Top 5 Reasons To Visit Amsterdam

In my opinion, Amsterdam is a very underrated city. It had beautiful architecture, stunning canals, amazing museums and welcoming people. With a flying time of just over an hour from the UK, Amsterdam is easy to get to, there is no language barrier as everyone speaks English, and it has an incredibly laid back culture. If you want to find out more about this lovely city, here are my top 5 reasons to visit Amsterdam.

 Museums

 Amsterdam has the most incredible museums. The Van Gough museum has many of the artist's most famous work such as the Sunflowers, whilst the Stedelijk Museum has fabulous modern art from artists such as Andy Warhol and Pablo Picasso. For children, the Nemo Museum is an excellent science museum and for the grown-ups, visit the Heineken museum where you can find out about the history of the drink and have samples as you go around.  

 If you like your museums' more alternative try the Cannabis Museum, the Torture Museum or the Sex Museum!

Canals
The canals are an integral part of Amsterdam and I highly recommend a canal cruise to see the city in a different way - on the water. There are many guided tours in the day but for a little extra fun why not try a cheese and wine cruise at night. Sitting by candlelight drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers, it is a romantic way to see the city. 

 I found out a lot about the history of Amsterdam on the canal cruise. There are many beautiful houseboats moored on the canals and in olden days the poorest people used to live on theses as they were used for transporting goods.

 Food


A speciality of Amsterdam is Indonesian food and if you visit the city try the Indonesian rice table or Rijsttafel. You get a number of small portions of Indonesian food of different textures and flavours and my favourite was the chicken satay and beef rendang. 

Other specialities include the yummy stropwaffle (a syrupy waffle), bitterballen (meatballs), snert (a thick pea soup) and oliebollen (deep fried sweet dumplings). If you are after a snack, FEBO machines dispense food like hamburgers and fries whilst there are a number of excellent upmarket restaurants and organic cafes too. We had a fantastic meal at Brasserie Ambassade, I would highly recommend this stunning restaurant which is high up on Tripadvisor.

Nightlife

Amsterdam has a variety of nightlife, including cool cocktail bars and clubs to while the night away. Some of the top clubs include Escape and The Sugar Factory, whilst we found a great little whisky bar called J D Wiliam's.

You can't visit Amsterdam without having a walk around the Red Light District. The sex shops, live sex shows, peep shows and doors with the red lights where ladies entice you in, are famous around the world. Although safe at day, watch out if you are going at night as there are pickpockets and an altogether sleazier vibe.

Shopping


Amsterdam has shopping for everyone, from the large department store De Bijenkorf in Dam square, to the trendy shopping in the Nine Streets area, the vintage shops around Waterlooplein and the luxury boutiques in the Oud Zuid area.  

Souvenirs range from Delft pottery to tulip bulbs from the flower market and for the ultimate reminder of Amsterdam, lead your partner into the diamond stores for which Amsterdam is renowned. 

Amsterdam has some lovely accommodation options and the Hilton hotel group is always a good reliable and upmarket brand. They have five hotels all in different parts of the city and three in the main canal rings. For a luxurious treat next time I would try the Waldorf Astoria and with a Hilton sale on you could even grab a bargain. The Waldorf Astoria which is owned by Hilton is a beautiful boutique property with the only Guerlain spa in Amsterdam and a two Michelin star restaurant too.

So this is my top 5 reasons to visit Amsterdam,  download this useful shortcut guide to Amsterdam to take with you. 

 I would also recommend the I Amsterdam card to get the most out of your stay, with an amazing array of attractions to visit, once you've paid for the card it really is brilliant value for money.

Tell me have you been to Amsterdam? If you have do you have any recommendations?

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37 comments

  1. Lucie Aiston21 July 2016 at 09:18

    I've been to Amsterdam twice. Both in my early twenties and both for girly weekends. It is a wonderful city and I would definitely go back again!

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    1. Mellissa Williams21 July 2016 at 18:44

      It is such a lovely city. It's one of my favourites in the whole world.

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  2. Joanna Victoria -x 21 July 2016 at 10:42

    This is a place I'd love to go to and some great reasons to go too.
    It looks like such an amazing city to explore.

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    1. Mellissa Williams21 July 2016 at 18:45

      You have to go Joanna if you get a chance. There is something for everyone and it's a lovely city.

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  3. Unknown21 July 2016 at 14:12

    I've never been but we've always been talking about visiting Amsterdam. Maybe it's about time we did! Love your photos btw.

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  4. Unknown21 July 2016 at 17:04

    I was in Amsterdam so days ago. Missing the vibrant city already.

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  5. Jessica Bird21 July 2016 at 19:13

    It looks like a gorgeous place to visit. Everyone I know who has been says it's fab - I'm sure I'll get there one day! x

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  6. Unknown21 July 2016 at 20:07

    I've never been but it's definitely on my list! Thanks for the recommendations :)

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  7. welshmumof321 July 2016 at 22:30

    Amsterdam is somewhere I've never considered visiting before but now I defiantly would x

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  8. Claire21 July 2016 at 23:09

    I've never been before but we have not been abroad for over 10 years now :( Looks a lovely place, great pictures :)

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  9. Anonymous22 July 2016 at 12:36

    Great list! We'd visit Amsterdam for the culture...most definitely!

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  10. Joanna22 July 2016 at 13:09

    I didn't know that Amsterdam is a place where you can get Indonesian cuisine. I have never been there yet, only through the airport to change flights, but I would love to visit one day.

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    1. Mellissa Williams26 July 2016 at 08:40

      Yes Indonesia is the largest former Dutch colony apparently.

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    2. Anonymous1 August 2016 at 13:09

      Try to visit 'Blaauw' .. best one.

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  11. Newcastle Family Life22 July 2016 at 20:30

    I have never visited Amsterdam before, I probably should as you can go on the ferry from Newcastle really cheap. It sounds like such a great city with so much to see and do x

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  12. Karolina Z22 July 2016 at 22:32

    I've been in Amsterdam once and oh yes, it is such an amazing city!

    http://karolinakz.blogspot.lt/,
    Karolina

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  13. Kara22 July 2016 at 22:48

    Amsterdam is on my to do list, but without the kids :0)

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  14. JM de Guzman23 July 2016 at 07:04

    I am definitely going to Amsterdam in time. This place is really lovely and my family would definitely have a great time here

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  15. Prasad Np24 July 2016 at 07:51

    your pictures capture a very calm side of Amsterdam so different from the video...

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  16. Anosa24 July 2016 at 09:30

    I went to Amsterdam earlier in the year and I loved it, didn't get to experience the night life but it was awesome in the day.

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    1. Mellissa Williams3 August 2016 at 12:17

      It's very under rated I think. People know it for the sex and drugs but it is such a great city.

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  17. Unknown24 July 2016 at 10:42

    Amsterdam has always been on my list but I never really had a reason for it - and now I have 5! :)

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  18. Lindsay26 July 2016 at 14:51

    Amsterdam is a wonderful city and it has so much to offer. I love what you've highlighted here, especially the canals - they make the city so beautiful!

    #citytripping

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    1. Mellissa Williams3 August 2016 at 12:18

      We went on a fabulous canal trip, I would highly recommend it.

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  19. Mandy26 July 2016 at 20:36

    I really want to visit Amsterdam. This post made it sound that much more enticing. Can't wait until I can visit for real! #citytripping

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  20. Lydia C. Lee26 July 2016 at 21:41

    We're off to Amsterdam in April - not sure about the red light district with the kids (I know we'll end up going but explaining it to the youngest may be tricky ;) How interesting on the Indo food? I wonder why? Those dutch spice traders, I guess?

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    1. Anonymous1 August 2016 at 13:12

      red light is okay during the day. No worry's.. The Indo thing is a bit overrated, just like Thai, Egyptian, Ethiopian or Chinese, there is indo food also

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  21. MummyTravels27 July 2016 at 22:56

    I've.been to Amsterdam a few times including last year with my daughter and it surprised me just how family friendly it is. The canal tours are a definite highlight #citytripping

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  22. emma me and b28 July 2016 at 12:27

    I love Amsterdam. I always only really knew it for cannabis and the red light district but it is so much more than that. I love the canal boat that is a cat rehoming centre - very cool when we visited a few years ago #citytripping

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