Amsterdam - off the beaten track

[tiptowin]

Am going to Amsterdam next month and looking for some recommendations beyond the usual (anne franks, van gough etc)

• particularly any 'cool' cafes or buildings.

anyone?

If you have time I would go to the Hague. it's about an hour from Amsterdam by car. There are sandy beaches at Shlervingen (not sure that's the right spelling )

Go to the bar at the American Hotel for a drink.

We also took the bus to Marken on the coast which was lovely.

I came to say Theatre Tuschinski too. It has a very sad yet interesting history, and it’s beautiful. Sounds like it would be your sort of thing. I loved it.

I third the church in the attic and second foodhallen. We stumbled across a few street markets that were fab in February so even better in better weather I'm sure.

We had a lovely time mostly just wandering to be honest. Loved Amsterdam.

Cycling in central Amsterdm is fine, just go slow and with the flow. The Vondelpark is great to cycle around as well.

Marking place heading there in July.

My husband calls Dam Square, the road of death But to be fair to him, there are a few roads overlapping, there are pelican crossings, but some of the trams don't stop for red lights!! So keep your wits about you when crossing the road. It is a beautiful city though, I loved Costa Diamonds 💎 on Museumsplein, they also have a sort of water fountain (without the fountain) gets cleaned at least 3 times a day, you can paddle in it, some parents put swimming costumes on their kids. I'd say take a wonder though, oh there's also the floating flower market, and if you go in gay pride week, the King goes on a canal boat

Please @tiptowin ask MN to move this from Chat to Travel - loads of good tips, don't want them to vanish after a month!

Thank you all so much - I've added tons to my list!!

iseethelight - that 9 streets link is perfect, thank you. :)

forallthesaints - i think we have pretty similar travel tastes.

thegirlonthelanding - happy to, any idea how I do that?

I'm on the app so might not be the same for you but if you swipe your post you should see an option to report and can ask MNHQ to move it for you. Sounds like you're going to have a fantastic holiday - enjoy it!

There is a Banksy & Dali gallery near the Van Gogh gallery which is worth have a look at. It has the Mae West sofa in there.

Electric Lady Land mentioned above as being closed.....

Visiting Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 2:00 - 6:00 PM (14:00 - 18:00) BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

We had an amazing meal at 'Senses'

Also, I would not cycle in central Amsterdam it is bonkers with cyclists/trams/buses and cars, just bonkers busy

True that! One central thoroughfare has 20.000 bikes going through it PER DAY!

If you have time go to Haarlem, great city full of great cafes and terraces. You can cycle from Haarlem to Zandvoort ( along the coast line)
If you like steak- dinner at Loetje is a must!!

We liked the torture museum and eating chips with mayonnaise and crepes and Nutella. Cultured pair we are!

• Take the free ferry to North Amsterdam, from behind Centraal station to NDSM Wharf, and explore the cool industrial area. Pllek - very cool bar / restaurant made from old shipping containers. It's on the waterside and at night they have firepits you can sit around, and a sandy area for kids to play in. In same area : walk round to see the Crane Hotel, which is as wacky as it sounds.

Noorderlicht is another cool café near there which we loved. Our teens and younger kids enjoyed scrambling around there! Best bars in Amsterdam Noord is a useful article with more on these places.

• Hire bikes and cycle out to Waterland. Ferry to North Amsterdam again. You can do a self - guided tour; we got round just fine and didn't need a guide. Within about half an hour you're in the countryside. Long cycles along dukes, cows grazing on the pokers, tiny little tea shops, chocolate - box houses. I based our trip on routes like these : Baby Routes Amsterdam Waterland and

route from The Path She Took blog. It was a truly memorable day.

• Micropia museum - museum of microscopic creatures. We loved it. They have tardigrades and slime moulds and glow-in - the dark bacteria, and lots of microscopes you can have a go with. Artis Zoo (next door) is also fab.

• Pancake Boat ! This is another North Amsterdam find. It's totally daft and totally Dutch. An hour and a half cruise with all-you - can - eat pancakes! We loved it on both our family holidays to Amsterdam. Buy tickets online beforehand as it sells out - via the link above.

• if you go to the Rijksmuseum, buy tickets online first & show them on your phone, so you get to smugly zip past the queues.

The very central areas of Amsterdam tend to be massively crowded and pretty grim, especially the red light district. There's only so many stag parties and vomit patches I want to see. Amsterdam is more than this, so I think you'll enjoy being off the beaten track .

Autocorrect fail.
Dukes = dykes
Pokers = polders

I saw these blogs posted on a thread in thw travel section. I saved them as I'm planning on going to Amsterdam later this year.

amsterdamwonderland.com/2016/10/20/a-48-hour-amsterdam-family-itinerary-the-perfect-weekend-city-break-with-kids/

amsterdamwonderland.com/2018/05/13/where-to-stay-in-amsterdam-a-neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood-airbnb-guide/

amsterdamwonderland.com/2016/06/16/family-friendly-accommodation-in-amsterdam/

We had a map for a self-guided architecture tour by bike - worth a Google if it rings your bells. Here are some good starters for Amsterdam architecture :
www.architravel.com/architravel/city/amsterdam/

Another nice day trip for us was the Amsterdamse Bos - a big woodland park with a great goat farm in it, and Highland cattle, and lakes. However, the cycle trip to Waterland was better in terms of seeing a more varied landscape and getting a few windmills and iconic Dutch sights in.

The riding school in Vondelspark

It's the same area as all the embassies, so some lovely buildings to look at
Walkable from the city centre also