For my boyfriends 21st birthday, I gifted him with a long weekend away in Amsterdam after hearing so much good things about it. It was genuinely one of the best trips I have ever been on, and truly think everyone must go and experience it once in their lifetime- there is just so much to do! Here I will be sharing a guide on what to do and what is worth going to whilst in Amsterdam, along with some helpful tips.
We stayed in the Ibis City Stopera hotel, which I couldn't recommend more! It was a 10/15 minute walk from the city center, super clean and the staff were so accommodating and nice. Tip if your staying here: I let them know the trip was for my boyfriends birthday, and they upgraded our room to canal view as well as gave us 2 drinks vouchers for the bar for free!
Whilst in Amsterdam we had so much planned, such as the Heneiken tour, Anne Frank house, Ice Bar and John Cruyff Arena tour, which I will share our experiences with on this post. Other things I recommend doing are going a walk around the shops! Girls, there is a huge Primark in the city center, which is totally worth visiting! I let my boyfriend go off to the room while I went a solo trip here and ended up spending an hour in there and a whole lot of cash!
I also recommend taking a stroll down to the red light district, its super eye opening and crazy to see the different culture and way of life here, this is a must do if you go to Amsterdam. Lots of people said to me before hand that this side of Amsterdam was super sketchy, but I didn't think so at all. There are lively pubs along the red light district and several little lanes where the girls pose in the windows and try and lure people in, I personally found it super interesting.
Anne Frank House
I bought tickets to the Anne Frank house for me and my boyfriend well in advance before our trip, which I am glad I done after hearing how difficult it is to get your hands on tickets. The tickets go on sale on the first of every month for the month after, so make sure you set your reminder for that day! This is another must do when you visit Amsterdam, I have always been super interested in history since I was young so this is one thing I was for sure most excited for. The tour itself is self guided, you get a pair of headphones each and a scanner which you use in each room of the tour to hear an audio which talks about Anne's life and what each room was in her house. It was soooo interesting, probably my favourite tour of the trip. As you get higher up, you get to Anne Franks real room, it is super eerie and makes every hari on your body stand up, especially as it is completely silent and you can tell everyone feels the same. The whole tour overall takes about 45minutes to an hour, depending on how fast you walk through it. This is a must do if you are into history!
Tip: When finding the Anne Frank house on google maps, it takes you to a front door which people take photos in front of, the actual entrance is around the corner, we spent a good 10 minutes searching for how to get in!
Heineken Tour
One thing my boyfriend was really interested in doing was the Heineken tour, so I got the tickets from the Heineken website prior to our trip. The Heineken factory is a bit out of the city center, probably about a 20 minute walk, but it was such a nice day when we were there so it was the perfect opportunity for us to go a long walk. While we were waiting on our time slot there is a fab little restaurant just across the road called 'De Carrousel Pannenkoeken' which does the best Dutch Pancakes! (Amsterdam food blog pending!). The tour itself is super interesting and great fun with lots of interactive things to do along the way. We even bought a bottle of personalised Heineken beer each which were only 4 euros each and are a great keepsake. The tour takes around an hour altogether and includes 3 half pints of Heineken beer, which is totally worth it.
Tip: There is a bundle deal on the Heineken website which allows you to buy tickets to both the Heineken tour and the Johan Cruyff for a discounted price, which I paid around 50 euros for me and my boyfriends tickets to both tours.
JohAn CruYff Arena Tour
For everyone whos boyfriend's are as big a football fan as mine, this tour is definitely worth visiting (even I had the best time!). To get to the arena you'll need to get a tram into another part of Amsterdam, they are super easy to use and the tram ride is only about 10 minutes to get to the arena. Once you get there you get a lanyard to put round your neck (you get to keep this) and a guide shows you where to begin. The tour is self guided again, which I much prefer as you can go at your own pace. It was super quiet when we went which gave us lots of opportunities to take photos with all the medals and strips etc. You get to see the changing rooms, pitch, trophy cabinets and a lot more- it was super interesting and cool to see where the players come out and get changed. The tour took us about 45 minutes, but again depends on how fast you walk through. I definitely recommend this one for all the football fans. FYI, there is a Dunkin Donut's right outside the stadium for you to get an iced coffee afterwards!
Ice Bar
Although many people say the Ice bar is a rip off and waste of time, it is definitely worth going to to say you have been and experience it for yourself! I'm pretty sure this was the most expensive tour/tickets I bought in Amsterdam. You arrive at your time slot, watch a guy dressed up do a quick speech then you get gloved up and they give you a jacket- which you are going to need as do not underestimate how cold it is in there!!! It literally is FREEZING! to the point we could only stay inside for a brief 15 minutes. You get two free drink tokens, which you can only spend on either beer or a shot of vodka, these come in literal ice cups which was super cool. There is plenty photo opportunities in here, and its really cool to experience. I probably would not return here, but it is definitely something I am glad I have experienced at least once in my lifetime.
Sex Museum
There are two sex museums in Amsterdam, both located on the red light district- i think one is called the museum of prostitution and the other is just the sex museum, we only visited one as they are both very similar, we opted for the cheaper one. Although this is quite a gimmick in terms of a museum, its really funny and you cant help but laugh as you walk through it. You buy your tickets at the door- they were super cheap (i think 20 euro for both of us) and then go upstairs to see some posters and props throughout the museum, there are 3 floors of this. I really do recommend visiting here as its a great laugh and super inexpensive.
More tips when visiting
-Make sure to download the 9292 Public transport planner app. This came in so so handy when we were in Amsterdam! It allows you to basically input where you want to be and by what time and the app will tell you which trams to get, where to walk to and how much it will be etc, which makes getting around super super simple.
-Most places in Amsterdam either accept card or are card only, so don't worry too much about transferring cash to euros to take, as if you run out you are fine to use your card everywhere anyways.
-Bring comfy shoes!!! Amsterdam is a very busy city with very active people, and you rarely see any cars at all, mostly just bikes. Anywhere you want to go your best bet is walking, so bring your most comfortable trainers, as you will need them!
-Ditch the thinking of 'Amsterdam is soo expensive', because it couldn't be further from the truth. It is what you make it, if you visit the popular fancy restaurants then yes, it will be expensive. What we done is we went to little local restaurants just outside the city center, next to our hotel which were half the price, and just as yummy. One restaurant we were in they had glasses of wine for only 2 euro 50!!
Thanks for reading!