"Amsterdam" Amsterdam by kit_mc

I first visited Amsterdam in 1991 on my first ever 'backpacking' trip. Having spent a week travelling by train around other cities in the Netherlands, Amsterdam was my last stop and in fact I was really apprehensive about staying there in order to catch my coach home. My idea of a trip abroad even at that age was still more about museum visiting, coffee drinking and note-taking rather than some of the seedier aspects which many Brits associate with the Dutch capital.

Amsterdam March 2008

This is a city I knew I should return to some day, with me now being a more world hardened traveller as I must have had 'mug me, I'm terrified' written all over my face while in Amsterdam that first time. Having booked into the YHA hostel, which was inhabited by so many freakish people that I was already scared witless, I managed to get mugged beside the train station the same evening I'd arrived. While the guy only got a few guilder out of me, luckily leaving me sufficient to buy a beer afterwards to drown my sorrows, it didn't exactly leave a good impression.

I returned in 1993 after spending 6 months living in Crete but only for daytrips of museum visiting while staying with a friend in Den Haag. In fact, so damaged by that first 24 hour visit was I, that I wouldn't even stay in Amsterdam after nightfall. Positive things I do remember though are some world class museums including the Purr-tastic Cat Museum, the Anne Frank House, some lovely canals and cafes (nope, not those type ones) and friendly locals who were appalled that I'd been mugged in their country.

Amsterdam 2008

In 2008 I returned to the city for a whirlwind weekend tour. It was very last minute, in fact it was a replacement trip as a result of missing my flights elsewhere. I'd geared myself up for the alpine climes of Slovenia, but this was a decent city break replacement.

This time round was the usual museum tour, with a visit to the Resistance Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, Oude Kerk [Old Church] on De Dam, the excellent Jewish Historical Museum, the Rijkmuseum with its Rembrandts and the Dutch Theatre [Hollandsche Schouwburg] that was used as a holding camp for Jews between 1942 and 1943.

We got the 'Iamsterdam' tourist card which gives free entry to a number of the main museums, a free boat ride round the city canals and free travel on all local transport and I'd certainly recommend it for short visits.