Am thinking about doing a very short trip to Amsterdam on Eurostar - one or two nights. Definitely want to do a canal trip and see the Ann Frank museum (I am aware I need to book this well in advance). As I am only going for a short time I want to say quite central but don't want to spend loads on a hotel. Anyone got any recommendations for a hotel and any other "must-sees"?
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CakeNinja ·
18/04/2019 22:55
We found an apartment on Booking.com- it was lovely and about a 10/15 minute pretty walk into the centre. There were 4 of us on a girls trip and the sleeping arrangements was one mezzanine open plan bedroom that wrapped around the whole upstairs with 4 beds! No privacy, lucky we are all close 
It was really small but judging by the size of all the buildings, most accommodation is.
We went on a canal tour on one of the boats with blankets and a little cocktail bar on board, it was very informative!
We didn’t get a city card as other than booking the Anne Frank museum and some of the group going to the Van Gogh museum, we were happy to go with the flow and walk everywhere. We did have 4 days though.
I was really surprised by the food, we ate so well and I wasn’t expecting to!
CakeNinja ·
18/04/2019 23:37
Oh my god, Avocados, we planned to hire bikes but within 10 minutes of arriving and walking about the city realised that it’s bloody dangerous we saw a Dutch cyclist crash into pedestrians and another cyclist drive into the back of a taxi at full speed 
it was all so insane, a lot of them don’t even look when turning corners.
We decided that what with the amount of drinking etc and the canals everywhere, it was probably best we just walked.
The idea of bikes terrified us!
AvocadosBeforeMortgages ·
19/04/2019 07:37
@Cake I'm used to cycling around London so to me it felt like heaven 
I didn't see anything like that - it was all very civilised.
Mind you, I did go in January - I wonder if you went in the summer and saw tourists who haven't been on bikes in 15 years and not looking before they crossed the road.
AvocadosBeforeMortgages ·
19/04/2019 10:19
@greathat Plenty of people have done Airbnb with no issues. By the same token I could say don't use a hotel because I once turned up at one and discovered that they'd sold my room twice and didn't have a bed for me 
AnnaMagnani ·
19/04/2019 11:20
If you want to see the Van Gogh Museum definitely book online in advance - the queues are enormous. So long that we managed to book via the phone from the queue
Personally my top 2 sites were the hidden church Ons Lieve Heer Op Solder and the Portuguese Synagogue.
The Synagogue is stunning, with lots of info about the community and also how they have tried to rebuild after essentially being destroyed. DH and I found it better than the Jewish Museum, and Anne Franks House
GiantKitten ·
19/04/2019 14:56
We stayed in a small (but very tall!) hotel right by Vondelpark & a very short walk from the museums. Our hotel has vanished now but there are several others on the same street: Roemer Visscherstraat
(Stayokay hostel backs on to our one & is nearer the park)
We prebooked Anne Frank, Van Gogh & Rijksmuseum but otherwise just wandered. (We didn’t allow nearly enough time for the Rijksmuseum - it’s massive & fascinating & it closes at 5!)
Didn’t like area round station/red light district but the rest is just lovely. Hop on/off canal boats are fab.
We had 2 nights/3 days, arriving early Tuesday & leaving late Thursday (hotel kindly kept bags all day but collecting them was tricky because they wanted ID & I’d left passports in the bags 
)
You will have a great time 
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