I am only going to be in Amsterdam one day in early October. Any advice on what I should do in that brief period of time? I would like for it to involve at least a lttile sampling of local brew, and as little museum as possible. Also - the BEST restaurant recommendation (without spending 300 euros) would be great. I appreciate your input! See my similar posting for Nice, France.

hi
since you gave the same title to your other posting, people might assume you're duplicating your question.
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One day in Nice and One day in A'dam.

One of the most awe-inspiring sites in Amsterdam is the Amstelveen flower market - the largest in the world. Go there to see something like I can assure you have never seen before - a highly systematic and mechanized way of wholesaling flowers.

Take a tour of the Heineken brewery.

Take a canal cruise. It will give you a good introduction to the city, its architecture, etc. The Heineken brewery tour is nice. Find out tour times. They will take a group of say 100 at a time but get in line early since the first group of say 20 is done first and start's drinking the free beer first. When we were there in 1997 it cost like $1.50 US per person which they donate to charity.

Depending on the time of day you are there, there is the red light district which has to be done in the evening. There is the Rik's museum for art lovers, diamond cutting for jewelry lovers (which was interesting), and the casino for a little night life!

Definately take the canal cruise from central station area and after that, walk from central station to Leidseplein..That will give you a good taste of the city, on foot and you can stop where you like, therefore you may find a restaurant or a nice cafe or coffeeshop that you may want to spend some time at...In the evening it is fun to just stroll around the canals which are all lit up or take a walk through the Red Light District..It is definately something to see...Perhaps night time is a good time to take the canal boat cruise...Hope you have fun...I will be in Amsterdam on Sept. 17th and can't wait!!

I believe the most unusual thing in A'dam is the KinderKookKafé.
A kind of restaurant where your children can perform their cooking and serving skills.