Flights
We’ve heard from several travelers that they are finding good deals looking at Tuesday-Tuesday. That’s to be expected, international travel is typically cheapest on Tuesdays and traveling for less than a week often raises prices. Amsterdam has no good alternative airports to Amsterdam Schiphol (Airport code: AMS).
Places to Stay
Blocks of rooms aren’t really a thing here, but we have some recommendations.
- The Conscious Hotel Tire Station and Vondelpark are both solid choices within easy walking distance of the venue. They both boast an excellent tram connection to the Center and the venue, as well as easy access to Vondelpark. They are essentially next door to each other and sit 2 stops on the 15 bus from the venue, or a nice 15 minute walk. Most guests that have informed us of their accommodations are staying here.
- The Olympic hotel adjacent to the 1928 Olympic stadium also offers an easy connection to the venue on the 62 bus and a quick 15 min walk.
- The Hilton Amsterdam is walking distance and reachable by several bus lines – including a Night Bus that departs 10 min after the party is to shut down at 1am. The hotel is the site of the John Lennon and Yoko Ono Bed-in for Peace if you want to spring for a pricier hotel with some history this is a good option nearby.
- Booking.com is the preferred place to book hotels, and vacation rentals in Europe. If you click the link shown here it’ll show you well reviewed accommodations, within 3 km of the venue.
The walk between the venue and Museumplein is about 20 minutes and well connected by the #2 tram, so any of the hotels in Amsterdam Zuid between the venue and the Van Gogh Museum are also very good ideas. Check the location of the tram line when you are looking. This neighborhood is posh, too, so you can feel really fancy.
The venue is easily reached by the #2 Tram, and #15 #62 busses from Amsterdam’s GVB transport company as well a number of regional and night bus lines. We recommend checking Google Maps to determine if your chosen accommodations have transit access to the venue that will suit you.
Getting to/from Schiphol Airport
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is easily accessed by public transit and we recommend using it to get to or from the airport. We recommend using Google Maps to determine the best route to/from your specific accommodations as it will remain up to date with current information like planned route detours.
How do I pay for transit? Both the GVB and NS (the Dutch national railways) support checking in and out with a contactless credit or debit card. At Schiphol there are payment “pylons” where you can simply tap your contactless credit or debit card (or smart phone if it is set up for contactless payments), and then you tap again at the train station depart at to check out. (Checking out is easier as most stations other than Schiphol have fare gates and you must check out to open the gates.) You may also purchase tickets at a ticket NS machines.
To ride trams or public busses you may check in on board the tram or bus in the same manner with contactless payment cards, or from the conductor at the back of a tram. (You may only pay by credit/debit card.) Busses no longer sell single use tickets only OV-Chipkaarts, see below, and contactless payment may be used.
The final option is that you can purchase an OV-Chipkaart from the NS ticket machines at train stations and GVB ticket machines at metro stations. A card costs €7.5 and you can load credit onto the card. The use of an “anonymous” card requires a minimum of €20 credit on the card to use an NS Train. Once loaded individual trips have a base fare (arond €1) and a per kilometer rate after that. The same formula is used for calculating train ticket costs from a machine. The typical transit ride in Amsterdam is between €1-€2 so contactless payment or an OV-Chipkaart are the cheapest options.
Do I need Cash?
The Netherlands is a fairly cash-free society, however paying with credit cards, including American debit cards that transact through the credit card system, is sometimes difficult. In general we recommend having cash on hand as a backup. As long as your bank is aware of your travel intensions using ATMs to take out cash is fine, but we really recommend using ATMs physically attached to banks or those from the “Geldomat” chain of ATMs operated by the 3 major Dutch Banks Abn AMRO, ING, and Rabobank.
Do I need an international cell phone plan?
Maybe, that depends a lot on your personal specifics, the biggest one being if your phone is locked to your carrier. You may need to contact your carrier to determine this.
If your phone is locked to your carrier: Most American cell phone providers have international plans that are generally in the range of $5-$10/day/line and most offer a longer term plan that is generally priced at the same cost of 10 days of the single day package. So, $50-$100. Most of these plans will offer you your normal calling/texting plans and a data package but look at the details of your particular provider if they provide sufficient data. Data access is what is actually important when traveling abroad as you’ll be using it to look up places to eat, getting directions and maybe using Google Translate. If you’re someone we need to get ahold of, it’s also how we’ll be calling you.
If your phones are not locked to your carrier: AND you have a phone that supports the use of eSIMs we generally recommend the use of Airalo. Airalo offers both Android and iPhone apps that can sell and install eSIMs directly onto your phone. Airalo is what we use when traveling outside of the EU. You can install and set this up before you leave the US, you will need an internet connection to do so, and have internet as soon as you land. NB: Airalo offers plans for single countries and multi-country blocks so if you intend on leaving the Netherlands during part of your trip make sure to not purchase a Netherlands specific plan.
Things to do while you are here
Restaurants
- Blauw - This is our go-to for the specifically Dutch rijsttafel, “rice table.” A remnant of the Dutch colonial past, it is basically Indonesian tapas. The meal is a splurge, but pretty worth it. Kartika on the Overtoom is another excellent, though quirky, option.
- Annapurna Kitchen – Hands down our favorite South Asian in the city with delightful North Indian and Nepalese cuisine. Near the venue and our house, they still haven’t lost the spiciness in their cuisine.
- Roti King – Roti is another particularly Dutch food situation. It’s a creole cuisine from the Dutch colony of Suriname, with Caribbean flavors in the curry, an Indian bread, and West African vegetables. It’s cheap and cheery, take-out only, and perfect to sop up the night before. If you are in the center in search of Surinamese we highly recommend Het Hapjes Hoek, it has the added charm of being in a metro station.
- Drovers Dog – Europeans don’t do breakfast like we do, sadly, which is why we go out for proper eggs whenever we’re back in the States. This place does a respectable Bloody and a fine Benedict. Dignita is better, but usually packed.
- Gent aan de Schinkel is our local café. It specializes in your standard continental cuisine and we’ve never had a bad bite there. The soups are always stellar, the wine list is short and reliable, and what is on tap is always fresh and nice.
- Bar Brother just opened in our neighborhood. Proper British pub owned by Liam and Dave, pop in for a properly-poured Guinness and a knock-your-socks-off Scotch Egg.
- Men Impossible – This place has a creamy ramen unlike anything we’d ever had before. It’s so good. Really, though, it is hard to go wrong with ramen in Amsterdam.
- Gollem’s Proeflokaal Overtoom – Cafe Gollem has many locations around the city, however the kitchen at their location on the Overtoom is one of the best. If you’d like a typical meal from the low countries and access to an expansive Dutch and Belgian beer selection, this is our recommendation. Try the Belgian stew!
- Wynand Fockink – Jenever (or Genever) is the Dutch national spirit. When trying to copy it, the Brits accidentally made gin. To be genever it must contain juniper in some amount, any amount, including just one berry in an entire barrel. As a result genever can resemble vodka, gin, or even whiskey. Wynand Fockink hosts all of these options and a seemingly unending assortment of fruit and spiced liqueurs. We recommend going early in the afternoon when the tasting room is quieter and you can get the full experience, including advice from the staff and some tasting. We both love De Vijf for a full-bodied, whiskeyish dram or a Walk in the Woods if you’d prefer a very small 3cl cocktail. Kick back with a kopstoot – a small beer with a side of genever – if you have a little more time. Two final tips: “Jennifer works next door [in the red light district] it’s pronounced ye-ney-ver,” and don’t pick up your glass without taking a slurp. You’ll understand once you see it!
Cheap Eats
This city is pretty spendy and meals in restaurants can break the bank if you aren’t careful. But this doesn’t have to be a problem – there are tons of really good and cheap options.
- Maoz is a local chain serving up really delicious falafel for very little money. Great place for vegans.
- Albert Heijn supermarkets have a wide variety of pre-made sandwiches and salads when you are on the go. Look for the bright blue AH – basically the same color as the KLM livery – on virtually every corner.
- Dutchies eat sandwiches twice a day so there is no shortage. Cheese stores, worth visiting in their own right, and butchers usually make sammies as well. Trevin is particularly fond of Koopman’s on Elandsgracht for a cheap pastrami pistoletje.
- Ubiquitous kebab shops keep this city running. Simit Paleis on Hoofddorpplein is one of our favorites but only because this is where we live, Simit Paleis on Postjesweg we are similarly fond of. Every neighborhood has a great option.
Self-care
- City Street Spa is my salon. Books up early but recommended for hair, nails, massages, and an amazing facial.
- Yagoy is my yoga studio of choice and the place where Jana did her teacher training. Inclusive, comfortable, body positive, and affordable, there are locations in de Pijp and my buurt.
- “Thai” massage involves major body adjustment and will get the kinks out. Jana recommends Thai Massage Nirvana on Ceintuurban.
- “Chinese” massage means cheap and efficient. No frills at all. Jana likes Beijing on the Kinkerstraat.
Our favorite places in Amsterdam
- Paradiso – This is an iconic venue for live music.
- Het Schip covering de Amsterdamse School. Fueled by community-minded politics in the interwar period, the architects of the Amsterdamse school planned and carried out a massive expansion of the city in the 30s; it included De Baarsjes and our much beloved apartment.
- Grachtenhuis Museum – “The Canal House Museum” one of our favorite museums. Learn about how Amsterdam itself was built, both literally and figuratively, in a mansion on “the Lords Canal,” Herengracht.
- Our Lord of the Attic – Jana in particular adores this little canal house in the oldest part of the city. Go for the three-story hidden church and a bit of the history of tolerance in Amsterdam, but make sure to check out the rooms on the way. This building is one of the few places of the city in which you can really feel what domestic spaces in the seventeenth century were like.
- Stedelijk Museum The modern art museum with all the greats and a good collection of Dutch artists. Look for Ria Rettich in the collection and compare it to the pencil drawing in our dining room.
- Anne Frank If you want to visit the Anne Frank House you MUST MUST MUST get your tickets far in advance. They usually sell out a month before. Tickets are available from six weeks out, and go on sale at 10 am Amsterdam time each Tuesday morning.
Museum.nl lists most of the museums in the entire country. Take a look for yourself!
Day trips
If you are interested in a day trip within the Netherlands Nederlandsespoorwegen, NS for short, the Dutch National Railways, can whisk you to some nearby cities and towns. Ns.nl has an English tab an can help you plan your trip.
- Utrecht – An eponymous provincial capital and former bishopric has a delightful medieval city center home to a much older version of Dutch canals you see in Amsterdam, quaint shops, and a beautiful cathedral sliced in half by straight line winds in the 17th Century. Utrecht is approximately 30 minutes from Amsterdam station to station. There’s also an enormous mall, a very cool music venue, TivoliVredenburg, and a iconic demonstration of De Stijl.
- Haarlem – Home of the provincial capital of North Holland and once home of Belgian-Dutch master Frans Hals, Haarlem isn’t chock full of canals like Utrecht but does have a lovely medieval center. Its typical Dutch central square is lined by cafes, and hosts a market on Mondays and Saturdays. Haarlem’s main train station is approximately 20 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal.
- Beaches and Dunes – If you’d like to try something distinctly Dutch, experience ‘uitwaaien’ or taking a walk on a breezy gray day on the beach, the Beach and the Dunes around Zandvoort are lovely. Year round you can find snack carts serving up fried seafood and ‘broodjes paling,’ a favorite of Trevin’s. You can also take a light hike into the dunes that make up Holland’s western coast at the Kennemerland National Park. Michiganders will feel at home; it looks just like West Michigan and reminds us why immigrating Dutch chose to stop on our shore.
Christmas markets
This time of year is one of our favorites in Europe and some of the biggest reasons for that are Christmas Markets. If you’re looking for a long day trip or a ~2 day trip to tack onto your trip to Amsterdam Dusseldorf and Koln’s markets are great, and are easily accessible by direct high speed international trains from Amsterdam. We recommend booking tickets with NS International We do not recommend flying as the train is cheaper and faster.