BYoung4u2

Hi everyone... will be stopping off in Amsterdam on a trip to Turkey and will arrive early in the morning and have a very late afternoon flight out. Would appreciate any suggestions as to what we might do for about 6 hours (other than sleep).Thanks, Bob

bardo

Get a free map at the tourist office at the airport. Then....

Here are two walks (the first one includes map) that will easily fill (overfill?) your 6 hours. Sorry Fodors - your walk is not that good.


http://www.frommers.com/destinations...043020033.html
http://www.frommers.com/images/desti...nagecanals.jpg

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...043020034.html

Danna

Get to the train station and you can either take a route map as suggested above, catch a canal tour or just walk around. If you want to hit the highlights go to a museum first (I suggest the Van Gogh). But I think you will get the best feel for the city just wandering around. You are never too far from the station to catch your train back. Plan on this being your first but not last trip to this fun city.

PalQ

Take the train into central station from the airport (30 mins), right in heart of town. Walk around a few canals and take the canal boats that take you on about hour tour through the canals with commentary. These leave from right opposite the train station. then wander around the canals in the station area, note that east of the station the canals form the nexus of Amsterdam's infamous redlight district - scantily clad voluptous ladies sitting behind red-neon-lit picture windows, even if it revulses you as it does me, a sight that will be etched in your mind forever. And, if you're of the mind, there are many reputable safe coffeeshops where you can buy pre-rolled joints of the finest Dutch cannabis for a few dollars and further experience an aspect of Amsterdam that is totally unique - it's all legal.Warning - watch your valuables in the station area and the redlight district - lots of pickpockets. Buy a day return train ticket from the airport. Alternatively, sheep can go to the airport VVV (tourist office) and take advantage of their guided bus tours designed just for folks like you with several hours to spend, whisk you from Schiphol into town and by some sights and back.

hopscotch

Take the train to Centraal Station from Schiphol airport. You may need to change in Sloterdijk depending on which train you take.

Walk straight out the front door of the station about a half mile to the Dam. That's the heart of the city. From there you can visit a number of the truly unique sites of A'dam. Buy a Michelin or DK Eyewitness guidebook and plan your walking tour from there.

IMO, the canal boat tour is the worst way to see Amsterstam. Use your feet.

PalQ

for someone with limited time the canal boats are an excellent way to savor this unique Venice of the North - if you had more time, yes explore, but in my advice, i've been traveling to Amsterdam every year for 35 years, spending weeks there, blah, blah, blah, these boats, taking just an hour should not be dissed as " the worst way to see Amsterdam" I see a lot of dog crap on the sidewalks of Amsterdam - if you do use your feet and you should too, but some of the dog crap has spilled over here!

suze

PalQ, As a matter of clarification, marijuana and soft drugs are NOT legal in Amsterdam they are "decriminalized" and "tolerated". And if the RLD so revulses you, why go peeping around?

suze

For a day in Amsterdam, I would take a taxi or the train into town. Go to the Leidseplein district and stroll around a bit, have lunch. If the weather is good Vondelpark is lovely and restful. A canal/boat tour is often recommended and only takes an hour. I found the central area around the train station quite gloomy. But the RDL and one of the sex museums was pretty fun.

I'm not an art/museum/history person so can't help with that.

Also Schiphol is an amazing airport with shopping, meditation room, museum, casino, restaurants (I'm not sure this is all exactly correct, but you get the idea).

hopscotch

PalQ: Being rude and crude does not help your point.

PalQ

I agree.

PalQ

Suze: semantics. If I can go into a shop and see hundreds of buds of pot on display and buy them at hundreds of shops, I'd say it's legal. What's the difference? The idea of the redlight district does revulse me; i read that many girls from eastern europe end up here in a kind of indentured servant. I'm surprises it doesn't revulse you; it doesn't mean that it's not interesting to see - I don't think selling your body should be illegal, but I feel sorry for the sex workers - don't you?

suze

It is NOT a matter of semantics. Soft drugs are NOT legal in Amsterdam, period. The fact that they are part of the culture, available in certain places, etc. does not LEGAL make. The information you are passing on is incorrect.

And since you specifically asked, no I do not feel sorry for the prostitutes working in the RLD. I have fairly liberal world view and am not a judgemental person. To each their own.

There is little I am revulsed by in terms of personal choice and lifestyles. You should get your facts straight, and mind your own business (IMO).

h2babe

If you only have 6 hrs, I wouldnt recommend going into a museum (I went to Van Gogh and Anne Frank Haus in July and the line was about 30-45 mins for VG and longer for AF) unless you're a real history buff.

Go to the Central Station, and walk around the Dam, check out the areas and have lunch at one of many Indonesians restaurant.

Btw, while you're allowed to buy pots in coffeeshops, you're not allowed to smoke them outside the coffeehouses because they are considered illegal.

PalQ

Well actually the Dutch law to my knowledge says that nation-wide soft drugs are illegal BUT the local authority - Amsterdam and dozens and dozens of other cities can legally chose not to enforce the law - to me that's legal- the local control aspect. Thus the Amsterdam town council choses not to make them illegal. It's still a matter of semantics - why are you quibbling - should I say no never go into a coffeeshop because soft drugs are illegal? That would be stupid - I've sat next to off-duty Amsterdam cops in coffeeshops - now would cops do anything that is illegal? Soft drugs are de facto legal in most Dutch towns. The soft drug sales are taxed - what government would tax illegal activities. But my point is that WHAT THE HELL DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE -they are legal for all practical purposes - the tourist need not worry about getting busted for buying pot in a coffeeshop or the semantics of their legality. I would mention more of that dog stuff but I made that mistake already and regret it.

suze

The reason I am quibbling is because what you keep insisting on and continue to argue about is NOT true! Soft drugs are NOT legal in Amsterdam. Read any guidebook. Tolerated but not legalized is the most often used phrase.

If it makes you feel any better, I love the coffeeshops and spent plenty of time enjoying their "ambience". Although I never saw "hundreds of buds on display". The shops I frequented were more discrete I guess.

Amsterdam is so MUCH more than pot and whores, I'm not sure why you are stuck on these two things. Our poor original poster hasn't gotten much help from this thread.

PalQ

Yes quibbling, obscurificating my original intent of telling someone who sounds like has never been to Amsterdam before that yeh, it's OK to go into a coffeeshop - it's not going to get you in trouble - you mention illegal and some folks will say only ugly Americans break the law abroad and possibly miss out on what is probably the most unique thing about Amsterdam besides its physical beauty - where else in the world can you go into a coffeeshop and, yes, see dozens of buds in a showcase - you obviously havn't been in many coffeeshops, and then buy, without any fear of legal ramifications, pot - like it will be in the US some day. Raising the spector of it being illegal does no good - again I agree with you that it may be technically illegal - and some say that this is a ruse by the Dutch government to avoid being in violation of international drugs conventions - but in practice it is legal. We're really dealing with semantics - to me something being illegal means that if I do it, I will have legal ramifications. I better tread with care. But, if there are absolutely no legal ramifications, because local authorities, with the national gov't's permission have decided not to enforce the law, then to me it's legal - all I wanted to portray to them was, OK you can do it here, it's sanctioned by the way the local law is framed. When is the last time someone had legal ramifications for buying and smoking reefer in a coffeeshop? Recently the authorities lowered the amount of cannabis one could buy in coffeeshops and what a shopkeeper could sell. Now talk is about banning foreigners from coffeeshops, making them available only to Dutch. If something were truly illegal it wouldn't matter how much they bought - it would all be illegal. Anyway, don't worry about the original inquirer - they have tuned out and got some good info - they should take the boat trip for an hour and then, knowing the lay of the land, explore a little bit by foot, and maybe, if they are inclined, have the mind-boggling experience of the coffeeshop WITHOUT fear of doing anything illegal, at least in the way Amsterdammer authorities interpret the law. Amster, Amster, Amster Damned, Damned, Damned, Enough already. Tot Ziens! I leave for Amsterdam on Monday, so you won't have me to bother with - I may even break the law when there!

suze

Have a great trip, truly, we're on the same side here. You obviously love and are well familiar with Amsterdam and are sharing a wealth of information and help to new travelers.

CRAIGdotWHITE

BYoung4u2,
Time out first to answer the question:

Since you are arriving in the early AM you would most likely want some decent (read non-airline) food. There is a world class pancake house steps away from the Ann Fank museum / house. Very easily accessed via tram (I forget and there are past posts on the subject). Do check schedules for both the pancake joint and Ann's.
Walk about and museum are a great idea. Red light will most likely be dead until mid afternoon when the punters start to show up before their supper.
Boat ride is worth the time, but just as the streets can accumulate excrement (I'm trying my best to straddle "non-rude" and accurate here) the canals are not worth falling into, not that there is a risk of that. Just try to figure out what all of those canal boats do with flushed material...

On the way around, when you get peckish, have some patat (french fries/chips) orlog (with mayo & sate sauce) or speciaal (mayo, curry sauce & onions sometimes). You can get them at several outdoor stands or at FEBO, arguably the tastiest food behind little glass windows served below sea level when you get munchies in the wee hours in the morning and can't find anything else.

As to the drugs and hookers... (you wouldn't believe how many times I say that every day), The prostitutes belong, generally, to the Rode Draad (my spelling in Dutch is awfull, Ik weet 't) or "the red thread". It is a profession and fairly well regulated (as anything else is). The Dutch people, government and culture are all careful of basic human rights. I grew to respect thier outlook on the world -- "let people do what they want with themselves, even when you don't agree with their choices." IMO they would never let people suffer, be they tulip farmers, MPs or prostitutes.
Drugs are "tolerated" as you say, but how can someone who isn't embeded in the culture understand it all other than using the word "legal" in some way? I agree, it is not 100% correct, but how do you explain gezelig? It doesn't entirely translate.

Upshot is, there won't be much red light or drugs going on from early morning to afternoon.

Do try out the sex museum if you want. Very respectfully presented and surprisingly educational. Just a 5 minute or so walk from the Centraal station.

Het beste,
Craig

jenviolin

"Pancake Joint" indeed...now BYoung is really going to be confused!

jenviolin

sorry, I hit 'post' too soon -
Suggestions for 6 hours in Amsterdam:
- Take a canal boat tour. There are several different companies right near the Central Station (Holland International, Lovers, ect.). Seeing Amsterdam from the water is wonderful...and no dog poop.
- Take the 'Museum Boat' which lets you get on and off at various stops near museums. I think this would be a great way to spend 6 hours: boat, museum, boat, lunch, boat, shopping, boat...
- Rent a bike ar the Central Station (buy the optional insurance) and get a map from the VVV tourist office outside the station. Ask them for a tourist bike route suggestion or choose one yourself.
- Get a map and walk towards the Dam Square, then down the Leidsestraat to the Leidsdplein and then to the Rijksmuseum and/or the Van Gogh museum. Spend an hour looking at Rembrandt or Van Gogh. The lines are not always bad, especially if you're not there April - August.
- Go to the Anne Frank House. This is not everyone's favorite "happy day in Amsterdam" activity, but it's a gripping, emotional, world-famous place.
- Head for the Jordaan area (by bike or on foot) and just wander around looking at architecture, shops, cafes, houseboats, etc.
- Head for the Waterlooplein flea market, the Rembrandt House (many etchings & drawings) and the Jewish History Museum. These are all in the same area.
- Go to an Indonesian restaurant for lunch and have a small rijstafel.
- If you like to walk, choose one of the circular canals (Herengracht, Prinsengracht, Keisersgracht) and walk all the way around, starting and ending more or less at the Central Station.