Planning a trip is part of the trip, (and a large part of fun!), so why not step it up and go old fashioned in Amsterdam, walking around with a paper map. We had only 3 days in Amsterdam, and there was so much to see.
A great place to plan the trip was this beautiful Canal view apartment.
This was the amazing view from the living room.
The first two days were mostly walking around. We started the trip by walking to the famous Dam Square.
Amsterdam, very well known for biking, is extremely well represented by this picture I took near the Central station.
What to do in Amsterdam
- Ride bikes
- Eat Stoopwaffles
- Repeat
You can keep walking all day and lose track of time because of how beautiful the streets and canals are.
I’m not a history person, but The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam is amazing. Anne Frank was a Jewish writer, and her house is now a biographical museum. We did the self paced audio toor [advance booking the tickets is highly recommended as the tours get sold out].
After two full days of walking, it was time to check out Heineken, Amsterdam’s beer. We did the tour where they show you the manufacturing, followed by a tasting tour. It is very similar to any other beer factory tour around the world. I wasn’t particularly too impressed with the tour.
A pit stop at Google with my teammate for snacks!
Bike ride to Zuid Kennemerland
On the final day, we did a bike ride to Zuid Kennemerland and that was the highlight of my trip.
With more than 400 km of bike paths in Amsterdam itself, the city is a heaven for bike lovers. While Amsterdam gets pretty crowded with bikes, stepping outside greets one with narrow empty streets, photogenic dutch windmills and nature. I rented a bike and explore the country side.
The weather changed from sunny to windy to rainy within an hour, making the bike ride tough.
The park itself is filled with scenic dunes and beaches. There were bike lanes all the way from Amsterdam to the National Park, and of course plenty of bike parking in the National Park
It was freezing cold at the lake, so I only took a few pictures and ran back to the bike.
