Travel Agent Equestria

While living in London, we decided to visit Amsterdam as it was a cheap destination with a short flight (1 hour, 25 minutes from London Heathrow). We travelled in May so the weather was perfect as well. I had always heard about The Red Light district (which has now become a real tourist attraction) – so also wanted to see what all the hype was about!

We spent 3 days in Amsterdam and I enjoyed a day trip to Marken, Volendam and to a Windmill Village, this excursion included a visit to a wooden shoemaker, a fishing village, a cheese farm and a boat trip.

3 Days was enough time to get a brief overview of Amsterdam City as long as you did all the sightseeing quite quickly, we didn’t visit many museums, only the famous ones (Van Gogh Museum and The Rijksmuseum). We did alot of walking and alot of eating enroute to save time.

We stayed at the Victoria Hotel which is located across the road from Central Station. It is the main train station where the trains from Schiphol Airport arrive at – and is the perfect location to walk to all sights, it was safe and very clean.

My favourite meal was Febo – this is a Dutch chain of hot fast food vending machines, it was only my favourite because it was so unusual. It is a machine where you insert your coin into the slot next to the meal you want (mostly Krokets) and the little door opens automatically, you then help yourself to the food inside after which the door closes and the meal is replaced – so unique and fun! Heineken was also part of most meals as it is the local Dutch beer of course.

There are many 'hidden secrets' in Amsterdam...one we found was The Hard Rock Cafe located near Leidseplein. There is an outside wooden deck / terrace on the canal (you could step right into the water after having too many!) - the atmosphere is so relaxed yet you still feel you are “sightseeing” and experiencing the Dutch culture as you are overlooking the calm canal with the ringing of bicycle bells in the background.

Another is the Flower Market / Bloemenmarkt – at Singel Canal between the Koningsplein and the Muntplein. Here you will see hundreds of flowers, bulbs, seeds and souvenirs. For those who are travelling back home on an international flight and cannot take fauna and flora with you, there are wooden tulips in every colour you can imagine.

Lastly, a visit to Zaanse Schans is a must – a windmill village, this was really a hidden treasure and can be visited by doing the day trip to Volendam & Marken. It is everything you see in the postcards and magazines - windmills, canals, streams, little wooden houses and even the cows lazing in the grass!

A travel tip for others planning a visit is : Take the Gray Line Canal-Bus cruise boat – it is a ‘Hop on-Hop off’ boat cruise along the canals and stops at 14 places of interest whilst a very informative tour guide tells you what you are passing at every turn. It is just so typical of Amsterdam and is a great way to orientate yourself when first arriving.

The most interesting locals can be seen at The Red Light District which has many weird and wonderful people but I didn’t get to know any!

Best Way to get around.
From Schiphol Airport, there is a train which takes you straight into the heart of Amsterdam. From here you can walk to most of the main areas (depending on what time of the day you arrive) otherwise taxis are available but walking is the best way to get around as you will miss very interesting little streets if you take public transport! By taking a stroll along the canal, we found many little shops with unique items, one of which was a liquor store with the biggest collection of miniature bottles I have ever seen, as well as a Clog shop with a wooden clog outside that I could sit in!

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regards

Nadia