Amsterdam

[jamesand]

Stay away from FEBO, unless you are really desperate late at night. Desperation leads to the dark side...

FEBO | A Hamburger Today

[maunahaole]

Mahalos to all. Great stuff, keep it coming.

[the bottle ride]

Great thread- have wanted to do an "adult" trip to Amsterdam for some time to see the things I missed the first time around.

[Michael White]

A car makes no sense at all for Amsterdam. Don't do it.

Even if you don't think you like art, go at least to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum. These are world class museums.

The Anne Frank house is the most popular destination, and for good reason.

The Jordaan is much loved, and for good reason. As is the Vondelpark.

Take day bike trips to the north, across the ferry from Centraal Station.

Most dumbass Americans like to go to Heineken or hang out a lot in De Wallen (red light), so if you are one of those you should do that.

[joosttx]

Second the Jordaan. Fun to get lost there.

[bikinchris]

First, be nice and the Dutch will be double nice to you. Be an ass and they can give as good as they get.
Amsterdam Museums are worth the time. Get a copy of the newest Rick Steve's book at your local library. He has a lot of good tips.
Take a bus (or a bike) to Broek in Waterland (it's a great little village) and stay a night at Inn on the Lake (bead and breakfast). Don't leave too early and miss out on a fantastic breakfast. You won't beleive you are so close to downtown Amsterdam. The woodwork in the Inn is great.
B&B Inn on the Lake
Here are some ratings and comments for this place: INN ON THE LAKE bed and breakfast - amsterdam, Netherlands. amsterdam Bed and Breakfast Inns.

You have to eat pancakes right down the street from the Ann Frank house. It's not the pancakes like we have here in the US. You order a savory pancake (ham and cheese!) and you order a dessert pancake. Share both.
The Pancake Bakery Pannekoeken en Uitsmijters Amsterdam, pancakes, lunch, diner, kindermenu's, restaurant, kinderpartijtjes.

Also, eat a lunch on top of the Amsterdam library, nice view of the area around the harbor and the central part of town from up there and the food is decent.

Appelflappen (sp) (hot fresh apple turnover) at the Stadsbakker, 11 Haarlemerstraat, not far from the train station. We stayed at the Rennaisance Hotel not far from there and walked many places, took the tram, did day trips on the train, rented bike sand rode around Holland on a self guided tour for a few days and took an organised tour done by Cycletours Holland. As I think of things, I will post again.

Take a day trip by train to the west to Nijmegen and see the Velorama bike museum:
Velorama, Nationaal Fietsmuseum aan de Waalkade in Nijmegen

Another train trip is the town of Haarlem. Stay at the Hotel Amadeus on the main square for a real dutch hotel, unlike the Renaissance in Amsterdam (although it was nice to stay in a more American style place for a while) Spend a while to tour the windmill museum there, the city hall and Frans Hals museum.

You have to get some REAL European chocolate while you are there. Even the dutch brands in the grocery stores are great.

[bikinchris]

Great thread- have wanted to do an "adult" trip to Amsterdam for some time to see the things I missed the first time around.

You didn't miss much.

Holland is a great place for people who ride. EVERYONE speaks great english and wants to practice. Hell, the TV channels don't have any captions!

[lavi]

not to hijack...if a person literally had 12 hrs (10pm to 10am) on a Saturday night (this is real, not fantasy), no car, coming from the airport (wherever that is) where to go? I'm looking to see some night life. Culture would be great, but at that hours some beers and maybe bosoms would be good. Oh yeah, I don't plan on sleeping that night so take that into your recommendations.

[maunahaole]

not to hijack...if a person literally had 12 hrs (10pm to 10am) on a Saturday night (this is real, not fantasy), no car, coming from the airport (wherever that is) where to go? I'm looking to see some night life. Culture would be great, but at that hours some beers and maybe bosoms would be good. Oh yeah, I don't plan on sleeping that night so take that into your recommendations.

Frank Zappa would most certainly approve of that itinerary. No worries on the hijack, fatass.

[-HvA-]

not to hijack...if a person literally had 12 hrs (10pm to 10am) on a Saturday night (this is real, not fantasy), no car, coming from the airport (wherever that is) where to go? I'm looking to see some night life. Culture would be great, but at that hours some beers and maybe bosoms would be good. Oh yeah, I don't plan on sleeping that night so take that into your recommendations.

Dead easy. Amsterdam central is a is a 10 minute train ride from Schiphol airport. You can walk easily whatever you'd like to see. The red light district is not that far from the station either.

[lavi]

Frank Zappa would most certainly approve of that itinerary. No worries on the hijack, fatass.

No offense taken my bruda. I wish all dudes in HI were as sweet as you. The pricks I always meet in the water (surfing) are, well, pricks.

[lavi]

Dead easy. Amsterdam central is a is a 10 minute train ride from Schiphol airport. You can walk easily whatever you'd like to see. The red light district is not that far from the station either.

Do people steal kidneys from folks who obviously aren't from there. I have the height, but not the hair color. Maybe I should get a blond wig?

[maunahaole]

No offense taken my bruda. I wish all dudes in HI were as sweet as you. The pricks I always meet in the water (surfing) are, well, pricks.

Folks here don't take quickly to outsiders. It takes a while to bring the barriers down - I learned and it took a lot of patience and meeting folks. My rotator cuff took me out of the water before any beefs did.

Your kidney may not be totally safe. There are a lot of dark Dutchies.

[-HvA-]

Do people steal kidneys from folks who obviously aren't from there. I have the height, but not the hair color. Maybe I should get a blond wig?

Nah, those are the french. Kidneys with wine ;)

Kidding aside, yeah, saturday night by yourself, don't get stupid stoned/drunk cause you might run into trouble. The red light district is actually pretty safe, they have their own security since there's so many tourists running around. I'd stick around some of the main spots and not wander off too much.

Somebody mentioned Paradiso, they used to host cool dance events too, maybe check that out.

[joosttx]

Do people steal kidneys from folks who obviously aren't from there. I have the height, but not the hair color. Maybe I should get a blond wig?

But are you circumsized?.... That is a sure tell by those dutch ladies. If you want to party all night just go into a bar and if you are cool then you will meet some crazy Dutch folks or other Americans and probably end up at a party or club all night. It happened to me a couple of times when I lived there. Paradiso was/is cool.

[-HvA-]

But are you circumsized?.... That is a sure tell by those dutch ladies. If you want to party all night just go into a bar and if you are cool then you will meet some crazy Dutch folks or other Americans and probably end up at a party or club all night. It happened to me a couple of times when I lived there. Paradiso was/is cool.

I recommend telling people you are Canadian ;)

[kasper]

This being a cycling forum and all, I feel I have to point you to the Kroeller Mueller museum:

Welcome to the Kröller-Müller Museum

It is a fantastic museum near Arnhem (1.5 hrs from Amsterdam by train), with a fantastic van gogh collection. Bonus: you take the bus to the park entrance in which the museum is located, from where you hop on white cruiser bikes to visit the park and museum. Don't miss a tour of the hunting house built by Berlage.

Cheers,
Kasper

PS it is nice after reading the forum for a while to hit on a topic I can contribute to!

[madhatter]

It is a fantastic museum near Arnhem (1.5 hrs from Amsterdam by train), with a fantastic van gogh collection. Bonus: you take the bus to the park entrance in which the museum is located, from where you hop on white cruiser bikes to visit the park and museum. !

Those bikes are actually a spinoff of "het witte fietsen plan" (the white bicycle plan) an initiative in the 60ties in Amsterdam to provide free, non-poluting transportation to the general public. The bikes therefore have no locks...Then, plan never made it through city counsel in Amsterdam but in nationaal park "de hoge veluwe" it prevails.

Another interesting stop might be the workshop of RIH-Sport-Amsterdam , a small framebuilder right in the heart of de Jordaan neigborhood. Lot's of tradition and heritage with several world championship titles to boast. The Jordaan by the way is by far my favorite neighborhood to just stroll around. You'll find pretty much anything you need.

Although I second that FEBO is best avoided, there are several lunchrooms, for instance hartig Banketbakkerij Kwekkeboom te Amsterdam that serve very tasty kroketten (minced veal covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried - let it cool down a bit befor you take a bite! - and enjoy with mustard)

As for the herbal side of Amsterdam, there's a plethora of coffeeshops, most to be avoided, but some of the best ones (best merchandise that is...) are barney's, de tweede kamer, siberie and amnesia. Smoking tobacco inside is prohibited though....They do provide free use of vaporizers :)

[Alchemy Rider]

I have lived in the Netherlands for about ten months now. Far from an expert on Amsterdam but here are some of my favourites.

You have to hit a museum or two. The Rijksmuseum is very impressive. If you like Vincent Van Gogh then the Van Gogh museum is around the corn from the Rijksmuseum. Buy tickets online. You will escape the looong lines to buy tickets at the entrance.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - Museum of Art and History
Van Gogh Museum - Picasso in Parijs, 1900-1907

I enjoyed the Heineken Brewery tour.
Heineken Experience

If this is your first visit to Amsterdam I suggest a canal boat tour. Lots of choices.
Amsterdam.info - Amsterdam canal cruise, canal tours and cruises

The boat tour may give you some ideas for other places to visit. EG I haven't been but the Anne Frank House is a big draw.

I concur with the others who suggest trams and buses to get around. Buy a disposable OV Chipcard - this is your e-ticket for the trams and buses.
http://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/afbeeldin...theovchipkaart

If you have an iphone, Blackberry etc download Metro. This free app will tell you which bus/tram or combination you need to take to get from your start point to your end point, the number of stops in between, travel time etc.
MetrO

And cycle to your heart's content.
Cycling in the Netherlands : Long distance routes
Cycling in the Netherlands - all you need for a cycling holiday in Holland

Let me know if you want more information.

[HorsCat]

best burger i ever had was at a place called cafe luxembourg. nice place to hang out, too, especially in the summer.

if you are so inclined, cafe luxembourg is right around the corner from a most excellent coffee shop, de tweede kamer. it is a true horticulturalist's delight, and is frequented mostly by locals. it is also affiliated with, but doesn't quite have the pizzaz of, de dampkring, which is another excellent coffee shop.

vondelpark is a must as well.

enjoy. i'm very jealous.