Amsterdam

[Springdew]

Hello,

Thinking of going to Amsterdam with my 14yr old (who loves history) and my mother. So we'd like to be near Anne Frank's house and any thing else historically interesting. please advise me what else we should see and if anyone has hotel recommendations that would be great. Budget is 100 ish per night.
Thank you

I went recently and got a lovely airbnb apartment. You can hire a houseboat too (we didn't as it was Kings day and pretty booked up), want to go back and stay on a houseboat.

Do a boat tour, most of them start at the top of the city by the train station. Lovely day out and you get to see most of the city.

I love Amsterdam, my favourite city!

A friend mentioned air bnb which does sound good I should really look. House boat sounds amazing too. I go on trip advisor and there are just so many I honestly don't know where to start, it's over whelming!

Thank you LJ, will look at boat tours, sounds lovely

We liked Rembrandt's house and the church in a house (can't remember its proper name) and the history / building of Amsterdam museum. I think you can book in advance for Anne Frank's house, that could save you hours of queuing.

Thanks all. I've spent hours on Airbnb and I'm no further forward! I like the idea of being central but worried about noise/stag do's/anti social behaviour! I love the idea of an old place rather than modern.

Banana thanks I will definitely look to book Anne Frank's house and thanks for your suggestions.

Meat I love the idea of a houseboat but have decided to stay on land. Where abouts did you stay?

Any other suggestions appreciated

The Amsterdam School ("The Ship") is an absolutely fantastic architectural museum / exhibition in the north west of the city. Cheap as chips. We had a brilliant tour from an architecture student; we were the only ones on it and he answered loads of questions and made it really interesting for us.

It's all about a social housing development and is a fascinating insight into the social history of that area of the city. They have a flat you can wander around that's fully furnished 'of the era'. We loved it.

If you're going springtime, the World Press Photo exhibition is usually at the Oudekirke, I think. It's also really, really good.

dh and i went in april and loved it...so much we already rebooked for december...hoping to do something christmassy!

dd went last month and also really enjoyed it, so much so she is trying to bump dh from the december trip and go with me :o

Shamefully we did bugger all other than eat, wander and drink and take photos, dd did lots more, but prebooked it all and said the queue for those who had not booked for the Anne Frank house was FOUR hours!

We stayed a little further out at the CitizenM near to the Zuid Station, but travel seems to be very efficient...trams are everywhere, bikes too, and trains from the airport in are also easy and regular.
You can get passes for the trams/buses for different time spans...like the Oyster card, our hotel was selling them so very easy to get hold of.

Both times I went I stayed in hostels (not recommending you stay in a hostel) in between the red light district, the gay town bit and dam square. I didn't encounter any hen/stag do's or anti social behaviour.

Brilliant area for people watching though!

Following for tips!
Pretty sure we've got Amsterdam down for next Easter time....

Hotel Estherea on Singel canal is very lovely, I stayed there before Christmas last year and could't recommend it enough. It is about a ten-minute walk to the Frank House, if that.

I have now gone through hundreds of places to stay! I've come to the conclusion I'd like to be close to the centre (dam sq) but not right in it, maybe be vondelpark/museum quarter would be nice.

I think south west might be nice along the Amstel as long as not too far out.

Out of all the hotels online and air bnb properties I can say that hotel Estherea is my firm favorite but think it's over budget! But it's just what I'm after, beautifully decorated doesn't look like a prison cell, mental asylum or eighties dated travel lodge like so many of them do!

So I'm no further forward really! Thanks all for your input. I will pre book everything four hours queuing sounds like hell!

The toren also looks lovely but over budget!

Flying pig uptown on museum quarter is lovely!

Frankly that looks like it's firmly for the young, and groups! I'm sure it's lovely though

Hotel toren and hotel Sebastian look good very close to Anne Frank's, has anyone stayed here?? Will it be too noisy? Will we accidentally stroll into the red light district? Will the RLD be our only place to walk to for cafes and restaurants? Are they too close to dam sq?

I've been to Amsterdam many times. We always stay a little outside the centre (maybe three or four stops) as long as it's on a tram line. I've never really found budget accommodation in Amsterdam though. It just seems to be one of those places.

Think we might Airbnb it next time we go. I really fancy staying on a house boat.
Been to Ann Frank house twice. Pre book your tickets, as there's always long queues to get in.
Definitely do a boat tour, and basically lots of eating cake and drinking coffee
One of my favourite European cities ever. I never tire of going.

Oooooh any recommendations petit for nice places you've stayed previously? I'm almost tempted to book Estherea but worried as some reviews say it's a lot for what it is. I really like the idea of being in the old part and not too close to dam sq (when I first started looking I thought I wanted to be ON dam sq)!!!

Ah sorry I missed that you were with your DD and mother

The Dikker & Thijs Hotel is lovely and walking distance to Jordaan District, Museum Square and city centre.
www.dikkerandthijshotelamsterdam.com

'T Smalle brown café is great for lunch, evening snack, cold beer & just across from Ann Frank's house - great for people watching/life going by etc www.t-smalle.nl

Honestly I wouldn't worry about wandering into the RLD, in the daytime I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't even notice you were in the RLD. It's so just normal looking, and actually a pretty area along the canals, it's only in the evening when you can see all the red lights you notice it!

Just remember a coffee shop in Amsterdam is not the same as a coffee shop here!

Ah, the dikker hotel I was on the verge of booking but the pic of the triple room put me off. Fine, for fifty quid a night, but more? Not so sure..uk.hotels.com/mobile/hotelDetails.html?q-check-out=2016-09-03&q-room-0-child-0-age=14&FPQ=3&q-check-in=2016-08-31&WOE=6&WOD=3&q-room-0-children=1&pa=36&tab=description&JHR=5&hotel-id=119293&q-room-0-adults=2&YGF=14&MGT=3&ZSX=0&SYE=1

Sorry can't link to the exact pic, but the triple room pic seems a bit basic for 592!