Ideas....good cheap hotel/motel locations in order to spend the most elsewhere in the city...traveling on a backpack.... ANy input will be welcome...
Yeah, I'm going to AMS tomorrow. Spent a lot of time there in the past though. In terms of the west-side of the city, any place between the Singel and Nassaukade (2 streets that run along major canals) is a great area. It's fairly quiet, but also very convenient and filled with cool shops, cafes and bars. If that doesn't sound appealing, on the east side there are lots of backpacker places in the red-light district. Of course, very different, noisy and more grungy/seedy. But fun if you're only staying a couple of days. Also convenient/close to everything you need. Really, its hard to go wrong in terms of location. The only area I would avoid is between Centraal station and Dam square (along Damrak street). There's nothing really interesting there - just tonnes of fast food joints and tourist traps. Note also that places on the Rembrandt plein and Leidseplein are quite overpriced. However no trip to AMS is complete without visiting the Leidseplein at least once. Consider also renting a bike. Fastest way to get around town. Can't recommend any specific hotels/B&B's because I just stay with family whenever I go there.
Motels and hostels in Amsterdam are notoriously bad price quality ratio wise. I'd advise you to get a place to stay in a neighbouring town, certainly better and even more certainly a lot cheaper.
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If it's just for a few nights and you don't mind shelling out a few bucks for those I'd recommend any of the hostels in the areas described by BocaFan. Even the area between Dam and centraal station is not so bad for hostels, since you are still conveniently close to everything. I second the bike comment. I can heavily recommend Paradiso for clubbing, especially on a wednesday or thursday night. Melkweg is great for concerts, too, but those are most likely sold out. In truth, I find the nightlife to be a little overrated and certainly overpriced when you compare it to other European cities, unless you make it to one of the squats, which are harder to find, or are really into the weird electro that is so popular over there (which differs from the electro being popular in other places in the world, I'd say; electro including techno, house, minimal, trance, ...) Try to avoid most tourist traps for watching football, except maybe coco's outback on Rembrandtsquare, which is pricey, but quite nice and not totally overpriced like sports cafe on Leidsesquare. During the day the jordaan area is especially lovely. If you are into museums and stay for a few days try to get hold of a museum card, for 25€ you can visit as many museums in the NL you want for a year (admission being between 6 and 10 € normally). If you get a bike you won't need public transportation other than to and from the airport, and even if not it's not a total must have.
If you leave A-dam without visiting the Rijksmuseum, I'll be very disappointed. The 4 Vermeers are worth the price of admission.
I lived there for three years without setting a foot in it. Suffice to say that non-contemporary art (other than music and architecture) doesn't interest me much... The van gogh museum is supposed to be better than the rijksmuseum anyways...
Chacun a son gout. The Van Gogh Museum doesn't have any Vermeers. You certainly have the right to be disinterested in the Dutch/Flemish masters, but you're cutting yourself off from painting mastery. Vermeer was a technical genius. His use of light isn't quite so remarkable as Rembrandt's, but he knew his stuff. The Milkmaid -- at the Rijksmuseum -- is insane. In person, you can see the edge of the poured milk as if it were a photograph. How he was able to "see" that and capture it in oil is a mystery.
Go to Central Station. Walk down the road leading away from the station. When you get past the water on the left you will see a pizza place on the right and an alley leading to the right. There is a walking only shopping street about 40 metres away. If you turn right you will come to the Flying Pig hostel. Cheap, cheap beer and close to all the action. Rijksmuseum Van Gogh Museaum Rembrandt huis Anne Frank Huis are all worth seeing...........depending on how cultural you are. If you are looking for the seedier side of life.............go to the red light district. (walk away from the Central Station, cross the big street running from right to left in front of the station. Walk to the first left you can take, you will see a place called the Grasshopper on the left. Booze downstairs, other stuff upstairs (nary the twain shall meet, its one of the other) walk as much a straight line as you can until you have to cross the first bridge over a canal. Turn Right BEFORE the crossing the canal. Walk around the church and you will be in the center of it) You can spend days in a haze wandering around. Culture of Sub Culture.....its up to you.
The Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museaum are side-by-side and are a must do. I couldn't spend enough time in those places and always had someone tugging on my sleeve saying it's time to go, so if you love art or history I'd advise going alone.
Thanks guys .....was there 2 days... used the city key IAmsterdam (49 Euros for 2 days) you get to use trams and buses for free... many museums become free, some get reduced rates.... also you get one free tour through the canals tour Just as told..took the train to Centraal Station..... and from there visited the VanGogh museum, the Rijksmuseum (this is the one that has plenty of Rembrandt's work and that his disciples/followers, contemporaries no?) Also went through Red Light District and other areas of the city to look at canals and architecture/churches..Old Church, Town Square(?) (i am sure there is a name for this latter one, but Dutch name is hard to remember or i just have horrible memory).... Crazy with the girls on the windows too next to the historic architecture.... It either speaks to how tolerant the Dutch are or how small the city is But no, the people are extremely pleasant, the fact that they all speak English made it so much easier for a backpack tourist like myself.... I am certainly going back....too many museums yet to visit... as for the nightlife, maybe it was not as enjoyable since i was there two weekdays (guy at hotel told me most things close 2-3 max but that weekends is better)... only saw the Ann Frank House via canal tour, did not have a chance to stop by and go in... Will do so next time.....And this must be the bike capital city of the world (though i've never been to China) Great, great city.....Thanks for all the advice everyone.....
yes that painting was awesome.... even though one cannot take pics in any museums (understandably so)
One more bit of advice, get a tram card. You can walk from place to place in A-DAM but you'll save precious time by hoping a trolly. You swip the card when you board the train and again when you exit so even if you're only going a couple of blocks at a time it is well worth the money.
One of the odd things about the place is that they've put furniture in some rooms, but the furniture is really small, making the rooms seem quite spacious. It's a really lovely area of the city too (great for a hangover-relieving stroll), to the extent that you might find yourself looking out of the windows of the secret attic, and thinking what a great place to live it must have been!
Except the tram card costs $10, so not a good idea for tourists who are just visiting for a short time. Unless they are fairly certain that they will return (as the card is valid for 5 years). purojogo definitely did the right thing in getting the I AMsterdam card.
I had the luxury of having my brother, a Dutch resident, actually figure out which card to buy. The point being if you’ve only got a limited amount of time in the city it is worth the price to be able to hop on and off the trolleys rather than walking from place to place. It sounds like purojogo was way ahead of me and had already figured that out. The beer bus is always an option, you've got to love a pub on wheels! Glad he had a good visit. Groetjes!
