Amsterdam on the cheap?

[Sharkirasharkira]

Planning to go away with a friend, possibly end of Sept/beginning of Oct for a long weekend.

I'm open to any European city but my friend really wants to go to Amsterdam! I'm fine with this but we have a strict low budget and I'm wondering how doable it is or whether it would be best saved for a time when we have more funds? Any tips welcome! TIA

Amsterdam and budget/cheap are rarely words that go together

Agree with wobytide. DD visited Amsterdam when she went interrailing this summer. Sharing a hostel dorm with 17 other people cost £50 a night. She said Amsterdam had the most expensive accommodation out of all the cities they visited - even more expensive than Paris.

How much is your budget?

I go once a year with my partner, I love it there. We've done it cheaply and on the more expensive side. Weekends are obviously more expensive to go, so if you could I'd do Monday-Thursday.

Was looking at house boats. They look cool. But no not cheap.

Im going in October. Is it just accomodation thats pricey or is food and transport and tourism also expensive?

I'm currently looking to go end of November/beginning December.

I find it cheaper to book flights and hotel separately.

We've stayed at this hotel, it's lovely, and the breakfast is so good! It's a metro away from
the centre but doesn't take long at all. We have also stayed at their hotel in the centre too but was more expensive.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/nl/v-fizeaustraat.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaFCIAQKYAQm4AQfIAQ3YAQPoAQGIAgGoAgO4Arak5-oFwAIB;sid=80cbefb9c55960b95d24b5e8e56c56ad;allsrrblocks=1842623019174954990220;checkin=2019-12-01;checkout=2019-12-03;destid=-2140479;destttype=city;dist=0;groupadults=2;hapos=1;highlighteddblocks=1842623019174954990220;hpos=1;matchingblockkid=1842623019174954992000;refisswl=1;room1=A%2CA;sbpriceetype=total;sr_order=popularity;srepoch=1566167611;srpvid=26939e9df5ca00b6;type=total;ucfs=1&

Flights from where we are in Southampton are fairly cheap too. £70 return ish!

You can get a travel card, most hotels sell them at their reception. I think €24 euros for two days? And that's train, metro and bus.

And food, well it depends what you want to eat! I don't find it that more expensive!

I'd choose a bed and breakfast so that fills you up, have a light lunch somewhere and then have dinner!

Visited twice last year

First booked flights 6 months+ in advance for under £50 return. Hotels are cheaper further away from centre of city. We bought the' I Am Amsterdam card', which gave free travel, free entry to some museums & one free boat ride. We also got bus to the town with windmills

Second time overnight ferry, free bus, 5 hours there, then back again for less than £100. You could stay a couple of nights, then get ferry back

Food is expensive, but you could buy food at a super market

I've been a few times, there is always something new to see or do

I know it is generally an expensive city but I've seen flights and accommodation which in total would come to about £200. I was budgeting about another £100 on the Amsterdam card which would pretty much cover all travel and activities and maybe another £100 on food/drink/extras? That should be ok shouldn't it?

I go once a year - costs vary between £180-500 for a long weekend.
Me and dh can easily spend £350+ for two full days and one 1/2 day. This is mainly on food and just general walking around with a couple of museums etc

This was my post back in April:

Just got back. We stayed at: www.motel-one.com/en/hotels/amsterdam/hotel-amsterdam-waterlooplein/

We did a fantastic free walking tour freedamtours.com/

We visited the Rijksmuseum.

We ate cheaply in the Leidseplein area. Many restaurants offer meals for 5 Euros. We ate at www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g188590-d1319311-r337023480-Il_palio-Amsterdam_North_Holland_Province.html
It was delicious. They even did gluten free options.

We hired bikes from 'Mike's Bikes' 4 hours for 5 Euros www.mikesbiketoursamsterdam.com/bike-rentals-amsterdam
This was such a bargain. We cycled out to a windmill, then through the Rijksmuseum, (listening to the amazing musicians), on to Vondelpark, then along the canals through Jordaans to central station.

Behind central station are ferries that go across the harbour for free. We jumped on a ferry with our bikes, found the IAMSTERDAM sign then cycled round the islands.
We ate cheaply at www.locatienrd.nl/ (2 euros for a cheese and ham toastie!) Back across on a different ferry, we cycled through the centre of the city and past the flower markets. 4 hours well spent.

Finally, we did a canal tour with circle line - awful. Waste of 32 euros. If you do a canal tour go in a small boat with live commentary. The big boats are... dire (This area is called Nine Streets. On the left is a church... that was the commentary).

The library (five mins away from town when come out of station) has a lovely rooftop cafe where food is cheap and views are lovely of the whole city

The first time I went I stayed in a log cabin at a campsite at the end of the tram line. The stop was called flevopark. Going out of the inner city is much cheaper and the trams are so regular that it would only take 15 mins and you're at the centre anyway. Amsterdam is my favourite European city by far.

This was the cheapest accommodation I found after a long search:

hotel-kings-court.hoteleamsterdam.net/en/?from=2019-04-16&to=2019-04-17&adults=2&children=0#service

On lastminute.com a twin room was £38 at Easter.