PalenQ

http://www.botbedbreakfast.com/bed-breakfast-rooms.asp

Anyone looking for a great small family-run B&B in nearby Haarlem may want to look at the Bot family's B&B in the heart of Haarlem, lovingly set on a canal in this neat old regional town - I love day tripping into Amsterdam for the day and much of the night but I love coming back to quiet Haarlem for the night and the friendly environs of the Bot B&B - 40 euros for a single room with unlimited buffet breakfast - clean and safe and you will never ever touch this price in Amsterdam itself - even place much more costly may not be so nice!

Haarlem is a 20-minute train ride from Amsterdam but in many ways is a world away from cosmopolitan Amsterdam where in the touristed city centre English seems to be the lingua francs!

PalenQ

Amsterdam's Stedelijk 'Bath Tub" Addition Panned...
STEDELIJK'S NEW 'BATH TUB' ADDITION PANNED IN...this NYTimes article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/ar...seum.html?_r=0

The author is pretty hard on Amsterdam officials and Museum Plein, on which it sits - especially excoriating the supermarket built next to it - a bogus charge IMO since the supermarket is underground - he just laments its above ground entrance - I think Amsterdam is right in making such things as supermarkets available to its residents and this was one of the few areas a large new one could be built in the city centre.

I think the writer suffers from a serious case of snob nose-in-the-air attitude I all too often find in art critics - missing the whole picture to give his witty take on things and how they should have been.

I also applaud Amsterdam officials for OKing such a monstrous to some addition to a world-famous museum.

Unlike Venice for example Amsterdam in recent years has shown it is a real city and modern protrusions that such boorish art critics may lampoon signify just that..

Vive Amsterdam!

Anyone have an opinion on the new Modern Art Museum (Stedelijk) addition?

Ozarksbill

Krakow or Amsterdam...now that's a tough call, swanner. In fact, maybe a no brainer. Don't we make such choices when traveling. So is it Paris or London, Sarasota or St. Augustine, Yellowstone or Yosemite?

Bill in Boston

kiki123

THREE NIGHTS TOO LITTLE TIME?

We'll be on an 8 day biking trip across Austria ending in Vienna. My thought is to fly to Amsterdam (never visited there) for a few nights then return to the US. Are three nights in Amsterdam too little time to see it? 4 nights better? Reading the posts it sounds like I could spend 2 weeks there and have a great time, but only have a few days. What's not to miss? Also, any heads-up on charming hotel or B&B? Lots of questions, I know. Thanks in advance!

PalenQ

3 nights would be fine - more the better of course - but two full days you can see all the must sights which I would say are:

The Anne Frank House (book a time slot on the web site to avoid a long wait in line); Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum (adjoining each other on Museumplein) and a Canal Boat Ride.

Other than that the must site IMO in Amsterdam is the beautiful city itself - walk leisurely along the myriad of canals lacing the city center - plop down on a park bench and have a picnic and watch the eclectic boat traffic ply by.

Now for some folks going to a coffeeshop and walking thru the Red-Light district are musts but that of course is not for everyone - coffeeshops like in places that legally for all practical purposes sell marijuana and hash over the counter and allow folks to smoke inside (outside is fine to if somewhat discrete).

so yes for must sights two days is enough as IMO there are few must sights besides the town itself.

I don't know didilly about hotels or B&Bs in Amsterdam as I now always stay in nearby Haarlem but if you make a separate post there will be lots of advice. My favorite area to stay in in Amsterdam would be in the vicinity of Museumplein and Vondel Park though some favor the really cool and quaint canals in the northwest part of the town center - houseboats are also available though the facilities in those can be downright smelly according to many reports so get one that gets good reviews.

doryyoung

Thank you! This was awesome info for an Amsterdam newbie..I am planning a 2014 visit and I have been collecting info during my down time at work..just curious..what does SRO mean so I understand the context of the post? Thank you or your help!

PalenQ

not sure of context but I would think SRO - Standing Room Only?

Thanks for the thanx!

phillycheese

Love all the info in these posts! Taking my son for a few days in March! Anyone taken the Mikes Bikes Tour? We did that in Munich and it was a blast ~

fbtje

Information for people that like to visit on queensday (koninginnedag). This year queen beatrix will step down and from april 30th 2013 her son, Willem Alexander will be the new king. So starting 2014, queensday will be kingsday (koningsdag) and will be celerated on april 27th (exception is 2014: then april 27th is on a sunday, so it will be celebrated one day earlier).

PalenQ

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ion-panned.cfm

An article discussing a new and conroversial addition to the Stedelijk Modern Art museum, a major component of the three world-class museums on Museumplein - along with the Rijksmuseum, re-opening in full this week after a long long renovation and the Van Gogh Museum.

The Stedelijhk itself was closed for remodeling for years too so all museums now should be more user-friendly than before!

PalenQ

Rijksmuseum Reopens Apr 13 after 10-Year Restoration

Amsterdam's world-famous art museum, the Rijksmuseum, is scheduled to re-open April 13, 2013 after a dauntingly long restoration. Though a skeletal part of its collection had been on display in a few small rooms now the whole museum will greet the public in a pristine form and a form much more user-friendly than before.

The NYTimes article on this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/ar...anted=all&_r=0

PalenQ

The best stag parties you can organize at the Red Light Workshop, they are located in the most narrow alleyway of Europe(Trompetterssteeg). They offer great tours and funny workshops, and have a really funny photoshoot. Check www.redlightworkshop.com for more details.

Interesting tours of Amsterdam - seedy and not.

PalenQ

Oops - I should have said I copied the above post about rel light workshop from another thread - I thought I had put his/her name on it - his/her words not mine - I find it interesting!

PalenQ

the relightworkshop site talks about Europe's narrowest alley - and it is the epicenter of the Red-Light district and a trip down it is so so bizarre - nope you are not in Kansas anymore. To access this incredibly narrow alley go to the famous Bulldog Coffeeshops - the original Bulldog on O Z Vorrburgwal and you'll find the alley on its south side - going down it soon you see hookers behind red-lit picture windows the whole way and finally you come to a square - an indoor mall of hookers - this is the ultimate of the red-light district - relatively few tourists dare venture down here - totally unique - IF the Mayor of Amsterdam has not bulldozed it all down yet?

PalenQ

here's the original post about the most narrow alley in Europe and the red-light district.

wagenhuis on May 29, 13 at 11:10am
The best stag parties you can organize at the Red Light Workshop, they are located in the most narrow alleyway of Europe(Trompetterssteeg). They offer great tours and funny workshops, and have a really funny photoshoot. Check www.redlightworkshop.com for more details

amy_torres_sd

I've read this thread with interest; we will be in Amsterdam in late June for 4 nights. We will have our two teenagers along who are not interested in visiting the red light district or the coffee shops. We were planning to visit the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum, so happy to learn about the Museumkaart. Also happy to read about more offbeat items of interest.

We will be staying on a houseboat on the Prisengracht at the Pristenstraact and your caution about smelly "facilities" is well taken (hope ours isn't too bad!

PalenQ

Thanks for the nice comments and I'll re-copy what I wrote on your other thread.

http://www.amsterdamtips.com/tips/ca...-amsterdam.php

Kids will love to rent a pedalos and water bike thru the canals as Dutch kids seem to like to do!

The Troppen Museum is good for kids that age - re-creates street scenes from third-world countries - museum of the Tropics with a lot of Dutch colonial stuff from Indonesia, etc.

You also may consider taking an organized bike tour such as with MacBikes (http://macbike.nl/en/) -

If they are into skateboarding check out the skate park on Museumplein, just near the Rijksmuseum - use the Museum Card to visit some lesser museums that kids may even like better - like the Dutch Resistance Museum documenting the brutal Nazi occupation and the Lord in the Attic Church - a tiny church hidden away in an attic because of religious intolerance to their type of religion when it was built.

The modern art museum has just re-opened and since it is right next to Vah Gogh and Rijksmusems a natural - beauty of Museum Pass is that if you do not care for a museum you will not have wasted the 10 euros or so normal entry fee and thus feel compelled to visit it all.

The Scheepvaarts Museum (sp?) on the harbor may also appeal to teens - lots of old ships, etc.

Amsterdam can be a very family-friendly city too!

PalenQ

GREAT DAY TRIPS FROM AMSTERDAM

Over the years of biking and taking trains around Holland here are my favorite day trip from Amsterdam - in no real order:

HAARLEM
MARKEN/VOLENDAM/EDAM
ALKMAAR AND CHEESE MARKET
UTRECHT
ROTTERDAM
LEIDEN
DELFT
DEN HAGUE & SCHEVINGENEN (SP?)
GOUDA
ZANDVOORT
KROLLER-MULLER MUSEUM IN HOOGE VELUWE NATIONAL PARK.

Next I'll briefly tell why I enjoyed there trips!
As usual I invite others to give their impressions as well or to ask questions.

artstuff

If I may also add to...

GREAT DAY TRIPS FROM AMSTERDAM

MUIDERSLOT
ZAANSE SCHANS
SPAARNDAM

Robyn

suze

*loved* The Troppen Museum. I walked there (long!) from my hotel around Leideplein so also got an interesting peak at normal residential neighborhoods.