Amsterdam!

[crlygrl]

I'm going!

Anyone been there before? Post your stories or suggestions here!

I'm especially interested in ideas for day trips and any experiences with staying in some of the studio apartments that are available for weekly rental. We're also looking at hotels, but I'd like a kitchen.

Also, cheese. I want to eat lots of cheese while I'm there.

[TimBuktu]

pothead.

[Berliner]

Put a little money into traveling.

[crlygrl]

Oh man I thought I could do this for free.

[Scratch Lightning]

Funny - when I saw the thread title, my first thought was "eat lots of cheese". We ate on a budget, but the deli sandwiches were all cheap and really good and had amazing cheese.

I went 10 years ago and stayed in a hostel, but I was in college at the time. Mostly we just walked around - it's a beautiful city. Definitely go see the Van Gogh exhibit (when I was there, the VG Mueseum was being renovated, and the exhibit was somewhere else).

I've heard the Heineken brewery is pretty awesome, but we were always too hungover to make it in time. Tried for the Anne Frank house, but the line was too long. Ended up taking one of those canal boat tours, which was nice.

The sex museum is silly and touristy, but a lot of fun if you go with friends in an altered state.

Don't go see a live sex show. That may have been the most depressing thing I've ever seen in my whole life.

There's also apparently a small town a short train ride away that has windmills and tulips and bike rentals. I didn't go, but some friends did and said it was great. Harlem, maybe?

[JPSpaulding]

Try to find a good Kabab place for lunch, and if you find the right one, plan on eating at it everyday.

Pancakes and try brown bottle Heineken for breakfast

The Doors coffee shop was there 9 years ago when i went and had a great bud and music selection without a lot of people, find one you like and make it your own

Watch your stuff, the room we stayed in had a group of windows that could be accessed by a neighboring buildings roof and some people got jacked

Dont bring back weed, ecstasy taped to your foot...at your own risk

[waxpop]

Amsterdam is my favorite place I have traveled to. It was one of the stops on my honeymoon and I dream of going back, like, every day.

It's a no-brainer, but you must go to the Anne Frank House. I wasn't looking forward to it that much because, you know, DOWNER ALERT, but it was amazing. I'm really glad I ended up going. Also, to avoid the line problems Scratch Lightning ran into, you can now buy tickets on the web and skip the line when you show up for your tour.

And then, go around the corner to the Pancake Bakery and have an amazing meal. I got a sweet one with strawberries and ice cream and whipped cream and it made me forget all about those awful Nazis.

We stayed at Blaine's B&B on the outskirts of town. It's like a 10-minute tram ride to the city center - no big deal. Lovely rooms, breakfasts I still think about, and friendly hosts who will help you out with any info about the city. Highly recommended, but no kitchens.

The Van Gogh was closed when we went, I think, but we did the Rijksmuseum and it was great, obvs.

He's a geek, but Rick Steves has some great ideas for traveling cheaply and avoiding being the ugly American. Also, lots of good restaurant and hotel/B&B recs.

And of course: delicious, delicious weed! Rick Steves's Amsterdam book has some recommendations on the friendliest coffeeshops, which was good 'cause I was a little shy about it.

I'm so jealous! Have a great time!

ETA: also, for those of us who can't make the trip right now, there's the amazing Panoramsterdam!

[Babychoby]

If you are going to be in The Netherlands a little while I suggest you try to visit Rotterdam while you're there. It's a great city with all the ethos of Amsterdam but with less of the party time tourists you will quickly grow to hate. PLUS they have a walk of fame with David Copperfield and JCVD's handprints!

[CptMrSargeant]

I highly recommend visiting The Grey Area which was one of the best coffee shops I'd been too in terms of quality. I also recommend consuming some mushrooms and going to the Van Gogh museum. You can't go wrong. ..unless you have a bad trip, in which case things could go horribly, horribly wrong.

[smartbunny]

don't stay in a hostel! Didn't you see those movies???

[Scratch Lightning]

We ate mushrooms before we went to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Rijksmuseum. They were awesome, but there were 6 of us, and once we were tripping, no one knew how to get there and so we just walked in a general direction, each person thinking they were following someone else without saying anything.

Once we figured out we were lost, we ended up getting on the first trolley that came by, and rode it for a while. After 4 or 5 stops, we agreed to get off at the next stop to ask for directions. The next stop ended up being the museum.

That blew our minds.

[crlygrl]

Haha I'm not so sure about the mushrooms. It's going to be for my honeymoon and I'm not sure that's a good time to trip out... But we'll see!

Thanks for the info everyone. Even though we're going next Jan/Feb, we might also take a drive out to the ocean to see the North Sea and also to one of these islands that butts up against Denmark. I can't remember what they're called.

[scamboogah]

Originally Posted by crlygrl

we might also take a drive out to the ocean to see the North Sea and also to one of these islands that butts up against Denmark. I can't remember what they're called.

Denmark Butt islands, I think...

Way in advance Bon Voyage.

[crlygrl]

Haha thanks yeah we're planning this way in advance because we're actually going to try to register for the honeymoon. Fuck a new set of dishes -- I want Holland.

[heykevin]

When I went a couple years ago, I had friends who worked at Boom Chicago (the english language comedy theater out there). The shows were fun without being biased towards my friends. The Van Gogh museum is a must, and the Heineken Brewery isn't really a must but is fun. If you have time to leave town, my friends who live there all swear by the Efteling Amusement Park. Go to Wynand Fockink. Eat Poferties (bite-sized pancakes with powdered sugar). Eat something from FEBO. Just walk around. Feel it.

[priceyeah]

I think you are all aware that Patton Oswalt has a bit about an Amsterdam coffee shop. In late 2007 I visited Amsterdam and before I went I asked Patton (who was still posting regularly here) to name his favorite coffee shops. AST pulled a Lazarus last summer, so that data's all gone, but I wrote down his recommendations for my own personal use and for posterity.

Here they are:

Dolphins - Kerkstraat 39
Abraxas - Jonge Roelensteeg 12
Lucky Mothers - Keizersgracht 665

[RegularKarate]

Thanks for starting this thread... it's helpful as I'm going to Brussels, Bruges, and Amsterdam in less than two months.

I've heard good things about the monkey zoo.

[yumitree]

i've heard bad things about any zoo without monkeys.

[theodoric]

I'm not allowed back into The Netherlands.

[frachse]

Originally Posted by crlygrl

Thanks for the info everyone. Even though we're going next Jan/Feb, we might also take a drive out to the ocean to see the North Sea and also to one of these islands that butts up against Denmark. I can't remember what they're called.

The East Frisian Islands, I've been to Norderney a couple of years ago and it was nice. However, I went in the summer, it'll probably be very cold and windy in January and February.