Tag Archives: Amsterdam

Summer Holiday – Part 1

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I know I haven’t posted here in a while so I thought I’d post about our holiday to Holland and Germany. We had visited Holland before and been to Amsterdam for a weekend in Winter and it was cold! So this time I wanted to go back longer, in Summer.

We stayed outside of Amsterdam this time, in a place called Muiden. Muiden is a really nice little waterside town around 30 minutes by train/bus from Amsterdam and easily connected by public transport. It is full of history and was part of the defence line. It’s got a castle, which is why we stayed there. The Muiderslot is well worth seeing and you can get a self guided audio tour in several languages.

Classic Citroen DS parked in front of one of the old fortifications, now converted to offices and public loos.
One of the fortifications arround Muiden – this is now a museum

We started our trip by going to the Heineken Brewery Tour which was really great and recommended for any beer buffs. The roof top was open when we went so we could have a drink with a view.

Heineken Experience – Amsterdam

The weather was unbelievably warm when we visited, which is great for a beach holiday where you’re not on the move but when you’re sightseeing it did take it’s toll after a while and my girlfriend was suffering. On the upside the beer was cold and tasty 🙂

We did go back into Amsterdam to go the Hard Rock Cafe, something I had wanted to do from before. Unfortunately I was rather dissapointed with both the food and the experience. I felt like we were rushed through (they were very busy) and I got the feeling they were just trying to shift as many bums on seats and people moved on again as they could. The kebab we had had earlier in the Red Light District was tastier and more value for money!

As part of our trip we took some time to visit family in Hamburg, so I’ll write about that on Part 2.

Visiting Amsterdam for the first time 

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Red Light District

Canal Tour

Amsterdam Museum

I visited Amsterdam for the first time with my girlfriend in February over the Valentines weekend. If you’re looking to go expect it to be busy then (and expensive) but that’s to be expected anywhere. We went for 3 days flying out early on the Friday so we got a full day out of it.

We flew with easyJet from Stanstead with my Dad doing taxi duties. My parents kindly let us stay the night before as we were closer.

Flight is so short that you spend more time at airport security and departure lounge than in the air 🙂

Once we landed we got the train from the airport to the main train station where we got off to buy tickets for the tram network. Trams are great in that you pay for a day ticket and you just get on and off swiping on the machine when you get in which checks you in/out. Very civilised! Our hotel was the Best Western (just outside of town, link to TripAdvisor review to be added).

We visited the Sex Museum, Red Light District, main museum (check name) and ate a lot of good food including crepes which they do really well with fruit and cream etc!

My parents also gave us tickets to get a river tour which was a good way of seeing lots of sights and history in a short amount of time so would definitely recommend that if you are planning on going!

The rest of the time it rained a lot and was freezing cold! We got wet and a bit moody having to lug heavy rucksacks around so would definitely recommend paying the extra and taking a suitcase… This will allow you to enjoy your trip more. I could write more but I’m running out of time so will add the links to reviews and fact check later.

The general consensus is that we would definitely like to go back and maybe spend some time in a coffee shop 😉

Hope you enjoyed the read.