which gives the beer its' "unique flavor". There are some good touches here- the holographic image of the doctor at work looks extremely realistic and I particularly liked the way the curtains snapped shut just as he was about to complete his experiment.
STAGE 7
This interactive short film really was "a refreshing change" as the moving floor hurled us rapidly from side to side in order to fully experience the journey of one of the 500000 bottles that are filled every hour in the new Zoeterwoude brewery.
STAGE 8
Look inside the four copper kettles once used to brew the beer and gaze down upon the famous Heineken shire horses.
STAGE 9
If you’ve kept the ticket stub given to you at the start of the tour you can now exchange one of the coupons for a free 250ml glass of Heineken or a soft drink.
STAGE 10
The old lager cellars are located directly behind the bar. You can send e-cards or video messages from here on one of several computer terminals.
STAGE 11
Did you know that an average of seven bottles of water are needed to make one bottle of beer? After you'll see the scenes from the Heineken-sponsored TV series, "Water, A Drop Of Life".
STAGE 12
Fun multimedia games and some more interesting facts.
STAGE 13
A storage tank maintained in its original condition for public viewing.
STAGE 14
Large screens show Heineken adverts, while several small displays enable you to "discover how Heineken is enjoyed in different cultures".
STAGE 15
Video footage of Heineken-sponsored sporting tournaments. Great setting and highly entertaining.
STAGE 16
"Create your own virtual party atmosphere." Relax in an extremely comfortable chair as a series of images and music clips appear on large screens.
STAGE 17
A small shop selling the usual range of souvenirs.
STAGE 18
Two free drinks before you leave. Choose between soft drinks or 250ml glasses of Heineken.