Top five sights or to-do stuff in Amsterdam and vicinity
 

I know Holland very well but I am curious about what most Fodorites think are the best attractions and things to do in Amsterdam and surroundings. List your favorites in order of preference, best first, and reply. I'll tabulate the results and post a summary over the weekend. If you only have 2 favorites or if you have 20 no matter, I'll rank them by position and number of votes.

Van Gogh Museum
Anne Frank House
The "Brown Cafes" - any of them
The Tulip Trail in April-May
The Rijksmuseum
Just walking all around the city

Van Gogh

Rijksmuseum (apologies is spelling is incorrect)

Their equivalent of Bond Street

Intercontinental Hotel (one of the few decent Grand hotels there)

The Japanese restaurant at Hotel Okura - superb!

No wipe the restaurant - Anne Frank's house must be in there- apologies, put it at the top in fact.

It's so important for me I never associate it with Amsterdam which I'm not fond of at all.

Canal house architecture/facades

Van Gogh museum

Vondelpark on Sunday afternoon

Renting a bike and trying hard not to get killed

Being a repeat customer at Indonesian restaurant (Puri Mas & Srikandi, so far)

Being a repeat customer at certain coffee shops - I can't hear reggae music anymore without grinning ;)

Anne Frank House
The Rijksmuseum
Walking in the Jordaan
Bike ride out of town (tulips, windmills, etc.)

Affirm all that has been said so far but, you really need to go to "God in the Attic" and MUST Haarlem. Another neat thing to do is to take the ferry across from behind Central Station. Watching the boats go through the lock is GREAT!

TTT.

Thanks to all for the input so far and topping up again.

Q for m kingdom2: what is <i>Their equivalent of Bond Street</i>?

In the Leidseplein, street performers at night. I saw a fantastic show of street performers (fire dancing and eating w/ music) one Friday evening about 10pm.

Tropenmuseum (Museum of he Tropics) weird &amp; wonderful. Off the beaten path.

Amsterdam Erotic Museum in the RLD near the train station.

Any coffeeshop in your neighborhood, should you be so inclined.

Vondelpark!

1) Anne Frank House, because it is so moving.
2) A walk through the Jordaan late in the afternoon.
3) The Red Light District at dusk or just when it gets dark, to see the hordes of gawking tourists.
4) Vondelpark
5) Leidesplein late afternoon or night, because it's so lively.

Their equivalent of Bond St. is a road with a long name that houses, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Mulberry, Gucci and other designers.

i think you mean the rokin as equivalent to bond street.

No one has mentioned the fun seaside race track @ Zanvoort.
M

I think that the equivalent of Bond Street is PC Hooftstraat, near the Rijksmuseum, if I remember correctly.

Yes, it was PC Hooftstraat!

Sorry, I couldn't limit my choices to just five....

AMSTERDAM - Costs money
1. Coffeeshops (Bluebird)
2. Amstelkring
3. Anne Frank House
4. Van Gogh Museum
5. Rijksmuseum
6. Amsterdam Historic Museum
7. Joods Historic Museum
8. Rembrandthouse
9. Sex Museum
10. Houseboat Museum

AMSTERDAM - Free
1. Beginhof
2. Waterlooplein Flea Market
3. Normaal Amsterdam Piel
4. Canal/Jordaan walk
5. Red Light District walk (daytime &amp; night)
6. Schuttersgalerij (Guards Gallery)
7. Kalverstraat on Thursday night
8. Hildo Krop artwork
9. Hollandse Schouwburg
10. Book Market at Oude Manhuispoort

SURROUNDINGS
1. Keukenhof - Seasonal
2. Delft - the town
3. den Hague - Escher in het Palais
4. Leiden - Molen de Valk
5. Haarlem - Teyler's Museum
6. Hilversum - Tolerance Statue
7. Utrecht - Dom Toren (all 465 steps)
8. Gouda - St. Janskerk
9. Rotterdam - Post WWII architecture (Kijk Kubus)
10. Arnhem - Grote of Eusebiuskerk (crypt in basement)

Happy travelling, and enjoy Amsterdam and the beautiful Netherlands. Peace.

Robyn

Can't believe no one mentioned the Ajax football stadium.

1. Anne Frank House

2. Van Gogh Museum

3. Rijksmuseum

4. Poezenboot (Cat Boat Animal Sanctuary) http://www.poezenboot.nl

5 Verzets Museum (Dutch Resistance Museum) http://www.verzetsmuseum.org

mvor,
I tried to find the Poezenboot on the Singel last time - no luck. Where exactly is it?

Hi Dovima, we had trouble finding it too and it's been five years since our visit so here are the directions from their website:

**The Cat Boat is located in central Amsterdam, on the Singel canal in front of number 40. This is just south of the junction with Brouwersgracht, and is within walking distance of Amsterdam Central station.

I was glad to read that they've been able to upgrade their facilities (2001) since our visit and was surprised to learn that they have two boats (we just visited the one).

Have you been to the Kattenkabinet? It's a quirky museum that houses a collection of objects d'art focused exclusively on cats. For more info: http://www.kattenkabinet.nl.

Enjoy!

Maureen

Top 5:

The new PostCS location for the stedelijk museum of moder art: they should keep it there!

Eating at &quot;Bird&quot; on the Zeedijk

Spending a night out in the Nieuwmarkt area (which isclose to the red light district: however: it's a place for the locals, so don't tell anyone I told you): De Waag is great, and so is Cafe Het Loosje.

Try to get tickets for a concert at the Concertgebouw, or, alternatively: Paradiso.

The FOAM Photography Institute, located in the Fodor (yes!) residence, which is a classic example of a Patrician residence.

Standing on Magere Brug when night is falling and then going for drinks and dinner at the Amstelveld.