This article is the story of one of my many trips to Amsterdam with my friends. I share with you my 3 days program that can be done entirely by foot.
In the morning it is rather about discovering monuments, visiting museums and during the evening it is about bars and coffee shops!
DAY 1 :
The red light district is the most famous attraction in Amsterdam but during the day this place really has nothing special, so I suggest you leave the discovery of this place for late at night as soon as the red lights start to shine. So what to do and what to visit in Amsterdam?
I advise you to start the visit on foot to discover the city and have some landmarks even if it will be a little hard since the architecture is resembeling.
From Centraal Station, I started along the great Damrak Avenue that leads directly to Dam Square, the main square of the city. There I was able to admire the royal residence and the great white stone pillar erected in 1956 in the memory of the victims of the Second World War and the high-end department store De Bijenkorf.
After taking some pictures, I continued my way south along Kalvastraat Avenue where I was able to discover many shops and international brands all along the street and finally stop at Muntplein Square, formerly part of the city's three medieval gateways, before being temporarily used to mint coins during the seventeenth century. Next door is the flower market and several very nice souvenir shops.
After several hours of walking, I ate at Febo; a Dutch chain of fast food whose singularity is that customers serve themselves from vending machines, I recommend the cheese croquette and the meat croquette with mustard and potato. On my way I came across "Manneken Pis" one of the best chip shop in the city and there I took a medium horn with cheddar sauce, a real delight!
After the lunch break, go toward the museums and start with the torture museum just next to the flower market; it was a quick visit and a discovery of real torture instruments (7 €), then I continued with the visit of Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum (9 €) with a small auditory guide in French to explain the history of this plant through time to finish with the visit of the museum of eroticism (6.50 €) and enrich my general culture :)
In fact, this tour of these three museums is the combination of low-budget museums, I left the others for the days to follow.
Of course, given this busy schedule, I went to one of the best coffee shop bars in the city, the Stone's Café, one of the few places where you can drink and smoke at the same time.
DAY 2
During the 2nd day, I woke up in the morning to have breakfast on the terrace of the Bulldogg coffeshop in Leidesplein, a place that was formerly a police station and which also keep the same theme with the bars that still appear at the very bottom of the establishment. I recommend a space cake and a good glass of hot chocolate to start the day, I also tested the red fruit smoothie, for me it's the best!
After my light breakfast, I went to visit some of the biggest museums. I started with the visit of Madame Tussauds (21 €) one of the most famous wax museums in the world opened since 1970. Then I continued with the visit of XtraCold Icebar a unique experience in - 10 ° but that ends very quickly. Finally, I rented a bike for 7.50 € 3 hours to go around the largest park Vondelpark.
After visiting the museums, it is party time, and the evening starts right in front of the bulldog of Leindesplein with an apero in the Mokum bar and will end up in one of the best clubs known for its good music Jimmy Woo who is right behind the bar.
DAY 3 :
On the 3rd day, I chose to visit the surroundings of the city through an excursion with https://www.tours-tickets.com/fr/ and I also chose a guided tour of the countryside and windmills with my wife, a visit that lasts half a day about 6 hours and costs 55 € / person.
We visited the peaceful villages of "Zaanse Schans" and "Volendam" and had the chance to admire the countryside, to enter the mills, to visit a cheese factory and attend a demonstration of a clog maker.
Once the tour finished, we went to the red light district around 19h for a break at the Coffeeshop Bulldogg with its terrace which opens directly on the canal. For those who like girls I advise you to finish your evening either at the Moulin Rouge or at the erotic Theater Casa Rosso, though I warn you those places are only for single guys!
As for me and my group we chose a night of hell with the big Dutch Dj Afrojack at the ESCAPE nightclub in Rembrandtplein.
Of course in 3 days we cannot do everything !! There are still other museums to visit such as Body Worlds which offers a fascinating journey through the human body, Nemo the Science Museum, the Heineken Brewery, the scary dungeon of Amsterdam, the Arena stadium for the fans of football, not to mention the must-see Rijksmumes museum, the equivalent of the Louvre in Paris and the Van Gogh Museum to see the largest collection of paintings of the famous painter. You can also opt for a canal cruise, visit Holland casino in Leideplein, test the completely legal experience of Amsterdam's smartshops ...
Stay connected on our blog, another article is waiting for you very soon and it will be entitled "How to visit AMSTERDAM with 0 € or almost"
- Ylies.D -