First Trip to Amsterdam
When you think of taking your first trip to Amsterdam, what comes to mind? Some think of a city full of tulips, canals and bicycles in an area of Europe that is known for its history and architecture. Others, think of coffeeshops or the infamous red-light district. All of these are accurate of my favorite European city, but there is SO much more to Amsterdam. Let me share why Amsterdam is my favorite European city to visit after more than a dozen trips. I might just convince you to book your first trip to Amsterdam the Dutch capital.
The Dutch are known to be an open-minded society that are happy (despite the weather), well-educated, world travelers and are all able to speak English. In fact, don’t feel like you need to learn a single word in Dutch before your trip, you won’t need it. This could not be more different than most European cities I’ve lived or visited. Typically, most of Europe will either appreciate you for trying to speak the language, like Germany or Spain and be patient, but some countries will ridicule your accent and look at you like a “stupid America.”
I could care less what people say or think of my accent, I’m from Philly even Americans make fun of how I sound. My husband feels different, languages intimidate him. He’s been traveling abroad since we’ve been together the past 13 years, but feels more at home in Amsterdam than America most days and I feel that is because of the lack of language barrier in addition to the kindness of the Dutch.
Dutch Geography
Travelers often get confused about the terms The Netherlands, Dutch and Holland and use them interchangeably, so here is the scoop. Amsterdam is the capital city of The Netherlands, a royal kingdom whose government is a constitutional monarch and has a royal family. You can visit the royal palace when the family is not present for royal duties. Holland is a region that is split into both North Holland and South Holland, but a very small area of land in the grand scheme of the Low Countries (referring to The Netherlands, Belgium & Luxembourg).
Amsterdam and the famous tulip farms are in North Holland, along with the smaller sister city, Haarlem, just west of the capital. Yes, New York City’s Harlem is named after it, since NYC was originally a Dutch colony. The cities of Rotterdam, The Hague and Leiden are all located in South Holland. The Dutch are the people of The Netherlands and any of its colonial kingdoms like the Caribbean Islands of Bonaire and Curacao in The Netherlands Antilles. Don’t worry, there will not be a quiz!
First Trip to Amsterdam
The first trip I ever took to Amsterdam was a long layover while traveling to Cairo, Egypt. I was in my early 20’s, meeting a group in the Middle East and could not be more excited to go to the Anne Frank House! I was a teacher who focused on Holocaust history and read Anne Frank with numerous classes over the years. After stowing my suitcase in a locker, I hopped on the train to head into Central Station in the heart of Amsterdam. It was early in the morning, so I found a café (not coffeeshop…at least not yet) for breakfast until my Anne Frank ticket time slot arrived.
The Anne Frank House is a small museum, just the apartment with the attic and then an adjacent building for the museum. I spent hours there soaking everything in, learning more to share with my students and spending a pretty penny in the bookstore. On my way out, I stopped for some photos of Westerkerk (West Church) on the canal at the corner. This was the church that the young author wrote about hearing in her diary, that was her only connection while hiding from the outside world. I got to hear its chim before finding a lunch spot. After grabbing a quick bite, the classic baguette sandwich I’ve always loved in Europe, I decided on a canal cruise tour.
The Best Canal Cruise Tours
There are a million options and you don’t need a reservation for many tours, but if you want to research them or are looking for a specific time, book ahead of time on an app like Get Your Guide or Viator. When in Amsterdam a canal cruise is a must, during any time of year or weather. A family friendly boat, informational canal cruise, wine & cheese cruise tours, romantic sunset cruises and even a smoke and cruise boat tour. In the winter, there is a special Light Festival canal cruise. I often suggest two cruises on a trip, one during the day and one in the evening. You get two totally different perspectives and can cruise different parts of the city. These are some of my favorites companies to book canal cruises:
- Blue Boats (best for kids)
- Flagship
- Pure Boats (wine & cheese)
- Captain Jack
- Those Dam Boat Guys (16+ for humor)
- Smoke Boat (marajiuana friendly)
- Buddah Boat (marajiuana friendly)
Whatever your style, a canal cruise in Amsterdam is a must do and should be scheduled early in your trip to help gain your bearings and efficiently see the sites of Amsterdam.
Living and Traveling in Europe
My next three trips were in the years I was living in Berlin, Germany. This is when I first learned about the Keukenhof tulip festival and beautiful spring flowers that Holland has to offer. It became an annual pilgrimage to see each year and thankfully I had lots of long weekend holidays in spring on my German school calendar. Large groups of friends would share hostel rooms and see the museums and sites of our choice during the day and ate, drank and partied well into the evenings. European & International teachers are a different breed! My love for the Dutch city grew to be one of my favorite places to travel. I was excited to share it a few years later, with the man who became my husband and life-long travel partner.
Hubby’s First Trip to Amsterdam
My husband had a big birthday, one year into dating and I wrapped up a passport application with an itinerary for a 12-day trip to Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris. If he was going to be with me, he was going to need to love Europe. European travel is not for beginners or those who fear exceptionally steep stairs! I showed him the city of Berlin, Germany where I had lived for a few pivotal years, loving the European lifestyle. Berlin was having a heat wave, and it became very real to this Florida-born boy that most of Europe does not have air conditioning!
After a few days we were in Amsterdam, enjoying a respite from the heat. Amsterdam is often cool and rainy well into mid-summer months, so be prepared with rain gear and a sweater and jeans. After the most amazing time in Amsterdam, we took the train south to Paris. My husband is a classically trained painter, so between the art museums of Paris and visiting Claude Monet’s home and studio at Giverny, Ken’s first European trip was life changing to say the least.
However, Amsterdam was always the city that stuck in his mind and when he fell in love with the city. He has taken me back many years to celebrate my birthday during Spring Break, right in time for tulip season. We have since spent time in Amsterdam during every season and many holidays. We have two more trips planned this upcoming year for spring and with the whole family to Celebrate our son’s 18th birthday in the fall.
Family Friendly First Trip to Europe
This summer we took our first family trip to Europe. Starting in Amsterdam for a week, then took the train to Paris for a few days, before renting a car to drive to Normandy, France and back up to The Netherlands. We stopped in Brussels and Antwerp, Belgium and planned on spending our last few days on Zandvoot Beach. I have never been to a Dutch beach and have always wanted to, assuming they are similar to the German beach holidays I have experienced.
However, this part of the trip was not meant to be, because of weather, more cold and wet than expected in June. Hubby and I had a chat about changing the end of the trip back to Amsterdam since our kids loved it there as much as we do. We booked a great little hotel in the city center for our last two nights in Europe, before flying home. I still look forward to going to Zandvoot and enjoying the Dutch coastline on a future trip.
The kids acclimated to the city quickly and felt more relaxed and comfortable in Amsterdam then expected. Paris is a big city and very crowded when we went. The kids got to see me in “aggressive” mode as they called it, but you have to be assertive and keep your kids safe. It relaxed again in the French and Belgium countryside and we all felt back at home in the Netherlands. Since this was their first trip, we planned as many of the top attractions and museums as possible in each city and spent a few days touring the Normandy sites. Even with two weeks in Europe, we just scratched the surface. We are already planning our next trip mimicking this itinerary in 2029 for the 85th anniversary of D-day.
Best of Amsterdam Attractions
There are a lot of museums in Amsterdam, you are never going to get to them all, so my advice is to pick your top 2-3 choices depending on the length of your trip. Taking into consideration the season and weather, it may be more reasonable to choose more indoor attractions in the winter. The top museums and churches to visit in central Amsterdam:
· Rijksmuseum
· Van Gogh Museum
· Rembrandt House Museum
· Stedelijk Museum (modern art)
· Anne Frank House
· Madame Tussaud’s wax museum
· National Maritime Museum
· Amsterdam Museum
· Houseboat Museum
· Museum On’s Lieve Heer-Op Solder
· Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam’s New Church)
· Oude Kerk (Amsterdam’s Old Church)
· Basilica of St. Nicholas
Almost everyone arrives into Amsterdam from Central Station, by train either from the airport or another European city. This is a great spot to buy metro tickets for the duration of your trip or you can tap on and tap off using your bank card. Amsterdam has an elaborate maze of metro, train and bus transportation that is all covered on a day or week pass. Unless you plan to truly embrace the bicycling culture and rent bikes for your whole trip, public transportation will be your best friend. The maps are easy to read, take a picture of the metro map and ask the metro operators any questions. They are all friendly, knowledgeable and speak English and many other languages. Other top attractions to consider when visiting Amsterdam:
· Bike tour or walking tour (especially good for history enthusiasts)
· Blumenmarket- flower market
· Zaanse Schans- windmill tour just outside of Amsterdam
· Dutch food tour or cheese tasting
· Heineken Experience or beer tasting tour
· Red-light district and coffeeshop tour
Amsterdam’s Best Parks
One of the quintessential parts of visiting Amsterdam any time of year is visiting its parks. This is not just for children, in fact you see more grown-ups in parks than kids, except for the playground areas. One of my favorite lunch options is to pick up the makings for a picnic. I stop in at one of the bakeries, sandwich shops or even a market stall to pick up sandwiches, fruit & pastries. Then head to a convenience store for drinks and interestingly flavored chips (my favorites are the old bay). Find a bench on a canal or neighborhood park to enjoy your lunch outside.
There is a well-maintained park no matter what part of the city you find yourself in Amsterdam. Vondelpark and Rembrandt Park are south and the two most popular with tourists. The other three big parks are Noorderpark in the northern part of the city. Oosterpart in the east and my favorite, Westerpark in the west. Parks are also a great place to enjoy a snack, sweet or ice cream on a sunny day or let the kids run off steam.
Favorite Amsterdam Neighborhood
Our favorite neighborhood is in the North Jordaan, Harlemerplain which is in the most northern part of the Jordaan area. North of the western canal belt where most of the tourists are attracted to the Anne Frank house and shopping. Haarlemmerstraat is the main road, traveling west from city center and has lots of restaurants, boutique stores, bakeries, coffeeshops and my favorite fry stand. Eventually Haarlemmerstraat turns into Haarlemmerdijk running all the way to Haarlemmerplein where the Wednesday market takes place. The street spills into Westerpark on the far side of the intersection. We have grown to really love this park in the spring and summer, the flowers smell amazing! If you want to find a hotel in or near the Jordaan, I recommend the following:
- The Bank Hotel
- Sebastian’s Hotel
- Max Brown Canal
- The Kimpton
- Sint Nikolas Hotel
- Andaz Princingrat
- Canal House
Favorite Amsterdam Restaurants & Foods
The most popular tourist areas are located in the southern part of the Jordaan neighborhood. However, the best restaurants for breakfast, lunch & brunch in the areas are scattered around the neighborhood, with many in the northern streets. Try places like:
- Ted’s Brunch
- Winkle 43
- Box Sociaal Jordaan
- Ms. B’s at La Grotte
- The Papeneiland Cafe
- Cafe Tgijssen
Dinner gets even more diverse, with options from 5-star eateries to simple ethnic take away stalls. Some of our favorites in the Jordaan include:
- Pesca- Theater of Fish
- Salmuera
- La Oliva
- Cannibale Royale (5 locations in Amsterdam)
- Black & Blue Steakhouse
- La Perla Pizzeria
- Mr. Meat Steakhouse
- San Pedro Steakhouse
All these locations we’ve personally tried and loved over our recent trips. When traveling off peak season or with the family I often don’t make reservations, but keep a running list of casual places my kids will enjoy. During peak season, I typically try to book reservations most nights, then cancel if plans change. For couples trips, I aim to book a cafe for casual French food, steakhouse, Italian, seafood, Spanish/ Latin American and an Asian restaurant to cover our favorite foods and not eat in steakhouses every night. There are also many vegetarian and Indian options that I hear are great, but not our taste. There is a bakery, pastry shop, cheese store or ice cream shop lining the streets of the whole city, but especially the Jordaan neighborhood. Wander around, trying the specialties of the Dutch city.
Booking Tours & Experiences
If you have decided to organize any of the day trips easily accessible from Amsterdam, you can choose between an organized bus tours, regional trains, uber/taxis or renting a car. If you want to take out all of the thought process and want to sit back and be a 100% tourist, then book the bus tour. There are tons of options and many are available to book for free from Viator or Get Your Guide, and can be changed up until the last day. The most expensive option is to uber or book a private tour, but for some places it’s worth it.
Keukenhof, Haarlem and Utrect are all easy uber trips for that door to door service. The train system is extensive in this part of Europe and you can plan a train trip for any of these places. These train rides need a different ticket then what you have for the metro, but you only need to arrive a few minutes ahead of time and often can buy a ticket on the platform. You will do the same thing if you leave Amsterdam by train for another city like Paris or Berlin. Other great places to visit near Amsterdam include:
· Keukenhof and tulip field tour in spring season (end of March-mid-May)
· Giethoorn day trip
· Edam, Volendam & Marken
· Gouda, The Hague or Rotterdam
· Utrecht & Castle de Haar
· Brussels or Bruges, Belgium
· Christmas Market to Cologne, Germany (December only)
Planning First Trip to Amsterdam
There is nothing better than visiting Amsterdam, especially in the spring or summer when the weather is nicer and the tulips are in bloom. Even in rainy weather, the Dutch cities and countryside are beautiful and worth a visit. If you are planning to visit Amsterdam and hoping to still take part in the coffeeshop culture and/or visit the Red Light District for some fun, it’s all at your finger tips. Let’s schedule your next trip today!
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