Hello, friends!
I am excited to finally be sharing my pictures from our trip to Amsterdam in April with you! I have been pretty busy with a variety of different things, but am excited to be getting this out! I also wanted to include a little bit of a day guide with what we did and where we went.
Enjoy!
We first arrived at around noon and checked into our AirBnB which was located in De Pijp– a district of central Amsterdam. It was seriously one of the cutest places I have ever stayed at! Although there were a lot of Buddhist decorations, it wasn’t overwhelming. The only downside was we couldn’t figure out how to manage the shower (that whole hot and cold thing) and every once in a while, the bathroom would smell like weed… pipes from the neighbors…
All in all, it was a wonderful place and I would definitely stay there again! So central and easy to get places. Also far enough away from other tourists.
After we were done checking in, we were VERY hungry. Thankfully, our host left us a variety of maps and tourist books on things to do in Amsterdam. In the Lonely Planet book, it recommended “The Butcher”- a burger place with burgers that are grilled right in front of you behind a wall of glass. It was really delicious and a good price! Tip: If you want to go, it is in the middle of the Albert Cuypstraat Market. Be sure to look behind the tents of the vendors! We almost were unable to find The Butcher!
The Albert Cuypstraat is a really cool flea market with a varitey of different things to buy: cheese, flowers, sunglasses, clothes, souvenirs, etc; It’s a long street, too, so there is a lot to look at!
After eating and wandering down the Albert Cuypstraat, we walked north on Ferdinand Bolstraat and we stopped by the Heineken Experience. We spontaneously bought tickets online (you save 2€!) and didn’t have to wait in a line when we got there! We were given a bracelet with two little buttons on it which we were able to trade in to get 2 free beers 😀 The museum is seriously SO COOL. You learn about the history of Heineken beer, how they make it, how to drink a beer, how to pour a beer yourself (I was awful at it), and see horses. The whole thing is just so much fun! And you get a free beer. So, what’s better than that? We left as big Heineken fans.
After we left the musuem, we walked along one of the canals and right across from the Rijksmuesem, is a little booth to buy tickets for a canal boat tour. Tickets cost about 18€ for an hour and a half. But different companies offer different tours and different prices. But we were pretty satisfied with what we had 🙂 It was like a bus, it stopped at different places and told you what was in that area to go look at. It’s also cool, because you go through all the different canals. Amsterdam is just so big and it is nearly impossible to see everything, so taking a boat tour is a great option to see a lot and save energy for your feet.
We left the boat the same place we got on, across from the Rijksmuesem (a modern art museum) which was also located near the Van Gogh Museum. We got out and walked around a bit and took some pictures of the I AMSTERDAM sign and the billions of beautiful tulips! Thankfully we were there in April because that was in the time of the Tulip Festival in Amsterdam! If we had more time (and money) we would have taken a day trip out of the city into a tulip field to see windmills and flowers! But, we stayed within the city. Still so beautiful and such a perfect day.
Have you been to Amsterdam? What were some places you saw and did? Go to the same places we did? Tell me about it!
Until next time,
Sara xoxo