Are there any hidden foodie hotspots, nice shops, good deals? I have two weeks and I don\t find the main sites that interesting. Thanks!

If you have two weeks in Amsterdam then my advice would be to get away from it for some of the time if you can. Go to Friesland, Overijssel, Drenthe, one of the islands - Texel, Vlieland or Terschelling are the easiest to get to.
Friesland has some good restaurants - Gastronoom in Harlingen and de Vijf Sinnen in Weidum come to mind. Terschelling has some island specialities, including various cranberry products, Texel is famous for it's lamb.
Or try Zeeland or Limburg for a change.

The thing I liked the best was renting a bike and following the bike paths in and out of town. It's such gorgeous flat (aka easy) country, that riding was a total pleasure. Just be sure to lock it up like they show you, or else risk losing it!

Ditto. Get out of town.

Haarlem, The Hague, Utrecht. Zandvoort and other beach towns if the weather is good. Get a Michelin Green Guide Holland to show you about.

Scoot down to Köln and Düsseldorf. Or Antwerp and Brugge.

There's a strange but interesting museum called "Tropenmuseum" (Museum of the Tropics) in an outlying area that I walked to one rainy day.

Best (but expensive) shopping in Amsterdam is in PC Hooftstraat near Rijksmuseum.
Did you check this website with plenty of info of the touristboard:
http://www.vvvamsterdam.nl/

Hi, Frank,

not sure that it's hidden, but we really enjoyed the floating chinese restaurant in the harbour by the railway station. on a sunday lunch-time it's full of chinese families and was very good, and lots of fun.

regards, ann

The <u>really</u> undiscovered things aren't in any map or guide. That's because no one has discovered them.

frank10b - don't know if this will be of interest to you but we found a visit to Eindhoven's outdoor museum a nice day trip from Amsterdam, especially on a nice day, here's a website
http://www.historisch-openluchtmuseum-eindhoven.nl/

Enjoy your trip.

Why don't you go to a coffeeshop? That'll kill some time.
;-)

suze - LOL!! Time is not the only thing that will be killed in a coffeeshop. But I must say, the brownies are OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!

Tom

1* Francis De Groot Sword Museum
2* Dirk Hartog Pewterware
3* Abel Tasman Tours
4* Leeuwin's Fine Capes
5* Houtman's Abrolhos Memorial
6* Willem Janzoon's Duyfken

Second annhig for www.seapalace.nl and if you like Belgian beer then try Cafe Belgique www.xs4all.nl/~phj/index.html
Enjoy.

i would do haarlem one day - the frans hals museum was just too sweet. the town is small and worth seeing.
Another day trip could be to Leiden - a very young town swarming with students. excellent canoeing options. this place has a lovely Museum with the best Eygptian collection , even an eygptian temple inside !

you could take a bus ride to Volendam, a seaside fishing resort. Again very quaint and picturesque. it has a a very interesting museum right next to the post office.

Even Zaan Schaans is definetly worth a visit - with 2 historic windmills (you can go right up to the roof in these with a ticket). This place is a an ancient village created with actors performing in traditional old costumes.