It was mid-May 2012 and a friend and I began our vacation with a weekend in Amsterdam. We spent a the time exploring the city with a day trip to couple places just outside of Amsterdam.
The inn we were staying at, Palace B&B, was great and close to Dam Square. As check-in was at 2 p.m., the owner, Ruby, accommodated our early arrival at 8:30 a.m. and allowed us to leave our luggage behind so that we could head out. Before we set off, Ruby gave us an introduction to Amsterdam. He had a map ready for us to take, asked what we were planning to do, and explained where the sites were in relation to the inn along with other useful pieces of information. Everything we had planned to do was within a 20 minute walk at most. We were well served at this inn as fresh bread, deli meat, jams, and coffee were brought to our room each evening for us to enjoy in the morning at our leisure. Wifi was available in the room as well.
Stairs
A note that we found out through the inn and during the canal tour. The stairs in most homes and old buildings in Amsterdam are narrow and steep. You’ll have to look up to the top of the building in order to see a hook that people use to hoist up their furniture and other large items into the building. It was something that I thought was quite interesting.
Hoist
Canal Tour and Centraal Station
The very first thing we did was a canal tour through Amsterdam City Tours which started near Central Station. We had purchased our tickets online a couple months before we left but tickets can also easily be purchased in person. We did the 100 Canals tour which gave us a brief history of Amsterdam as we were taken through the different canals. One thing that I found very interesting was that all the canals except for one are man-made. The canal tour also pointed out some attractions such as the Anne Frank house. It was great introduction to the city.
Cafe
Canal
For our stay in Amsterdam, we purchased the following museum tickets online a couple months before our arrival which made it easier to enter as we avoided the lineups.
- Anne Frank House – It was a great and enlightening to walk through the home. It definitely put everything you read in Anne Frank’s diaries in perspective. It was amazing how 8 people managed to fit into the hiding space they called home.
- Rijksmuseum
- Van Gogh Museum
- Rembrandt House
The Dutch are amazing artists after visiting the Rijkmusuem, Van Gogh Musuem, and the Rembrandt House. All had amazing art and it was so nice to walk through these museums.
Rijksmuseum
Other than the museums, we also walked visited these places with stops along the way in cafes and other resting spots by some of the canals.
Clogs
- Dam Square and the Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace): Since this was so close to the inn, we would almost always walk through this area on our way to other parts of the city. Great place to just sit, relax, and people watch. It was always filled with people whenever we walked through this area.
- Red Light District: I ended up doing this district on my own. As Amsterdam is pretty safe all the time, it was comfortable to walk this neighbourhood along with areas of the city. Before arriving in Amsterdam and even visiting this district, I had read that pictures shouldn’t be taken of the girls working. The people protecting the girls are known for taking cameras from anyone taking photos and throwing it into the canal. When I returned back to the inn from my walk, the girl working at the inn had told me the same thing.
- Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market): We had walked the market a couple times. First time we walked by we had only noticed the back side of the market that faced the canal with its pictures of tulips. Neither of us had made the connection that it could possibly be a market. It wasn’t until, on our walk back from something else, that we passed by on the street side and saw the flowers. It was cool to see all the flowers.
