Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - What to do in Amsterdam?

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What to do in Amsterdam?

I'm thinking about traveling from Oslo to Amsterdam on a Friday evening and then staying in Amsterdam until Sunday. I would appreciate any ideas that you have about the best way to travel between the two cities (I am thinking of a train) and also what I should spend my time on while in Amsterdam. I am open for all suggestions.

Here is my ideas...... 1. If you like beer there are plenty of place to drink it! I found the Leidseplein especially active on Fri & Sat nights. 2. Amsterdam is loaded with affordable shopping (Leidsestraat and the Kalverstraat). I think the clothes are good and the prices are the best in Europe. 3. See the Anne Frank House 4. Take a Canal Boat ride to see the Canal Houses from a new angle. 5. Eat Stroopenwafels (spelled right). Its a yummy gingerbreadlike wafer filledwith sticky carmel syrup. 6. Walk, walk, walk. There are so many places to walk in Amsterdam. Every side street, canal and avenue is an adventure. 7. Go to the Red Light District. This is not like anything we have at home! Oh Behave! 8. Go on a tour to one of the cheese cities like Gouda or Edam. There is also a small 'dutch' style village with windmills included on one of these tours. 9. Go to the Van Gogh Museum or any of the other great art museums. 10. Eat herring!

Take a stroll along the Herrengracht. It's the canal between the Singel and the Keizersgracht and has the most notable collection of Amsterdam's impressive canal houses. You'll obviously note the varied and distinctive gables of the houses, but keep your eyes open, too, for the cartouches on many of them. There are fascinating details by and over doors and windows that are too frequently overlooked by sightseers. It will only take a few minutes walking for your curiosity to be aroused about what the innards of one of these houses are like. At 605 Herrengracht at the canal's eastern end near the Amstel is the Willet-Holthuysen museum, a furnished three-story home dating from the late 17th century. The museum also has a fine collection of silverware, glass and ceramics. As a bonus, there's a garden in the French style. If you want to pass up the museum, the garden is visible from the Amstelstraat, the street on the banks of the Amstel River. You might want to look into the Van Loon museum, another late 17th century home with a lovely formal garden, which is only open on Monday. It's at 672-674 Keizersgracht, the canal just south of Herrengracht. On your way you might want to stop in at the Six collection. Another house dating from the late 17th century it houses a number of 17th century paintings including a number of Rembrandts (Six was his patron). For admission, you need a card of introduction available from the information desk of the Rijksmuseum on presentation of your passport. Look into the Bloemenmarkt, a retail flower market held on a dozen or so canal boats by the Mint Tower. The flowers and bulbs come from the tulip fields around Haarlem and from the Aalsmeer auction house. Distances in the Netherlands are so short that public transportation can get you most anywhere in quick time. Avoid Volendam (too touristy and gimmicky); do consider Marken and/or Haarlem. Up until 40 years or so ago, Marken was a rather remote island in the Zuider Zee, thus not overly impacted by tourism. It's now connected to the mainland but still retains a great deal of the charm and quiet of its former times. Many of these towns are particularly interesting because of the dramatic changes they had to undergo when the Zuider Zee was drained and they had to change from fishing villages with large fleets of vessels to other industries. Marken's populace, about 2,000 staunch Calvinists, can still be seen wearing traditional costumes and living in houses painted green and white with red shutters (the same color scheme as the boats in the harbor). Marken is about 12 miles north of Amsterdam and accessible by Bus No 11 from Amsterdam's Centraal Station. Haarlem, under 15 minutes by train from Amsterdam, has two unique offerings, the Franz Hals museum and St. Bavo's church. The Hals museum used to be an old folks home and dates to the early 1600s. It's got a number of Hals' portraits and group paintings and some lovely rooms. St. Bavo is noted for a couple of things: a magnificent, immense organ upon which Mozart, Haydn and Saint-Saens played at one time or another and a covey of shops dating from the Middle Ages that are built into the church's exterior walls. Final recommendation for a spot outside of Amsterdam and that's the Kroller-Muller museum and sculpture park in the Hogue Veluwe National Park. There are over 200 Van Gogh's on display as well as Seurat, Picasso and Braque. In the sculpture garden there are works by Rodin, Henry Moore, Giacommetti and Barbara Hepworth among others. You can hop on a white bicycle and pedal all over the park. Bikes are free; at least the white ones in the park are. It's about an hour and fifteen minutes from Amsterdam to Arnhem where you can pick up a bus for the short ride to the museum. Regarding pubs and pub foods, Amsterdam offers "brown" cafes that are the Dutch counterpart of Britain's gathering places. What Britain doesn't have in the quantity that Amsterdam does, are Indonesian restaurants. Try the rijstaffel in one, but be prepared to down great quantities of beer to quell the heat of the spices used in each of the fifteen or eighteen dishes you'll be served. Boy, did all these Dutch words give my spellcheck heartburn!

best to travel by train via Denmark; a good bar is "Gollem" on the Singel canal very friendly, old established

You did ask for ALL suggestions. Depending on your age and inclination, you may want to try out a "coffee shop" where you can purchase and smoke maijuana or hashish without stigma, guilt, or concern for legality. My wife and I were in college in the late 60s and early 70s and, yes, we smoked a bit in our younger years. Once we hit our 30s and started having kids, that recreation became a thing of the past. When we went to Amsterdam in May, we decided to indulge, and it was great fun. Pick a "mellow" coffee shop frequented by locals (we went to Paradox in the Jordaan neighborhood), not a raucus tourist spot. Unless you're experienced, ask for a middle-grade of weed rather than top-of-the-line - it's all quite excellent. It's ok to smoke at the shop or in your hotel room, but not in other public places. Walking the canals on a nice day with a pleasant buzz is a great way to experience the city. - Bill

Richards list is really good, just too add a couple: 1. While in the Leidesplein area visit the casino 2. Take a Heineken Brewery Tour within walking distance of the Riks Museum. I think in 1997 it was about $2 per person. Get tickets early it sells out and at the end of the tour in a beer hall, they provide what else, free beer. Try to get in the first group!!! They stay until all are through. 3. Just walking the city is great.