13 Things you should do when Visiting Amsterdam

Last Friday I set off to Amsterdam with hubby’s sister. I have been looking forward to this for such a long time. This was my first trip this year where I actually spent two nights in the city but Amsterdam is easily doable on just a weekend, too.

We had an early 7am flight on Friday morning. It is a pain to get up during the night, however, it gives us a full day in the city and no time is wasted traveling. Dublin to Amsterdam is roughly 1 hour 20 minutes. Amsterdam is such a user friendly city. The airport is connected with the train station. So as soon as you come out of the arrivals, you walk straight into the train station which is so handy. A train ticket into Amsterdam Central is €5.50. In my opinion that is good value. The train roughly takes about fifteen minutes more or less. It depends if you catch the Inter City or the Sprinter.

1. Dam Square

When we arrived in Amsterdam city, it was kind of between breakfast and lunch. We already had something light to eat on the plane. So we stopped off at the Majestic cafe, located opposite the Dam Square (home to the Royal Palace, as pictured above). This is where I enjoyed a lovely hot chocolate with cream on top. It was definitely worth the five euro something I paid for it. You can sit outside and just watch the world go by. A lot of restaurants and cafes have heaters outside.

2. Bloemenmarkt

We walked on further South of Amsterdam city to look for the floating flower market. You will find a row of small shops that sell flowers, souvenirs, cheese and much more. If you love flowers, then you will definitely have to com here. For example they have small little clogs where you can grow sunflowers in. There are plenty of tulips to choose from.  I am terrible at keeping flowers alive so I didn’t pick one up but hubby’s sister did. I got one of my magnets instead which proudly sits on my fridge with all the other magnets I got on my recent travels.

3. Sample the Dutch Cheese

One thing you will definitely have to try when in Amsterdam, is the different types of cheeses. I am a massive fan of cheese. I could eat cheese every single day. Beside the flower market, you will find a little shop in the basement, below a cheese museum. In here you can sample so many different cheeses. They will also explain to you how each cheese is made and what is in it. There is pepper flavoured cheese, green pesto, red chilli, cow milk, sheep milk, I could go on. I picked up the Spring cheese. One cheese is €9.95. I wish I bought a second one because half of it is gone already. Once opened, the cheese will last four weeks.

4. Lunch at Rembrandt Square

It was coming towards lunch. We ended up in the Rembrandt Square, surrounded by plenty of restaurants. We chose an Italian one called La Madonnina. They have the most amazing pizza and the prices are so reasonable, too. My ham and cheese pizza was not even €9. Our whole lunch meal of one pizza, garlic bread and two glasses of beer came to a cost of €25. I don’t think you can argue with that. We sat outside on this day because the weather picked up despite the wind. It was lovely to just indulge in the sunshine and watching people walking by.

5. Canal Cruise

The weather for Saturday was a bit unpredictable. On my weather app it was telling me that it was going to rain pretty much the whole day long. Based on that, we decided to go on the canal cruise Friday afternoon. Before we’ve done this though, we took the Metro to our hotel so we could at least leave the rucksack behind and travel light with a handbag. We stayed in the Novotel. It is not even a fifteen minute Metro ride down to Amsterdam RIA station. From the station it is only 300 metres walking distance. Amsterdam is very pricey when it comes to hotels and this was the cheapest we could find for two nights. We paid €400 for two nights, that is not including breakfast. We preferred having breakfast in the city anyway.

Back into the city centre, we got off at Amsterdam Centraal station. There are so many canal cruise companies. We picked Rederij Plas as it was just about to depart. A ticket costs €12. The other ones were about €15 to €16. I am guessing the price difference there is that you get an audio device in your own language explaining everything you pass on the tour. The one we picked, everything was explained through a speaker in three or four different languages. It did the job and we saved €3 to €4. (We spent this on fries the next day)

6. Pancakes for Breakfast

Saturday morning we started off with a breakfast date at Pancakes Amsterdam which is located across from the Centraal station. The weather was absolutely miserable but it didn’t stop us from queuing for a table. Within twenty minutes we got one.The menu was massive. A Dutch pancake is about the size of a big pizza. You can choose your topping, whether that’s bacon or apples. I chose the breakfast option. This included three small Dutch pancakes filled with apples and raising and strawberry jam to pour over them. It was so delicious. Each meal comes with an orange juice and a coffee or tea. My meal was about €15 more or less. Just for the experience the money was worth it. Beware that this restaurant is a cash free restaurant which means they only take card payments.

7. Red Light District

I mean everyone is curious walking through the Red Light District at some point. And so we had to have this experience, too. It is obviously busier in the evening time than during the day but we experienced both. With respect to the women, you are obviously not allowed to take any photos. The lanes between the houses have guards on each side to make sure people keep walking and don’t stop to have a nose. I have to say it is a very interesting district.

Not only for the fact you have women waiting in the window but also the fact there are so many coffee shops. This is not your ordinary coffee shop and everyone would know that. People smoke cannabis outside the shop or sit down inside. We walked into the Bulldog coffee shop just to have a look. I could not last in there for more than five minutes. The smell of cannabis was extremely strong. But even walking on the roads, you will immediately know who smoked. It is definitely an experience.

8. Cat Boat

During my research of things to do in Amsterdam before we went, I discovered something different. Everyone that follow me, will know how much I love cats. Well, within the attraction list, I found a cat boat. A floating boat with cats on it. That just simply had to go on my list. It might not be for everyone but it was definitely for me. If you are a cat lover, this will also have to be on your list when you visit Amsterdam. When we arrived, I didn’t even think anyone would be there but surprisingly there were approximately five people queuing in front of me and people kept coming after us, too.

The entrance is free but you are more than welcome to make a donation which I did of course. I donated €5 and also bought a postcard of €1 as a souvenir.

9. Heineken Experience

I do like a good beer, even better when it is a Heineken. We booked the Heineken experience online. The ticket is €18, €3 cheaper than when you get it at the ticket office there. I would definitely recommend this to everyone, that’s if you are into beer. There will be plenty of beer in fact. The tour lasts about 1.5 hours. This building used to be the former brewery but nowadays Heineken is made someone else in the Netherlands. It starts off with the history of Heineken, how it’s brewed and how different the bottles have become over the years.

Half way through the tour, you get to taste half a pint of Heineken. Did you know that the perfect poured Heineken is when the foam touches of the arms of the star? Yeah, I didn’t know that either. The tour is self-guided so you can go at your own pace. There is some fun stuff too. Heineken has been a sponsor for many sports in the past such as Rugby and Football. You can get funny pictures and video taken and have them sent onto you via email. I think that is a nice touch.

At the beginning of the tour you receive a wristband with two tokens attached. This entitles you to two glasses of Heineken in the Dam Bar. This is where the tour ends. It’s like a big nightclub down there. Dark, green and music. It is a nice way to socialise and cool down for a bit though. It is definitely something I enjoyed.

10. Look Out and Amsterdam Sign

The well known Amsterdam sign in the city was removed in August last year. Though while we were doing the canal cruise, I spotted another one in North Amsterdam right beside the Nemo Science Museum and Look Out tower. So this was on the agenda for Saturday afternoon. I got a photo of the one in Brussels so I needed to have one of this, too. It is pretty easy to reach this. You literally take the free ferry from Amsterdam Centraal station which runs every few minutes. The journey is very short, three minutes at most.

If you are into museums, you can visit the Nemo Science Museum right beside the Look out and Amsterdam sign. To get up to the top of the look out tower, you have to pay €15. We decided against it but I am sure it is a lovely view of Amsterdam. Right at the top of the building they added a new attraction. The Look Out Swing. It is what it is… a swing that let’s you swing over the edge. Not ideal for someone afraid of heights but I would probably get through it. If you are into this, it is an additional cost of €5.

In the evening we went back to the Rembrandt Square to have dinner at an Asian restaurant and that was another day over.

11. Breakfast at Da Bakkerswinkel

Sunday morning was check out day. We got ourselves ready with rucksack and all and headed back into town. When we were in the hotel, I checked for some breakfast options on Google. There was one that was on top of the list. We wanted something traditional. something with bread and cold meats and a bit of jam. The perfect place for this was De Bakkerwinkel. Located not far from the pancake place we went to on Saturday morning, we queued for about twenty minutes. It was definitely a popular little place.

I chose the Dutch breakfast. It came with different types of bread, several different jams, cheese and chocolate sprinkles. Yes, chocolate sprinkles. This is a delicacy in Holland and something they would have between breakfast and lunch. So I would say it is a brunch option. It was delicious. I paid €13.35 for mine. Again this included orange juice and a coffee or tea. In the background they had a jazz band playing upstairs as there was a Jazz festival on that weekend.

12. Begijnhof

When our bellies was filled, we went for a walk and ended up going to the Begijnhof, located beside the Amsterdam museum. The Begijnhof is an enclosed courtyard, cut off from Amsterdam’s traffic noise. It was established in the 14th century as a residence for pious women who lived like nuns. Featuring an English Reformed Church and a Catholic Chapel. It is a very peaceful yard. People are advised to keep quiet in this yard.

13. Get lost in the streets of Amsterdam

Apart from all those sights and attractions I mentioned above, I recommend you simply walking around Amsterdam’s streets with no aim at all. You will find the most quiet places. We ended up in the quarter Jordaan at one stage.  The weather turned out beautifully that day. Temperatures reached nearly in the mid twenties. The only thing I did not manage to do, was to rent a bike. It was too windy and wet most of those days and it wouldn’t have been enjoyable. But Amsterdam is so bike friendly and something I would do whenever I get to go to Amsterdam again in the near future.

Public transport in Amsterdam is very cheap. We got the 48 hour ticket from a GVB ticket machine which was only €13.50. This will allow you to use any type of transport such as metro, ferry, tram and bus. We walked to the Heineken Experience but it is a good 25 minutes from the city centre. On the way back we took the tram. Just make sure that you always tap on and off.

With the map below, I am able to help you find all the different sights we discovered on our visit to Amsterdam.