Canals, Bicycles & Bunk Beds
Why it took me this long to get to Amsterdam I will never know! To say it is so close to home the city feels a world apart from London. Friendly people, gorgeous canals & fries on every corner, Amsterdam is jammed packed with attractions for all interests.
I got an early flight from Heathrow to maximise my time in the city as I was only able to do a 1 night trip, this mean leaving the house at 4:30 am and heading to the airport.
The very sleepy flight took a mere 50 minutes, just enough time to finish the bucket of coffee purchased at Heathrow T5.
Landing at Amsterdam Schipol Airport I was slightly overwhelmed at the pure size of the airport. It was a warren of travelators & walkways however once I got out the airport and was greeted by the I Amsterdam sign I knew I had arrived! Here I met up with my friend who had landed around 30 minutes before me.
Now the airport has excellent train links into Amsterdam Centraal Train Station, if you are a budget conscious traveler, DO NOT get a taxi into the city, instead jump on a train from the airport to the city. It is a short 15/20 minute journey costing a whole 5 Euro. We opted for a Taxi (due to the taxi rank being next to the sign) however we ended up paying 70 Euro for the trip and we were sat in traffic on the ring road for much longer than I liked.
Once you arrive at Amsterdam Centraal Station you are basically in the heart of the city on the banks of the river Amstel. From here a short walk south of the station brings you to the iconic buildings and canals that you expect to see on your trip here.
Walking across the bridge towards Damrak you will notice booking offices for canal trips & museums so you could get stuck in and plan your trip by getting your booking sorted so you have your timings down, or if like me you need yet more caffeine after an early flight, grab a coffee at one of the many cafes down the road. The prices might be a little higher down the main road due to being a very touristy area.
So with coffee in hand I headed down some side streets and started to explore the city on foot.
Now I am not sure if this just me but I assumed there would be a couple of areas where you see the Dutch houses up against the canals and then the rest would be like every other European city you visit. How I was wrong. Every corner you turn in the historic city centre is a picture perfect scene you’ve seen on postcards, movies and travel videos. (Instagram heaven).
Having circled down Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, past the Royal Palace and Madame Tussauds we headed up Oudezijds Achterburgwal the first of the many canals we would explore. One of the wider canals where the The Bulldog is located, the OG Dutch Cafe. Now this is not for me however some of you might be wanting this experience and I can assure you, just the smell walking past nearly knocked me out.
Now if you are a Sense8 fan, head straight up this canal to where it joins another canal, and here you will find the cafe where Riley meets her Dad while in Amsterdam! Small things like this really make my trips! So I sat there with a beer and watched the world go by for a while. Soaking up all things Amsterdam!
Next on the list, boat trip! Now you can’t go to Amsterdam without going on a tour of the canals! The only problem…..which one to choose. Now I went one for one of the opperators that where moored up along Damrak near the train station, however later in the trip I found much smaller boats and more exclusive looking trips down the smaller canals deeper into the centre of the city. So depending on your budget & what you are looking for, don’t just jump in the first one you see!
That being said, the boat tour I opted for, Rederji Plas, 14Euro for a 1 hour tour. Was good value for money and the captain certainly made the tour worth while. He was funny, informative and friendly. Again for the budget conscious this is a good value for money tour.
Once the tour was completed I wanted to get rid of my bag and freshen up (I was not prepared for a 30 degree sunny day). So it was time to head to the hotel.
When I first booked the hotel on the North side of the river I was uncertain how accessible it was going to be with such a short time in the city however it could not have been easier. A FREE ferry shuttle that crosses the river up to 14 times an hour and takes less than 5 minutes. Only used for pedestrians and cyclists. You simply find the port (behind Centraal Station) walk on, wait, walk off. I was so fascinated with these ferry’s. Everyone was so orderly, no pushing, no shoving, respectful and honestly I was in awe.
But back to the hotel, a short 10 minute walk from the ferry crossing on the north side, alongside the water front and then through a short park, you will find Bunk Hotel. In a converted church it offers private Pod rooms or Pods within a shared room. I made a last minute booking through booking.com where I could an amazing deal for a double pod in the shared room.
The staff at reception spoke multiple languages & were happy to assist with any questions that we had, they show you to your room/pod and explain where you can find the amenities in the hotel. There is a central atrium area in the middle of all the rooms for work/study. The hotel is a nice mixture of old and modern, keeping original features of the church with brand new modern design.
The shared toilets and showers in the shared room are clean, have good quality towels & products to use. If you are in the shared room you get a locker under your Pod that is secured with your key card to leave all your belongs safe when you are out and about. The Pods themselves are spacious, have USB sockets and colour changing lights.
When I first entered the shared room I was worried about the number of beds within the room, there are a lot of single pods and small number of doubles. With that many people in one room I was unsure if there would be a lot of noise, however with the comfy bed & blackout curtains I spent straight through the night without being woken once due to noise.
I will most certainly be staying here again when I go back to Amsterdam to explore more – I liked the hotel that much I am tempted to head back just to do some writing in such a gorgeous space!
Well I digress, lets get back on track. Freshened up it was time to head back into the city as I had tickets to the Anne Frank Museum. Now if you want to visit this must see, eye opening museum, you need to book at least 6 weeks in advance. As of writing this, tickets are released every Monday for 6 weeks in advance and they book up QUICK. So be prepared with at least this one part of of your trip.
The museum is not huge, as it is Anne Frank’s actual annex that the family and others lived in during the second world war until they were discovered in 1942. When you arrive they will offer you an audio description advice that is included in your ticket, I would recommend getting this (multiple languages available) as along of the museum is explained through this. The one downside I found with the museum was a tour group had booked in around the same time as us and therefore it was very busy inside, however with the popularity of the museum this is to be expected.
The museum is not suitable for people with mobility issues, purely due the amount of steep stair cases to get around and into the annex. 100% worth a visit if you are planning a trip to Amsterdam, I love my history so I knew a lot of the information, however if you are wanting to learn more about Anne Frank and her life during WW2, GO!
After grabbing a bite to eat we headed into the red light district, which is actually right next to all the other touristy areas in the city. The atmosphere certainly changes when you are walking down this canal, we went quite early in the evening and therefore it was only just coming alive however a quick walk down to see the windows, the shops and the bars was all that was needed for me.
Having been such an early start I was hitting my limit and therefore needed to get back to to my pod and get some sleep, however now I have a feel for the city I would like to go back and explore this area in more depth.
So as I have already mentioned, after my amazing nights sleep in the Bunk Hotel I headed down for breakfast! If you pay for the breakfast within the room rate (or when you check in) you get free refills of juice and coffee/tea and the choice of 4n breakfasts. I opted for the Buck breakfast as seen below, however there are other options including vegan options which all looked delicious!
Heading back into Amsterdam I headed over to the train station to locate the lockers. Now slight snag, you cannot get a locker without having a ticket, so we went to the machine and got our ticket. Now you can use this ticket to go in and out of the barrier as many times before your travel it seems as I was concerned once I went through the barriers to the lockers (and a few platforms) that the ticket would then be classed as used and we wouldn’t be able to use it.
The lockers were very reasonable price, nice and secure with a information desk for any questions (however they are very easy to use with instructions in English).
Next on the agenda, the windmills at Zaanse Schans, not to be confused with other areas of Netherlands but still a very close and easy accessible area full of Windmills, Museums, Cafe’s and shops. I spent a few hours here wanting around the water front passing the windmills. I would suggest heading out there earlier as the later you leave it the busier it gets. To the point that I decided to leave the attraction purely due to the amount of tour/coach groups that arrived there.
Once I got back into the centre of Amsterdam with the though of the flight looming over me I wanted to cram in one more attraction and then spend the final couple of hours absorbing the culture. Therefore it was off to Tony Chocoloney’s Factory Shop. Here you can buy SO much chocolate of all flavours and textures. You even have the option to build your own bar! I was a mission to find a specific flavour and therefore I didn’t queue for the make your own bar.
Do not let the queue outside the factory put you off. We joined it thinking we might have to leave it if we ran out of time, however they let large groups in at one time and therefore the queue outside went down nice and quick.
In summary. If you are looking for a super accessible trip (especially if you are reading this from the UK). Then get yourself over to Amsterdam! I am already lining up my next trip to spend more time in the city (so expect a follow up post soon). The city is picture perfect, the people are super friendly & the beer is delicious!