I travelled to Amsterdam for work, I paid to stay an extra night to capture more footage and have more time to research this article.
Amsterdam: we did a city guide back in 2016, so it was about time I revisited. Weirdly, I visited the same time of year and I can highly recommend November to visit (it’s so twinkly!), but obviously spring is the city’s true time to shine (one word: tulips).
HOW TO GET THERE
This is the first time I’d caught the train to Amsterdam. I went via Eurostar and it was delightful! I live near King’s Cross so for me, the journey was super smooth and I love that you get to work on the train (limited wifi but it’s possible!) and arrive in the heart of the city. It’s not necessarily cheaper than flying but I loved it being more environmentally friendly without long airport queues and you walk out onto a canal in the city centre instead of a luggage carousel. Would highly recommend!
HOW TO GET AROUND
The obvious answer is bicycle here, although I explored the city a lot on foot. It’s quite an easy city to navigate but the bicycle lanes can be daunting. I didn’t use the metro system this time and walked everywhere I needed to go, it’s fairly flat and there are beautiful views along the canals.
WHERE TO STAY
I stayed at Ruby Emma, which was great value (for a wonderfully comfy room), but it was a bit far out of town (nearish a metro station, which takes you into the centre in around 20 mins) and staff generally just shrugged when I asked for local recommendations (mainly because there weren’t any!). I’m not sure I’d book again, but I rented a bike into town and had a wonderful stay regardless.
WHAT TO DO
Explore the De Piijp area: for shopping (where I discovered Merry Xmas Shop!), great food (Ami, Pho 91, Little Collins) and people watching. So many places had outside seating with heaters to watch the world go by (and the Albert Cuyp Market has lots of affordable food stalls for on the go lunches).
Fab Dutch brands to shop: Anna + Nina, Scotch & Soda, Tony’s Chocolonely (the shop is chocolate heaven!), Hema (of course!) and Miffy (which you can shop with their collab with Hema!). There is a lot of gorgeous vintage shopping too.
Stroll along the 9 streets: so many great boutiques, art shops and antiques for window shopping; I grabbed my morning coffee from Wolf and just wandered aimlessly, which is so rare to do!
Rent a bike if you fancy (most hotels and local stores offer), but be prepared in case it rains! I got poured on and regretted not having a hood or an anorak.
I didn’t get time to get to the Rijksmuseum this time but it is one of my favourites for their unparalleled Dutch Masters collection. And next time I’d like to visit the Moco Museum for modern art.
Previously I had visited the Anne Frank House, which is a must visit (but book online before you go as it gets booked). I also love the Rembrandt Huis Museum and if you do get time, try visiting Den Haag, which I loved on a previous trip. It’s a beautiful town and the Mauritshuis is one of the best galleries I have ever visited – hopefully Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ is not out on loan if you do!
WHERE TO EAT
If you head to De Piijp there are so many gems, I had a brasserie style steak frites at Ami and then bought some food on the go from Albert Cuyp Markt during the day. Pho 91 is great for no fuss food but gets busy so be prepared to queue a little.
I walked passed LouLou pizza bar which looked great and this road was a great bet for chic yet affordable restaurants – I made a note to come back here! Obviously, places like the bar at The Hoxton Hotel are great for food, too – we stayed at the Hoxton last visit which was near so many great shops and cafes and they have just opened a new hotel – ‘The Lloyd‘ – which I didn’t get round to visiting but I’m sure would be just as chic.
I’ve been doing these city guides for a long time, read some of our other city guides here.