"Amsterdam - Always a welcome stopover " a Amsterdam Travel Page by vichatherly

Amsterdam is a great city full of fun!

I suppose that it used to be that you went to Amsterdam for one of two things. It was either for the Tulips or the Stag weekend.

Weekend One - Stag
The Dam used to be the “in” place to go for a stag weekend as it’s the place where you can drink, smoke “Wacky Baccy” and visit the XXX red light district. Drink heavily, visit the sex museum and maybe take in a live show! Buy saucy cards and other trinkets from the toy shops

Weekend Two - Tulips
Enjoy the canals and take in the flower markets. Visit the many museums and take in Anne Frank’s house. Buy some bulbs, cheese and clogs

My most recent visit was to celebrate a friend of mine’s 40th birthday. There were eight of us on the trip, three couples and two single lads. Most of the group had visited the city before but for one of the girls it was a real eye-opener.

We checked into the hotel and then took a tram to Rembrandt Square and then onto a few bars close to the red light area. You shouldn’t really go to the city without visiting the red light area at one point in your trip. It’s probably best advised to walk around during the daylight hours if you just want to visit rather than take part in activities in the area.

We then went to the excellent Sea Palace Floating Chinese restaurant for a meal in the evening.

The following morning we took an excellent bike ride around the city and it’s surrounds with Mike’s Bike Tours. This was a good way to clear the head and to take in a windmill, cheese farm and a clog factory.

The 40th Birthday meal was planned for the Saturday night in a delicious Indonesian restaurant called Sama Sebo. We had taken advice and had booked the table from the UK. It was good advice as the restaurant was packed, and for good reason as the food was excellent.

Sunday morning we walked around the bulb and flower markets and then took the plane home.

I'm not really a fan of smoking so I can't say that I've tried the stuff. However, they do serve nice coffee and cake in the coffee shops.

Haven’t yet seen Manchester United playing in Amsterdam, and so haven’t yet been to the Amsterdam Arena. Maybe we’ll get Ajax in the cup draw soon!