We recently sailed on Celebrity Apex 12-night cruise round trip from Amsterdam, visiting ports of call in Iceland and Ireland. Before the cruise, we spent 5 nights in Amsterdam, adjusting to the time zone while visiting some of Amsterdam’s popular spots. We had a great time in Amsterdam – the Heineken Experience, Anne Frank Museum, and dining in the dark was some of our highlights. The down side of the trip was the airport – both on our arrival and departure. We were told there’s a huge labor shortage and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Our Hotel
We stayed at the Tulip of Amsterdam, a little guesthouse that’s right on the canals. There are only two rooms here, and we were given the top floor room, decorated in Dutch style with purple tulip colored lights. We wanted to stay somewhere authentically Dutch, and this gave us exactly that. They also allowed us to check in early, which was a huge bonus because after flying all night, we wanted to rest more than anything else. Amsterdam is an old town, and the rooms here, which was built around 1660, retains many of the original features. The staircases are very steep and narrow – there’s no way we could have brought up or down our own suitcases, but they have someone to help you with that. The bathroom is very small – Teddy can barely stand up in the shower. There’s no AC in the room, and it did get quite hot while we were there – one of the hottest days in recent history. But overall, we had a pleasant stay, and the hosts were very welcoming and helpful. The best feature of this hotel is its location. We walked to everything from here.
Places to Go
There are so many things to do in Amsterdam. We were here for 5 days but we couldn’t do everything I wanted to do, so we had to kind of pick and choose.
Heineken Experience
I’ve toured many breweries in the past, but this one is one of the best. We were given a tour and narration of the history of Heineken (available in English only), then there were different rooms of activities we could do, all of which were super fun. There were some tastings along the way, and at the very end, the tour ends in a Heineken bar, where the first two drinks are pre-paid. We also had a chance to monogram our own label for about $5 per bottle.
Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam, Marken
We spent one day touring the Dutch countryside, including cities and villages of Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam and Marken. We booked a tour through Guides and Tours of Amsterdam. The whole tour only cost €42 a person, and even included a canal tour. We strolled around windmills, watched and sampled cheese shops, clog making, and enjoyed lunch on the water. It was a great day.
Bloemenmarkt
Bloenmenmarkt is a centrally located floating flower market with lots of flowers everywhere. Reviews are mediocre at best but the flowers are pretty to look at nonetheless. The shops extend into the canals so they appear to be floating. The tulips come in every color, even black. We were in the area and had some time to kill so it was a nice stop.
Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum is part of many famous art museums in the city. Others being the Van Gogh Museum, the Moco Museum, Rembrandt Museum, and Stedelijk Museum. We had just visited a Van Gogh Immersive Experience exhibit in Atlanta less than a year ago, so we decided to just do the Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum is quite large, with many beautiful artwork inside. All of the employees were very friendly, however, the floorplan was rather confusing. Going from Ground floor to next level requires quite a bit of backtracking, as is with other floors as well. The cafe inside the museum serves yummy food and desserts, but they seemed to be struggling with their ordering system – every table had missing food and had to ask the server for help. We were given a free slice of cheesecake for our troubles though.
Red Light Secrets Museum
This is a small museum located near the Red Light District. It only takes about an hour to walk through but it had quite a few interesting rooms and details about the life of the girls that work in the Red Light District. It was worth a visit.
Anne Frank House
Anne Frank House is a small museum that tells you the story of Anne Frank, her diary, and the secret Annex. Pictures are not allowed inside the small house so I don’t have any photos to show. The tour is self-guided and there’s clear descriptions of each room and everyone that stayed in the house with Anne. It’s a very sad and moving story. This is a must-do.
Canal Tour by PureBoats
There are many canal tour boat companies in Amsterdam. Some comes with dinner, or pizza, some are pride-friendly, some are party boats. I finally settled on PureBoats, a small luxury boat company in Amsterdam that features pretty boats with open bar and Dutch snacks. The boat captain spoke to everyone in English and the boat ride was very relaxing. The snacks were really good, as was the beer and wine offerings.
Amsterdam is an amazing place to visit. I hope we can come back and enjoy many more things to do. The city is vibrant, the temperature is friendly, and the roads are very flat – makes walking very easy. There are cuisines of every country (even more diverse than the US) and everyone seems to have at least a working knowledge of the English language. I hope the airport will get more organized so we can come back – it’s quite convenient for us to fly from Atlanta because there are 4 direct flights a day. It’s also a major hub for both ocean and river cruises.
Next Up: Eating around Amsterdam… To be continued…