I've never really lived in Amsterdam, just took my secondary school there. So I'm pretty sure I'll beaten to pulp by the first real Amsterdammer at this forum who sees the below. But hey, beggars can't be choosers! This is my story, and I stick to it.
What else is there to do:
1) Have a cheap (sometimes downright mediocre!) but classic Dutch dinner in "De Keuken van 1870", situated in de Spuistraat, which parallels Damrak at the west side. It is a five minutes walk from Central Station.
Wesbite here but not in English (their menu's should be in English, if I remember right). If you're in a daring mood have "Griesmeelpap" for dessert. You might puke or think it the nest best thing after Worcester Sauce.
2)If you can stand caged animals, Artis - the zoo. It's one of the oldest zoos in the Netherlands - and hence some of the caging areas are in a needy state of enlargement, but they're working on it. Their mineral collection, tucked away somewhat dismissively, is also impressive and some of the shows in the planetarium are hilarious. Recommended by some: have a smoke at a coffeeshop then see a show at the planetarium. Happy trippin'!
3)If you can't stand caged animals - go there anyway, because across the Artis entry is the Verzetsmuseum - or Resistance Museum. It's a quaint collection -nothing compared to the bombast of the Imperial War Museum in London. Despite the fact that the Dutch have a terrible reputation during the second World War, there were heroes around as well. This is about them.
4) If you don't like war either, go there anyway, because there is still Gebouw Plancius (no 3 on the map above) - which is now used for live television broadcasting. The current show "De Wereld Draait Door" (The World Keeps Turning) is immensely popular and is taped live from Monday to Friday, but you could chance it and sit through the taping of the show as part of the live audience. That should solve (or enlarge?) some Dutch enigmas. Shows is generally aired from half past seven, so if you'd query at five if there is still some space for audience you might be able to peep in. Don't do crazy stunts while on air.
Just at the opposite corner of the Plancius building (near no 7 on map above), there's a nice bar with pleasant couches where they serve decent meals (the people of the bar do the serving, not the couches). They also serve meals in the Plancius, if I remember right, but they charge you ridiculously.
5) The ultimate Dutch experience: Be sure to rent a bike and then have it stolen!
No wait.
The boat trip through the canals. It's very tacky and you will be trapped for over an hour with cooing kettle-pots and fawning Japanese BUT it is a very excellent way to learn and see a LOT about the history of Amsterdam in a very short span of time. If you start at Central Station, it's very hard to miss the boat trips, they're lined up all the way towards the Dam. When we used to have a visitor around, we always would take the boat trip. If you're never been to Amsterdam before, I recommend it as one of the first things you should do.
6)For recent activities and shows, check out http://www.iamsterdam.com/ which is all about entertaining tourists (for example, the lunchtime concerts) and might come in handy anyway for lodgings. Also, the city distributes a free student magazine (generally new edition around Thursday and in Dutch) with a large section of restaurants. You generally find them piled up in paper stands on the street before restaurants.
7)Nothing beats a visit with a trip to the cinema! Have a look at the Tuschinski cinema, nearby Rembrandt Square.
It generally features crap movies (aka Hollowwood blockbusters) but I seem to remember you could freely enter the beautiful art-deco hallway, generally rubbled with popcorn on the carpet. Have a yawn at the ceiling, too. The other big venue is City, at Leidse Square, which is a monstrous building, both size and in architecture. Most of that area I think an enormous tourist trap so I generally avoid it, but there are two more good cinemas nearby and Paradiso, the pop venue, situated in a renovated church a few hundred meters to the east from City.
8) Food! The problem here is that there is so much to choose from and that smoking sometimes can be a real problem. Again, in general, I avoid the Leidse Square area because the level of crapitude there is so large.
For the well endowed visitor, there used to be a wonderful Italian restaurant, Pasta e Basta(Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 8) a little northeast of Leidse Square which serves very good Italian food and has singing waiters/waitresses (generally students from the conservatorium).
If you didn't dare the "Keuken van 1870", there is Dine with the Dutch, that should get you straight into the heart of Dutch culture. I don't know anyone who did this, but I always thought it sounded a very enjoyable experience.
There is a warehouse chain, Vroom en Dreesman (V&D), the most accessible one situated on Kalverstraat which sports a good juicebar and lunch restaurant: La Place - but also relatively pricey.
For much more, see: http://www.amsterdam.info/restaurants/
But... if you want some honest Dutch food for a decent price, I suggest you go a bit out of your way outside the direct centre and head for the area called `De Pijp". From the Rijksmuseum, it's about a 15-20 minutes walk. It really is one of those areas where you are outside the tourist sector and see Amsterdam at its most honest. Especially when the weather is nice, you can dine outside at a pub serving meals, just stroll through the Frans Hals Straat. Have some soup, Belgium fries, a marinated steak, a honest coffee. Walk back through the more stylish neighbourhood of Oud-Zuid where you will find the rare Jugendstiel facades as you approach the Concert Hall, or if you stick around in De Pijp visit the close-by Sarphatipark for an evening stroll.
9) For those with a taste for Modern Art, I also recommend to take a small trip outside of the Amsterdam centre and head for the neighbouring conglomeration of Amstelveen (which you can best reach by tram 5). Nearby the final destination of the tram, you'll find the Cobra museum which generally hosts several exhibitions and sports modern Dutch art since the 1940's.
Not interested in modern art, stick around in Amsterdam and go to Nemo, the science exploration museum in the funny looking building overseeing the inner harbour. Those with the scientific mind will not be disappointed, those who don't care will be bored out of their skulls.
10) I think it's properly advertised now, but to me it came as a shock that the Dam Royal Palace can now actually be visited - when I grew up, it remained this dominating, solemn building which housed numerous secrets. I've never visited it - to my regret. The Dam Palace is a truly monumental building, serving as the resplendent town hall during the glory days of the city. To this day, the monarchs don't use it to live in, simply because it's such an impractical place to live in - it was set up as a town hall after all - but at official occasions banquets are held there.
UPDATE: Apparently the Royal Palace is also being renovated, and hence closed for visitors. Sorry to get your hopes up.
BTW, I find CDs priced ridiculously in the Netherlands, but if you want to have a bash at them, go to Fame, possibly the largest CD shop in the centre. It is situated right beside the Dam Palace, at the very start of the Kalverstraat, the big shopping lane of Amsterdam, sporting no less than four H&M shops last time I counted. In other words: not my cup of tea.
- The BimHuis.
- If you love flea markets, don't miss out on Waterlooplein. It's the Portobello Road of Amsterdam.
And then I forgot the
Jordaan area, the
Beurs van Berlage, the
Maritime Museum (now closed for renovation), the
Diamond museum. My best advice: just stroll at your own leisure and let your sense of exploration guide you. A friend of mine once wrote she found Amsterdam really chameleonic: it can be soothingly pretty and at places just dismally awful. It's about finding those places which you like best. Personally, I think the May season is one of the very best times to visit, so amanda and rg did good.
Enjoy!!! Please bring back pictures!
Digital Maps:
Interactive Map
Mappy
Ps. The cities of Utrecht and Haarlem, situated southeast and west of Amsterdam, respectively, are highly recommended too. Generally you need one day to see the most of them, they can be reached by train within 30 minutes from Central Station.
