coffee shops.....tourists banned....what is this all about ????

At the moment, certain cafes in Amsterdam are more famous for serving another product, usually smoked. The Dutch, I believe, are going to ban tourists from these.

The Dutch, I believe, are going to ban tourists from these>>

how? passport? lots of non-dutch people live in holland so cannot be described as tourists. thor sorts of laws are easy to talk about, less easy to draft.

OK - This is how it will work. Coffeeshops will become clubs. They will be limited to 2000 members, who will be issued with a pass. Those members must be legally resident in the Netherlands and over the age of 18. Those members will be allowed to buy no more than 5g a day. By the end of this year all coffeeshops must work this way.

The Mayor of Amsterdam is still opposed to the system and is trying to get an exception for the city, but that is extremely unlikely.

Sadly those rule will result in a huge step back to illegal selling of marijuana and I fear a consequential increase in users of other, harder drugs.

I can see the point of clubs for the towns and cities near the Belgian border, but for those further away it seems a retrograde step.

@hetismij2, what is driving this decision? Why is there pressure to exclude tourists?

There has been a huge problem with drug tourists - mostly from Belgium and France, in the border towns and cities. At the weekend they would be full of these tourists causing a lot of problems. Also these tourists would naturally enough think they could take a stash back with them in their cars/buses/trains. Many of them drove high and were a real problem on the roads. Those on the trains were also causing massive problems.
Pressure has been applied by other European countries, but also by the towns and cities suffering this constant hassle. Many places closed the coffeeshops in their town - this just resulted into the problem moving further into the country.
So the government, in it's wisdom, decided to take a sledge hammer to crack a nut.

sounds like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Thank you, hetismij2.

oops, Het - we posted together.

still, great minds.....

thank you also. hetismij2.....and all I would be looking for was a good cup of coffee...this
is very interesting.!!!

I missed on first glance that you are flying into London and out of Munich. In that case, I would stick with your original itinerary. Keep all four cities, including Amsterdam. Of the four, it is actually my favorite.

Back to the original question... I think 4 cities is tight in your timeframe. And it seems like Munich is the one "must do". Honestly I'd skip either London, Paris or Amsterdam, your pick. but 2-3 cities is plenty for 12 days!

I am German and I strongly advise against Oktoberfest. It´s a bunch of drunk tourists, no more. Most Germans would not go there at all.

Yes, go to Amsterdam, if just to visit Anne Frank's house (you can buy tickets in advance online). It's a lovely city and easy to walk.

Munich was a bit disappointing, to be honest. Unless you're dead-set on Oktoberfest, I'd pick another destination, or just stick with London/Paris/Amsterdam for the entire trip.

Munich IMO makes a great base for several days as some astounding places are within an hour or two of it - like Fuessen and Mad Ludqig's Neuschwanstein Castle, Salzburg, Austria, Herrenchiemsee Castle, Mad Ludwig's Bavarian Versailles and even Dachau just for starters. The city to me also has never really struck me as romantic - a nice modern city with wide streets and great museums but not the dreamy look of an Amsterdam or Paris, etc.