Amsterdam: Not just for stag weekends and travelling youths! (Amsterdam)

Member Name: stuntpilotx

Product:	Amsterdam
Date:	09/01/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful, lots to see and do, great public transport.

Disadvantages: Bit expensive, hard to navigate at first.

Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands has often been misconceived as the place where youths go to take advantage of the lax laws on Marijuana smoking, and men go for stag weekends in the red light district, however Amsterdam is so much more than that.

Amsterdam was founded in the 12th century and has a huge amount of history to it, the buildings are all full of great little stories! The centre is laid out around concentric canals which were once the prime way to get around the city, and a boat tour will show you many areas and give you many of the stories of the East India Trading Company, and the many stunning buildings you will see as you pass.

The city can be a little difficult to navigate at first as many of the streets are small, and with the canals you can get a little confused, but a good map (the iAmsterdam map is brilliant) will help you out. Transport in Amsterdam is fabulous. The trains are frequent, cheap and high quality, the trams run everywhere and are the best way to get around, and of course you can always hire a bicycle for your stay as the city is one of the most cyclist friendly in Europe (just be wary of trams and other more experienced cyclists!)

The city has the beautiful Vondelpark which in the summer is regularly filled with people enjoying the sunshine, and many students in groups. There's also a huge number of small streets with little boulangeries and patisseries where you can get some delicious picnic items!

There are many museums within Amsterdam, and I'd highly recommend the Sex Museum for a good giggle and the Van Gogh Museum if you have an interest in impressionist art is fabulous and has many of Van Goghs paintings.

For all tourists visiting Amsterdam for the first time the iAmsterdam card is ESSENTIAL. The card can be brought to be valid for a specific length of time, and the price depends upon this. All cards come with a tram pass, a guidebook that includes loads of information and vouchers, and a free trip on one of the boat tours, meaning that you save a lot of money on travel and the multiple attractions around the city.

There are hundreds of restaurants serving fabulous food from most cultures, however one thing I noticed in Amsterdam is that the service at many restaurants is not very good. In our four day visit we only had one really pleasant experience.

There is just so much to say about Amsterdam, and I'd definitely recommend Lonely Planet and the iAmsterdam websites for more information. I'd also recommend that ANYBODY go and visit as Dutch people are great, and it's such a beautiful city with so much to do and see!

Summary: Great people, LOADS to do!