Other than sleep (due to a 10pm arrival at Schipol), the first thing we did in Amsterdam was a yellow bike tour. What an awesome way to see the city. Our guide was friendly and knowledgeable, although he also had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about some political things. We got to see a lot of the city, and the weather was perfect for a bike ride – cool but not cold, and dry.
The most tourist-obvious thing we did was visit Anne Franks House. But then, I would probably struggle to find many women, anywhere in the world, who did not read her book sometime in their teens or pre-teens, so it was absolutely a given. I’d advise booking ahead – although that often needs to be done up to a month ahead. The line moved well enough without a pre-booking though. It was crowded in the museum, despite the limits on numbers going in at once. Amazing to see just how SMALL the rooms were. If we could figure out when the house isn’t so busy, I’d love to go back then.
Our worst experience would have to be the Ice Bar. We only went because we had a booklet of vouchers and some free time. Not worth it. And if you do go, don’t buy the photo – grainy and awful.
An unexpected highlight was the tour of the canals on a low boat. On a gorgeously sunny day, the cool breeze and shade on the boat was amazing, and it was really cool to see the sights from the water.
We skipped the Rijksmuseum, simply because we just did not have time to do it (yes, we could have gone instead of the brewery tour and the ice bar, but…) and because we’d done a lot of museums already. We’d love to go back and do it, as we hear there are some stunning artworks in there.
The most random experience we had was definitely the live show. We went because… that’s what you do, right? I wont tell you not to do it, but yeah, totally weirded me out. And I am exceptionally glad we weren’t there with our tour party – unlike the three separate tour groups who were in there with us and had to keep looking their tourmates in the face for the next however long.
Explorastory 