48 Hours in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is such an easy spot for a weekend break. It's a quick flight from most major UK airports, and an easy bus ride or Uber from the airport into town. If you time it right, it can take less time to get there, than it does from Manchester to London!
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As far as getting around goes, Amsterdam is very walkable, and obviously bike-able. We stayed in the Willemspark area, next to Vondelpark. From our accomodation it was around a 15 minute walk to the Museumplatz, and the area itself was beautiful, the buildings were gorgeous, everything was clean, and cute cafes and restaurants lined the streets. As it was winter and quite wet, we decided not to hire bikes as we were able to get to everywhere we wanted to go on foot, and the streets were well worth perusing, but the bike lanes were still full of locals!
Things to Do
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There's a whole host of things to do in Amsterdam and there's something to suit everybody. While we aren't necessarily museum people, Museumplatz is the perfect place for those who are. In the area you have the famous Rijks Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Moco Museum which features a Banksy exhibit and plenty more. We spent our time in the area sipping hot chocolate at the Christmas market, and watching the ice skaters instead.
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We chose to try and get tickets to visit Anne Franks House, which is incredibly popular and busy, but well worth the effort. You can secure tickets in advance (two months in advance if you're that organised) or attempt to get some on the day of. We tried both days, logging on at 9am and joining the online queue, and were successful on day two. The tour is interesting and well organised, with an audio guide giving you an in-depth glimpse into a harrowing piece of history.
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Mostly we just enjoyed walking through the beautiful streets and canals, we visited the Bloemenmarkt to peruse the tulips, walked past the Heineken Brewery, strolled through the infamous Red Light district (which was actually quite fascinating) and checked out as many street markets as we could.
To Eat
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One of the main things we love to do whilst travelling is brunch! And Amsterdam is perfect for it, around every corner we saw cafes and coffee shops that looked straight from Instagram, and the food looked delicious. We pride ourselves on our brunch skills, and we found some great spots to check out.
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Corner Bakery calls itself "The place to be for every foodie" and we would agree. There are a few locations around the city and they're often all busy, so we would suggest making a reservation! They have excellent coffee, and the Eggs Benedict was one of the best, a definite recommendation!
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The other cafe we visited was a Kiwi/Brazilian creation called Bakers & Roasters, again very popular so reservations are a must. Here our latte art was impeccable, and the Kiwi Breakfast is the top pick, closely followed by the pancakes.
Other Ideas
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As big chocolate lovers, we sought out the Tony's Chocolonely Super Store which is tucked away in an unmarked basement. Once we found the secret sign, we went down and discovered huge machines that pumped out unlimited chocolate samples of all flavours! We definitely recommend making a purchase, try the Milk Caramel Sea Salt, or the Dark Milk Pretzel Toffee!
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As with most men, Andrew is a big fan of Lego, and the Lego stores around the world are filled with impressive creations and are always fun to see. When we heard there was a new store in Amsterdam we had to check it out. With enormous windmills, colourful houses, and Van Gogh masterpieces, the creations are incredible.
Overall we loved Amsterdam and would definitely go back for another trip! If you're interested in visiting, contact us and we will happily put a tailored itinerary together so you can experience Amsterdam your way! - Andrew & Sinead.
