Yes when I first started going to Amsterdam everything except a few tourist shops and restaurants and cafes were open on Sunday - the pedestrian shopping street was deserted - all changed now - full tilt on Sunday in Amsterdam.

Yes. It's relentless. I remember the time when the only shops open on a sunday were the kosher supermarket and the kosher baker. In the 1980s.

And Night Shops and a chosen few kiosks selling food when other stores were supposed to be closed - I remeber having to spend a lot at such shops for something on Sundays and after store closings - around 7 pm before I think.

Okay great!! We arrive August 12th to the 19th.
Looks as though it starts the day we leave sadly....

Glad to know things are open on Sundays! THANKS.

I think many of the big ships will be there a few days before the actual event - take a look at the harbor.

hmm, sorry, my calculation was off. such a shame. otoh, it is really really really busy then.

anyway, for saturday/sunday august 15 and/or 16, there is Shoeless in Ruigoord

http://ruigoord.nl/evenementen/shoeless-augustus-2015/

I really recommend it, if only for an afternoon. Your son will be amazed, and so will you. Lots of things going on will be in the English language, and a lot will be performance, music, etc. Do buy tickets though, it's a small village!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2C9dK1yYKs

for all non-train public transport:

www.9292.nl

Hmm. The show looks interesting ,but I realized I made a huge mistake. I keep saying I arrive Wednesday and leave Wednesday. Well we arrive Thursday! For a seasoned traveler, I don't know how I messed this up. Well I didn't destroy things, as my hotel reservation and Ann Frank was correct. But we will be doing the coffee shop tour jet lagged. Now I have to adjust a little. Please help below. I left out the walking tour (Rick Steeves) of main sights which I need to get back in somehow. THANKS.

Day 1 Thursday
Jordaan Area Vondelpark Coffee house tour 3 pm Your booking ID is #9602772. Tour starts at 3:00pm at National Monument at Dam Square

Day 2 Friday (TOO MUCH ON THIS DAY!!)
Ann Frank House Nine Little Shops/ Utrecht (East)

Day 3 Saturday
Leiden and Delft (South)

Day 4 Sunday
Bike Tour. Red Light District

Day 5 Monday
Amsterdam Rijksmuseum / Canal Tour

Day 6 Tuesday
Enkhizen/Hoorn

Day 7 Wednesday
Home (flight at 10:45 AM)

Day 2 Friday and Day 4, Sunday. Leave out Utrecht on day two and hang out, late lunch, nice dinner somewhere (www.iens.nl)

Day 4 Sunday, If it's a long biketour this wouldn't work, but otherwise you could do Utrecht in the afternoon and evening. All shops open in Utrecht, sunday, already people are returning to university, so it's livening up.

Red Light district is odd, because it's one of the most beautiful parts of the city, but completely marred by the hordes of people who go there to check out a reputation. Note that there is a clean up underway, and the city government is doing its utmost to make the area respectable. Zeedijk is nice now (there's a buddhist temple at the Nieuwmarkt end and of course my beloved Latei for coffee)

But otherwise, you can give it a miss. Utrecht is much nicer.

Day 1 looks pretty exhausting too.

A few tips for lunch, drinks on the canal, dinner: restaurants: have a look at iens.nl (link above) Anything above 8 is usually well worth your patronage.

A nice place for a drink on the canal is 't Smalle. Other nice places: Papeneiland: these are all in Jordaan. Near Dam Wijnand Fokkink is a special place, a tasting house with a tradition of centuries.

And in the afternoon In't Aepjen on Zeedijk (near where the Barbizon is) is special

Morita - Ya is a solid, mid price Japanese restaurant on Zeedijk with some interesting specials because Mrs Morita likes them.

And Cafe Het Loosje on Nieuwmarkt is an easy place to have coffee, or a drink. Food there is lousy, so stick to the drinks.

One firm favorite of ours, but weird in summer is Cafe Bern (cheese fondue, cotelette suisse.) They only do a few dishes, but they're excellent. And it's a truly weird place.

One thing you might also do is google translate the Proefwerk page of Amsterdam daily newspaper Parool. They've got good places listed, and the reviews are as real as they get.

http://www.parool.nl/parool/nl/14631...rk/index.dhtml

Along Zeedijk you'll find a string of Chinese restaurants. Nam Kee is rightly famous, but the real Hong Kong experience can be had at Hoi Tin on Jodenbreestraat.

I'm assuming Zeedijk is the name of a street? Thanks for the restaurant suggestions. We love sitting by the water. Would you believe I hate cheese so the fondue place is out (though my son would love it - but I'm paying!)

My son just said maybe we're going to other places too much. He said he'd rather stay in Amsterdam rather than going "away" 3 days. What do you think? What can be missed?

The bike tour was something that excited him. Apparently the group tour does the Jordaan area. The alternative Sandeman tour day 1 does coffee shops and goes into the Red Light District. But neither seem to hit the big sights mentioned in the tour book. That 3 hour walking tour does look good, but maybe we can do it with the bike thing that he's determined to do. I can do a private bike tour (it's expensive, but not outrageous) and get them to take us to the best sights.........

I don't know how I would have planned this trip without you, Menachem - and everyone on this forum.

I will report back, I promise.

Ellen

Oh oops - I see you already said leave out Delft and Leiden if necessary . And also - thank you so much to everyone. I didn't mean to leave anyone out. I know many of you have contributed to my thread and I'm beyond grateful.

Zeedijk is a narrow street bordering the red-light district and home to China or Asian Town with its Asian restaurants - interesting that 20 years ago or so Zeedijk wqas infamous for sleazy characters and drug dealers - it looked awful and was - now gentrified like much of the centrum area. Zeedijk comes right off the waterfront.

One interesting fact about Zeedijk is that there were small communities of traders there from the Frisian Islands. Ramskooi (on Nieuwendijk, but in the 17th century part of the same waterfront) was where there was a community from Terschelling. And on Zeedijk, near Warmoesstraat was where there were traders from the island of Texel. This can still be seen today. The corner tucked away between Warmoesstraat and Zeedijk (St Olofssteeg) is marked to this day by De Haven van Texel, (Texel Harbour) pointing back to these origins.

By the way, the Old Church has a wondrous art installation on its roof. Not to be missed!!!

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/b...u-installation

It's perhaps the best visit to the Red Light District you can do!

You mean make sure I should visit the Old Church in the Red Light District? I wouldn't miss it.

I leave TOMORROW. I thank you all so deeply for all of your help!!!

Ellen

We are loving Amsterdam. Our plan is to visit Utrecht tomorrow (depending on weather). We have found that biking is our favorite way to get around. We haven't taken a single tram.
Should we take the train and rent a bike in Utrecht? Or take our bikes on the train? THANKS.

Just back from the south of france. Glad to hear you're loving your trip.

Should we take the train and rent a bike in Utrecht? Or take our bikes on the train? THANKS.>

I've biked a zillion times between Amsterdam and Utrecht and it is a pretty route but if wanting to explore Utrecht too long a ride but if you take your bikes on the train get off at say Abcoude - a sweet small town and then ride thru some lovely rural areas with small villages to Breukelen (namesake of Brooklyn, New York they say) - a really neat regional town and a short ride into Utrecht - part of the route follows a major canal. Sweet.

Take your bikes back on the train - you bike a day Fiets (bike) ticket for the trains and put them in the bike cars - marked with pictos of bikes on the outside doors and you can take them on any train all day for the same price - about $10 I think however. But if you have bikes your comfy riding take them - new bike rentals may not be so used to. Utrecht the city itself is not a biker's paradise but everything is within a short walk of the train station.

Check out the deee-lightful Speelklok Museum of musical clocks and instruments - many quite old and quite amusing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Speelklok