I Love Amsterdam City

Dream City Amsterdam

You know, you never take something you like very much by putting it in your pocket or bag; Amsterdam is just such a city. It’s a boutique city. The perfect harmony of old and new architectural lines dominates the city. I did not see a place that could be called “irrelevant“. The city’s motto is “Perfect Match”. Maybe that’s why Amsterdam makes people fall in love with it. I Love Amsterdam 🙂

List of Places to Visit in Amsterdam

• Dam Square – Dam Square
• Water Channels
• Van Gogh Art Gallery and Museum
• Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
• Bag Museum
• Ajax Football Exhibition Hall
• Royal Palace
• Anne Frank House & Genocide Museum
• De Nieuwe Kerk Cathedral
• Amsterdam Train Station
• Redlight (+18) zone
• Nordermarkt (vintage goods market)
• Dancing houses
• Diamond Museum
• Nemo Science Museum

We will talk about the places on the list of places to visit in Amsterdam one by one. Now let’s talk about general information about Amsterdam, the history and architecture of the city.

General Information About Amsterdam

The city is almost like a visual show throughout. With its historical texture and unique nature, Amsterdam is one of the rare cities in the world. It fascinates those who see it with its water channels on all sides and many historical bridges on it.

No Limit, No Forbidden City: AMSTERDAM

Some drugs, such as cannabis, are permitted here, where permitted. However, it is only free within state borders. You make allowances even think of bringing marijuana from the Netherlands to Turkey’s Be the first to review.
Definition of this crime according to the laws of our country: “International Drug Trafficking“. BEWARE in order not to face severe sanctions and prison sentences!

History

Amsterdam has a history that goes almost parallel to the past of the Netherlands. It started as a village founded on the Amstel river in 1126 where people who earn a living by fishing live. Amsterdam is named after the Amstel river.

AMSTEL (river) + DAM (dam) = AMSTERDAM

The word “DAM” is used frequently in the Netherlands. This word, which means “dam” in English, is also used in city names. Amsterdam, Rotterdam etc.

Since it is the capital city of the Netherlands, the central buildings of the state and public institutions are located in Amsterdam. However, the Dutch government, parliament and the Royal office of work are located in The Lahey city.

Amsterdam Flags

Where is Amsterdam? How to go?

It is located in the north of the Netherlands and is the locomotive of the country economically. There are more than one method to go to Amsterdam, which fascinates those who see it with its unique architecture dating back to the 1600s. It can be reached by train, road, seaway and the easiest, airway. It takes about 3.5 hours to reach Amsterdam with flights from Istanbul and Ankara.

Turkish Airlines and Dutch airline KLM airways have reciprocal scheduled flights. There are at least two flights between Istanbul and Amsterdam every season. You can get detailed information about flight tickets to Amsterdam from THY website.

Amsterdam Weather

It has a very mild climate. In the summer season, the air temperature in Amsterdam is between 20-29 degrees. In the winter season, the air temperature varies between 2-12 degrees. Snowfall is rare. You can examine the weather and seasonal conditions by month in the table below.

Holland Dancing Houses

As in the whole of the Netherlands, the water channels opened in the swampy area and the swamps were dried and settlements were built on it. Since the soil is soft, the buildings built have slipped and tilted over time. For this reason, the houses lying on their sides by the canals in Amsterdam are called “dancing houses“.

In the photo below, you can see the 2.5-storey side-lying Amsterdam house on the right, which is used as a cafe. If you look carefully, you can see that the building is not 90 degrees perpendicular to the ground.

Floating Houses

There are boats in the canals that were designed as houses or later converted into living spaces. There are even residents among them. With the emergence of housing shortage after 1960, “floating house” designs emerged from boats in Amsterdam. Today, floating houses have been adopted as a new lifestyle. If you pay attention to the photo below, you can see white container-shaped floating houses on the right, supported by old boats on the river.

Amsterdam Travel Guide

Let’s take a look at the must-see places in Amsterdam, the city where the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh, which is among the top 10 most visited cities in the world, lived.

1. Dam Square and the Royal Palace

For Dam Square, we can say the Amsterdam version of Taksim square, which is located in Istanbul Beyoğlu and has many tourists. The city of Amsterdam has also been accepted as a sister city mutually with Istanbul. Dam Square is one of the largest and oldest squares in the center of Amsterdam, surrounded by historical buildings. The historical building shown in the picture is the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.

It is possible to see peddlers selling hot dogs, street artists performing and people who add color to the area with visual activities. It is even possible to see pigeons flying constantly and working hard to grab the feeds of tourists, just like in Taksim square.

2. Madame Tussaud Museum

There is one of the world famous museums “Madame Tussaud Museum” next to the Royal Palace. In the Amsterdam Wax Museum, which also has a branch in the Istanbul Forum Shopping Center, there are wax sculptures of many world famous characters from aliens to Lady Diana and Elvis Presley.

There is “Amsterdam Card” in Amsterdam where you can visit many museums and exhibition halls including the Museum. Our Museum Card allows you to visit many places by paying a single fee to this card.

3. De Bijenkorf

It is one of the famous shopping mall chains in the Netherlands. Especially the opportunity to buy original perfumes and fashion clothing. It is located in a building with traditional Dutch architecture, just opposite Dam Square. If you can spare time for shopping in Amsterdam, don’t pass by.

4. Amsterdam Water Canals

Last time I saw the historical water canals in Bruges, Belgium. However, Amsterdam has more water channels than Bruges. I can tell you this much; You don’t even need to search for water channels in Amsterdam. If you walk in any direction for 5 minutes, you will definitely come across a water channel.

You can choose the area between Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Reguliersgracht, Prinsengracht and Lijnbaansgracht streets, which are close to the old city center to see the view created by the bridges over the water channels. If you can find the appropriate location here, you can see nearly 20 bridges at the same time on the water channels. You can join fun water canal tours with boats and boats. There are many canal tour routes you can visit with boats.
Amsterdam water channels map: https://goo.gl/maps/QLbT6YHsvdFFfCWy7

5. Diamond Museum

It is worth seeing the crowns used by kings and Christian clergy in the Diamond Museum, where priceless artifacts shaped with gold and brought to life with precious stones such as diamonds are exhibited. In addition to jewelery that can be considered as historical artifacts, today’s luxury items are also on display.

Golden tennis racket, luxury watches, diamond-plated wallet, bag and shoes. Even when you get out of the diamond museum, you are under the influence of the glitter.

6. Van Gogh Museum and Exhibition Hall

You can see dozens of paintings and hundreds of drawings that came to life with Van Gogh’s brush. The Van Gogh museum, which has a modern architecture, is located in the Museumplain park with the inscription “I Amsterdam“. The Museumkwartier campus, the modern district of the city, is a place where modern and historical Amsterdam architecture blends.

7. Amsterdam Centraal Station

This is the heart of the city’s rail transport such as metro, tram and train. There is a very large multi-storey bicycle parking lot right in front of the historical station building. There are concerts of street musicians inside the station building, where vehicles enter and exit through its huge gates. It is possible to come across orchestras playing classical music almost every hour of the day. You should enjoy this unique concert with the perfect acoustics of the Amsterdam Train Station.

You can go to almost any city in Europe by the scheduled train service here. You can also take a train from here to travel to other states and cities of the Netherlands. One of the stops in European Interrail Tours is Amsterdam Train Station.

8. Nemo Science Museum

The Nemo science museum, located above the tunnel connecting Amsterdam city center and the Overhoeks regions, has an architectural design resembling a ship. If you have children with you, it is useful to add the Nemo science museum to the list of places to visit in Amsterdam.

9. Amsterdam Churches

When you stop in the large area in front of the station building, there are a few gothic churches and cathedrals on the left. These religious shrines of Catholic Christians, named Heiliege Nicolas Basilica, De Nieuwe Kerk Cathedral, Oude Kerk Church and The New Church, are lined up side by side. Gothic churches with the same appearance as the Paris Notre Dame Cathedral, Luxembourg Notre Dame Church and the Notre Dame Chapel we see in Brussels, Belgium are frequently seen in the big cities of Europe.

10. Amsterdam Redlight (+18) Region

It is very interesting, but the Redlight region, which is one of the places that many tourists wonder about in Amsterdam, has businesses where insured workers (?) Work on eroticism and sex industry. “Red Light” in Turkish. What is interesting is that this area, which is categorized as (+18), is located just behind the famous Oude Kerk Church.

As you can see on the map, the Red Light Secrets Museum and Erotic Museum appear right behind the Oude Kirk Church and similar erotic venues continue along the street. Amsterdam is a really interesting and extreme city.

WARNING!
Let’s also give an important information about the Red Light region. Strolling the streets of this area is free and there is no ban on entering. However, it is forbidden to take photographs of erotic venues and employees. In addition, the Amsterdam City Tourism Commission has prohibited tour guides from touring this place as a museum.

11. Heineken Old Brewery

It is a museum setting that sheds light on the historical adventure of the world-famous Dutch beer. You can participate in interesting and fun activities in the old brewery.

12. Bloemenmarkt (Çiçek Pazarı)

It is the place where various flowers sold in greengrocers and florists lined up along the water channel are exhibited. It is possible to see almost all kinds of tulips unique to the Netherlands in the Bloemenmarkt shops, which have been serving since 1860. You can buy flowers if you wish. Strolling in these streets where only pedestrian traffic is allowed will create a natural therapy effect.

As it is known, Tulips were exported from Istanbul to the Netherlands during the Ottoman Empire period. However, the Dutch are in a position to export tulips to the whole world by using technology. In the early 1900s, a flower exchange was established over tulip bulbs, and at that time, it made many people rich by “Bitcoin” effect. However, it is known that in the following dates, the value of the stock market decreased and the popularity decreased, causing an economic crisis on a national scale.

13. Anne Frank Museum

The notes written by Anne Frank, a German woman of Jewish origin, about the troubles she went through in Amsterdam during the Second World War with the title “Diary of a young girl” were published as a book. In 1941, he escaped from Nazi pressure in Germany and took refuge in Amsterdam where he wrote his life story. The museum is one of the places to visit, where many films, documentaries and theaters are the subject of books and memories of Anne Frank and visited by hundreds of thousands of people.

Interesting Facts About Amsterdam

Places to visit outside of Amsterdam

There are many more places to visit in the immediate vicinity of Amsterdam. Even if you spend 1 week or 1 month, neither days are enough to travel, nor are words enough to describe the Netherlands. I wanted to write an article for each city in the Netherlands. We visited Delf City, famous for its porcelain, Zanze Schans with its traditional Dutch windmills, Volendam & Marken with its inner sea view, The Lahey City, the heart of Dutch politics, and Giethorn town, famous for its hobbit houses.

It is very difficult to see Dutch windmills in the city center of Amsterdam. Maybe you can see the trinket or model. But you can see plenty of mills in Zanze Schanz and Giethorn Towns.

Amsterdam Hotels and Accommodation Information

There is no need to think about where to stay in a city famous for its hotel and hostel movies. One or two hotels, the world-famous chain of hotels, are already operated based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

There are more than 1500 accommodation facilities in Amsterdam, in the city center and its immediate surroundings.

Ibis Hotel

This hotel, which you can see in all four sides of the country, is of course Ibis Hotels. You can choose one of the many hotels located in the city center or in surrounding locations such as the airport. Prices go down as you move away from the city center, but don’t get even the slightest negative thought in terms of quality. The Dutch are really good at the hotel and hospitality business.

I stayed in the Ibis Red Hotel near Schipol Airport for 3 days. It is possible to reach the city center in a very short time by using the metro or taxi. There are also car rental services if you wish.

Grand Krasnapolsky

If you want to stay in a hotel in the city center of Amsterdam, I can recommend the Grand Krasnapolsky hotel. Believe me, this hotel, which is at the top in terms of price, will meet all your expectations.

Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Amsterdam

It is located in the center of Amsterdam, close to Dam Square and the Royal Palace. Staying in rooms with a view of Herengracht, one of the water channels, will give you an unforgettable experience. Waldorf Astoria, which is very close to bars and cafes serving live music, is also a 5-star hotel. The price of a double room for one night is between 70-100 €.

Hotel Zoku Amsterdam

The cost of one night accommodation in a double room in the Zoku hotel with 4 stars corresponds to a figure of 150-200 €. Your pets are also allowed in the hotel, which has a spa, swimming pool and gym. It is also located close to Dam Square.

Hotel Sofitel Legend the Grand Amsterdam

At Legend Hotel, a hotel that can be preferred for those looking for a 5-star hotel in the city center of Amsterdam, double room rates vary between 200€ and 400€ per night. It is one of the rare hotels with a safe in its rooms and a kettle for tea and coffee. A hotel where you will definitely be satisfied with its view and services.