The Amsterdam Adventures.
Back in 2009 I did my first big trip. 5 friends and I went on a month-long-trip around Europe. One thing that we call InterRail. Which basically is getting a train ticket and traveling around Europe by train. We went to Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium.
Amsterdam was by far one of my favourite cities.
We spent there 5 days. Amsterdam was our base and we went to Utretch and Marken. I was 18 at that time and I had completely fallen in love with the city. The vibes, the people, the multiculturality, the music, the scents and the food were ‘mindblasting mate’.
I liked it so much that 2 years after, on my first year living abroad in Lithuania, I decided to come back.
I was almost 20 years old at that time. It was me who planned the whole trip. Why? Because I love to do this. It’s kind of a ritual. The excitement increases, you read and read more about the city that you are planning to ‘conquer’ and the more you read the more you want to go. You know what I’m talking about right?
I’ll walk you step by step on How to spend a good and affordable few days in Amsterdam.
1. Dates.
One of the most important things you should know is when you are planning to visit the city. I’ve been there both in March and August and trust me, the humid cold winter in Amsterdam can get into your bones and never leave. But if you are totally okay with that, you get a whole different picture of the city during ‘low season’. Theoretically, the best season to go to Amsterdam is during Autumn. Haven’t tried that yet. I should go back then!
2. Good and affordable place to stay.
Since I’m a student, I’m always traveling on a budget. But I like it. Makes the journey more interesting. It’s very important to make an exhaustive research on where to stay. You have to decide what’s more important for you, paying less and being far from the centre, or investing more money and being closer to the heart of the city. Me personally I like to save up on this. That’s why I usually spend most of the planning time looking for the perfect place to stay.
3. What to see.
Are you into art? Are you into underground scene? Are you into ‘special cookies’? Are you into historical things? Well, good news is that you can find all of those things in the capital of the Netherlands. There are few websites where they give you recommendations on what to see in Amsterdam.
For me, my favourite things were:
- Van Gogh Museum
- Anne Frank House
- Coffee Shops
- Walking around the Canals & Red District
- Flowers at the Bloemenmarkt
But if you really are on a budget (as I was) here’s a video of free things to do in Amsterdam.
4. Enjoy.
That’s the most important thing you have to do. You will encounter such a magical city.
Did you know that Amsterdam is the most multicultural city in the whole world? 178 different nationalities were recorded as living there in 2011. Another thing that you probably know is that there are lots of canals. But did you know that Amsterdam has more canals than Venice? It has 165 canals forming 100 km of waterways as compared with 150 in Venice. Amsterdam also has 1,200 bridges, about three times as 409 in Venice.
If you’d like to visit Amsterdam, be sure to check this amazing post of 35 Things to Do in Amsterdam!
Have fun!
