This is the place for all your recommendations, questions and experiences about travel to Amsterdam and the restof The Netherlands...

I'm starting this thread because we were just discussing the area north of Amsterdam known as the Zaanstreek (in the Young Ajax thread, which is obviously not the place for it...).

I wrote:

This area is (the Zaanstreek is one of the ultimate 'postcard images' of The Netherlands. A certain part of the bank of the river Zaan is named de Zaanse Schans. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Holland:
http://www.zaanseschans.nl/EN.html

Go there and you'll meet more Americans and Japanese than Dutchies. The most important 'typical' tourist attractions of The Netherlands are actually pretty close together: almost every tourist will spend a few days in Amsterdam (Anne Frank's House, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, canal boat tour, Red Light District, coffeeshop...). The next day they will go to the Zaanse Schans and to a nearby old fisherman's town, such as Volendam or the isle of Marken. That's where you'll get your dose of clogs, windmills, raw herring and green wooden houses. The next day they will head for the Keukenhof: the tulip fields not too far south of Amsterdam (very lame if you ask me, but most people do it anyway). Also very popular: the classic cheese market in Alkmaar.

There is much more to see, obviously, but Americans and Japanese that are 'doing Europe' usually go for the schedule above. And I can't blame them. If you spend five days in a country you want to see some of the typically famous stuff.

K.

Dont forget Madurodam, Keukenhof, and ofcourse EFTELING :headbang:

And Delft, whose porcelains kick ass.

and Maastricht...man I love that place (must be the Limburgse blood).

And Alkmaar and Den Bosch...there's nothing better than a sunny day, a big Markt square and a cold Wiekse Witte to make the day go by...... :yes:

Ko,

I'd be intereseted to hear what YOUR tourist schedule would be?

Let's say I'm in the Netherlands for five days. I love beer, music, Dutch culture, and good conversation...what would I do with those five days?

I like this place, a nice little museum in an old house in the red light district. You wouldn't expect a church in it, but yes, there is! :xyxthumbs:

I hate the Anne Frank House. It's very crowded, you have to wait in line for a long time and there's hardly anything to see. But go if you need to, most tourists do. (Don't know if they regret it.)

I'm pretty sure that Ko already gave his "To Do" schedule but maybe on our former boards (the ones he used to censor like a control freak, remember ;) ?).

Including a boat trip (I can confirm that it's pretty cool), a gig at the Paradiso or at the Melkweg, the Joods Museum, and IIRC, NOT including Tussaud's which seems to be a fraud. But I guess he'll tell you more about it...

if someone wants to go to the anne frank house, it is highly preferable to be at the door when they open in the morning - then, you can have a nice calm walk through the house right away instead of getting into the lines/crowd you describe - really, it's the only way to go see the house properly

Antwerp and Brussels are nice.

Bruges is beautiful.
http://www.brugge.be/toerisme/en/index.htm

.....and you could also come visit my park in Wavre ;) ....
http://www.walibi.be/walibibelgium/home/index_en.cfm

The ArenA tour, of course ;) . I did the touristy things in A'dam, but I'd recommend Melkweg for music. The red light district was a bit bizarre, with so many tourists and lots of them, including a family (why would you take your kids there?), taking pictures with or in front of prostitutes for souvenirs.

Its been a while since part of belgium were considered part of the netherlands but would have to agree with you.

You are forgetting one place though. Gent. My god, that place is THE most beautiful place I have ever seen.

Going back to Holland: The Gelredome in Arnhem is beautiful, one of the best stadiums, then there's also Assen where you can see the motor track:p

In Belgium, I enjoyed Waterloo, nice historical place to visit.

These must be the two most bizarre tourist recommendations I have ever heard...

... and they could only come from one guy: the one and only Zoef 'Get a Cock' de Haas.

:D

K.

Yep, Paris, Barcelona and Berlin as well. But we're talking about the Netherlands right now... :hypocrite:

About the Anne Frank house. I visited it for the first time in my life (after having lived close to it for yeaaaars) last February with an American friend. Off season, during the week, it lasted less than 15 minutes to be in the line. And: I was happy that I went there. Of course there's not as much to see as in the Rijksmuseum (it's a house!) but it really tells the story and brings you back in the time that it all happened. Strong recommendation!

LXIV

Stay at least in Amsterdam!!!

* For nice bars: go to the Pijp area (in Dutch: De Pijp). Just walk around and grab a beer every bar you see.
* For nice food: stay in De Pijp!
* For nice music: try at least to visit the cozy Paradiso, if there's a band playing. Even if a small band is playing on the small stage, it is nice to be there.
* Or check if there's another nice band playing somewhere else in town: http://www.aub.nl
* For Dutch culture: don't miss the Van Gogh Museum and The Rijksmuseum. They're relatively close to eachother, but dont do them on one day! Since you will be here for five days, make sure you fit just one museum in your day schedule. Do a museum from 2-4 pm and grab a beer afterwards. Cobra cafe on the square opposit the Rijksmuseum is good enough. Or walk back to the Leidseplein area, but dont crab a beer there! Go to Marnixstraat and take one in Weber of Lux or one of the oher bars over there. Just around the corner from Leidseplein, but without tourists, and without bizar beer prices (just average expensive)

But this question was originally for Ko, so I'll pass the mic to him for some additional info. Ko, go ahead!

Cheers.
LXIV

Amsterdam is not nearly as much fun as the natives want you to believe.

Start in the south in Maastricht (day1), move to Den Bosch (day2), the unavoidable day in Amsterdam (day 3), if you like that sort of thing, cover de Zaanstreek in day 4 and then head across the Afsluitdijk to Groningen for day 5.

Amsterdam is not as great as London, not as big as Paris and probably not as cool as NYC (never been there). But it is definitely much better than the sum of Den Bosch, Maastricht and Groningen. Of course they're relatively okay cities, but only if you're a fan of towns with one cathedral and one big square, where everyone goes. Nice, when you live in Holland and have visited Amsterdam quite a lot of times and want to see something different. But if it is your first (short) visit to Holland, you better ignore them. Focus on Amsterdam and Zaanstreek surroundings.

It is a pretty cool thing to state that Amsterdam has nothing to offer. But thats more for the snobistic people that would like to have a different opinion on every aspect. Like stating that the left-back of the big Brzalian team was in fact better than Pele. That sort of crap, if you understand what I mean.

It's like me stating that you should ignore NYC when going to the US for the first time, but that you sohuld go to Dallas, Seatlle and Los Angeles in stead. How nice these cities are, it shouldn't be the first thing to visit, if you've got a choice, and only a couple of days.

Amsterdam is highly overrated, if ya ask me!

But luckily this topic is about the things to do in Amsterdam & The Netherlands. People can decide for their own whether they've enjoyed it or not.

You're right, Raymon! :blush:

Excuse me for stepping on your dick sir.
In my pretty cool and snobistic (...) opinion Amsterdam is an overrated, poluted tourist trap. I am not saying it is not worth to visit, but 5 days is a waste of money and time. On a first visit you want to get an idea of the whole of Holland. The town mentioned above all have far more than just a market square and a church, which Lou would know if he would not be so busy stroking that misplaced feeling of superiority that unfortunately too many people from Amsterdam seem to have. But God bless the poor sod, it ain't his fault. Also very nice, and close to Amsterdam is the beautiful fortified town of Naarden. Holland is so much more than Amsterdam.

London : I don't know, but it's not that great this summer, unfortunately.

Paris : as usual, size does not matter. ;) I never really visited that city though. I went there a couple of times, but the only time I was there as a tourist, it was around midnight, in december... The good point is that it wasn't really crowded, but there was not much things to visit. At least, the Eiffel Tower was beautiful, no cars on the road, etc... Not sure it's that great anyway. I couldn't live there, that's for sure.

NYC : I wonder what is really cool in that city... I visited it in May of that year, and on the way back, I was glad to have visited NY, I don't have to do it anymore... There are some nice places, but it's really really stressing in general.

Amsterdam : higly rated, and/or strangely rated. I don't know how it is in other countries, but here, in France, if you like Amsterdam, it's often only "because there are coffee shops and the red light district". For the people who think that, Amsterdam is extremly rated, but these are things I don't care at all, and Amsterdam is still great for me: not too big, not too crowded, a lot of places to visit and pretty cool in a lot of (every ?) aspects.

I've seen many cities, including quite a handful that are bigger, cooler and more trendy than Amsterdam. For nightlife, music and art Barcelona and Berlin are hotter than Amsterdam at the moment. London and New York are always (and will always be) cooler than Amsterdam.

But there definitely are certain things that make Amsterdam unique. The enormous range of pubs and cafés, for example. In almost every other city you can 'take the wrong turn' and get lost in a neighbourhood where you can walk around for an hour without finding a nice place to have a drink. In downtown Amsterdam you can't miss. Wherever you go: there's always a nice place to sit down for a beer and a quick bite. Not necessarily a place that will change your life forever, but for 'hanging out' Amsterdam really is one of the best places I know (Dublin comes close). You never need a taxi or a long walk from one pub or club to the next. The next nice place is probably next door.

Also, as far as culture is concerned Amsterdam is pretty cool compared to most cities of similar size. There's a lot to do.

And, most importantly, Amsterdam is beautiful. The city can be messy, dirty and sleazy if you go to the wrong places (Central Station, Damrak, the Rembrandtplein area during weekends...), but if you walk around in the canal district, on the banks of the Amstel or in the non-sleazy parts of the Red Light District it really is a stunningly beautiful place. You tend to forget about that if you live there (Amsterdammers always complain about everything, especially about their town), but I bought a little boat a few months ago and I must say: I fell in love with Amsterdam all over again. From the water you can see your city through the eyes of a tourist. The beauty of the place is simply overwhelming when you sail down Brouwersgracht, Prinsengracht or the tiny little canals near Nieuwmarkt. Right up there with Rome, Prague or Paris, to name but a few. The heart of Amsterdam is officially a monument as a whole (the largest monument in the world, in fact) - and for a reason.

I love Amsterdam. In my book Holland is a provincial, mediocre country with a fucking great capital. When it comes to its international attitude and cosmopolitan feel there is not a single place in Holland that even comes close. Amsterdam is one of the top ten of places-to-go in the world for young people, no doubt about it. Not the coolest city, but a very cool city nonetheless.

Like in every country, many people in Holland have something against the capital and its inhabitants, which is mostly the result of envy, mediocrity and a deeply provincial mindset (people always have sympathy for the underdog, that's part of human nature, and the capital is not the underdog but the obviously superior place). That's a universal thing. In England everyone outside of London will tell you that London is a shithole full of arrogant bastards. French people will say the same thinh about Paris, Italians about Rome and Greeks about Athens. Holland is not an exception. Yawn. Who cares?

I love Groningen, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Utrecht, Delft and Haarlem, to name but a few Dutch towns. But they're on a different scale. And so is Rotterdam, for that matter. Less people, less international, less cosmopolitan, less to do, less of a buzz -- simple as that.

K.