Amsterdam Directions Read online

  You can opt instead for a dagkaart (day ticket), which gives unlimited access to the GVB system for up to a maximum of three days. Prices are €6.30 for one day, €10 for two, and €13 for three. Tickets and passes are available from tobacconists, the GVB, the VVV and metro stations; the smaller strippenkaart is also available from bus and tram drivers. Finally, note that GVB tries hard to keep fare dodging down to a minimum and wherever you’re travelling, and at whatever time of day, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll have your ticket checked. If you are caught without a valid ticket, you risk an on-the-spot fine of €29.40.

  The Canal Bus

  One good way to get around Amsterdam’s waterways is to take the Canal Bus (tel 020/623 9886, www.canal.nl). This operates on three circular routes, which meet once, at the jetty opposite Centraal Station beside Prins Hendrikkade. Two of the three routes also meet at three other locations – on the Singelgracht (opposite the Rijksmuseum), behind the Leidseplein and beside City Hall on Waterlooplein. There are eleven stops in all and together they give easy access to all the major sights. Boats leave from opposite Centraal Station (every 10–20min; 10am–5.30pm) and at least every half-hour from any other jetty. A day ticket for all three routes, allowing you to hop on and off as many times as you like, costs €15 per adult, €10.50 for children (4–12 years old); it’s valid until noon the following day and entitles the bearer to minor discounts at several museums.

  The Museumboot

  A similar boat service, the Museumboot (tel 020/530 1090, www.lovers.nl), calls at seven jetties located at or near many of the city’s major attractions. It departs from opposite Centraal Station (every 30min; 9.30am–5pm) and a come-and-go-as-you-please day ticket costs €14.25, children €9.50 (4–12 years old).

  Canal Bikes

  Canal Bikes (tel 020/626 5574, www.canal.nl) are four-seater pedaloes which take a lifetime to get anywhere but are nevertheless good fun unless – of course – it’s raining. You can rent them at four central locations: on the Singelgracht opposite the Rijksmuseum; the Prinsengracht outside the Anne Frank House; on Keizersgracht at Leidsestraat; and behind Leidseplein. Rental prices per person per hour are €7 (3–4 people) or €8 (1–2 people), plus a refundable deposit of €50. They can be picked up at one location and left at any of the others; opening times are daily 10am–6pm, till 9.30pm in July and August.

  Bicycles

  One of the most agreeable ways to explore Amsterdam is by bicycle. The city has an excellent network of designated bicycle lanes (fietspaden) and for once cycling isn’t a fringe activity – there are cyclists everywhere. Indeed, much to the chagrin of the city’s taxi drivers, the needs of the cyclist often take precedence over those of the motorist and by law if there’s a collision it’s always the driver’s fault. Bike rental is straightforward. There are lots of rental companies (fietsenverhuur) but MacBike (tel 020/620 0985, www.macbike.nl) sets the benchmark, charging €4 for two hours, €12 per day, €16.50 for three days and €30 for a week for a standard bicycle; 21-speed cycles cost twice as much. MacBike have three rental outlets in central Amsterdam, one at the east end of Centraal Station, a second beside Waterlooplein at Mr Visserplein 2, and a third near Leidseplein at Weteringschans 2. All companies, including MacBike, ask for some type of security, usually in the form of a cash deposit (some will take credit card imprints) and/or passport.

  Taxis

  The centre of Amsterdam is geared up for trams and bicycles rather than cars, with motorists having to negotiate a convoluted one-way system, avoid getting boxed onto tram lines and steer round herds of cyclists. As such, taxis are not as much use as they are in many other cities. They are, however, plentiful: taxi ranks are liberally distributed across the city centre and they can also be hailed on the street. If all else fails, call the city’s central, 24-hour taxi number on020/677 7777. Fares are metered and pricey, but distances are small: the trip from Centraal Station to the Leidseplein, for example, costs just €11, €2 more to Museumplein – and about fifteen percent more late at night.

  Organized tours

  No one could say the Amsterdam tourist industry doesn’t make the most of its canals, with a veritable armada of glass-topped cruise boats shuttling along the city’s waterways, offering everything from quick hour-long excursions to fully-fledged dinner cruises. There are several major operators and they occupy the prime pitches – the jetties near Centraal Station on Stationsplein, beside the Damrak and on Prins Hendrikkade. Despite the competition, prices are fairly uniform with a one-hour tour costing around €8.50 per adult, €5.50 per child (4–12 years old), and €25 (€15) for a two-hour candlelit cruise. The big companies also offer more specialized boat trips, most notably the weekly Architecture Cruise run by Lovers (tel 020/530 1090, www.lovers.nl; €19.50/14.50). All these cruises – and especially the shorter and less expensive ones – are extremely popular and long queues are common throughout the summer. One way of avoiding much of the crush is to walk down the Damrak from Centraal Station to the jetty at the near end of the Rokin, where the first-rate Reederij P. Kooij (who also have a jetty beside Centraal Station) offers all the basic cruises at competitive prices.

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  Tour operators

  Reederij P. Kooij on the Rokin, beside the Queen Wilhelmina statue; tel 020/623 3810, www.rederijkooij.nl.

  Perhaps the best of the waterway cruise operators, with a standard range of cruises by day and by night. Also has a (more crowded) jetty opposite Centraal Station on Stationsplein.

  Mee in Mokum Keizersgracht 346; tel 020/625 1390.

  Guided walking tours of the older parts of the city provided by long-time – and often older – Amsterdam residents. Tours run four or five times weekly; €3 per person. Advance reservations required.

  Yellow Bike Tours Nieuwezijds Kolk 29, off Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal; tel 020/620 6940, www.yellowbike.nl.

  Three-hour guided cycling tours around the city (April to mid-Oct 2 daily). Tours cost €17 per person, including the bike. Advance reservations required.

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  Information and maps

  Information is easy to get hold of, either from the Netherlands Board of Tourism, via the Internet, or, after arrival, from any of the city’s tourist offices, the VVVs (pronounced "fay-fay-fay"). There’s a VVV tourist office on platform 2 at Centraal Station (Mon–Sat 8am–8pm, Sun 9am–5pm); a second, main one directly across from the main station entrance on Stationsplein (daily 9am–5pm); and a third on Leidsestraat, just off the Leidseplein (daily 9am–5pm). These three offices share one premium-rate information line on 0900/400 4040, and a website at www.visitamsterdam.nl. They offer advice and information and sell a range of maps and guide books as well as tickets and passes for public transport. They also take in-person bookings for canal cruises and other organized excursions, sell theatre and concert tickets, and operate an extremely efficient accommodation reservation service for just €3 plus a refundable deposit which is subtracted from your final bill.

  Maps

  Our maps are more than adequate for most purposes, but if you need one on a larger scale, or with a street index, then pick up The Rough Guide Map to Amsterdam, which has the added advantage of being waterproof. This marks all the key sights as well as many restaurants, bars and hotels, but it does not extend to the outer suburbs. For this, the best bet is the Falk map of Amsterdam (1:15,000).

  What’s on information

  For information about what’s on, there’s either the VVV or the Amsterdam Uitburo, the cultural office of the city council, housed in a corner of the Stadsschouwburg theatre on Leidseplein (daily 10am–6pm, Thurs until 9pm; tel 0900/0191). You can get advice here on anything remotely cultural, as well as tickets and copies of listings magazines. Amongst the latter, there’s a choice between the AUB’s own monthly Uitkrant, which is comprehensive and free but in Dutch, or the VVV’s bland Day by Day in Amsterdam. Alternatively, the newspaper Het Parool’s Wednesday entertainment supplement, Uit en Thuis, is one of the most u
p-to-date reference sources.

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  Tourist passes

  The VVV’s much touted Amsterdam Pass provides free and unlimited use of the city’s public transport network, a complimentary canal cruise and free admission to the bulk of the city’s museums and attractions. It costs €26 for one day, €36 for two consecutive days and €46 for three, again consecutive, days. Altogether it’s not a bad deal, but you have to work fairly hard to make it worthwhile. A much more tempting proposition, especially if you’re staying for more than a couple of days, is the Museumkaart (museum card). This gives free entry to most museums in the whole of the Netherlands for a year; it costs €30, slightly less for both the under-25s and the over-60s.

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  Banks and exchange

  The easiest way to get money is to simply bring your ATM card and use it. However, for changing travellers’ cheques, bank opening hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm, with a few also open Thursday until 9pm or on Saturday morning; all are closed on public holidays. Outside these times, you’ll need to go to one of the many bureaux de change scattered around town. GWK, whose main 24-hour branches are at Centraal Station and Schiphol airport, offers competitive rates and is very efficient. One cautionary word about other bureaux: some offer great rates but then slap on an extortionate commission, or, conversely, charge no commission but give bad rates. The VVV tourist office also changes money.

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  Lost and stolen credit cards and travellers’ cheques

  American Express Cards and cheques; tel 020/504 8666

  Mastercard; tel 030/283 5555

  Visa Cards and cheques; tel 0800/022 4176

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  Communications

  Post offices are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, with the larger ones also open on Saturday mornings from 9am to noon. The main post office (Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Thurs till 8pm, Sat 10am–1.30pm; tel 020/556 3311) is at Singel 250, on the corner with Raadhuisstraat. Current postal charges for a postcard or airmail letter (up to 20g) within the Netherlands is €0.39, €0.61 within the EU and €0.77 to the rest of the world. Stamps are sold at a wide range of outlets including many shops and hotels. Post boxes are everywhere, but be sure to use the correct slot – the one labelled overige is for post going outside the immediate locality.

  Phones

  Phone cards can be bought at many outlets, including post offices, tobacconists and VVV offices, and in several specified denominations, beginning at €5. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that phone boxes are provided by different companies and their respective phone cards are not mutually compatible. KPN phones (and cards) are the most common. The cheap-rate period for international calls is between 8pm and 8am during the week and all day at weekends. Numbers prefixed; tel 0800 are free, while those prefixed; tel 0900 are premium-rated; a (Dutch) message before you’re connected tells you how much you will be paying for the call. Finally, remember that although most hotel rooms have phones, there is almost always an exorbitant surcharge for their use.

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  Useful phone numbers

  Operator (domestic and international) tel 0800 0410.

  Directory enquiries: domestic tel 0900 8008; international tel 0900 8418.

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  Email and the Internet

  Amsterdam is well geared up for email access with a healthy supply of Internet cafés. In addition, most of the better hotels provide email and Internet access for their guests at free or minimal charge.

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  Internet cafés

  Conscious Dreams Kokopelli Warmoestraat 12; tel 020/421 7000, www.consciousdreams.nl.

  A smart shop offering Internet access and even DJs at the weekend. Daily 11am–10pm.

  EasyInternetcafé www.easyeverything.com.

  This international chain has three Internet outlets in Amsterdam – one near Centraal Station at Damrak 33 (daily 9am–10pm); another at Reguliersbreestraat 22, near Rembrandtplein (same hours); and a third at Leidsestraat 24 at Keizersgracht (Mon 11am–7pm, Tues–Sat 9.30am–7pm & Sun 11am–6pm).

  Het Internetcafe Martelaarsgracht 11; tel 020/627 1052, www.internetcafe.nl.

  Straightforward Internet café just 200m from Centraal Station. Reasonable rates – start up from just €0.50 – and open daily from 7am till late.

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  Opening hours

  The Amsterdam weekend fades painlessly into the working week with many smaller shops and businesses, even in the centre, staying closed on Monday mornings until noon. Normal opening hours are, however, Monday to Friday 8.30/9am to 5.30/6pm and Saturday 8.30/9am to 4/5pm, and many places open late on Thursday or Friday evenings. Most restaurants are open for dinner from about 6 or 7pm, and though many close as early as 9.30pm, a few stay open past 11pm. Bars, cafés and coffeeshops are either open all day from around 10am or don’t open until about 5pm; all close at 1am during the week and 2am at weekends. Nightclubs generally function from 11pm to 4am during the week, though a few open every night, and some stay open until 5am on the weekend.

  Public holidays

  Public holidays (Nationale feestdagen) provide the perfect excuse to take to the streets. The most celebrated of them all is Queen’s Day – Koninginnedag – on April 30, which is celebrated with particular vim and gusto here in Amsterdam.

  January 1 New Year’s Day

  Good Friday (although many shops open)

  Easter Sunday

  Easter Monday

  April 30 Queen’s Day

  May 5 Liberation Day

  Ascension Day

  Whit Sunday and Monday

  December 25 and 26 Christmas

  Festivals and events

  Most of Amsterdam’s festivals are music and arts events, supplemented by a sprinkling of religious celebrations and, as you might expect, the majority take place in the summer. The Queen’s Birthday celebration at the end of April is the city’s most touted and exciting annual event, with a large portion of the city given over to an impromptu flea market and lots of street-partying. On a more cultural level, the art extravaganza, the Holland Festival, held throughout June, attracts a handful of big names. Check with the VVV for further details.

  January

  Elfstedentocht (Eleven Cities’ Journey)

  Annual ice-skating marathon across eleven towns and frozen rivers, in Friesland, starting and finishing in Leeuwarden. Held, weather permitting, sometime in January. Though the race had to be suspended for twenty years, a recent spate of cold winters has meant a number of competitions and an increasing number of participants – 16,000 is now the maximum number. For more details, call the organizers, De Friese Elfsteden, in the town of Leeuwarden (tel 058/215 5020 11am–2pm, www.elfstedentocht.nl).

  February

  Chinese New Year

  First or second week. Dragon dance and fireworks, held at Nieuwmarkt.

  Commemoration of the February Strike

  February 25. Speeches and wreath-laying at the Docker Statue on J.D. Meijerplein.

  March

  Stille Omgang (Silent Procession)

  Sunday closest to March 15; tel 023/524 6229.

  Procession by local Catholics commemorating the Miracle of Amsterdam, starting and finishing at Spui and passing through the Red-Light District.

  "Head of the River" rowing competition

  Last week; tel 035/577 1308, www.amsterdamscheroeibond.nl.

  Actually three races along the River Amstel starting at 10am from Oudekerk to the centre and back; the last race, at 4pm, finishes near the Amstel Hotel.

  April

  Vondelpark Open Air Theatre

  April–Aug; tel 020/523 7790, www.openluchttheater.nl.

  Free theatre, dance and music performances throughout the summer.

  Nationaal Museumweekend

  Second week; tel 020/670 1111, www.museumweekend.nl.

  Free entrance to most of the museums in the Netherlands.

  Koninginnedag (the Queen’s Birthday)

>   April 30. This is one of the most popular dates in the Dutch diary, a street event par excellence, which seems to grow annually and is almost worth planning a visit around, despite some claiming it has become too commercialized over recent years. Celebrations for Queen Beatrix take place throughout the whole of Holland, though festivities in Amsterdam tend to be somewhat wilder and larger in scale. Special club nights and parties are held both the night before and the night after; however, to gain entry you’ll need to book in advance either from the club itself or from selected record stores, such as Boudisque and Get Records. The next day sees the city’s streets and canals lined with people, most of whom are dressed in ridiculous costumes (not surprisingly, Queen’s Day is one of the most flamboyant events on the gay calendar as well). Anything goes, especially if it’s orange – the Dutch national colour. A fair is held on the Dam, and music blasts continuously from huge sound systems set up across most of the major squares. This is also the one day of the year when anything can be legally bought and sold to anyone by anyone on the streets.

  World Press Photo Exhibition Annual competition

  www.worldpressphoto.nl. Open to photographers from all over the world. Judging and award days take place mid-April, marking the beginning of the exhibition, which is held at the Oude Kerk until the end of May.

  May

  Herdenkingsdag (Remembrance Day)

  May 4. There’s a wreath-laying ceremony and two-minute silence at the National Monument in Dam square, commemorating the Dutch dead of World War II, as well as a smaller event at the Homomonument in Westermarkt in honour of the country’s gay soldiers who died.