5 Interesting & Real Traveller Tips on Amsterdam, Netherlands

Once more with Sachin, this time with some tips for Amsterdam. Thanks also to Open Galleries for the Amsterdam photos they share. Now words to Sachin, like me I guess, also a fan of Amsterdam :)

Amsterdam has a reputation that is a little unfounded and there are many things to do in the Netherlands. It is a city of contradictions and change. Holland and Amsterdam can be a great start or finish to your European tour, and is a little more relaxed and safer than many of the countries surrounding. Make sure you have travel insurance before setting off. Here is a real travelers tips and hints on Amsterdam to get you thinking.


Easy Access. Schiphol International Airport, which is the new home of KLM airlines, is a major air transport hub for the world and Europe. The airport is very modern and passing through it is amazingly fast and a pleasant experience. Immigration officials are very friendly and professional. Visas are not required for many passport holders heading for the Netherlands, or the rest of Europe, make it a great place to visit without prior and annoying arrangements.

Reputation unfounded. Although Amsterdam has a slightly sleazy and party reputation, this is quite unfounded. Sure the locals and travelers like to enjoy themselves, and there is a legal red-light district, you will find Amsterdam is very pleasant, clean and despite it being a party destination,
there is a local air of good clean fun and happy times where ever you go. The city has a huge range of daytime activities such as touring the canals, viewing wonderful gardens, beautiful buildings, and must-see places such as the Van Gogh Museum. A truly highly cultured city.


Accommodation. A huge range of high end and very affordable and very modern back-packer accommodation is available. Amsterdam is very accustomed to travelers and very clean and modern rooms with all amenities are everywhere -- a great way to make new friends and have a good time. These are the best way to get travel ideas, cheap tours and cheap travel insurance while in the city.

Smoking. You may feel a sense of contradiction particularly when it comes to smoking. Tobacco smoking is banned in public places, such as bars and restaurants and the like, as in many countries, while at the same time marijuana smoking is legal in pot-selling stores. To have a cigarette indoors you will have to frequent one of these coffee and tea and marijuana stores, while not consuming marijuana in one of these stores is considered impolite. Good luck if you are a tobacco smoker and don't take marijuana normally.


Hilarious language. For those of you have never heard someone speak Dutch you will quickly find out how wonderful it sounds. Everyone will switch to English once they know you don't understand, however you will often hear a strange mix of vocabulary and grammar which unintentionally seems to mean the opposite of what was said -- with quite flippant connotations. An excellent way to cheer yourself up is to ask a police officer in the street a very serious question and listen to the reply. Get ready for lots of fun and laughter.

Amsterdam, I think the best and only place to visit in Europe just because of the great nature of the people who are very relaxed, open and friendly when compared to other European nations.

Well, I can't vote for this last paragraph - You must visit Lisbon Sachin! - I'm sure you would also love it. Portugal is really beautiful and, like Netherlands, also filled with very friendly Europeans :)

Tiptoe Through the Tulips in Springtime Netherlands

Almost every year since 2000, we have happily pedaled through stunning tulip country in the Netherlands with our equally happy bike and barge tour groups. In recent years we've started scheduling our Holland flower trips earlier in the season to increase our chances of catching the glorious Dutch flowers blooming in the fields.

Though prime tulip season used be mid-May (and of course, you never really know with Mother Nature), now we advise our cyclists to travel with The Trip Chicks to the Netherlands by the end of April. Keukenhof Garden in Lisse is wonderful, and due to staggered planting, the tulips there bloom longer than in the open fields. Still, there's really nothing quite like the breath-taking magic of a Dutch bike route along rainbow-colored tulip fields as far as the eye can see. It's a scene that can make even the most straight-laced of travelers get teary-eyed at the sheer beauty of it all.

What about the barge itself, converted from a Dutch freighter? It's a cozy floating hotel typically with a crew of three to eight, along with an experienced multi-lingual Dutch tour guide. The guide, thankfully, is also a bike mechanic for those rare instances we need one along the way. Each morning after breakfast on the barge, we pack a picnic lunch. Then we head out with our bicycles while the barge chugs on to the next port. Not a cyclist? Not a worry! The crew is delighted to have a few extra willing hands on board. Those who prefer to stay on board for the day usually reach the overnight stop an hour or two before those who pedal. That gives the "advance team" a chance to explore a bit and share great finds with their biking shipmates.

Before meeting up with our boat, cyclists take in the peaceful green countryside and tidy Dutch neighborhoods, complete with carefully-manicured gardens, miniature windmills, and windows peeking from behind Dutch lace curtains. En route to our port, we make both scheduled and serendiptous stops, enjoying a scenic picnic, a visit to a working windmill, cheese farm, or maybe a medieval town or two. Of course, on each trip there are always a few cyclists who sneak off, on the daily hunt for the best Dutch apple pie in the province before hopping back on their bikes.

We reach the barge just in time for tea/coffee with tasty desserts. Then most of us grab a quick shower or stroll before the hearty dinner cooked up by our crew. To cap off our memorable day, sometimes our Dutch guide offers to lead us on a leisurely walking tour of the town. A bike and barge trip through cycling paradise - the land of wooden shoes, windmills, Droste chocolate, Edam and Gouda, and the welcoming Dutch - is hard to beat. What a perfect way for the young and the young-at-heart alike to experience the Netherlands at its best!

Happy travels. Tot ziens!

~Ann Lombardi & Wendy Swartzell

The Trip Chicks

Movable Steel Bridges, Amsterdam, Netherlands

After my last post about the Old Stone Bridges it wouldn't be fair if I didn't publish also a few lines dedicated to Amsterdam's so characteristic Movable Steel Bridges.

Above and bellow, two of the finest examples - with it's industrial age style it's my opinion that they contribute, and much, for the fabulous landscape of the city.

Just one word of advice, if you ear an insistent bell, don't forget that they move ;)

Old Stone Bridges, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sorry for the absence but, between pushing furniture and painting my flat, I haven't had much free time lately. Nevertheless I'm almost done now so, off we go to Amsterdam! This time I start by calling your attention to the city's beautiful stone bridges.

Above, the Blauwbrug bridge (or in English, the Blue Bridge). Built in the place where lied an old blue wooden bridge (hence it's name) it has in it's lanterns the most amazing stone decorations. Bellow the lanterns a shape that reminds a boat and on the top several beautiful crowns (Austrian ones, they said).

Another fantastic stone bridge is the one near the Munttoren Tower. Fully decorated with metal statues like the one above, this bridge it's a true work of art. and most definitively worthy of a visit :)

Bike Taxis, Amsterdam, Netherlands

How to travel from one place to another when in Amsterdam? Well, as secure options you have the city trams and the traditional taxis. If you're into a bit of exercise, you can always rent a bike but if you're into something a bit different... Just look bellow :)
Not only they have bike-taxis there!! They have them in several colours and models!! Above, a white one so comfortable, so comfortable, that one can even read the paper during the travel :)

Followed of course by an exclusive vintage model that we've found working near the centre of the city (right beside the Rembrandt Square).

And by this orange one, we've found near the Royal Palace. Although a bit slow, I'm sure they're a funny way to get you to your destination ;)

Rembrandt Square, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Independently of the destiny there are two things my friends always ask me. Where should they go to grab a bite to eat or for drink at night? In Amsterdam it's easy - and the answer to both questions is the same - head to the Rembrandt Square.

During the day, the place has a very cosy garden and all around the square are several restaurants and coffees with tables outside. If the weather is good it's a spot where one can really enjoy a nice meal.

Like the name of the place indicates you'll have as an extra company the distinct and well know Dutch painter. You'll find him right in the middle of the plaza looking towards the street from his pedestal.

By night it's the place to go for a drink. With several bars and clubs available for you to choose from you'll find the streets filled with people at least until 1:00 or 2:00 am and a fantastic mood there. Cheers! :)

Tuschinski Theater, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Also in the proximities of the Flower Market, about half way on the right side of the street that takes you from the Munttoner to the Rembrandt's Plaza, is another of Amsterdam's highlights - the Tuschinski Theater.

The building is currently used as movie theatre and it's architecture is really something else. As if the entrance (photo above) wasn't enough to make it stand out from the rest, let me take you a few steps back into the middle of the street so you can check the building as a whole (photo bellow) - amazing, right?

Although one could say that the stone walls make it appear very cold, it has a lot of Gothic elements mixed with and Art-Deco design (specially inside) that work's perfectly - it's very cosy, warm and, without doubts, absolutely unique as a movie theatre.

Taken from the balcony of the main room this last photo illustrates the quality of the place and it's decoration. In one sentence, a glamorous showroom from the past perfectly maintained until today.

Munttoren, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Located in the Muntplein square (very close to the Flower Market from the last post) the Munttoren, in English the Mint Tower (named after the mint coin process that used to take place there), is without doubt one of Amsterdam's landmarks. Given it's central location it's very easy to reach so - try not miss it :)

Above photographed from the channel and bellow from the street nearby, I find amazing how the tower manages to stand out from the rest of the scenery - which by the way is beautiful and only makes the achievement even more difficult.

Destroyed by a fire in 1618 only the guard house and part of the tower remained. Rebuilt in the start of the seventeenth century in Amsterdam's Renaissance style, the Munttoren gained then both it's four beautiful clocks and it's bells carillon.

Floating Flower Market, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Locally know as Bloemenmarkt the Amsterdam's flower market is rather different from the regular markets one is used to see. It's stores are all built over the water on several platforms that accompany the curve shore of the Singel Canal.
As if floating stores wasn't enough to make of this one an unique market, you'll find another unusual characteristic when looking from the other side of the canal. Instead of naked building walls, the back of all the market's stores are decorated with several flowers motives that all together result in the view you can see bellow.
As to the market itself, it's open from 9am to 6pm everyday except Sunday and I assure you that you'll have no trouble in finding there tulips in every colour there is. Already packed in small kits they make the perfect souvenir for you to take back home.
If tulips are not your thing and the first store doesn't have the flower you're looking for - no problem! Just walk down the street to the next one that, from lotus flowers to little bonsai trees, I believe they sell all kinds of plants there ;)

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hi there! And sorry for the recently lack of new posts but, between a few days of vacations (without computer) and my busy work, I haven't been able to "blog" much. Nevertheless, sometimes working helps and this time it was exactly that what happened - my work took me to a conference in Amsterdam for a few days ;)
In a quick opinion I must say that I simply loved Amsterdam. To give you an overview of the place I'll start by publishing some panoramic photos of the city's centre in this first Amsterdam post.
As you can see above and bellow the combination of the city's beautiful architecture with it's many channels produces a fantastic atmosphere. As to the food there it's good and you'll find a lot, and I mean a lot, of restaurants and bars available for you to choose from.
Another plus factor of the town is it's public transportation system and it's geography with almost no hills who allows the many, many bicycles - between the trams and the bikes cars were almost removed from the scene.