One Week in Amsterdam
 

We are in Amsterdam the 1st week in April. Will we be too early to see the tulips in bloom? Also, can you recommend some good restaurants...not too expensive. Thanks a lot.

ttp

It won't be peak season by any means, but the Keukenhof will be just open, and will have greenhouse displays of tulips, and outdoor displays of early bulb flowers. It's a daytrip from Amsterdam, either by public transportation, or organized tour.

www.keukenhof.nl

here's some info on how to get there on your own
http://tinyurl.com/cdxsu

Here's my Amsterdam trip report from this past June. We found some really good restaurants there. It is a wonderful city. Have fun there.

"Final stop: Amsterdam. Five nights’ stay, first visit for all of us.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Amsterdam! You always hear of the Red Light district and the coffee shops and the laissez-faire attitude, but you don’t hear how open and friendly the people are, how lovely the canals and side streets, how wonderfully trendy the restaurants and cafes, how people are out strolling at all hours of the night and you feel safe everywhere. I think I’d expected it to be quaint and charming (which it is), but in a dark wood-paneled cliché way, not in the young and contemporary way it is.

The standard reply we were given in Amsterdam, when we asked for anything, was always “Of course!” How refreshing.

We stayed in a fabulous location, at The Hotel Residence le Coin, which was directly across a small street from the Hotel de l’Europe, down the street from the Hotel Doelan, on Nieuwe Doelenstraat (sp?). A great neighborhood in the heart of old Amsterdam.

The hotel has a lift and A/C, also free use of the hotel’s washing machine and clothes dryer in the basement (which was welcome as we’d been traveling over a week when we arrived there). Each room has a little kitchenette, a nice-sized bath, large rooms with wooden floors and a sitting area. It’s fairly new, so everything sparkles. Very friendly front desk, too.

Two cafes on the same block as the hotel were wonderful: Café Katoen for a university atmosphere, and Café de Jaren, for great table seating on the canal.

Amazing dinners at two restaurants in particular:
“Stout!”, at Haarlemmerstraat 73 (www.restaurantstout.nl). Fabulous ‘foamy asparagus’ soup with shrimp, chateaubriande, fresh fish, dessert course, wine list. Very trendy lighting. Great service. We’d gone to the neighborhood in search of a restaurant called “Lof” which we’d seen written up. We didn’t like its atmosphere, but were lucky that Stout! was just across the street.

Also at “Restaurant Dining Eleven” we had a great dinner. It’s at Reestraat 11. Also trendy and contempory, well-presented and beautifully-served meal.

Another nice dinner at “frenzi”, at Swanenburgwal 232. Very simple and contemporary. We arrived shortly after 10:00p.m., when most restaurants close in Amsterdam, and persuaded the owner to sell us any left-overs they had in the kitchen! They put together a nice Caesar salad with cooked-in-the-shell shrimp and mango. Very nice.

Also a good brunch at a place across the street from frenzi—called “Puccini”. Creative salads and sandwiches. Very nice also.

We took a canal cruise one evening. Toured the Anne Frank Huis and the Van Gogh Museum. Visited the Nieuwe Kerk (sp?) Our teens went to a concert at the Paradiso and loved it.

One afternoon we did the 2:30 “Best of Holland” excursion to Volendam and Marken, with a stop to see wooden clogs made, Gouda cheese created, and to visit windmills. It was by bus, with a boat from Volendam to Marken. A lot of fun. Even our two teens liked it.

Our teens also liked shopping at one street in particular, between our hotel and the museum district. Also a Zara shop there, and many others like it. They thought the selection and prices were better in Amsterdam than what they’d seen in London and Paris even.

A detail about Amsterdam if you go there-- carry enough Euros in cash, because many places won't accept a credit card for a 'small' purchase (i.e. under 25 EU).
The only unpleasantness we encountered in Amsterdam related to cab rides and inconsistent pricing. Especially when our two teens were grossly overcharged cabbing to the hotel from the concert. They were well aware of the route, having walked it already twice, but we'd wanted them to cab home late at night. They knew the cabbie took a very round-about way back in order to over-charge. Also, when we arrived at the taxi sand at Central Station, I was literally swarmed by rather aggressive cabbies and felt uncomfortably jostled by them all."

I will be in Amsterdam this May and would like to take a bike ride out into the country. Did you take a bike tour? Or did you see any tours. Also how fare were the windmills from the city?

I don't know exactly how far the windmills were from Amsterdam. They were the first stop on the bus tour, though, so not terribly far. We didn't take a bike tour, although it looked like fun. There are probably internet resources where you can get more info. on renting a bike and routes to take to see windmills. Have fun!

Best place we ate in Amsterdam was Long Pura, an Indonesian restaurant located at Rozengracht 46-48 (near the Anne Frank House). Lovely atmosphere, the waitresses were dressed in beautiful clothing and the food was out of this world. We ordered a rice table and each dish was better than the last. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Give it a try, you won't be dissappointed.

What kind of food do you like? Sometimes the best thing to do is wander. There are lots of little places tucked away. There are bagel places, and if you like hearty soups, soup en zo is really good. Also the Waag for less expensive but good lunches. Also, find a pancake house. Dutch pancakes are way different from US pancakes and are sooo delicious. Cafe de Jaren is also reasonable and good off the muntplein. One way to eat reasonably is to get pizza slices or broodjes (sandwiches) or stop at the local department stores. Their restaurants are surprisingly good, especially Vroom & Dreesman. If you like Japanese modern, there's Wagamama, a chain based in London, and it's near the Liedesplein. Have fun!

ttt