Amsterdam or London

[Amlo123]

Which is the best place to live ? Amsterdam or London

That's a good question!

I lived in London for 6 years a while back. Never lived in Amsterdam but have visited dozens of times as my best friend lives there.

For me, if I had a realistic choice of living in either, I would make the very easy decision...

Amsterdam! It's a very liberal city - the whole of the Netherlands is in my opinion. I have always found the people to be friendly and I love the fact that you can easily walk anywhere in the city and that it's flat - I hate hills! I love the architecture, the canals, the parks, amazing public transport system. The bars, café's, "coffee" shops, museums, the amazing Concert hall, the red light district, food markets and other street markets are all great attractions - depending on personal opinion.

This is just my opinion obviously - can I ask why you posted the question?

@JumpOnAPlane thanks for your reply. We have been living in London for last 15 years . My husband has recently got a job offer in Amsterdam. We haven’t decided to take it or not . I haven’t been to Amsterdam also . So just trying to get opinions of people about Amsterdam.

Hiya.
Oh, great news on the job offer!
Housing is quite expensive. Both buying and renting.
I do have a fair amount of knowledge about Amsterdam and access to more with my best friend living there for 20+ years so if you have any specific questions then I will try my best to answer, even if there will be a little delay if I have to ask my friend!

It sounds like a very big decision to make. I hope it's not too stressful for you both. Please can I ask the sector the job offer is in? I am quite nosey. Sorry

@JumpOnAPlane yea it is indeed very big decision to make . We have a son also , so need to think about his education. My husband is in IT sector.

Amsterdam is so close (a 40-min flight from London) that your DH could even commute back and forth and you could conceivably have a place in both. I like Amsterdam a lot, but I'm not sure I'd want to live there. It is HEAVING with tourists pretty much all year round in non-Covid times and that would drive me crazy. I've lived in a very touristy European city myself and the novelty wore off very fast. In your position I'd stay in London, but if your DH wants to take the job I'd say get a small flat in Ams, where he lives during the week and where you and your DS could join him some weekends and part of the holidays, but otherwise he goes back and forth.

Amsterdam is lovely to visit but it's very expensive, taxes and bureaucracy are onerous, and it is indeed overrun with tourists.

How old is your son?

We just moved back to London from another EU capital that everyone raves about and are very happy to be back : )

Amsterdam is a great city with lots of nice areas around to commute from, totally different set up from London so quite hard to compare the 2. If you would only be going for a couple of years I'd say jump at the chance, lots of good international schools or even bilingual Dutch schools. If it is a permanent move I'd think twice. It is hard to truly integrate into the Dutch community, after 15 years there and speaking fluent Dutch I still felt very much a foreigner. Hate to generalise but while Dutch are very friendly, they are very set in their ways and I found it very rigid. I was glad to return to the UK but do have fond memories of my time there.

@dreamingbohemian , thanks for the reply. We don’t have any long term plans . It will be mostly 3 years max 5 years . After we will either come back to London . Our son is 10 year old and we thought it will be good experience for his also to study in a international school . Even though we know we will come back to London , I am still concerned because I feel very safe and comfortable in London .

@zafferana that’s option too . We have 5-6 months to decide .

Oooh that's a tricky age to go abroad. You'd be coming back to the UK when he's 13 or 15, that's a difficult age for an expat move. Most people I know who do a move abroad try to settle in somewhere by 10-11 and stay there for all the teen years.

An international school can be an amazing experience but it can also be a terrible experience, you should do a LOT of research to make sure you find a good place.

Also you may want to have the thread moved to Living Overseas? You may get more feedback there.

I would jump at the chance too. We spend a lot of time in The Netherlands.

I would live out of Amsterdam. Public transport is amazing, combined with a bike. You could live somewhere much nicer and cheaper than Amsterdam itself. Worth some investigation.

@SydneyPlace thank you

@dreamingbohemian I am not sure whether it is tricky age . Any way he is entering secondary school this September, so even if we are here it will be new school and new friends for him . But you are correct we need to do lot of research about schools .

I lived in Amsterdam for work for a couple of years and loved it. I’d have stayed but personal circumstances meant I was needed back home.

But I think in your shoes I’d plan to go for all of your sons schooling, if you go. It’s not ideal to bring him back at 13 or 15... that complicates things a lot.

Without that, I’d say hands down to go and not to be surprised if you don’t want to return.

@SendMeHome which place did you live in Amsterdam?

Yes but it's a new school for everyone this year, it's very different to come in a few years later and be the new kid, possibly have to catch up just as GCSEs are starting, and as you know it can be terrible finding a school place in London. Just something to think about.

@dreamingbohemian yes understand. Will think that too . Where were you before coming back to London ?

Berlin. Amazing city but much prefer London, I think if you love London it's hard to settle elsewhere because there's nothing quite like it :)

Amsterdam is so small. And it's so weird how foreigners describe the Dutch as so friendly but the few dutch people I know describe them as incredibly rude! So much so they left the country. Sorry, no help.

Covid is described as the English strain at the moment. Go out of major cities and they’ll be prejudice against Brits. The Dutch are a somber people, quite serious and no humour. A British friend hosted a dinner party and the Dutch commented why anyone would waste money on feeding people.

As with any country, there are some cultural differences to get used to, but in general people in the Netherlands are friendly, welcoming and fairly relaxed.

Amsterdam itself is a great city. It’s big enough to have plenty of things of interest, but not so big that you get totally lost in it. I lived there myself for five year. I’ve also lived in other parts of the Netherlands and can’t say I ever noticed any negative feelings towards Brits (or indeed any lack of a sense of humour!)

@dreamingbohemian ok nice . Do you have kids ? If so did they go to international school ? How was their experience ?

Read The Happiest Kids in the World: Bringing up Children the Dutch Way. That should convince you.

I’ve never lived in the Netherlands but holiday there most years and love their approach to life and childhood in particular.

Yes, I have a son the same age as yours. Our goal was always to come back to London before he started secondary school, we just managed it between lockdowns last year.

He went to a normal state school but I knew quite a few parents with kids in the international schools, as well as having friends who've taught in international schools all over Europe, and it is a very mixed story. Some international schools are great, some are terrible. Some have a warm and inclusive vibe, but some are rather snobby and exclusive.

Some international schools are really almost all wealthy Anglo expats, is that the kind of experience you're looking for? How would that be any better than just going to private school in the UK?

My advice is just do tons of research and try to find a school that's diverse and interesting, not too much of a bubble disconnected from the city. It would be a shame to live in Amsterdam for several years but your son never learns any Dutch or has any Dutch friends (which happens a lot with expats).