"Amsterdam is AWESOME:)" a Amsterdam Travel Page by LauraBBX

My boyfriend & I were in Amsterdam for 5 days/4 nights...we got a really affordable package (I'm guessing b/c it's off season). We both loved it there!! so much so that we didn't want to leave:) I guess next time we visit this beautiful city we'll spend at least a week. This trip was kind of a weekend getaway, and we arrived there friday morning at around 8am.
Schipol Airport is pretty big, we were tired after our flight (7:40 hours from NY), and I wanted to take the train to Centraal station & walk from there to our hotel. Unfortunately, the machines that sold train tickets did not accept either cash or our debit cards...we tried different ones but were unable to get a ticket. Even before we got to Amsterdam the Dutch made a good impression on us as very nice and helpful people, because people offered to help when they noticed we were having trouble with the ticket machines. We ended up taking a taxi to the hotel, which cost 40Euros (the train tickets would have cost 4Euros a person...grrr:) but at least we got there safely:) The hotel was awesome, we stayed at the Avenue Hotel (10min walk from Centraal St., right in the Center of the city). I loved its location, because we were able to walk everywhere..We left our bags in their luggage room as we couldn't check in for another 5 hours and we went to explore the city on foot. Of course we stoped at a coffeeshop a block away and that was an interesting experience:)
I brought with me my Amsterdam guide book, a dutch phrase book & dictionary, & my Amsterdam do it yrslf travel guide from VT:), the least helpful of which was my dutch phrasebook because EVERYONE spoke English there. I'm glad i did my research on VT before leaving b/c that really helped, especially when it came to choosing a coffeeshop or restaurant:)

Fav coffeeshop: Siberie...we went there on a daily basis. I love their Mango weed, it's very mellow..much better than anything I've had at home:)
Fav restaurant: Humphrey's....really good value. They offer a 3course prix fixe meal for about 21Euros. very yummy too:)
Other things I've enjoyed in Amsterdam:
-a herring sandwich with raw onions & pickles...do it like the locals do it!!:)
-wonderful museums (there's about 37 of them...we only got to see 3..:(..but we tried to see the most important ones: Rijksmuseums, Van Gogh Museum, the Amsterdam Histrich Museum:)
-walking everywhere!! although we got lost at least once a day:)
-a canalboat tour!!...a must if you're only there for a few days...u'll see much more than you would if you walk:)
-the people of Amsterdam are VERY nice, helpful, somewhat reserved (they're not all up in your business:), it's a multiethnic city:)

There's a LOT of bikes in Amsterdam...not a lot of cars tho. You can rent a bike if you want, just remember to get a lock with it (as I heard bike theft is quite common).
We were lucky to get good weather while in Amsterdam....it was cold (you'll need a hat & gloves & a warm jacket...but you can always buy it over there if you forget to bring it with you...)but it only rained once (on our last day there).