Finally, I’m putting this post
up. I’ve been saying for ages I was going to upload a post of my recent trip to
Amsterdam, and by ages I mean about 2 weeks! So at the end of March we headed
off to Amsterdam. I had always wanted to go, so for Valentine’s Day I booked
the flights for myself and Stephen (this was more a present for myself!). I’m a
wagon for choosing the earliest flight so we flew out at 6:16 am and arrived in Amsterdam
at about 9 am. The issue with this is that you can’t actually check in to most
hotels until after 1 pm.
Location…
By the time we got out of the
airport and onto the train, it was about 11 am by the time we got to Amsterdam
central. From here we got a bus to our hotel which was literally up the road. Thank
god for google maps because otherwise we would have been completely lost.
Top Tip: If you’re getting the train from the airport to Amsterdam
Central, you will need a lot of change, as the ticket machines don’t accept
notes or visa debit cards.
We found our hotel, which was literally
a door in between a row of shops, and chanced our arm at checking in, or at
least dumping our bags somewhere! I was completely taken a back by the fun house
stairs up to the reception (these stairs really weren’t fun), there was no
mention of this on the website or booking.com. Luckily when we got to the
reception we were told our room was the only room unoccupied last night and we
were able to check in straight away. Unluckily, we were told to get to our room
we had to go back down stairs, turn right and find the other door about 5 shops
up. This had MORE stairs up to it and we were on the fourth floor. I was so out
of breath and tired by the time we got upstairs that I needed a little nap. I think
I ended up sleeping until about 4 pm when Stephen woke me up and said we had to
go exploring. Our room was fine, a bed, a bathroom, a TV – by fine I mean this
was the deluxe room and there was nothing deluxe about it, the TV didn’t work
and it was a little cramped. Other than the stairs, the cramped room and the TV
that didn’t work (who needs a TV anyway), we were in the perfect location. If you
don’t mind walking up 4 flights of steep stairs everyday then I would recommend
this hotel, it is in such an ideal location and didn’t break the bank (€300 for
3 nights). If you want to find out more information you can visit the website here.Things to do…
We had been told by a few
different people to pick up a tram card because we’d need one… we didn’t, we
walked everywhere, like literally everywhere. The weather was perfect and its
mainly all flat (apart from walking over certain bridge’s) so it’s easy to walk
wherever you want.
There’s so much to do in Amsterdam,
there’s museums around every corner. Everything from cheese museums to sex museums.
We tried to fit as much in as we could. We ended up doing Madame Tussauds, the
Ice Bar and the Sex Museum on Tuesday. We were out for the whole day, but we were
kept so busy. I wasn’t a massive fan of Madame Tussauds, I had been to the one
in New York and Stephen had been to the one in London so I think we both had
high expectations. I think the best part of our trip was the Ice Bar. For €16
you get two drinks inside and one cocktail in the lounge area, and the cocktails
are delish.
On the Wednesday we went to the
Heineken experience and then walked back towards the Anne Frank house. The queue
was massive so we couldn’t go in unfortunately. We had been to the Guinness Storehouse
at Christmas and we both felt that the Guinness tour was better, even though
the Heineken Experience was really interactive. It cost €16 each and I had booked
the tickets before we left Ireland. That night we went for a stroll down the
red light district and went for a drink beside the canals.
Top Tip: if you want to go to the Anne Frank House book it in
advance, like 3 months in advance.
Our last day was the Thursday,
and our flight wasn’t until after 9 pm that evening so we left our bags at the
hotel and went off to do a bit more exploring, and shopping. We ended up doing
the prostitute museum and taking another stroll up the red light district
during the day. It felt like we were literally trying to kill time and there really
wasn’t anything else for us to do. I wanted to visit the zoo while we were here
but we couldn’t do this on the last day as it would take too long to do and get
back from.
I really felt like we had done
everything we wanted to do (apart from the Anne Frank House and the zoo), so if
i was coming back I wouldn’t be going back to do sightseeing.
The Food…
I love food, but it doesn’t always
love me. I always get weary about eating abroad as it might not react well with
me, and to be honest it's not just aboard I get that fear at home also. The food
in Amsterdam is sort of like at home, there seemed to be a lot of Italians and
steakhouses. On our first day we went to a little café and I had salmon which
was delish. The second day we had a pizza which was fine, but I couldn’t finish
it. And on our last evening Stephen found this lovely Argentinian restaurant. I
was so weary, because I thought I wouldn’t like a thing on the menu, but it was
a steakhouse. It was delicious, really really well done and the perfect cut.
If you’re like me and eating
abroad scares you, there is nothing to worry about in Amsterdam. Plus they seem
to be mad about pancakes, pancakes everywhere (their version of pancakes are
our version of Crepes).
Overall I had such a lovely trip
and was knackered once I got back. We ended up doing so much walking and fit in
so much more than I could have ever imagined. I would 100% recommend you visit,
but book stuff in advance as it can work out cheaper and look at the reviews
before you book accommodation! In terms of cash, it is expensive, but that was because
we went to so many different sights.
Have you been to Amsterdam? What was your opinion?
