Fourth times the charm, in January 2020 myself and Stephen travelled to Amsterdam for a long awaited three-night stay. No matter how many times we travel to the beautiful city we always manage to discover little gems that we were unaware of before.
Travel
We flew to and from with Aer Lingus, simply because they were the cheapest at the time. Travelling throughout Amsterdam is very easy. The airport and train station are in the same building with Amsterdam Central being four stops away. Amsterdam central is full of trams that connect the whole city. Top tip – when you arrive at the train station buy a three-day pass from the counter, this pass entitles you to ride any train, tram, bus and metro, and even better its only €28. You can just hop on and off, exploring a different part of the city each time.
Hotel
Accommodation can be very pricey in Amsterdam, the last three times that we’ve travelled we’ve stayed in Hotel Atlantis, a small hotel, very clean, very comfortable, located 500 metres from a tram stop and only 6 minutes from Dam Square. Located in a quite area selected rooms have balconies at very reasonable rates.
Food
The capital of all things sweet! Every corner you take your faced with pancakes, churros, cakes, muffins and more. Alcohol, minerals and sweets are very expensive, a 330ml bottle of coke will set you back €5, a muffin could cost you €10 – shocking I know! Navigate your way to the nearest Lidl and stock up on bottles of water and sweets for an afternoon snack for a much lower price. When it comes to food though it’s the complete opposite, how about a steak dinner for €5.50 – yeah, I’m not kidding. Everywhere that we ate was delicious. If your visiting in the future I would recommend “Marco Polo” for breakfast and “Belushi” for dinner, Belushi also have great offers on spirits, buy one get one free.
Favourite Activities
Needless to say, we’ve done a huge majority of tourist attractions. This time round we visited the Ann Frank house – it was an amazing experience and I would highly recommend it. I don’t know why we haven’t done it sooner. A canal cruise is a must, there’s several different types you can go on, all you can eat pancakes, dinner, couples cruise and more. The ice bar is a novelty, but its something that you must do once. Were you even in Amsterdam if you didn’t visit the ice bar? I would say to anybody planning on travelling, walk, walk everywhere. Just give yourself time to explore the city, it’s something else over there. Top tip – bring an empty suitcase, the shopping in Amsterdam is unbelievable. I always regret bringing a full suitcase with me. All you Penneys Huns won’t be able to cope with 5 floors! Another thing for those who love to shop, the high street prices are slightly cheaper in Amsterdam than they are in Ireland, need any more convincing?
On to the next adventure,
Kelsey.
ONE TIME IN EUROPE 