by Stacey Turland
Where I stayed
Prins Hendrik 3*
This hotel is great for being centrally situated in the city, it is surrounded by shops, bars & restaurants and within a 5 minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station. It is a great base for exploring the city and boasts 44 traditional rooms, a restaurant & bar for convenience. Thankfully it has a lift as the staircase would definitely be a work out in itself!
Nightlife
Stones Café
This Café/Pub is a great stop for a smoke (if you’re into that), drink and some good music, whether it’s day or night. The service was great and the staff are really friendly, happy to play any of your music requests too! I felt really at home and comfortable in these cosy surroundings with a great mix of locals and tourists. #werocktheplanet
Players Bar
The perfect bar, just off Dam Square to watch sports and have a drink! All major sports competitions and events are shown live here on large TV screens. I stopped here for a couple of games of pool as my partner wanted to watch Liverpool on the TV! But was a really good atmosphere. If you wanted to make a night of it weekdays it was open till 3am, weekends 4am so you could party the night away.
Cuisine
Pancakes & Waffles – There are ample Pancake & Waffle houses in Amsterdam and this is definitely my ultimate recommendation for anyone visiting the city! Great choice of toppings from sweet to savoury, ice cream, cream, whatever your choice they have it! Is the perfect way to over indulge but who cares….you’re on holiday!
Churros – A Fried-dough pastry—predominantly choux—based snack. What more could you ask for?
Pizza by the Slice – It’s a grab and go society in Amsterdam, especially with so many people walking around with the munchies! So why not grab a slice of Pizza from the New York Pizza pitstops dotted around the city. Pick your topping and how many slices and they warm it up for you and off you go! It’s great for a snack, if you want to sit in or even get a takeaway you can do this too.
Exploring
Amsterdam Canal Cruise: This is a great way to spend an hour in the city and see it from a different perspective. You will cruise the UNESCO World Heritage canal district. Cruises run every 20 minutes between 9am until 10pm. After 6pm they are less frequent, on the hour. (In Winter time Cruises run between 10am and 9pm only.)
Heineken Brewery Tour: Tag along on this small group tour leading you through the original brewery, allowing you to taste their different beers along the way! The guides are really good and fill the tour with interesting and funny facts about the beers & it’s history.
Amsterdam Bike Tours: Hop on a bike and discover the sites of the city. You can reach places that otherwise would be unreachable and is great to get involved in the hussle and bussle of the city and the many bikes already inhabiting. If you want something a little quieter, head out and experience the Dutch countryside instead.
Retail Therapy
Old Amsterdam Cheese Store: There are three of these great stores scattered around Amsterdam and is great for picking up those cheese themed souvenirs. The store sells mainly the world’s famous ‘Old Amsterdam’ cheese, which is largely known by the Dutch for its award winning matured Gouda taste.
Amsterdam Duck Store: Find any themed Rubber Duck you can think of. Yes, random I know! But it puts a smile on your face.
Then there are the usual city souvenir shops, with Amsterdam plastered on everything or if you fancy a bit of proper retail therapy hit the department stores with the designer shops or the high street shops offer great deals too.
