I’ve visited Amsterdam back in 2016 and just recently in January this year. I will say not much has changed. The number of bicycles are still as many as you would imagine and the public transport is still efficient.

It is known that people head over to Amsterdam to party hard especially with cannabis being sold everywhere in “coffeeshops”. Not known to many, cannabis is in fact illegal in the Netherlands and recreational consumption of the drug is actually just tolerated. They were thriving on cannabis tourism until a year ago where stricter laws came into place and a “Stay Away” campaign was launched because of rowdy tourists causing public disorder. Fortunately during both my visits, I have never came across such nuances and really enjoyed my time here.

experience

In my humble opinion, while Amsterdam deemed to be the place where people come to have their wild stag parties, the city itself did not seem lively to me. Every building block follows somewhat the same window pattern and painted with different shades of brown/black and grey. Occasionally, you get the odd splash of red, but even so, it’s a red that does not stand out much (as you can see in my picture below). I do love the fact that there aren’t many sky scrappers and there is something calming about a city that is surrounded with water.

You can easily plan your trip using NS. They have a variety of one-way/ day tickets and it allowed us to purchase the airport to city train ticket before hand which made planning great! As I understand it, Netherlands also recently became the first country to launch a fully contactless (OVpay) public transport payment system nationwide. This makes travelling so much more convenient with the ease of just tapping in / tapping out with either your credit or debit card. In other words, getting around wasn’t a problem at all for us.

The red light district is also what attracts many people around the world to visit this city. Where I’m from, it was definitely an eye-opener entering a neighborhood that is a designated area for legal prostitution, sex museums and sex shows. Interestingly, this part of the city actually felt safe, friendly and properly regulated with strict policing. You will find workers displayed in small windows lit with red lights during the night. When visiting, it is advisable to be respectful and polite.

Amsterdam really is one of a kind – a place where you get to watch sex shows and get high on cannabis where most countries has made it illegal and some punishable by law. However, don’t let that be the only takeaway from this city.

museums and beers

What I remember most distinctively during my visit in Amsterdam was the Van Gogh museum and the Heineken Experience. It is said not to leave Amsterdam without visiting the Rijksmuseum which houses 800 years worth of Dutch history. I have to admit that I myself have skipped this one to make time for the Van Gogh museum. If you’re a fan of Van Gogh or at least familiar with the song “Vincent” by Don McLean, I implore you to give the museum a visit. Another interesting but less popularly advertised museum is Micropia – the first microbe museum in the world. It houses all the invisible microbes in the world and I find that really fascinating!

While Amsterdam has a great number of craft beers, I’d still highly recommend you to go for the Heineken Experience. Heineken is a world famous beer and it’s something not to be missed if you’re a fan of beer. My experience ended with a wonderful glass of cold beer in my hand. An experience hard to forget.

Walking around, you would have probably noticed the many cheese wheels starring out at you from various shops. These are mainly Gouda and you can learn more about it in the Cheese Museum Amsterdam. It is free to visit which makes it a Goud-a deal if you’re on a budget. (see what I did there). Amsterdam is probably, dare I say it, the Gouda cheese capital of the world! Sample all the cheese flavours and educate yourself with a bit of cheese history with a quick pit stop in the museum. One of my favourites was the aged truffle flavour.

I found it fascinating that Tulip flowers played a significant role in Dutch history and culture. They are frequently found in paintings during the Dutch Golden Age and because of it’s vibrant colour, the flowers were so in demand to the point where it reached an iconic status. At peak Tulip demand, a single bulb commanded more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman! Today, Tulips are still widely celebrated as a beloved symbol of Netherlands generating events like the annual Tulip Festival. Here’s a useful fact if you’re visiting from the USA or Canada, you can actually purchase bulbs to bring back home as they sell certified bulbs for both USA and Canada.

what to eat

Since my trip was short, I was trying to see if I could at least sample some iconic Dutch food in that period. Upon my search, I found a delightful place called New Dutch Amsterdam that serves up a sampling platter of bite-sized typical Dutch food. It was perfect! I ordered with a glass of IJwit (Amsterdam white beer) and it made my day. The staff were super friendly and kind enough to explain each food sample that was being served to us. If you’re looking for a quick way to tingle your tastebuds with Dutch food, I highly recommend this place!

If you’d want something to snack on while you’re walking, Amsterdam is known to serve up some of the best thick cut fries. It is easy to spot them with most places advertising with the infamous cone paper cups which the fries are served in. I didn’t try all but the one I had I really enjoyed it – Mannekenpis which claims to be voted the no.1 fries in Holland, topped with a big dollop of fritessaus. Don’t be surprise to find some stores serving up fries with peanut sauce (influence from Indonesian cuisine). If you don’t know it already, the Dutch colonial rule on Indonesia has carved up a niche in the culinary world known as Indo-Dutch cuisine. I have dare not tried any of the Indo-Dutch food but if you’d like to give your tastebuds a wild ride, you can look up bakmi ayam (chicken noodles) and macaroni schotel (macaroni and cheese). I found this blog useful to understand more about the cuisine.

other recommendations

Other than the Indonesians influencing the Dutch food, we found that Chinese pottery was brought to the Netherlands and many of the designs were imitated and over time it has evolved to Dutch landscapes. The Dutch continued to master the ceramics process which has turned Delft into the capital of Europe’s ceramic industry, which coined the term “Dutch Delftware”. You can visit the Royal Delft Museum to learn more.

Chocolate would not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re visiting Amsterdam. But one brand has been making headlines in the past few years. Tony’s Chocolonely is on a mission to remove modern slavery in the chocolate supply chain. People wait in long queues to grab these delicious chocolate blocks. If you’d like to try one, I’d suggest you grab it from the airport – they currently have a pop-up store which sells airport exclusive flavours. I didn’t have any expectations trying them seeing as I’m a fan of dark chocolate and they were selling mostly milk chocolate. I must say that I really enjoyed one of their airport exclusive flavours though : Caramel Lemon and their Ben Jerry’s Brownie collaboration.

This sums up my quick but eventful trip to Amsterdam.