24 Hours in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is essentially a one of a kind city in this world. There is a lot of stuff to do and see in a small area, most of which will be experiences unique to this city so squeeze in everything you can while you are here! We had a great time and did everything mentioned below in a little more then 24 hours without feeling rushed. We missed Boom Chicago (see below) because the shows sold out but other then that covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.

Quick Tips:

There is a ton of stuff to do in this city and because everything is so centrally located you can accomplish a lot even if you have a short amount of time. If you are arriving you can probably walk to your hotel/hostel as long as it is in the central part of town. After you check in walk over to Dam Square, take a seat and just people watch for a bit. If you have never been to one in another city (New York, LA, London) there is a Madame Tusseauds wax museum off Dam Square. If you have limited time I would not make this a priority though as it is gimicky and not unique to Amsterdam. Restaurants and bars in Dam Square are significantly more expensive so I would avoid eating/drinking here if you are on a budget. There are countless good restaurants and cafes on the sides streets off the Dam and around the canals when you get hungry.

Wander over to the canals and check out some of the coffee shops. Even if you are not interested in smoking it is part of the experience of Amsterdam so you might as well go take a look and get something to drink. Wander around the canals and appreciate the unique Amsterdam architecture. Some of the townhouses are built right up onto the water just like in Venice.

The Red Light District is a must see. This area is part of what makes Amsterdam so famous and even if you don't plan on being a paying customer a stroll through here is a must and perfectly safe despite any negative connotations you may have in your mind.

Try and check out the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank's house, the marijuana museum and The Heineken Brewery. Boom Chicago for improv shows. I have never spoken to anyone who went to Boom Chicago and didn't have a great experience. You can get dinner here and tickets run about 20-25 euros. Whether or not to go to a sex show is really an individual decision. I actually know a lot of girls that have gone while in Amsterdam. When walking through the Red Light District you will be constantly solicited by doormen/women trying to get you to come in. They typically cost 25-40 euros but I've got to imagine it's a pretty interesting experience.

If you choose to dabble in the local "snacks" just be aware of what you are getting into. Talk with the shop owner.

Best Way To Get Around:

Everything in Amsterdam is very close and you can easily walk everywhere, including to and from the train station. There is really no need to take a taxi unless you are planning on leaving the central part of the city.

Everyone we talked to said The Flying Pig was the place to be when staying at a hostel in Amsterdam so we were naturally disappointed when we found out it was fully booked and turned to The Bulldog. The Bulldog turned out to be an excellent choice and none of us had any regrets whatsoever. This hostel was considerabely nicer then some of the budget hotels we stayed at in places like Barcelona. The staff was very friendly, attentive and well-organized. We got a private room at a very reasonable price, I think about 120 euros for the night. Obviously more expensive than sharing a room but you don't have to worry about your belongings and you get your own bathroom and shower (which was very clean).

I could not find a more central location for this place if I tried to. Regardless of what direction or where you are coming from if you keep walking around for at least 15 minutes you will inevitably stumble across this place by mistake. Walking from the train station we actually found the place by accident and everytime we left it we never really knew how to get back but it would always appear. It is right near Dam Square and located directly on one of the main canals not far from the red light district. It is a 5 minute walk from almost everything.

The bar area of the club is a great place to grab a couple of drinks and just chill out. Beers are only a few euro and the place isn't unbearably smoky. They have a pool table and some other standard bar games. The bar here is an interesting place to meet people. We had a few conversations with other travelers here that were pretty much on the same page as we were although they had been in Amsterdam a few days already so it was great to get advice from them on things to do. There is a coffee shop directly adjacent to the hostel if you are in town to sample some of the local "delicacies". Feel free to take your purchases back to the hostel and enjoy them in the bar before heading out into the town.

Overall this place was a great experience for the short amount of time that we stayed there and by far the nicest official hostel that we stayed at on the trip. Don't forget to grab some free fold out illustrated maps in the lobby. They had piles of them when we were there for almost all of the cities we still had left on the trip so we just took a couple of each. They fit perfectly in your pocket and have suggestions of restaurants, bars, things to do, museums and other highlights on the back that came in really really handy compared to other maps we had.

The Heineken Brewery (Brouwery) was a very fun experience and at only 10 euros, one of the best values that we found in Europe. At least with admission here you get something tangible in return, in the form of free fresh brewed beer!

The Brewery is a bit of a walk from the most central part of Amsterdam but still relatively short, probably about 15 or 20 minutes. There is usually a small line to get in but it moves quickly, we waited less then 10 minutes even though the line went all the way out the door.

The tour first takes you through a series of rooms that illustrate and educate the guest on the history of Heineken, the brewing process and the various stages and looks of the Heineken bottle throughout the decades. The interior is designed in an old fashioned style giving the whole place the look of an old village.

The tour will take you through an interactive room where you can play games, answer trivia questions etc. There were probably at least a dozen or so interactive exhibits. One of the highlights of this room was a machine that allowed you to take a picture of you and your friends, put a digital Heineken frame around it of your choosing and then email it to friends and family back home all free of charge. It was a nice souvenir and something to remember the place by when you got home.

There was another room that takes you on a virtual ride of what it is like to "be a Heineken" from brewing through the bottling process and onto consumption. You stand on a vibrating tilting platform with a large screen in front of you.

Finally you will pass through the brewing room where you will see the distilling vats and then at the end you arrive at the bar where you can exchange two of your tokens for two free beers. There are booths and tables to relax at with interactive TV panels at each of the booths that have a few more things you can check out. There is a very extensive gift shop connected to the bar with every Heineken related item you could possibly want to purchase. If you hang around in the bar for a while there is a pretty decent chance that someone will offer you extra drink tokens that they don't want to use. This happened to us twice in about 20 minutes. There is also another bar about halfway through the tour where you exchange a different colored token for a beer, so you get three in all included in the admission price.

The Heineken Experience was a lot of fun and definitely worth the price. The beer was excellent and it doesn't get any more fresh. 10 euros well spent as far as we were concerned.

The Van Gogh Museum was a very interesting experience. Even if you are not a huge fan of art it is worth a trip just to pay homage and learn a little bit about one of the most famous painters of all time.

The museum is about a 20 minute walk from Dam Square or the Red Light District where most people tend to stay. It is located on museum square, a big open space that was recently redesigned into an expansive public plaza. It is a large park like setting with benches and fountains and we sat out here for a while just taking in the scene before going into the actual museum. Bring a couple of beers or some lunch and just sit and enjoy the people watching for a little while if you have time.

I believe tickets to the museum were about 10 euro when we went in June. We forgot our student IDs but if you have one there were definately the usual discounts for students, kids, seniors etc. The nice thing about this museum was the lack of massive crowds. It was the only museum that we went to where we didn't feel like herded cattle. Right to the ticket window and through a simple security check and we were in.

The artwork on display was suprisingly varied for what we expected. All of us were unaware how prolific Van Gogh was and how varied the subjects of his work were. There are very detailed descriptions of all the works and they really paint a full picture of Van Gogh's life. Sections of the museum are divided both by the style and type of the artwork as well as by the periods of Van Gogh's life.

I know that the museum has rotating displays from the brochure but there are a large number of paintings, letters, sketches and drawings on permanent display. The paintings included a number of self portraits in addition to a vast array of still lifes and landscapes.

The famous "Sunflowers" painting is located in this museum which was really interesting to see. It is always fun to see a piece of art in person that you have seen pictures of your whole life. It is important to note that "Starry Night" is NOT at the Van Gogh Museum despite being pictured in the museum brochure. We spent the whole time looking for it and never found it. It is probably Van Gogh's most famous painting so be forewarned if that is your motivating factor for a trip to the museum.

There are also a number of works scattered throughout the museum by other artists, some of whom I'd heard of and some not. For only 10 euros and an hour or two of your time this is a worthwhile experience and shouldn't be missed.

It is no secret that one of the primary draws to Amsterdam for foreign tourists is that many things that are illegal elsewhere are perfectly kosher here. Should you choose to indulge in many of the things Amsterdam has to offer there are a number of tips that can help keep you safe and having an enjoyable experience.

First of all with regards to smoking...marijuana is legal in Amsterdam. There are coffeeshops everywhere which are the venues where it can be purchased. Some of the larger hostels such as The Bulldog actually have a coffeeshop attached to the building. These places will all have a menu for you to choose from displaying the product's name, country of origin and price. Smoking is perfectly safe and acceptable here. You can smoke in bars and many people smoke on the street even though I think technically you are supposed to remain indoors. Although it may not be encouraged smoking outside will not get you in trouble. If you are not sure whether or not it is ok to smoke inside in a particular place it is perfectly acceptable to politely ask. I would not recommend trying to smoke in restaurants but bars and coffeeshops are fine.

One misconception we had about Amsterdam is that there would be bakeries everywhere. This was not the case and it actually took some effort on our part to even locate a spacecake. After some asking around we found from a number of people that the "real deal" was any product produced by The Muffin Man. He is a local baker that sells batches of his products to local coffeeshops although only a select few have them. We bought ours at The Grasshopper coffee shop. That day they had slices of cake in individually wrapped packages. We were aware of what we were getting into for the most part. Spacecakes here provide a CONSIDERABLY stronger punch than smoking or any brownies you made have had elsewhere. They take a couple of hours to kick in but when they do it almost gets to the point of borderline uncomfortable. I would seriously recommend eating half to 3/4 or a slice.

Mushrooms are also legal in Amsterdam and are sold all over the place. There will be signs on the street advertising them and most places offer a number of varieties. We were only in town for a night and never got around to trying them but as with the spacecake I would recommend starting with a relatively small amount and giving them time to kick in before eating too much at once and freaking out. Talk to the locals or whoever you buy them from for more substancial advice. Almost everyone speaks English....especially in the coffee shops.

Whether or not to go to a sex show is really a personal choice. There are dozens of them lining the main streets in the red light district. If you walk down the street late at night people will try and solicit you to go in every 50' down the street. A polite no thank you will do although it does get really redundant after a while. We opted to stay away mainly because of the price. They usually run about 20 or 30 euros and with our limited time and the lousy exchange rate we figured we could better spend our time.

The girls that line the windows of the red light district at night are definately an interesting sight. Make sure you don't take pictures. Be respectful and you will have no problems. There are dozens that are literally some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life..... So many of these girls could be models or trophy wives and I have no idea how they haven't figured that out yet. On the other end of the spectrum there are your selection of girls that are absolutely unattractive. You will see girls of every ethnicity, SIZE, etc. Fittingly, the most attractive girls seem to be on the windows facing the main streets on the canal. We didn't partake in the services but it was really funny to watch customers poke their head out of the doors with a guilty look and try and slink of without anyone noticing them.

Amsterdam is an extremely safe city despite its reputation. We never once felt uncomfortable, threatened or in danger. Everyone is very respectful and good natured and there are so many tourists and locals around late into the night that you never get the feeling you are walking alone down a sketchy path. Enjoy yourself and remember to keep things in moderation until you know what the effects will be. Have fun!