Amsterdam Trip Report
May 25th, 2003, 06:32 AM
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Amsterdam Trip Report
I have never posted a trip report before but I have gotten so much great information from this board that I wanted to give back. So here goes: Just got back from Amsterdam, had a wonderful time. I will break the report down by topic so you can read only what interests you:
1) flight: flew northwest from dulles to AMS non-stop. was delayed both going and coming. Typical northwest. My least favorite airline, rude service, old plane, delays. but we got there safe and sound which is the most important thing!
2) hotel: Canal House, was lovely. Service was great, location ws THE BEST - the canals are lovely and the Jordan area is just perfect with cafes and galleries. And so close to everything. Highly recommend.
3) museums: the Rijksmuseum was closed which was a major dissapointment as my husband and I are art lovers. They are renovating it. They will be moving Rembrant's "Nightwatch" and major works to the phillips wing at the end of May but the whole museum will not re-open until 2006. My advice to major art lovers is to put off Amsterdam until then. We plan to go back if at all possible. Other museums though were outstanding - I particularly recommend doing a day trip to Den Hague and visiting the Maurithuis which has Vermeer's "Girl with a pearl earring". Also in Rotterdam the art museum has some lovely dutch masters as well. Get a good guidebook (we use fodor's) and visit the canal house museums, like the Van Loon, that show how rich amsterdamers lived centuries ago - superb! Ann frank house was a MUST, very moving. Try to go when it is not crowded. Since our hotel was so close, we just kept popping by to see when there was no line and went when there were literally only 5 people there with us! It was great. Rembrandt House was also fabulous. Get the museum card - we more than made up for the price, it gets you into almost everything.
food: we love to eat local cuisine when we travel, nothing too fancy. I loved the Pancake Bakery, touristy but if you're a carb lover, these pancakes are to die for. Very filling for dinner. Also we decided to try an indonesian rice table and it was amazing. Now I don't like spicy food and I was wary of this but it was really amazing, not too spicy and the variety was unreal. One of the best meals of my life. We went to the Tiger (I forget the full name but it is in the fodors book or on this website, or I can find it if anyone wants the full name and address) and I highly recommend it.
weather: very variable. I could not believe how quickly the weather changed from sun to rain and back again. Bring layers and bring umbrellas!! one for each of traveller - you will need them, trust me!
That's all I can think of right now, please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer.
1) flight: flew northwest from dulles to AMS non-stop. was delayed both going and coming. Typical northwest. My least favorite airline, rude service, old plane, delays. but we got there safe and sound which is the most important thing!
2) hotel: Canal House, was lovely. Service was great, location ws THE BEST - the canals are lovely and the Jordan area is just perfect with cafes and galleries. And so close to everything. Highly recommend.
3) museums: the Rijksmuseum was closed which was a major dissapointment as my husband and I are art lovers. They are renovating it. They will be moving Rembrant's "Nightwatch" and major works to the phillips wing at the end of May but the whole museum will not re-open until 2006. My advice to major art lovers is to put off Amsterdam until then. We plan to go back if at all possible. Other museums though were outstanding - I particularly recommend doing a day trip to Den Hague and visiting the Maurithuis which has Vermeer's "Girl with a pearl earring". Also in Rotterdam the art museum has some lovely dutch masters as well. Get a good guidebook (we use fodor's) and visit the canal house museums, like the Van Loon, that show how rich amsterdamers lived centuries ago - superb! Ann frank house was a MUST, very moving. Try to go when it is not crowded. Since our hotel was so close, we just kept popping by to see when there was no line and went when there were literally only 5 people there with us! It was great. Rembrandt House was also fabulous. Get the museum card - we more than made up for the price, it gets you into almost everything.
food: we love to eat local cuisine when we travel, nothing too fancy. I loved the Pancake Bakery, touristy but if you're a carb lover, these pancakes are to die for. Very filling for dinner. Also we decided to try an indonesian rice table and it was amazing. Now I don't like spicy food and I was wary of this but it was really amazing, not too spicy and the variety was unreal. One of the best meals of my life. We went to the Tiger (I forget the full name but it is in the fodors book or on this website, or I can find it if anyone wants the full name and address) and I highly recommend it.
weather: very variable. I could not believe how quickly the weather changed from sun to rain and back again. Bring layers and bring umbrellas!! one for each of traveller - you will need them, trust me!
That's all I can think of right now, please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer.
May 25th, 2003, 08:53 AM
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Ivy, the Rijksmuseum was recently closed because they found asbestos. Most of the museum is now open again since they decided there was no danger to the public. They are doing rebuilding work, so parts of it may still be closed at certain times.
