The Internet Guide to Amsterdam
Contents
Introduction
Books
Time
Weather
Language
Money
Tipping
Electricity
Safety and Health
Hotels
Eating and Drinking
Transport
Shopping
News
Communications
Places to See
What's On
Maps
Other Resources
Designed to be printed out and taken with you.
Written by Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam, and
Astrid Kerssens, Amsterdam.
Linked to by more than 450 other sites; more than 1,800,000 gruntled readers!
One of the top Amsterdam travel guides on Google. If you know how Google works, you know that that says something about this site!
See also London.
A Review of this Guide
The Internet Guide To Amsterdam:
WebUser Gold Award
Rating: ★★★★★
Reviewed By: Jane Hoskyn
Sometimes, it's the simple things in life that make your heart skip a beat.
This is especially true when you're abroad and you need a guide that loads really fast on your mobile phone or PDA (check), doesn't involve clicking from page to page to find what you want (check), isn't written in fluffy tourist-board-speak (check), has all the links you need and none of the ones you don't (check), and is put together by someone who loves your destination and knows it better than the insides of his own eyelids (check). Step forward Steven Pemberton, creator of this exemplary guide to having a damn good time in the 'Dam.
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Introduction
Amsterdam is an unusual city in that it has all the advantages of a big city – culture, history, food, entertainment, good transport – with relatively few of the disadvantages: it is physically small, beautiful, relatively quiet, and largely thanks to the canals, has relatively little traffic.
This guide tells you something about Amsterdam in the hope that it will improve your enjoyment while here.
Books
For more information there are many tourist books. The Time Out Guide (published by Penguin) is good. There is also a section on the city in the Amsterdam Yellow Pages phone book ('Gouden Gids'). Amazon has a page of books on Amsterdam ordered by popularity. For Europeans, Amazon.co.uk has a similar page.
Time
Amsterdam time in the summer is two hours ahead of GMT, one hour in winter; when daylight saving time is in operation the sun is at its highest point at around 13:40 (which makes for long evenings: since Amsterdam is very far West in its time zone, in mid-Summer the sky is still light as late as 11 in the evening).
Amsterdam is a late city: many shops don't open until 10 in the morning, and bars and cafés stay open till 1 or 2 in the morning.
Weather
Typical weather ranges from a little around freezing in the depths of winter, though usually with little snow, to typically pleasant sunny days of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius in the summer. Spring and autumn are pleasant, but can be wet (100+ mm of rain per month).
30 year average 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
ice days (max.temp. lower than 0 °C) 8 6 2 2 3 6 6
frost days (min.temp. lower than 0 °C) 58 41 45 35 66 40 75
warm days (max.temp. 20 °C or higher) 77 76 97 91 89 97 16
summer days (max.temp. 25 °C or higher) 22 17 31 22 24 18 48
tropical days (max.temp. 30 °C or higher) 3 5 3 2 6 4 11
Average temperatures and rainfall recorded over 20 years
There are any number of sites willing to tell you what the weather is going to be in the next few days. Here is just a selection to take your pick from: BBC, CNN, Yahoo, NWS, USA Today, Weather Underground, The Weather Network, Excite, Weather.com, KNMI (in Dutch), Washington Post, Intellicast, Accuweather, Time Out, Travelocity.
Radar map of current rain conditions
Map of current thunderstorm activity
An excellent satellite map of European conditions (animated version)
Language
Just about everyone speaks English in Amsterdam, and is proud of the fact. Many speak German and French too. If you are English speaking, speak English (unless you speak Dutch too): you are more likely to offend than do anyone a favour by trying out your French or German.
A common misconception is that Dutch is very close to German. In truth they are not mutually intelligible: Dutch people have to learn German at school, and in general they speak better English than German. German and Dutch are similar in the same sort of way that French and Italian are similar.
A few keys phrases: Yes: Ja (Yah); No: Nee (Nay); Thanks: Bedankt (B'dunked); Please: Graag (hkrahk – pronounce the hk as if you are trying to pronounce an h at the same time as a k, the sort of sound a child says when saying yecchh!); Sorry: sorry (sorry, with rolled r's); excuse me: pardon (parDON).
Money
The currency used in the Netherlands is the Euro expressed as EUR or €. There are 11 other countries apart from the Netherlands that form the Euro Zone: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Portugal, Spain. You can use the Euro in all these countries. (To remember the list of countries use the phrase "Baffling pigs").
Euros are divided into 100 cents. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and 1 and 2 euros. There are notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros (note the pattern 1, 2, 5). Some shops do not accept large denomination notes, and interestingly some don't like the 1 and 2 cent coins, and so round cash amounts to the nearest 5 cents.
The Dutch Guilder is no longer usable. You have to exchange old coins and notes in a bank.
There are many places to change money in town. Post offices usually give the best rates. The GWK at Central station is also good. Compare rates carefully at the exchange offices in town. Hotels are usually an expensive way to change money. Banks can be slow. There's an American Express on the Damrak, and a Thomas Cook on the Dam.
The current exchange rates are online, in Dutch but you should be able to decipher it. "Verkoopt" = Sell, "Koopt" = Buy. Prices given are the Euro price for the quoted currency. Click on ">>" at the top of the page to go to subsequent pages.
Credit cards are not as widely accepted in the Netherlands as in many other lands, but it's getting steadily better. Always enquire first if you intend to pay by credit card.
If you have an ATM card (a card for getting money out of a machine in the wall) it will most likely work in the Netherlands (indeed throughout Europe), so you don't need to take traveller's cheques. Check with your bank before leaving though. Such cards, certainly if they have a Maestro logo on them, can often also be used for direct debit payments in shops (shops that display the blue "PIN" sign, which is almost all shops).
Like in all big cities the world round, there are cheats looking for an easy target. A typical trick in less reputable establishments is, if you pay with a note, to give you change as if you tendered a note of one denomination smaller (for instance to give you change for 50 euros if you give them a 100 euro note) and then pretend it was a mistake if you notice. The best way to avoid this happening is to speak the value of the note as you hand it over ("100 euros"), so they can't claim not to have noticed. (This advice is as valid in London, Paris, or New York as in Amsterdam).
Tipping
All prices in the Netherlands by law include tax and tips: the price you see is the price you pay. Normal Dutch practice in restaurants is to round up to some whole number of euros, so that the tip is about 5%. Don't feel obliged to leave a tip. If the bill says "service not included" they are just trying to rip you off. You don't need to tip in taxis either.
Electricity
Dutch Electricity was 220 volts, and then moved at a rate of 1 volt per year to the European standard 230 volts. The plugs are the fairly standard European two-pin model.
You can buy voltage and plug converters at Aurora, on the Vijzelstraat at the end of the Flower Market, near the Munt Tower.
Safety and Health
Amsterdam is a safe city, and there is nothing to fear from walking in any part of the city. Even in the red-light district around the Oude Kerk, there are always lots of tourists wandering around. As in any large city you should beware of pick pockets. Don't try to photograph the women in the red-light district though: that would be risky!
The water from taps is perfectly drinkable.
Hotels
The best online booking service we have seen to date is Bookings. Especially good is the ability to see where a hotel is positioned on a map of Amsterdam (click on "Location" after you have clicked on a hotel).
One thing you should look out for on their site though: when you search for hotels in Amsterdam, some hotels are classified as being in Amsterdam, even though they aren't. You can spot them easily: if it has anything after the hotel name except 'Amsterdam' (for instance 'Zaandam/Amsterdam', or 'Naarden, Bussum, Amsterdam') it isn't in Amsterdam.
Here is a list of hotels sorted by district and rating.
"Bed and breakfast" doesn't really occur much in the Netherlands, and certainly not much in Amsterdam, budget hotels being the usual low-cost lodging. However, Google has a directory of bed and breakfast in the Netherlands which includes some Amsterdam addresses, and a search for bed and breakfast in Amsterdam yields some hits.
Eating and Drinking
It rains less in Rome, but Amsterdam has more cafés. So went the advert in the city once. Of all the things Amsterdam can offer, a wide choice of food and drink must stand high on the list.
Restaurants
There are more than a thousand restaurants to choose from in Amsterdam, and a complete list would, and does, fill a whole book, so we can only hope to give you some recommendations here. Not surprisingly, most restaurants are in the city centre, and just walking there you will pass many of high quality. There are particularly many restaurants around the Leidseplein. Some hints:
It is advisable to reserve; there are a few restaurants that don't take reservations, or where you won't need to, but it is better to be safe than sorry.
Enquire beforehand if you want to pay with a credit card.
Unfortunately the habit of offering smoking and non-smoking areas to diners hasn't caught on here yet.
The Dutch eat early. Some restaurants close earlier than you might expect (closing times are given here).
The Dutch typically go out to eat as an activity in itself. Therefore there is no rush to eat and get going. Servers respect this and will often leave you to eat in peace. In particular it would be very rude for a server to bring you the bill without being asked first. You should always ask for your bill when you want it.
All the restaurants mentioned here are in the centre and offer vegetarian dishes. We give the name, address, district, telephone number, closing time where known and typical price, again where known. We mention if they do or do not accept credit cards when known.
Dutch
When the Dutch go out to eat, they don't go to eat Dutch food. Consequently there are very few places that serve Dutch cuisine. Pancakes are a typical Dutch fare, and tasty and filling. See The Pancake Bakery below under Budget. For restaurants that serve the sort of food you might eat in a Dutch home, see De Blonde Hollander below, also under Budget, and:
Die Port van Cleve, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 178 (Dam), 21:00, €20, 6240047. Correspondants tell us that the service is not very good.
Budget
Many bars have inexpensive meals until 21:00 for less than €20. See also under cafés below.
De Blonde Hollander, Leidsekruisstraat 28 (Leidseplein), 6233014, 22:00, €11.
Real Dutch food!
The Pancake Bakery, Prinsengracht 191 (Westerkerk), 6251333, 21:00, €9.
Good atmosphere. Cheap, delicious and filling sweet and savoury pancakes.
Eetcafé Sjaalman, Prinsengracht 178 (Westerkerk), 6202440, 22:00, €9.
Mon-Thur: French/Surinam Fri-Sun: Thai.
International
Hemelse Modder, Oude Waal 9 (Old Centre), 6243203, 22:00, €18.
Stylish cooking.
Kapitein Zeppos, Gebed Zonder End 5 (Near the Nes), 6242057, 22:00, €15.
The restaurant is off a tiny alley, off a small street off the Rokin. It has a roof that rolls back, so is especially pleasant on warm evenings.
De Luwte, Leliegracht 26 (Westerkerk), 625848, 22:00, €15.
Chinese
Nam Kee, Zeedijk 111 (Nieuwmarkt), 6392848, 11:30-24:00, €13; No CC
More like a cantine than a restaurant; about as authentic as they come
French
De Belhamel, Brouwersgracht 60 (Beginning of Herengracht), 6221095, €23; CC.
Art-deco ambiance, beautiful view over a main canal.
Greek
De Twee Grieken, Prinsenstraat 20 (Westerkerk), 6255317, 23:00; €20; CC.
Informal, and authentic
Indonesian
Orient, Van Baerlestraat 21 (near museums), 6734958, 21:15, €20.
Rijsttafel (rice table) restaurant; loads of small dishes together.
Kantjil en de Tijger,Spuistraat 291, 6200994, 23:00; €20.
Busy atmosphere. No-nonsense food.
Italian
Cinema Paradiso, Westerstraat 186 (Jordaan), 6237344 (no reservations except for large groups), 23:00 (Tues-Sun), € 25
Spacious and light, though a little noisy, in an old cinema.
Toscanini, Lindengracht 75 (Jordaan), 6232813, €18.
Burgers Patio,Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 12 (Jordaan), 6236854, 24:00, €15, CC
Italian-style cuisine. Tables in a garden and on the street as well. (They don't serve burgers: it is a surname.)
Japanese
Tokyo, Spui 15, 4897918, 11:00-22:30, from €25, CC
Grand café restaurant with 4 floors each serving a different style of Japanese food. Excellent quality, reasonable prices.
Mexican
Pacifico, Warmoesstraat 31 (Red-light district), 6242911, 17:30-24:00, €15.
Rose's Cantina, Reguliersdwarsstraat 38 (Flower Market), 6259797, 23:00, €14; CC.
Crowded, good portions. If you know of anywhere in the world that makes better margaritas (on the rocks, not frozen) we'd like to hear about it.
Portuguese
Portugalia, Kerkstraat 35, 6256490, 24:00, €15.
Spanish
Centra, Lange Niezel 29 (Red-light district), 6223050, 23:00, €10.
Vegetarian
De Bolhoed, Prinsengracht 60 (Jordaan), 6261803, 22:00, €13.
Daily-changing set-price menu.
Vliegende Schotel, Nieuwe Leliestraat 162 (Jordaan), 625 2041, 22:45, €10
A simple vegetarian café with good food.
Unusual locations
1e Klas (First Class), Platform 2b, Central Station, 6250131, 23:00, €20.
In the former 1st Class waiting room at Central Station; in grand turn-of-the-century style.
Pier 10, De Ruiterkade, Steiger 10, Pier 10 behind Central Station, 6248276, 23:00, €25.
In a former shipping line office. Some tables with dramatic harbour view (ask for them when you book). Vegetarian dishes by arrangement. (Currently closed due to rebuilding work)
In De Waag, Nieuwmarkt (Old Centre), 557 9844, 22:30, €15.
In an amazing middle-ages Weigh-House
Sea Palace, Oosterdokskade 8 (Central Station), 6264777, 22:30, €23.
Very big, floating Chinese temple.
Restaurants where you can eat outside (in nice weather)
Many restaurants have a terrace where you can eat outside, or have tables on the street. When the weather is very hot (above 25°C), the rules change and just about every restaurant moves on to the street. However, the following have pleasant outdoor tables when the weather permits (they are all listed either in the restaurant list, or in the café list): Molenpad, Roses, De Waag, Duende, De Reiger, Burgers Patio.
Cafés and Bars
These are everywhere. We only list here some exceptional and interesting ones.
There is little distinction between a café and a bar in Amsterdam. Both sell alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, food and coffee. The kitchen in a bar or café usually closes at 21:00.
A very nice property of Amsterdam, that you certainly don't find everywhere, is that you pay the same price wherever you sit; it doesn't cost more to sit outside on the terrace.
Coffee is served Hollands with evaporated milk, espresso, cappuccino, and verkeerd ('reversed'), which is with lots of hot milk (the Dutch version of a Caffee Latte). Ten years ago it was impossible to get a bad coffee in Amsterdam. Modern times, and instant coffee, have now made their entrance, and the worst places have started to offer something called cappuccino that doesn't even taste like coffee, or offer only 'creemer' instead of milk. Let the buyer beware: check for the presence of a real coffee machine.
Beer-lovers should try a witbier (white beer) like Hoegaarden or Dentergems, with or without a slice of lemon.
There is only one micro-brewery in Amsterdam Brouwerij 't IJ
You can drink beer and wine from age 16, and spirits from age 18.
Amsterdam is a paradise for beer drinkers, but alas the wine drinker is usually left with a 'choice' between red and white. (It is surprising that a nation known as a nation of traders could leave such a segment of the market uncatered for.)
We give here the address and district, plus opening times where known. Amsterdam is of course renowned for its brown cafés: small, dark and cosy. Good examples are also mentioned here.
Frascati, Nes 59, 16:00-01:00.
Friendly brown café in the theatre district; meals too.
De Blincker, St. Barberenstraat 7 (off Nes).
Delightful combination of light, plants and high-tech in the theatre district. Closed Sundays.
Hoppe, Spui 18-20, 11:00-01:00.
A favourite with business people, especially on the way home from work.
Luxembourg, Spuistraat 22 (Spui), 10:00-01:00.
Trendy up-market
De Reiger, Nieuwe Leliestraat 34 (Jordaan), 11:00-01:00.
Popular brown bar in the Jordaan with a good restaurant.
Koophandel, Bloemgracht 49 (Jordaan), 16:00-very late.
Late-night bar for the very dedicated.
't Smalle, Egelantiersgracht 12 (Jordaan), 11:00-01:00.
The name means "The Narrow". Guess why. Has a popular seating area outside next to the canal, and a cosy room upstairs. Smoky. They understand the needs of wine drinkers.
De Tuin, Tweede Tuindwarsstraat 13 (Jordaan), 10:00-01:00.
Popular; good cappuccino; evenings are packed.
Saarein, Elandsstraat 119 (Jordaan).
Friendly bar, for women only.
Het Molenpad, Prinsengracht 653, 12:00-01:00.
Canal-side brown café and good food too. Nice terrace by the canal on warm evenings.
Van Puffelen, Prinsengracht 377, 14:00-01:00.
Café and food. Some people's favourite restaurant.
Tisfris, St. Antoniesbreestraat 142 (near Waterlooplein), 10:00-01:00.
Hi-tech split-level bar, wholesome food.
Huyschkaemer, Utrechtsestraat 137, 12:00-01:00.
Excellent food.
De Kroon, Rembrandtplein 17, 11:00-01:00.
Balcony overlooking neon Rembrandtplein; meals.
Schiller Bar, Rembrandtplein 26, 16:00-01:00.
Art-deco reminder of how things used to be on the Rembrandtplein.
De Jaren, Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20 (near Munt Tower), 10:00-01:00.
Grand café with popular riverside terrace. Food upstairs.
Land van Walem, Keizersgracht 449 (Leidsestraat), 9:00-01:00.
Early designer bar with excellent (veg.) quiches.
Morlang, Keizersgracht 451 (Leidsestraat), 10:00-01:00.
Stylish. Next to Walem (see above); snack kitchen.
Café Americain, Leidseplein 28, 06:00-01:00.
It's a hotel, it's art-deco, it's a restaurant, it's a listed monument. The service can be dreadful, but it's worth a visit.
De Balie, Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10 (Leidseplein), 16:00-01:00.
A combination of culture and café.
In de Wildeman, Kolksteeg 3 (off the Nieuwzijds Voorburgwal, centre)
One of the few bars with a non-smoking room. Large selection.
Proeflokalen (tasting rooms)
These bars specialise in the stronger alcohols, and they usually have a disturbingly large range of bizarrely named liqueurs. Ask for recommendations.
De Admiraal, Herengracht 319 (Dam-Spui), 6254334, 17:00-24:00.
Cosy, with settees and armchairs, and barrel architecture.
De Drie Fleschjes, Gravenstraat 16 (behind Nieuwe Kerk, Dam), 12:00-20:15.
Small.
That other sort of café
In the 17th Century Catholics and Protestants discovered that they were living side by side in Amsterdam, and in a very surprising development for the time, they didn't slaughter each other. This seemed to work out well, so they developed a concept that they called 'tolerance', so that nowadays the Dutch don't care if you are gay, or if you eat mayonnaise with your fried potatoes. (The latter of course is strictly speaking illegal, but the police turn a blind eye.)
As you are probably aware, Amsterdam also has a policy of tolerating the sale and use of soft drugs. This activity is centred around so-called smoking cafes or "Coffeeshops" as the Dutch euphemistically call them. Whether you wish to avoid them or patronise them, they are easy to recognise: they are usually dark, have a characteristic smell, and tend to use words like free, high, happy, dreams, and space in the name of the cafe.
Transport
Amsterdam has superb public transport facilities. There are many trams, and good facilities for cyclists, like special bike lanes, and traffic lights for cyclists.
There is a national public transport information service: you say when and where you want to go, anywhere in the Netherlands, and they tell you how to get there. The telephone number is 0900-9292; it costs €0.50 per minute, though in our experience the quality of the service is variable, especially considering how much you end up paying for it. They also have a website with a form where you can fill in the start and end points of your journey, and it will work out a number of routes for you (alas, not in English: 'Van' is the departure address, 'Naar' the destination; 'plaats' is the town, 'straat' the street, and 'huisnr' an optional house number; 'datum' is date, and 'tijd' is time of departure ('vertrek') or arrival ('aankomst')).
Trams
The best way to travel is by tram. They are frequent, fast and dependable. You can buy a ticket from the driver, the conductor at the back of the tram, or a machine in the middle of the tram, depending on the sort of tram it is. However, it is considerably cheaper if you buy a 'strippenkaart' from a tobacconist, post office or railway station beforehand, for €6.40 for 15 strips. On most trams you stamp these yourself in the yellow machines in the tram: each journey uses one strip plus a strip for every zone you travel in. If you stay within the centre of town, that is one zone, so you leave one strip blank and stamp the second. If you travel over a zone border, you are travelling in two zones, so you leave two strips blank, and stamp the third.
On some trams there is a conductor: you get on at the back of the tram and the conductor stamps your ticket for you.
Once stamped, a ticket is valid for an hour, regardless of how often you change tram or bus.
Several people can travel on one strippenkaart: you just stamp it for the first person, and then for the second, and so on.
There are also day and week passes available.
Day and week passes and strippencards are valid on all trams, buses and metros, and also on trains within the city boundaries (thus not to Schiphol airport: then you have to buy a train ticket). You must stamp a day or week pass the first time you use it only.
You should hail a tram to indicate you want to get on. Press the button near the door to open it. If the tram has a conductor you must use the rear door to get on. You have to press one of the red STOP buttons inside the tram to indicate that you want to get off at the next stop (although there is rarely a stop where no one wants to get out). Again press the button near the door to open it when the tram has stopped.
There is a free map of all tram and bus routes in Amsterdam available from tourist offices or the GVB office in front of Central Station.
The trams run until just after midnight (the last trams leave Central Station at 12.15). After that there is an hourly service of night buses from Central Station.
Bicycles
The fastest way to travel is by bike. There are several addresses around town where you can hire (rent) a bike, for very reasonable prices. Traditionally, Dutch bikes have no hand-brakes, but back-pedal brakes. If you think you can't handle this, ask the hirer for a bike with hand-brakes.
When cycling, cross tram lines at a good angle to avoid getting your wheel caught in the rail. For obvious reasons, lock your bike to something solid when leaving it unattended, and lock the frame, not just the front wheel (otherwise they unbolt your front wheel, take your frame and someone else's front wheel, and have a complete bike).
When hiring a bike, you will be required to pay a deposit, and you should take some form of identification. Addresses:
Bike City, Bloemgracht 68 (Westerkerk), 6263721
Damstraat Rent a Bike, P Jacobszoondwarsstraat 11 (Dam), 6255029.
Macbike, Leidseplein (next to Paradiso) 528 7688, Mr. Visserplein 2 (Waterlooplein), 6200985, and Central Station, 625 3845
Taxis
Taxis are normally not hailed in the Netherlands, but taken from a taxi rank, of which there are many (there is an environmental advantage to this: taxis aren't constantly driving round looking for custom). You can order a taxi by phoning 6777 777. A taxi will arrive almost immediately (though be prepared to wait if it is raining on a Friday or Saturday evening). Taxis are good quality but relatively expensive; around €1.50 per km regardless of day or time. You don't need to tip more than rounding up: they are already expensive enough.
Car hire
Driving in Amsterdam is not recommended. Even for longer distances it is far better to take a train.
If you do need to hire a car, look in the Gouden Gids for addresses of the normal car hire firms ('Autoverhuur').
Trains
Trains in the Netherlands are fast, frequent, comfortable, punctual and cheap; well, they were until they got privatised, when their punctuality started to suffer. Many stations have a taxi-sharing scheme called "Train Taxis" which cost only €4: buy a Train Taxi ticket when you buy your train ticket.
You can buy tickets at machines, or at the ticket office, but at the ticket office they charge a 50 cent or €1 surcharge for regular tickets. There are two types of machine; one sort accepts cash and direct-credit bank cards (Maestro/Cirrus). but the other sort only accepts the bank cards.
You can look train times up online at the Dutch National Railways (NS) site, and it will give you times, platforms and prices, though to be perfectly honest the German Railways site is better for international travel.
Walking
Central Amsterdam is very small: most distances are walkable, and walking is pleasurable, giving the best chance to appreciate the Amsterdam architecture. Beware of walking on bike paths, which are distinguished by their reddish colour: cyclists will show no mercy. Also take care when crossing roads, even at a green pedestrian light. Cyclists consider themselves pedestrians in Amsterdam, and so tend to ignore traffic lights. Note that in true European style, streets may change name along their length.
Amsterdam is, as you may have noticed, structured as a half wheel. In the middle you have the old centre bounded by the canal called the Singel. It contains the Red-Light district around the Oude Kerk, the Nes theatre street, a quaint maze of small streets and quiet canals, and the Royal Palace at the Dam, with pedestrian shopping streets going north and south.
Surrounding the old centre, you have the three concentric ring canals Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht (it can help to note that they're in alphabetic order). All four canals (with the Singel) are nice to walk along. The Herengracht is the grandest, especially along the 'Golden Crescent' to the east of the Leidsestraat, the Prinsengracht is perhaps the friendliest with its houseboats. The streets that connect the ring canals, especially in the section between the Brouwersgracht and the Leidsestraat shouldn't be missed for their lovely individual shops.
To the west of the ring canals, in the area on the map where the streets all run at an angle to the canals, is the Jordaan, a lovely area to walk, with quiet canals, and tiny streets, and many unusual shops. You'll find a lot of the better restaurants and more interesting bars there too.
Transport to the Airport
Schiphol airport is very close to Amsterdam centre. There are trains day and night, seven times an hour through the day, hourly in the dead of night, and which take about 15 minutes. A single journey costs €3.20. Or you can pay €30 for a taxi, and be there in 10 minutes. The choice is yours.
By the way, Schiphol has been voted the best airport in the world several times, and not without reason: the shops there are great, and of a wide range, from drink and chocolates to fashions and electronics. You might want to leave yourself some extra time for shopping. Don't necessarily expect bargains though; only the articles marked as "special offer" are truly likely to be cheaper than street prices.
If you want to know what to take back for people, Dutch chocolate and cheese are very good. There are also nice stoneware bottles of Dutch gin (called Jenever) in two types Jong (young) and Oud (old). The Dutch also invented Brandy (Brandewijn means 'burnt wine') which they call "Vieux" (Yes, the Dutch call it by a French name and the French call it by a Dutch name).
Schiphol's Duty-free Shops are online. You can even phone them to order and pick your goods up when you leave.
Shopping
Traditionally, shops and markets are closed all day Sunday and Monday mornings. Normal shopping hours are 09:00 or 10:00 to 18:00 (17:00 on Saturday) although some are now beginning to stay open later in the evenings and about half of the shops on the main shopping streets are even open on Sundays. There is late-night shopping on Thursdays until 21:00, when most shops on the main streets are open.
The main shopping areas are the Leidsestraat between the Leidseplein and Spui, and the Kalverstraat and Nieuwendijk, leading from the Munt Tower via the Dam to near the Central Station. There are large stores near the Munt Tower (V&D and Hema), and at the Dam (Bijenkorf and Magna Plaza). There is a large supermarket behind the Palace at the Dam, open until 22:00, 19:00 Sundays.
The Jordaan and the streets around it contain many small interesting individual shops. The PC Hooftstraat and district, near the museums, contains many of the more chic shops.
There is an interesting daily clothes and second-hand market around the City Hall and Opera (trams 9, 14, 51 to Waterlooplein); there is a busy cosmopolitan food and clothes market in the Albert Cuypstraat (trams 4, 6, 10 and 16). The flower market on the Singel (between the top of the Leidsestraat and the Munt Tower) is not to be missed (trams 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 16, 24, 25).
Buying food in supermarkets is straightforward, with one exception: buy the milk in blue cartons. The red cartons are buttermilk (karnemelk), which is probably not what you want.
News
International newspapers can be bought at Athenaeum on the Spui, at the Central Station, and at the two English-language-only bookshops Waterstones and The American Discount, both on the Kalverstraat near the Spui.
There are international television stations on the Amsterdam cable, including American, Belgian, British, French, German, Italian, Moroccan, Spanish, and Turkish stations, as well as other satellite channels.
Communications
Telephone
The main post office ('postkantoor', 'PTT') is on the corner of the Singel near the Dam, but there are many other smaller post offices; most are closed Saturdays, the main post office is open Saturday morning. The Dutch Telephone Book is online (fill in the name (Naame) and city (Woonplaats) of who you want to look up).
Phoning from a hotel room can be expensive (ask first). There are two main types of telephone boxes on the streets: cash and phone-card. Phone cards can be bought in various denominations from railway stations, tobacconists, post offices and other shops. They are typically good for long distance calls. With cash phones you should insert money before dialling; unused coins are returned at the end of the call. Because of telephone liberalisation, there are now two different companies with telephone boxes on the street; their phone cards are alas not interchangeable. Most cafés have a public phone or will let you phone locally.
To make an international call, dial 00 followed by your country code, then the national area code (usually leaving off an initial 0) and then the local number.
Many countries have a 'Call Direct' service, where a free call in the Netherlands puts you in touch with an operator in your own country where you can then arrange a reversed-charge or credit call. To dial these services, you dial 0800-022 and then a 4 digit code for the country you want. A list of these codes is in the Amsterdam Yellow Pages ('Gouden Gids').
There are 5 national GSM mobile phone networks, so there is good coverage. You need a phone that uses the European 900 and 1800 MHz bands. You can hire a mobile phone at Schiphol Airport (once you get through customs), or buy a pre-paid SIM card from telephone shops (there are several on the Rokin) or supermarkets (such as Albert Heijn behind the Palace on the Dam)
Internet
You can get internet access at a number of places, including
EasyInternetcafé
Reguliersbreestraat (between the Munt and the Rembrandtplein), and smaller ones at Damrak 33, just south of Central Station, and Leidsestraat 24.
Open 24 hours. Prices vary depending on how busy they are, but are in increments of €2.25.
and for free at the prize-winning Internet Reading Table in the café at In De Waag, Nieuwmarkt (Old Centre).
There are also internet phone booths at Schiphol airport, including phone jacks for direct connection of your portable computer, and several internet connection centres, including ethernet connections and WiFi wireless connections.
See the Cybercafe guide for a fuller list of internet cafes.
Places to See
Here is a list of some of the major attractions in Amsterdam.
The Anne Frank House, Prinsengracht 263 (Westerkerk), 09:00-19:00(summers 21:00), €6.50. The wartime hiding place of the young Jewish girl and her family, finally caught by the Nazis, made famous by Anne Frank's diaries. Not to be missed. Go early, or late, to avoid the queues.
Begijnhof, Spui. Amsterdam has many 'hofjes', courtyards hidden away between houses. The Begijnhof is one of the largest, and well known, but also one of the more surprising: that such an oasis of peace can be so close to the bustling heart of the city. There is a doorway in the row of houses on the Spui that leads you there (if it is closed go right, around the corner to the entrance in the Gedempte Begijnensloot). It has a lovely English church (AD 1400) with pulpit panels designed by Mondriaan, and the oldest house in the city (1475), one of Amsterdam's few surviving wooden houses. Turn left out of the Gedempte Begijnensloot entrance, and it leads you to the Amsterdam Historical Museum and its free gallery of old paintings of city guards.
Artis Zoo, 09:00-17:00, €13.50. Good aquarium. Also planetarium.
Hortus Horticultural Gardens (Waterlooplein), 09:00(weekends 11:00)-17:00; €3.40. Small but nice.
Heineken Brewery. 78 Stadhouderskade. Used to be a brewery until a few years ago, now a museum and visitors' centre. 10:00-18:00; €5. No unaccompanied children. No reservations.
Museums
There are three major museums, the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk (modern art) and the Van Gogh. All three are situated around the Museumplein.
Rijksmuseum, 10:00-17:00; €8 (under 19 free). Large museum containing paintings by some of the Netherlands' great 17th century painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Hals. The Nightwatch by Rembrandt is their prize piece. Contains many artefacts as well as paintings.
Stedelijk, 11:00-17:00; €5. Major collection of modern art from around 1880.
Van Gogh, 10:00-18:00; €7. Surprisingly spacious, dedicated to Van Gogh and his contemporaries.
Canal trips
Damrak by Central Station, and Rokin by the Spui. It's worth taking one of the canal boat tours to see Amsterdam from the water. They last about 90 minutes, and take you around the city and through the harbour. If you're feeling energetic, you can hire a Canal Bike from one of the several points through the city (Westerkerk, Leidseplein, Leidsestraat, Rijksmuseum), and choose your own route.
Some things to do for free
Take the free ferry behind central station to the other side of the IJ and go for a walk along the North Holland Canal.
Walk up the roof of the New Metropolis and admire the view (follow the rail lines east from Central Station, and cross the footbridge to the big green building that looks like a ship).
Go to the Begijnhof (entrance from the Spui, or round the corner in the Gedempte Begijnensloot)
Visit the Historical Museum gallery (take the other exit from the Begijnhof and turn left).
Wander along the Flower Market (on the Singel).
Browse the Waterlooplein market (at the Waterlooplein).
Visit the Albert Cuyp market (tram 10 to Frederiksplein, or 4, 16, 24, 25 to Albert Cuyp).
Go to a free lunch concert in the Concertgebouw (Museumplein).
Browse the internet in medieval surroundings at the Waag (Old Centre).
Go up the tower to the cafe in the Kalvertoren shopping mall, and admire the view (Kalverstraat near the Munt).
Go to the cafe in Metz and admire the view (corner of Leidsestraat and Keizersgracht).
What to do on a long layover at Schiphol
There are coach trips for people with a long layover. There is a desk where you can book at the end of pier E.
Otherwise take a train to Central Station, go on a boat trip for an hour, and visit the Anne Frank House.
Kids
Some ideas for where to take the kids: The Anne Frank house of course, a boat trip is always fun, and so are the Canal Bike pedal boats mentioned earlier. The New Metropolis museum is a play science museum for kids. The Zoo, mentioned above. The De Mirandabad swimming pool (end of tram line 25) is good for a rainy day, with lots of fun things; Sloterparkbad swimming pool is good for all weathers (end of tramline 14). Madame Tussauds wax museum on the Dam. On the Leidseplein there are always acts like jugglers and fire-eaters that in our experience kids love.
The Pancake Bakery restaurant mentioned above is perfect for taking children.
Trips outside the city
In tulip season (springtime) flower lovers can take a coach trip to Keukenhof, huge gardens dedicated to tulips. Trips can be booked from companies on the Damrak (around €30), or there is a day-trip by train from Central Station for less.
Not far from Amsterdam, in the former Zuiderzee (now the IJsselmeer) is Marken, an island now joined to the mainland by a land bridge. It still has many wooden houses, and you can still see people wearing local costume, not just for tourists. You should at least visit the harbour. There are organised coach tours (around €25), but for much less money (six strips of a strippen-card) you can take bus 111 from Central Station (times can be got from the public transport telephone information line 0900-9292, €0.50 per minute, or from the Public Transport website: you are going from ('Van') "CS Oosterdokskade, Amsterdam" to ('Naar') "Kerkbuurt, Marken").
The train to Castricum takes about 25 minutes and costs €7.80 return. At Castricum station you can hire a bike (phone 0251-654035 to reserve), and in the station restaurant buy a map and a €1 entrance card to kilometers of bike paths through beautiful woodlands, meadows, and dunes, with access to the beach. This is also the filtration area for Amsterdam's drinking water, so you may also see huge carp swimming in the crystal-clear water of the pools.
The national park Hoge Veluwe has beautiful surroundings, and free bikes at the gates to cycle through the grounds. In the middle is the modern art museum Kröller-Müller with a major collection of works by Van Gogh, Seurat, Redon, Braque, Picasso, Juan Gris, Mondriaan and others. There is an excellent statue garden too. The NS Railways have a day trip that takes you nearby by train (about an hour from Amsterdam), and then by bus to the gates of the park.
There is a group of working windmills along the river at the Zaanse Schans, as well as museums and a cheese factory you can visit. Take the train to Koog-Zaandijk (about 15 minutes), turn left at the bottom of the steps from the platform, and walk straight on right to the end of the street (about 5 minutes). Turn left, and ahead of you is a windmill at the end of a bridge. As you cross the bridge, you can see the working mills on the left. There is a gate at the end of the bridge, on the left.
More ideas
Tourist offices in the Netherlands are called VVV. The main one in Amsterdam is opposite the Central Station (and with a second office on Platform 1), with a smaller branch at the Leidseplein. There are a number of tour organisers on the Damrak, near Central Station.
What's On
Not surprisingly, there is an immense choice of activities in the city. You can find a list of what's on this week hanging in most cafés, and in newspapers published Wednesday night and Thursday morning. There is a central entertainments information and ticket reservation service called AUB on the Leidseplein. They have a Web Site at
www.aub.nl.
Guides. There is an English Language guide to the week's events called What's On. It is published by the VVV and is available in most hotels.
Music. You can find music of all sorts. Pop and rock lovers should check out the multi-media Melkweg, and Paradiso both near the Leidseplein, and discos Mazzo (Rozengracht, near Westerkerk) and Odeon (opposite the end of the Spui). For jazz try the Bimhuis in the Old Centre. Classical and opera try the Muziektheater at Waterlooplein and the Concertgebouw on Museumplein.
Films. There are more than 50 cinema screens in Amsterdam. This week's films are online, and you will find the list of current films hanging in most cafes. Non-Dutch films are always subtitled, so you can always see films in your own language. There are many cinemas around the Leidseplein and the Rembrandtplein; Fridays and Saturdays you should buy your ticket early – you can do this by telephone if you want, if they answer the phone. There are two magnificent art deco cinemas you should try not to miss: Tuschinski near the Rembrandtplein (screen 1 is the most impressive), and The Movies on the Haarlemmerstraat near the Jordaan, which has a good restaurant too, and offers a special 'film dinner' for around €30, which includes reserved seats for the film (telephone 6267069).
Maps
A map of Amsterdam Centre.
An overview of postcodes in Amsterdam Centre.
Travelocity has a good PDF map
If you look a business up in De Gouden Gids, clicking on "Toon kaart" gives you a zoomable, pannable map. For instance, here is The Anne Frank House.
Searchable map of the Netherlands (by Postcode or City/Street).
Other Resources
More on Amsterdam
The Netherlands Tourist Board
Information supplied by the City Authorities
Amsterdam Heritage: The site is difficult to navigate, but it has a wealth of historical information and photos of the city and its buildings.
Google's collection of Amsterdam Travel Guides
Google's collection of Amsterdam links
Amsterdam by Bite. A collection of Amsterdam-related links.
Amsterdams Uit Buro. Information on arts and entertainment in Amsterdam, including online ticket shop for selected events.
Amazon has a page of books on Amsterdam ordered by popularity: Europe, USA
Email help
VVV Amsterdam (The Amsterdam Tourist Office) has an email address:
info@amsterdamtourist.nl
The Amsterdam Municipal Authorities offer a page on how to get answers.
Other useful resources (some only in Dutch)
Searchable map of the Netherlands (by Postcode or City/Street).
National telephone directory. Fill in name (Naam) and city (Woonplaats).
Gouden Gids (Yellow pages)
Dutch Railways including national and some international train times. Alternatively use the German Railways site.
Public transport site with a form where you can fill in the start and end points of your journey, and it will work out a number of routes for you (click on 'reisadvies' when you get to the page).
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport including live arrival and departure information.
Online hotel booking service.
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© Copyright 1993-2004 Steven Pemberton and Astrid Kerssens. All rights reserved.
Last modified: Tue Aug 17 22:40:46 CEST 2004
URL:
http://www.cwi.nl/~steven/amsterdam.html
Contact:
Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl, but please bear in mind we are not a tourist service!
Please don't ask about hotels.
VVV Amsterdam (The Amsterdam Tourist Office) has an email address:
info@amsterdamtourist.nl
The Amsterdam Authorities offer help for questions.
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About this guide
All addresses mentioned are personal choices of the authors. There are no paid entries.
The link to the list of books about Amsterdam is in association with Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
The guide has been designed to print out and take with you. You need this information when you're in Amsterdam, not when you're behind your screen!
We have avoided all browser-specific markup or proprietary formats like Flash that would prevent some people from being able to see this guide. The web is for everyone! We have used CSS, but that doesn't prevent non-CSS browsers from seeing this page.
Most addresses are in the central part of Amsterdam. To be mentioned, restaurants must be good, reasonably priced, in the centre of Amsterdam and offer at least one vegetarian dish (and they must not put "service not included" on the bill!)
The prices and opening times are a guideline; we can't guarantee any of the information here. We're happy to receive corrections or ideas for additions.
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