Salut à tous! This post is going to be all about what I did while visiting Amsterdam during the Christmas break. Before my boyfriend arrived at the end of November, I was sitting at home searching flights on the Easyjet app for fun and saw that a trip to Amsterdam would only be 46€ RT right before Christmas. 30 minutes later, we had our flight and hotel booked!
I really didn't know very much about Amsterdam before we visited, other than the usual: Van Gogh, Anne Frank, tulips, canals, and lots and lots of bikes. I also had the impression of it being a big party city, like a European Las Vegas, with the red light district and legal drugs and whatnot. We only had one full day in the city and went into it pretty blindly, just hoping to wander around in a new place together.
By far the most unexpected thing for me about Amsterdam was how ~cool and sophisticated it is! It was by no means a Las Vegas-type city, the architecture and canals are beautiful and charming, there are tons of museums, the locals we encountered throughout the day were all extremely kind, and the food was amazing. It sounds so lame to say that it's "cool," but really, it was!
Accommodation + Getting Around
There's a train station inside the airport arrivals area and buses and taxis right outside. We took the train for about 9€ each. The train system has reloadable cards, and it sounds like it's for sure cheaper to go that route rather than buying a one-way ticket if you'll use the train for a few days. We only took the train to and from the airport, so it was cheaper than buying a new card and adding money on it. The taxi service said it would be 40€ to the hotel from the airport (LOL), so for us, the train was the best option.
We stayed at the Golden Tulip, which was actually pretty nice but far away from all of the action. Our flight got in really late, so we stayed in our first night and resolved to get up as early as possible the next day to explore. I would probably recommend trying to stay closer to the Centrum area of the city since that's where most everything can be found. We saved quite a bit staying further away, but could have gone out that first night if we had been closer to the nightlife.
The hotel offered bike rentals, and it may not have been the best price but was SO worth it to be able to bike right back to the hotel at the end of the day and return the keys at the desk without worrying about closing hours or having to walk from a shop to the hotel. Biking is definitely the way to go when visiting Amsterdam, there are more bike lanes than roads for cars in the heart of the city. It seems like pretty much everyone bikes, and you'll see bikes chained up on every corner and all down the sidewalks. One of my favorite memories from the whole trip was biking around aimlessly after the sun went down, just exploring the city and looking at all of the lights.
Noms
The first order of business was breakfast, so we stopped at Staring at Jacob. France doesn't offer much in terms of breakfast (think buttery bread and yogurt only) and I am a savory breakfast gal, so I was very very excited to have eggs Benedict and a Bloody Mary in my system. I definitely recommend stopping at Staring at Jacob if you are in Amsterdam-the staff was really friendly, they make their own hot sauce, and the interior of the dining room was really cool with plants and recycled materials as the furniture and wall hangings. The price wasn't too bad, either! We both had entrées and drinks for about 50€.
We skipped lunch in favor of walking around the canals and saving our monies for a nice dinner. A stop at Vleminckx for some Belgian fries is a must for a quick snack! The line is long, but the service is incredibly quick. They offer maybe 15 sauces, and the line went so fast that I panic-ordered when I was suddenly at the front of the line, so I ended up with a medium cone of fries topped with Joppisaus (a traditional Belgian sauce that tastes like sweet onions and mustard) and Luke had fries with spicy ketchup. Fresh fries in a paper cone are really heaven on Earth, so this was a big win. Another delightful snack food is stroopwafels--think waffle cone circles with caramel in the middle. Oh my goodness, the best fat kid snack of all time. They're usually served in twos, but it would be so easy to eat these all day.
Dinner was at a truly amazing Argentinean restaurant, Salmuera. We were the only ones in the restaurant at first (Americans, eating dinner before 9 pm, lol) and I was absolutely in awe of the decor. The dining room was decorated in what I'd describe as romantic Southwestern U.S./Mexico vibes? Each table had a single rose and a few tall candles-the only light in the restaurant, the walls had Texas longhorn skulls, pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and hung stained-glass windows. The music was Black Keys-style, and I was sold. For food, we had chipotle margaritas, empanadas, and ceviche. Margaritas are another thing I adore but haven't been able to have in France, and these particular margs did not disappoint. The seafood was incredibly fresh (as a Nebraskan, I rarely get to enjoy truly fresh seafood, so it's always a treat!) and the empanadas were delightful. If you're in search of a restaurant for date night in Amsterdam, this. is. the. place. I can't recommend it highly enough and will seriously remember that meal forever.
Things to do + see
We took a canal tour for 16€ through the main tour company, Amsterdam Canal Cruises. I don't know that I would say it was really worth the money as biking is so easily accessible there. The commentary was supposed to be a husband and wife telling their story about living in Amsterdam for most of their lives, and it was SO incredibly cheesy. There's a good amount of trivia shared, but I feel like I've had better tours.
There are over 1,500 bridges in Amsterdam! It's really easy to get disoriented, but I'd say Amsterdam is a pretty good place to be lost. There are pretty buildings, cool architecture, and plenty of funky street art. There's a certain color scheme to Amsterdam-moody greys, muted yellows, charcoal black, and pops of blue and cream-and all of the buildings are tall and close together, some leaning to prevent wear and tear from rain. Overall, I'd recommend hanging out in the Centrum and Jordaan for wandering.
Since we were visiting in late December, there weren't any tulips to be seen, sadly. There are also over 70 museums in Amsterdam, but since we only really had one full day, we opted to explore on our own instead. In the future, I definitely want to come back in the spring to enjoy more of what the city has to offer.
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Amsterdam is gorgeous, sophisticated, and fun (I sound like I'm trying to get you to go on a date with it), and I can't wait to return someday to spend more than a day in the city. One of the big things I'll miss from Europe is the insanely cheap flights to other countries (are there any flights in the U.S. for the equivalent of $50 round-trip??), so I'm glad we got to take advantage and spontaneously see this quirky and unique city.
(click on the pictures to view them larger and read the captions)
