Winter in Amsterdam? Advice please!
 

My husband and I will be visiting Amsterdam for 5 days at the end of January, and we were wondering what we should expect weather-wise. We’re both big fans of outdoor markets, flea markets and the like, and while every tour book I’ve read says that there are many markets in Amsterdam, it doesn’t mention if they run year ‘round.

Are there any other “must see” events in Amsterdam that we could do in the Winter? We plan on hitting all the art museums (we’re both artists and are SOO excited about the Van Gogh, Rembrandt & Vermeer works!)

Also we looove food, and though we will be traveling on a budget, we would love to have some yummy food experiences! Does anybody have any suggestions of places we should try?

Any and all advice is gratefully appreciated! This is our first trip since our honeymoon, and we are looking forward to having fun! Thanks so much!!

You will probably have cold and damp weather but just bundle up and take it in stride. I'd also recommend that you visit the Anne Frank House, Our Lord of the Attic Church, take a canal cruise at night, go to the amstel hotel for tea or a late afternoon glass of wine, etc. We did a long weekend trip to Ams in late April- my trip report is posted if you click on my name above.

This is a good market:

http://www.amsterdam.info/shopping/albert_cuypmarkt/

If you're lucky the canals will freeze and you can go ice skating. It's been years since it's been cold enough for the 11 cities ice skating race on the canals, but you never know. If you have time, take the train to Haarlem and visit the Frans Hals Museum. Make sure to eat dutch pancakes and poffertjes (soo delicious)...

Yes, most markets are year round. Albert Cuyp is a general street market, as is the Westerstraat - you could find interesting odds and ends for the kitchen, for example. For a flea market, the biggest name is the Waterlooplein, but it could be worth looking at the Noordermarkt on (if memory serves) Mondays. Alternatively, there are indoor antique booths around the Looiersgracht. Stamps on a Saturday afternoon at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, and old books at the Oudemanhuispoort (not Sundays). But check locally for updated information.

See www.channels.nl to whet your appetite.

There might still be an outdoor icerink around, and plenty of historical museums as well as art galleries: the Ship Museum, the City History Museum, the Museum of Resistance, as well as the Anne Frank House. Not sure if Heineken are still doing brewery tours (with a free drink thrown in). I'd certainly take a canal cruise, and you can do a circular trip on the trams, changing from the 5 to the 16 at either (or both) Central Station and the Concertgebouw.

I'm a food-is-fuel person, but even I would have to say the Netherlands are not exactly known for haute cuisine, the native food style being as substantial and stodgy as here in England - plenty of chips, and a good winter warmer is "erwtensoep" (thick pea soup with chunks of fatty ham in), which is likely to be available pretty well everywhere in January. You will also find pancake houses (Pannekoeken), and various forms of hot sweet doughnut-ish comfort foods from street stalls (poffertjes and oliebollen), and plenty of fish - a cheap, but good, chain of restaurants specialising in fish is Noordzee. A particular local experience is rijsttaffel, an Indonesian meal of rice with lots of different taster dishes - saté (peanut sauce) is likely to feature. Apart from that, Dutch "Indian" or "Chinese" restaurants at the cheaper end of the market may not be up to what you can experience in London or the US.

For restaurants, we went to Der Blond Hollander, Le Zinc and a very tiny pancake place upstairs that was awesome! Green Lantern...not sooo good.

Madurodam, the exquisitely crafted miniature city done to a 1:25 scale, is nearby in The Hague and is really a treat to see.

www.madurodam.nl