The General Guide to Amsterdam

Transcription

1 The General Guide to Amsterdam Introduction Amsterdam is an unusual city in that it has all the advantages of a big city culture, history, food, entertainment, good transport with relatively few of the disadvantages: it is physically small, beautiful, relatively quiet, and largely thanks to the canals, has relatively little traffic. This guide tells you something about Amsterdam in the hope that it will improve your enjoyment while here. Time Amsterdam time in the summer is two hours ahead of GMT, one hour in winter; when daylight saving time is in operation the sun is at its highest point at around 13:40 (which makes for long evenings: since Amsterdam is very far West in its time zone, in mid-summer the sky is still light as late as 11 in the evening). In the dead of winter, the sun rises at 8:40 and sets at 16:30; in the height of summer it rises at 5:20 and sets at 22:05 Amsterdam is a late city: many shops don't open until 10 in the morning, and bars and cafés stay open till 1 or 2 in the morning. Weather Typical weather ranges from a little around freezing in the depths of winter, though usually with little snow, to typically pleasant sunny days of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius in the summer. Spring and autumn are pleasant, but can be wet (100+ mm of rain per month). In the summer months there are typically 200 hours of sunshine a month, dropping to between 50 and 100 in the winter. Language Just about everyone speaks English in Amsterdam, and is proud of the fact. Many speak German and French too. If you are English speaking, speak English (unless you speak Dutch too): you are more likely to offend than do anyone a favour by trying out your French or German. A common misconception is that Dutch is very close to German. In truth they are not mutually intelligible: Dutch people have to learn German at school, and in general they speak better English than German. German and Dutch are similar in the same sort of way that French and Italian are similar. Money The currency used in the Netherlands is the Euro expressed as EUR or. There are 16 countries that form the Euro Zone: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain. You can use the Euro in all these countries. Euros are divided into 100 cents. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, and 1 and 2 euros. There are notes of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros (note the pattern 1, 2, 5). Some shops do not accept large denomination notes, and most don't accept the 1 and 2 cent coins, and so round cash amounts to the nearest 5 cents. There are many places to change money in town. Post offices usually give the best rates. The GWK at Central station is also good. Compare rates carefully at the exchange offices in town. Hotels are usually an expensive way to change money. Banks can be slow. There's an American Express on the Damrak, and a Thomas Cook on the Dam. 1 Average temperatures and rainfall recorded over 20 years

2 However, you shouldn't need to change money: if you have an ATM card (a card for getting money out of a machine in the wall) it will most likely work in the Netherlands (indeed throughout Europe), so you don't need to take traveller's cheques. Check with your bank before leaving though. Such cards, certainly if they have a Maestro logo on them, can often also be used for direct debit payments in shops (shops that display the blue "PIN" sign, which is almost all shops). Credit cards are not as widely accepted in the Netherlands as in many other lands, but it's getting steadily better. Always enquire first if you want to pay by credit card. Tipping All prices in the Netherlands by law include tax and tips: the price you see is the price you pay. Normal Dutch practice in restaurants is to round up to some whole number of euros, so that the tip is about 5%. Don't feel obliged to leave a tip. If the bill says "service not included" they are just trying to rip you off. You don't need to tip in taxis either. Electricity Dutch Electricity was 220 volts, and then moved at a rate of 1 volt per year to the European standard 230 volts. The plugs are the fairly standard European two-pin model. Safety and Health Amsterdam is a safe city, and there is nothing to fear from walking in any part of the city. Even in the red-light district around the Oude Kerk, there are always lots of tourists wandering around. As in any large city you should beware of pick pockets. Don't try to photograph the women in the red-light district though: that would be risky! The water from taps is perfectly drinkable. Restaurants There are more than a thousand restaurants to choose from in Amsterdam, and a complete list would, and does, fill a whole book.. Not surprisingly, most restaurants are in the city centre, and just walking there you will pass many of high quality. There are particularly many restaurants around the Leidseplein. Since 1 July 2008 all public buildings, including cafés and restaurants, are smoke-free by law.the Dutch eat early. Some restaurants close earlier than you might expect (closing times are given here).the Dutch typically go out to eat as an activity in itself. Therefore there is no rush to eat and get going. Servers respect this and will often leave you to eat in peace. In particular it would be very rude for a server to bring you the bill without being asked first. You should always ask for your bill when you want it. Cafés and Bars These are everywhere. We only list here some exceptional and interesting ones. There is little distinction between a café and a bar in Amsterdam. Both sell alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, food and coffee. The kitchen in a bar or café usually closes at 21:00. A very nice property of Amsterdam, that you certainly don't find everywhere, is that you pay the same price wherever you sit; it doesn't cost more to sit outside on the terrace. Coffee is served Hollands with evaporated milk, espresso, cappuccino, and verkeerd ('reversed'), which is with lots of hot milk (the Dutch version of a Caffee Latte). Beer-lovers should try a witbier (white beer) like Hoegaarden or Dentergems, with or without a slice of lemon. The Dutch invented gin (it was introduced to England when William of Orange became king in 1689, and spread from there); it is called Jenever after the Dutch word for juniper. There are two types: Jong (young) which is the closest in taste to gin, and normally drunk neat and very cold, and Oud (old). 2

3 The Dutch also invented Brandy (Brandewijn means 'burnt wine') which they call "Vieux" (Yes, the Dutch call it by a French name and the French call it by a Dutch name). There are three micro-breweries in Amsterdam Brouwerij 't IJ in a windmill just outside the centre (with a bar, and large terrace in the Summer), De Bekeerde Zuster (formerly Maximiliaan) in the heart of the red-light district (actually as part of a bar), and De Prael (no bar, but they do keep a list of bars that serve their beer). There is one remaining distillery in Amsterdam, A. van Wees De Ooievaar, that makes a truly astonishing range of traditional Old Dutch and Amsterdam spirits and liqueurs (around 200 of them), many of which you will never have heard of. Founded in 1782, and still family run, it is open for visits Monday and Wednesday 9:30-12:00, Driehoekstraat 10 deep in the Jordaan. You can try their products at the De Admiraal, Herengracht 319. You can drink beer and wine from age 16, and spirits from age 18. Amsterdam is a paradise for beer drinkers, but alas the wine drinker is usually left with a 'choice' between red and white. (It is surprising that a nation known as a nation of traders could leave such a segment of the market uncatered for.) Amsterdam is of course renowned for its brown cafés: small, dark and cosy. Proeflokalen (tasting rooms) In the 17th and 18th centuries Amsterdam was the centre of the European spice trade, and out of this grew a tradition of distilling 'medicinal' spirits, that developed into a full range of liqueurs. The proeflocalen specialise in these alcohols, and they have a disturbingly large range of traditional liqueurs that you will never have heard of. Ask for recommendations. De Admiraal, Herengracht 319 (Dam-Spui), , 17:00-24:00. Cosy, with settees and armchairs, and barrel architecture. Features the liqueurs and spirits of the Amsterdam distillery A. van Wees De Ooievaar. De Drie Fleschjes, Gravenstraat 16 (behind Nieuwe Kerk, Dam), 12:00-20:15. Small. Features Bootz brand liqueurs. Wijnand Focking, Pijlsteeg 31 (the alley to the right of the hotel Krasnapolsky on the Dam), 15:00-21:00. Features own-brand liqueurs. That other sort of café In the 17th Century Catholics and Protestants discovered that they were living side by side in Amsterdam, and in a very surprising development for the time, they didn't slaughter each other. This seemed to work out well, so they developed a concept that they called 'tolerance', so that nowadays the Dutch don't care if you are gay, foreign, or even if you eat mayonnaise with your fried potatoes, the police turn a blind eye. As you are probably aware, Amsterdam also has a policy of tolerating the sale and use of soft drugs. This activity is centred around so-called smoking cafes or "Coffeeshops" as the Dutch euphemistically call them. Whether you wish to avoid them or patronise them, they are easy to recognise: they are usually dark, have a characteristic smell, and tend to use words like free, high, happy, dreams, and space in the name of the cafe. They typically have a menu of the products they have on sale. One thing worth knowing is that by law they are not allowed to sell both dope and alcohol, so if you order a beer you'll be getting an alcohol-free one. Transport Amsterdam has superb public transport facilities. There are many trams, and good facilities for cyclists, like special bike lanes, and traffic lights for cyclists. There is a national public transport information service: you say when and where you want to go, anywhere in the Netherlands, and they tell you how to get there. The telephone number is ; it costs 0.70 per minute (with a max of 14), 3

4 Trams The best way to travel is by tram. They are frequent, fast and dependable. You can buy a ticket from the driver, the conductor at the back of the tram, or a machine in the middle of the tram, depending on the sort of tram it is. However, it is considerably cheaper if you buy a 'strippenkaart' from a tobacconist, post office or railway station beforehand, for 6.50 for 15 strips. On most trams there is a conductor: you get on at the back of the tram and the conductor stamps your ticket for you. However, on some trams you have to stamp the ticket yourself in the yellow machines in the tram: each journey uses one strip plus a strip for every zone you travel in. If you stay within the centre of town, that is one zone, so you leave one strip blank and stamp the second. If you travel over a zone border, you are travelling in two zones, so you leave two strips blank, and stamp the third. Once stamped, a ticket is valid for an hour, regardless of how often you change tram or bus. Several people can travel on one strippenkaart: you just stamp it for the first person, and then for the second, and so on. There are also one, two and three-day passes available. Passes and strippencards are valid on all trams, buses and metros, and also on trains within the city boundaries (thus not to Schiphol airport: then you have to buy a train ticket). You must stamp a day or week pass the first time you use it only. You should hail a tram to indicate you want to get on. Press the button near the door to open it. If the tram has a conductor you must use the rear door to get on. You have to press one of the red STOP buttons inside the tram to indicate that you want to get off at the next stop (although there is rarely a stop where no one wants to get out). Again press the button near the door to open it when the tram has stopped. There is a free map of all tram and bus routes in Amsterdam available from tourist offices or the GVB office in front of Central Station. The trams run until just after midnight (the last trams leave Central Station at 12.15). After that there is an hourly service of night buses from Central Station. Bicycles The fastest way to travel is by bike. There are several addresses around town where you can hire (rent) a bike, for reasonable prices. Traditionally, Dutch bikes have no hand-brakes, but back-pedal brakes. If you think you can't handle this, be sure to ask the hirer for a bike with hand-brakes. When cycling, cross tram lines at a good angle to avoid getting your wheel caught in the rail. For obvious reasons, lock your bike to something solid when leaving it unattended, and lock the frame, not just the front wheel (otherwise they unbolt your front wheel, take your frame and someone else's front wheel, and have a complete bike). When hiring a bike, you will be required to pay a deposit, and you should take some form of identification. Addresses: Bike City, Bloemgracht 68 (Westerkerk), Damstraat Rent a Bike, P Jacobszoondwarsstraat 11 (Dam), Macbike, Leidseplein (next to Paradiso) , Mr. Visserplein 2 (Waterlooplein), , and Central Station, Taxis Taxis are normally not hailed in the Netherlands, but taken from a taxi rank, of which there are many (there is an environmental advantage to this: taxis aren't constantly driving round looking for custom). You can order a taxi by phoning A taxi will arrive almost immediately (though be prepared to wait if it is raining on a Friday or Saturday evening). Taxis are high quality but relatively expensive; around 1.50 per km regardless of day or time. You don't need to tip more than rounding up: they are already expensive enough. Some taxis serve Schiphol airport for a fixed price of 35 rather than running the meter. 4

5 Car hire Driving in Amsterdam is not recommended. Even for longer distances it is far better to take a train. If you do need to hire a car, look in the Gouden Gids for addresses of the normal car hire firms ('Autoverhuur'). Trains Trains in the Netherlands are fast, frequent, comfortable, punctual and cheap; well, they were until they got privatised, when their punctuality started to suffer. Many stations have a taxisharing scheme called "Train Taxis" which cost only 4.60: buy a Train Taxi ticket when you buy your train ticket. You can buy tickets at machines, or at the ticket office, but at the ticket office they charge a 50 cent or 1 surcharge for regular tickets. There are two types of machine; one sort accepts cash and direct-credit bank cards (Maestro/Cirrus). but the other sort only accepts the bank cards. You can practise using the machines online. Choose "Full fare", not "Discount". Discount is for people who have a discount card which costs 99 per year. Walking Central Amsterdam is very small: most distances are walkable, and walking is pleasurable, giving the best chance to appreciate the Amsterdam architecture. Beware of walking on bike paths, which are distinguished by their reddish colour: cyclists will show no mercy. Also take care when crossing roads, even at a green pedestrian light. Cyclists consider themselves pedestrians in Amsterdam, and so tend to ignore traffic lights. Note that in true European style, streets may change name along their length. Amsterdam is, as you may have noticed, structured as a half wheel. In the middle you have the old centre bounded by the canal called the Singel. It contains the Red-Light district around the Oude Kerk, the Nes theatre street, a quaint maze of small streets and quiet canals, and the Royal Palace at the Dam, with pedestrian shopping streets Nieuwendijk and Kalverstraat going north and south. Surrounding the old centre, you have the three concentric ring canals Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht (it can help to note that they're in alphabetic order). All four canals (with the Singel) are nice to walk along. The Herengracht is the grandest, especially along the 'Golden Crescent' to the east of the Leidsestraat, the Prinsengracht is perhaps the friendliest with its houseboats. The streets that connect the ring canals, especially the area called "The Nine Streets" in the section between the Brouwersgracht and the Leidsestraat shouldn't be missed for their lovely individual shops. To the west of the ring canals, in the area on the map where the streets all run at an angle to the canals, is the Jordaan, a lovely area to walk, with quiet canals, and tiny streets, and many unusual shops. You'll find a lot of the better restaurants and more interesting bars there too. Transport to and from the Airport Schiphol airport is very close to Amsterdam centre. There are trains day and night, seven times an hour through the day, hourly in the dead of night, and which take about minutes. A single journey costs (Beware of the automatic machines at the airport: they have a single button that selects a single journey to Amsterdam Central, but it is a First Class ticket, so will cost You are better off selecting your destination and ticket type yourself.) Taxis take minutes, though beware of travelling in the rush hour. Some taxis charge a fixed price of 35 to the airport rather than running the meter. By the way, Schiphol has been voted the best airport in the world several times, and not without reason: the shops there are great, and of a wide range, from drink and chocolates to fashions and electronics. You might want to leave yourself some extra time for shopping. Don't necessarily expect bargains 5

6 though; only the articles marked as "special offer" are truly likely to be cheaper than street prices. There is also a small branch of the Rijksmuseum that is worth a visit (between the E and F piers, open 7-20, admission free.) If you want to know what to take back for people, Dutch chocolate and cheese are very good (in fact Dutch Edam and Gouda taste nothing like the stuff bearing those names in other countries). There are nice stoneware bottles of Dutch gin (jenever) in two types Jong (young) which is the closest in taste to gin, and Oud (old), and there is Dutch Brandy (Vieux). Schiphol's Duty-free Shops are online (go to the Schiphol site, and click 'Shopping'). You can even order online and pick your goods up when you leave (click on 'reservation service' after clicking 'Shopping'). Shopping Traditionally, shops and markets are closed all day Sunday and Monday mornings. Normal shopping hours are 09:00 or 10:00 to 18:00 (17:00 on Saturday) although some are now beginning to stay open later in the evenings and about half of the shops on the main shopping streets are even open on Sundays. There is late-night shopping on Thursdays until 21:00, when most shops on the main streets are open. The main shopping areas are the Leidsestraat between the Leidseplein and Spui, and the Kalverstraat and Nieuwendijk, leading from the Munt Tower via the Dam to near the Central Station. There are large stores near the Munt Tower (V&D and Hema), and at the Dam (Bijenkorf and Magna Plaza). There is a large supermarket behind the Palace at the Dam, open until 22:00 7 days a week. The Jordaan and the streets around it contain many small interesting individual shops. The PC Hooftstraat and district, near the museums, contains many of the more chic shops. There is an interesting daily clothes and second-hand market around the City Hall and Opera (trams 9, 14, 51 to Waterlooplein); there is a busy cosmopolitan food and clothes market in the Albert Cuypstraat (trams 4, 6, 10 and 16). The flower market on the Singel (between the top of the Leidsestraat and the Munt Tower) is not to be missed (trams 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 16, 24, 25). Buying food in supermarkets is straightforward, with one exception: buy the milk in blue cartons. The red cartons are buttermilk (karnemelk), which is probably not what you want. Of course, you want to know where you can buy good chocolate. We recommend Puccini, Singel 184 near the Dam, and Staalstraat 17, near the Opera House, and Unlimited Delicious, Haarlemmerstraat 122. Places to See Here is a list of some of the major attractions in Amsterdam. Several places including the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum allow you to book online and print your tickets out. This is worth doing, since it allows you to jump the queue for tickets and go straight in, but bear in mind that some only allocate a fixed number of tickets per day, so book early if you can. The Anne Frank House, Prinsengracht 263 (Westerkerk), 09:00-19:00(summers 21:00), The wartime hiding place of the young Jewish girl and her family, finally caught by the Nazis, made famous by Anne Frank's diaries. Not to be missed. Go early, or late, to avoid the queues. Begijnhof, Spui. Amsterdam has many 'hofjes', courtyards hidden away between houses. The Begijnhof is one of the largest, and well known, but also one of the more surprising: that such an oasis of peace can be so close to the bustling heart of the city. There is a doorway in the row of houses on the Spui that leads you there (if it is closed go right, around the corner to the entrance in the Gedempte Begijnensloot). It has a lovely English church (AD 1400) with 6

7 pulpit panels designed by Mondriaan, and the oldest house in the city (1475), one of Amsterdam's few surviving wooden houses. Turn left out of the Gedempte Begijnensloot entrance, and it leads you to the Amsterdam Historical Museum and its free gallery of old paintings of city guards in the style of the Nightwatch. Artis Zoo, Plantage Kerklaan 38-40, 09:00-17:00 (18:00 in Summer), 16. Good aquarium. Also planetarium. Hortus Horticultural Gardens Plantage Middenlaan 2a (Waterlooplein), , 09:00(weekends 10:00)-17:00 (21:00 in July/August); 6. Small but nice. Heineken Brewery, Stadhouderskade 78; 10:00-18:00 (closed Mondays); 10. Used to be a brewery until a few years ago, now a museum and visitors' centre. No unaccompanied children. No reservations. Free beer! Museums There are three major museums, the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk (modern art) and the Van Gogh. All three are situated around the Museumplein. Rijksmuseum, Jan Luijkenstraat 1, 9:00-18:00 (Fridays to 20:30); 11 (under 19 free). Large museum containing paintings by some of the Netherlands' great 17th century painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Hals. The Nightwatch by Rembrandt is their prize piece. Contains many artefacts as well as paintings. (Currently being renovated, so some parts are closed.) There is also a small branch of the Rijksmuseum at Schiphol airport. Stedelijk, astonishingly, closed until December Van Gogh, Paulus Potterstraat 7, 10:00-18:00 (Friday 22:00); 12.50, , under 13 free. Surprisingly spacious, dedicated to Van Gogh and his contemporaries. There are many other museums, too many to list here. Interesting ones include: Rembrandt's House, Jodenbreestraat 4 (Waterlooplein), 10:00-17:00, 8. The 17th century house where Rembrandt lived and worked, restored to its former state. Of particular interest is the ability to buy etches made from copies of Rembrandt's original plates, at quite reasonable prices (about 35). Amsterdam Historical Museum, Kalverstraat 92 (Spui); 10:00(weekends 11:00)-17:00; 10. Maritime Museum, Kattenburgerplein 1. Astonishingly, closed for renovations until the end of However the full-size replica of an old ship, with actors on board acting out the sea life (which is particularly fun for kids) is still open at Nemo, the big green building that looks like a ship just east of Central Station. Amstelkring Our Lord in the Attic, Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40; 10:00(Sunday 13:00) - 17:00; 7. A 'hidden church' in a canal house in the middle of the red-light district. Some things to do for free Take the free ferry behind central station to the other side of the IJ and go for a walk along the North Holland Canal. Walk up the roof of the New Metropolis and admire the view (follow the rail lines east from Central Station, and cross the footbridge to the big green building that looks like a ship). Go to the Begijnhof (entrance from the Spui, or round the corner in the Gedempte Begijnensloot) Visit the Historical Museum gallery (take the Gedempte Begijnensloot exit from the Begijnhof and turn left). Wander along the Flower Market (on the Singel). Browse the Waterlooplein market (at the Waterlooplein). Visit the Albert Cuyp market (tram 10 to Frederiksplein, or 4, 16, 24, 25 to Albert Cuyp). Go to a free lunch concert in the Concertgebouw (Museumplein) 7

8 Go up the tower to the cafe in the Kalvertoren shopping mall, and admire the view (Kalverstraat near the Munt). Go to the cafe in Metz and admire the view (corner of Leidsestraat and Keizersgracht). Visit the West Indies House: in 1609 Henry Hudson, an Englishman working for a Dutch company, discovered the island of Manhattan. The Dutch decided to set up a colony there, and named it Nieuw Amsterdam (New Amsterdam, now of course New York). The company that ran the colony, the Dutch West India Company, had its headquarters in Amsterdam. You can see that building, the West Indies House, at the point where the Herengracht meets the Brouwersgracht (behind the children's playground). There is a statue of the first commander of New Amsterdam, Pieter Stuyvesant, in the courtyard. (More details in the great book The Island at the Center of the World). What's On Not surprisingly, there is an immense choice of activities in the city. You can find a list of what's on this week hanging in most cafés, and in newspapers published Wednesday night and Thursday morning. There is a central entertainments information and ticket reservation service called AUB on the Leidseplein. They have a Web Site at Guides. There is an English Language guide to the week's events called What's On. It is published by the VVV and is available in most hotels. Time Out publishes a monthly guide in English, available from newsagents. The local newspaper Parool includes a (Dutch) supplement on Saturdays with what's on for the coming week. Music. You can find music of all sorts. Pop and rock lovers should check out the multi-media Melkweg, and Paradiso both near the Leidseplein, and the Odeon disco (opposite the end of the Spui) which caters for several tastes. For jazz try the Bimhuis (Piet Heinkade 3, on the Waterfront east from central station). Classical and opera try the Muziektheater at Waterlooplein and the Concertgebouw on Museumplein. Films. There are more than 50 cinema screens in Amsterdam. This week's films are online, and you will find the list of current films hanging in most cafes. Non-Dutch films are always subtitled, so you can always see films in your own language. There are many cinemas around the Leidseplein and the Rembrandtplein; Fridays and Saturdays you should buy your ticket early you can do this by telephone if you want, if they answer the phone. There are two magnificent art deco cinemas you should try not to miss: Tuschinski near the Rembrandtplein (screen 1 is the most impressive), and The Movies on the Haarlemmerstraat near the Jordaan, which has a good restaurant too, and offers a special 'film dinner' for around 30, which includes reserved seats for the film (telephone ). 8