We took the train from Bruxelles Centrale at 2:30 on Friday and arrived in Amsterdam about three hours later. The trip there is rather uneventful, but it does go through the major cities of Rotterdam and The Hague. Amsterdam Centraal is just north of the city centre. From there, we took the tram to our hotel near Leidseplein. Let’s be honest; it wasn’t exactly luxury, but it was more than fine for a couple nights of sleep.
After checking into the hotel, we went out to take a look at the neighbourhood. We went to the supermarket and found a nice restaurant in Korte Leidsedwarsstraat. After a quick change back at the hotel, we went to the area Amstel near Rembrandtplein and the river. There, we tried out a range of the many bars and clubs: Club Nasty (and indeed it was), Cinema, Bolle Jan (first word means fat in Dutch and something else in Danish), Montmartre and Rogue. We had lots of fun and talked to some interesting people. Unfortunately, we also ran into some pickpockets, so my phone got stolen. Bummer, but oh well – nothing else happened to us.
The late night incident meant we had to start Saturday at the police station filing a report, but luckily the lady there was very helpful and efficient. We then started our day of sightseeing with a canal cruise, which started outside the train station. It’s somewhat similar to Copenhagen, only Amsterdam’s beautiful canals and 17th century architecture are much vaster. I’m definitely a great fan!
Afterwards, we walked around the town centre, the shopping street, the royal palace and the area of Nine Streets.
We ended up at Anne Frank’s House, where we had tickets for a presentation and tour Saturday night. The story of their hiding and eventual capturing during World War II is very moving and captivating, and the house pays great tribute to the Frank family’s story.
Afterwards, we walked around the town centre, the shopping street, the royal palace and the area of Nine Streets.
We ended up at Anne Frank’s House, where we had tickets for a presentation and tour Saturday night. The story of their hiding and eventual capturing during World War II is very moving and captivating, and the house pays great tribute to the Frank family’s story.
From there we walked through the Red Light District and found a cool and chic restaurant in the centre called Brasserie Harkema. After a quick stop at the hotel, we went to the area around Leidseplein and checked out a few different bars; Njoy was a fancy cocktail lounge and Pirates was less fancy and more full of crazy teenagers.
Sunday was a beautiful day, so we decided to rent bikes and see Amsterdam from a saddle. I’ve drawn our route on the map below, and as you can see, we covered quite a bit of ground – about 10 miles / 16 kilometers.
We started out at the Van Gogh Museum, which was very nice and neatly sized. Next we went on to G-Star Raw, which I had to visit since it’s one of my favourite brands and happens to be Dutch.
From there, we headed west through the neighbourhood of Jordan with more beautiful canals and a stop at a lovely café. Then through the city centre, where we stopped for an Italian lunch. Finally, we made a big loop to the east, circling the zoo and a more industrial area. The final stretch back along one of the outer canals was pretty windy, but all in all it was a fantastic way of seeing the city!
We had a goodbye pancake, handed in the bicycles and bought a few souvenirs before heading back to Amsterdam Centraal to catch our train to Brussels at 8.
Awesome weekend – loving Amsterdam!
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