Amsterdam, You Did Not Disappoint!

August 13th, the day before my 21st, time to get up to Southampton Airport and hop on a Dash 8 for a quick 50 minute flight to Amsterdam. What’s a better way to spend the birthday weekend then a 4 day city break in the Dam?!

It was two friends and I, the first time the three of us had been away together since Italy in 2011 so we were all really looking forward to a great trip and boy were we amazed!

The weather when we landed couldn’t have been any better, not a cloud in the sky and blazing 30 degree heat!! Part of me wondered if we’d flown to the right place, but alas after probably the easiest transport system and double deckered trains we were at our hotel. The hotel was a Novotel and after a passing comment about it being my 21st we landed ourselves a free upgrade and free mini bar for the stay, RESULT! Without any delay we ditched our bags, jumped on the tram and headed out for some exploring.

It was so easy to get around and we certainly weren’t short of anywhere to grab a pint or two. We’d got our map just to make sure we looked adequately touristy and made the most of the blazing sun, sat out by the canals, beers in hand.

After a full day of exploring and getting a feel for the surroundings the sun began to set and with it took the heat and good weather; soon enough we were in the middle of one killer thunderstorm! The hours ticked by and we headed for home and some well deserved rest after what was a very long day. It was okay for the two others, who managed to sleep through what sounded like the beginning of the apocalypse just outside our window, whereas I had slightly more trouble as each clap of thunder woke me up. Not my kind of alarm.

Day 2, MY BIRTHDAY!!!

We went for a feast of a breakfast and headed straight out for the Heineken Brewery tour. It may have been 12pm, but its 5pm somewhere right? Time for some beer! Another passing comment of how its my 21st year on this planet and the guys at Heineken plonked a birthday hat on my head quicker then you could say “Embarassing”

The tour was great fun, surprisingly interesting and 9 free pints later we found ourselves on the roof of the building at the bar to enjoy some more good weather with some great music, the smell of the BBQ in air and fresh pints, bliss! I would seriously recommend the tour to anyone looking for a great way to spend a good few hours. PLUS, It only cost £11 🙂

Now I’m not going to lie, the remainder of the birthday did include a lot of food and beers and the obligatory giggles you get walking through the Red Light District. And no, just no, that didn’t happen, but you have to see it for yourself! I didn’t know what to expect but whatever it was, this was different. It’s the only time you’re going to see dozens of women in underwear/bikinis at 1am I’ll tell you that much.

The food is amazing but there was one thing I didn’t want to leave! The best Ice-cream on the planet. Found it by accident and it was the best accident of my life haha! Nieuwendijk is the name of the shopping street and I can guarantee it’ll be the best euro spent! Nothing better then walking nonchalantly through the streets and crowds of people with the best vanilla ice-cream dripping all over the place! Per-fec-tion!

As I said, the food was great, cheese all over the place, Bitterbollen are little balls of deliciousness and Worst stands to help you refuel. May have come back with some excess baggage…only around my gut instead.

Due to a turn in the weather we didn’t get to fulfil our plans to get either bikes or mopeds and whiz around the streets but we weren’t to disheartened. I guess we have a reason to go back! Due to said weather we had to resort to more indoor adventures for the next day and a half and after a few museums and popping into the occasional coffee shop to see why a lot of people go to the Dam, our trip was virtually over. Now of course there is more that we did but this post would be far to long to include so I’m sticking to the conventional stuff, the stuff that I’d recommend to anyone who is going. But for us, some of the most fun hours were spent jumping aimlessly onto any tram and seeing where we ended up. Now that’s the best way to really see the city!

I hoped you’ve enjoyed this post as much as I’ve enjoyed reliving the experiences as I write!!

Now get out there and experience it all for yourselves! You won’t regret it!

Thanks for reading, until the next one!

A guide to planning Amsterdam – The ‘Must Do’s’

As it is my 21st birthday in little over a month, a few friends and I have decided to spend it in none other then Amsterdam! It’s a place I’ve always felt compelled to visit. Not for the ‘wrong’ reasons, but for the museums, boating down the canals, riding bikes around and being able to catch some great footage and hopefully take some incredible pictures.

It’s a place that constantly receives positive reviews and I’ve always been told that if I get the chance I should definitely go. So far, it doesn’t seem to expensive! Now i’m a big fan of lastminute.com, i’ve used them many times and 9/10 times have a found the cheapest deals (mainly for America) so I would strongly recommend checking them out if you’re looking for a Flights+Hotel deal!! The rough total so far for 3 nights In Dam Square, is max £320 with some pretty great alternatives coming in at around £275, all flights included of course. Now this is slightly higher then I first expected seeing as its only 3 nights, however we aren’t looking at hostels which of course would bring the total sum down considerably.

With accommodation pretty much sorted and flights return from Southampton Airport, it’s time to explore what we can/should do!

1. Hire Bikes

Amsterdam is pretty well known for the sheer amount of bikes and I don’t think I could live with myself If we didn’t join in. After only a couple minutes of looking I found what seems a pretty good site at a pretty good price. Yellow Bike hire gives you a full days riding for just £8.50 for the day! They give you 2 bike locks so feel free to ditch the bikes and explore anywhere that takes your fancy! Definitely check out the site. http://www.yellowbike.nl/en/bike-rental/

2. Boating the Canals

This is the ONE thing I can’t wait to do! It just seems like such a good way to spend a few hours. Get some music going on the boat, enjoy the sun (If we’re lucky) and explore. I think we’ll get a great, unique view of the scenery, like Doc Brown said, “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads!”. The best price I can find is around around £65 for 3 hours which I think is a great price considering how often you have the chance to do this kind of thing. Again, I’ll leave the link here for anyone looking to do the same thing 🙂 https://www.rentaboatamsterdam.com/boats/self-operated/79

3. Beer Tours

The Heineken Brewery Tour seems to come out top on a lot of review sites and at a price of entry at only £11 (Buy tickets online) I cant think of any reason why this shouldn’t be done. I mean, i’ts a brewery tour…..£11…..BEER TASTING….ALL DAY! Pretty easy to get to by Tram, Car or even Boat which docks directly outside of the brewery and with what i think to be a great ticket price makes this a must for any lager enthusiasts!

4. Museums

Now this is yet another must for us. Amsterdam offers so much history and diversity, so what better way to really get to understand it then by visiting a few of the many museums. The Anne Frank House is on the top of the list for me, just to be able to say that I have visited the house of such an incredible person, whose story is known around the world. It is fascinating yet heartbreaking to think of what they went through and with such a tragic yet historic building, I feel obligated to visit and learn more about what really happened.

The Sex Museum. Just because.

And of course the Van Gogh Museum. It is another place I’d love to go to see some of the most famous and awe-inspiring  paintings ever created. Now i’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m a huge fan of art as quite frankly I know very little of it, but that doesn’t detract from how stunning it must be to see some of his work in person.

5. Nightlife

Now for us this is something we are going to take as it comes. I strongly believe that some of the best nights out are those not planned and as our hotel is pretty central, along with have dutch contacts to come along with us and show us the best places, this is something we’re not spending much time looking into. There are so many bars clubs to visit i’m sure we will find our way. The hard part will be trying to find our way back to the hotel.

I really can’t wait for this trip. I haven’t seen anywhere near as much of Europe as i’d like and to explore somewhere new with a few mates sounds like a great way to spend 4 or 5 days! In a place that offers so much to see and do, and with a very short list of things we HAVE to do, we will barely scratch the surface of the Netherlands but I know we’ll have a great time!

If you’ve been and have any recommendations for the best things to do then PLEASE let me know as I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for reading and catch you in the next one!