Amsterdam, Netherlands

This city has SO MUCH. You can stay busy for ages. It has relatively more museums than anywhere in the world--start with the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.

Quick Tips:

Don't take pictures in the Red Light district! You'll wind up in trouble. As a woman, you probably don't want to walk there alone at night--people might get the wrong idea.

If you're into smoking, don't just assume you can smoke anywhere. When in doubt, just ask.

If you're a student, don't be afraid to ask for student discounts, even at the bar.

Get a Museum Card if you plan to visit lots of museums. There are more than 400 participating museums in the Netherlands, and the card gets you into all of them. It only costs 17 euros for people under 25 years, and 25 euros (I think) for everyone else. It's good for a year, but it's probably worth buying even if you're only staying in the Netherlands for a few days. It will probably pay for itself after only two or three museums.

Best Way To Get Around:

It's pretty easy on foot. Buses and trams are also readily available.

Van Gogh Museum
Open daily 10am to 6pm (Fridays until 10pm)
Ten euros (no student price)

If you plan on hitting lots of museums in the Netherlands, buy the museumjaarkaart. It usually pays for itself after only two or three museums.

The Van Gogh collection is one of Amsterdam's highlights, in my opinion--it is the largest collection of Van Goghs in the world. The museum is laid out so well--it's easy to go through and see everything without having to backtrack or worry that you missed something. The paintings are in chronological order, and you can get a very good feel for how he progressed as an artist. Of special interest are The Potato Eaters and Sunflowers.

The museum also includes his letters, as well as the works of other artists so that you can compare him to his influences.

The second floor is home to a fantastic study room complete with books and computers so you can find out more about Van Gogh and art in general.

The bad news: it's summertime, folks. I went on a Saturday and this place was terribly crowded. It was hard to get close to the paintings, hard to read the captions, and you couldn't help but feel rushed along as you tried to make room for other visitors. If you're visiting in the summer, you've got no choice--tough it out. But if you have a choice of when to travel--go in the spring, fall, or winter, and skip the crowds.

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.

FOAM Photography Museum
Open daily 10:00-5:00 pm (Thursday and Friday until 9:00 pm)
Admission: 6,50 euros (students 5,00)

The best part about this, for me, was that even though I visited the museum in the middle of July, I was one of only a handful of people there. It felt like a private exhibit, just for me. Those tourists don't know what they're missing.

The photo exhibits in the museum change regularly, so you can go back every few months to see something different. They're currently showing works by Daido Moriyama, (which I didn't like all that much -- they didn't seem artistic enough to me. Eh), a collection of works about life during the Great Depression, a series by Jasper Groen called Jeffrey, about a young man (Jeffrey) with neo-Nazi leanings whom Groen photographed over the course of three years, and a series called Las Vegas by Maarten van Schaik (this was my favorite), among others. Very interesting.

FOAM is in an unassuming little building along the canal. Look for the red FOAM sign right above the entrance.

Rijksmuseum
Daily 9:00-6:00 pm (10:00 pm Friday)
Admission: 10,00 euros (18 and under free; no student discount)

The Rijksmuseum is what I remember best about my first visit to Amsterdam 7 years ago. It was the first art museum I had ever been to, so it holds a special place in my heart. And, upon my return trip last week, I found it to be well worth my high opinion.

Captions are in Dutch and English, and they are, for the most part, quite thorough--you manage to get quite a history lesson as well as an art fix.

The Rijksmuseum proudly displays Holland's own--works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Steen. You won't want to miss the "Nightwatch", which may be Rembrandt's most famous work. Even though the museum is currently under construction and many of the works aren't on display, the "Nightwatch" has its own room, complete with a strange little light show that's rather enjoyable.

In addition to painting, you'll also find a collection of Delft pottery and a giant ship, among other stuff.

Make the Rijksmuseum your first stop on your Amsterdam museum list.

Stedelijk Museum
Daily 10:00-6:00 pm
Admission: 9,00 euros (students 4,50)

The Stedelijk is occupying a temporary home in an old post building near the Amsterdam Centraal. Its new building on Museumplein, set to be completed in 2008, will be quite a big deal. I'm sure they're looking forward to that, but in the meantime they're making do on three floors of that old building.

The Stedelijk houses, shall we say, "experimental" art. You have to go in with an open mind.

The museum starts on the second floor of the building: an exhibit on air travel. The history. The designs (flight attendant uniforms, airports, seats, even cutlery). The future. It especially focuses on the artistic element of all this practicality -- how and why things were designed the way they were.

This is where I learned about the Boeing 787, coming in 2008, and I'm already excited to fly in it. There are several videos about air travel, models of planes and airports, and lots of photographs. The flight history timeline is also especially interesting. The detailed captions are all in Dutch and English.

On the third floor we get into Andy Warhol and other artists. I saw Andy's stuff first, and it just got stranger after that. Don't miss the room with all the mutilated furniture. The video that tells the story of it all will give you nightmares. Enjoy.

There's a Saskia Olde Wolbers exhibit. She makes videos. The images look computer generated, but as it turns out she makes all the sets by hand. They're beautiful, and each video is narrated. The stories are fiction, but they're inspired by real-life situations. The exhibit includes her works "Trailer" (2005), "Interloper" (2003), "Placebo" (2002), and "Kilowatt Dynasty" (2000).

The 11th floor houses the cafe.

Despite my preferences for art by the likes of Rubens and Picasso, I really enjoyed this museum. The air travel exhibit was especially fascinated. The best part was that it wasn't even especially crowded -- I visited in the middle of August, and I often found myself in rooms all alone.

Check it out.