My Amsterdam Recommendations

We went to Amsterdam earlier this year. It was a pit stop on our way to Paris, where we lived for a month. I’ll write more about our stay in Paris, and why we decided to spend a month there later, but here’s a simple explanation. It was partly to celebrate being able to travel more freely, and partly to see if we need to live in Paris. Spoiler: we don’t. And I’m honestly a bit over Europe in general, to live and visit. I’ve seen enough. That’s another topic for another article. For now, here are my highlights and recommendations for Amsterdam, including where we stayed, what we did, and even what and where we ate – with all my lists!

Where We Stayed

We stayed in the Kimpton de Witt in Amsterdam. The room was tiny, but that’s the standard in Amsterdam. The décor was great, the service was great, the location was good. It wasn’t on a canal, and when we return, I’d go for a hotel on a canal if we do the hotel route again. On our first trip to Amsterdam a few years back, we stayed in an Airbnb a little outside of the center. I’d have to say I kind of preferred staying outside of the center. I know that goes against the ‘location, location, location’ thinking when picking accommodation, but hear me out.

There are pros and cons of staying in the center. The pros are obvious – location and convenience. You’re able to walk the canals easily, and all the shops, restaurants, and coffeeshops along the way. However, the center is just so touristy, it was difficult to find normal priced items. Instead of a grocery store, there were only corner store type souvenir shops, where a bottle of water was (the euro equivalent of ) $4, as opposed to 68¢ in the grocery store. Once I learned to go outside the center for a regular grocery store to grab snacks and water, I was good. Important note, grocery stores close at like 6 PM there, so plan accordingly.

What We Did

We were only there for a couple of days in the beginning of May. It was cold AF (to me, a tropical being), especially at night. On the best days, I could get by with layers and liquor, but you need a heavy coat, hat, and scarf. That said, we happened to be there during the tulip season, which I was super excited about. We visited the Tulip Festival at Keukenhof Tulip Gardens. They sell tickets for entry only, and tickets that include roundtrip transportation. We decided to only buy entry tickets so we could move on our own schedule. We took an Uber there, and a taxi back (there are plenty waiting outside the gardens, slightly more expensive than Uber, but there’s no wait). The tulips were beautiful!

We took a ride on one of the canal boats. It was one of those activities we wouldn’t typically do, but because we were visiting with Jarrell’s parents’, they always help us embrace being tourists. It was actually a really fun experience, where you learn a lot about the city 

We had fun shopping on De Negen Straatjes (The Nine Streets), which are lined with shops. There were some vintage stores I wanted to hit, and a few hipster shops Jarrell was looking for. It was fun, but would’ve been more fun in warm weather.

What + Where We Ate

I’m the researcher type of traveler, especially when it comes to food. For Amsterdam, I had a few dishes I wanted to try during our stay. Thankfully, we got to eat a few. I was blown away by the food in Amsterdam. My expectations were kinda low, so I was shocked to not have a single bad meal during our trip.

My favorite restaurants, that I highly recommend are the Winkel 43 for Dutch Apple Pie; it was delicious. We had poffertjes and a Dutch pancake at De Carrousel Pannenkoeken Amsterdam. We had a fabulous dinner at Visrestaurant Lucious, highly recommend the lobster bisque. We also loved the Seafood Bar. When we visited the Tulip Gardens we had patat frites (French fries) and mayo, poffertjes, and strawberries with fresh whipped cream – all were delicious.

We left Amsterdam by train, heading down to Paris, where we visited for a month this year. As promised, I will continue sharing about our 75-day adventure from Bali to Jakarta, Dubai, Amsterdam, Paris, Porto, Atlanta, Columbus, Los Angeles, and Singapore. I’ll share all my lists and recommendations in more articles as the inspiration hits.

XOXO