I'm going on a trip to AMSTERDAM in 2023

Cheap and economic accommodation to sleep in Amsterdam

Guide to the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands

Amsterdam is one of those fantastic cities full of magic, which combines its canals and bridges with an architecture worthy of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The most interesting thing is that you can admire the works of famous artists such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh, either by visiting the Museums of Amsterdam or walking around the city, which offers us small traces of the history of one of the most romantic, portentous and beautiful cities of the entire European continent.

It has a great variety of monuments that transport anyone to another era, and if you take a tour of its wonderful channels, it is increasingly surprising to see how different this city is from the others.

The city of Amsterdam is totally open and tolerant, highlighting that its culture is quite solid and has people with very simple and friendly habits; He also does not stay behind and does not have to envy any other city, since It is at the forefront when it comes to shows, art and museums.

Weather in Amsterdam

Best areas to stay in Amsterdam

The best area for stay in Amsterdam It is the one that is inside the ring of channels that make up the center of the city. Most tourists look for these areas. The huge demand makes their prices skyrocket and that according to what dates there is little availability. It is absolutely necessary to book in advance in this area.

It is the heart of the city, where important museums, theaters, commerce and places of interest. The areas of: De Wallen or Red Light District, Jordaan and De Pijp are central neighborhoods.

Sleeping here will make it much easier to visit the city: you will have most attractions at two steps, and above all, you will be very close to the Central Station, which will connect you with other Dutch and European cities.

Nowhere else will you find so many tourists with the only exception of the red light district on weekends. For this reason, Prices from this area they are the highest from the city. Hotels, restaurants, and bars hit a real ax.

Jordaan is a very nice residential neighborhood that is gaining more and more popularity. It can be considered as central so its location is quite convenient. It is located in the western part of the city at only 10 or 15 minutes walk from the most central areas.

The positive thing is that Jordaan is a beautiful and quiet neighborhood, Much more authentic than other areas in the center of Amsterdam. However, the negative is that there is little hotel offer and is considered an expensive area to stay in Amsterdam.

In this neighborhood you can visit one of the most beautiful canals in Amsterdam, especially at night, the Brouwersgracht. At the corner of the "Brewers' Canal" with the Herengracht Canal is the House of the West Indies, seat in charge of the government of the colony New Amsterdam.

La Anne Frank House Museum It is just bordering the Jordaan, so it can be visited along with the neighborhood itself.

The Leidseplein Square and its surroundings constitute one of the most attractive entertainment centers in Amsterdam. In the area there are lots of bars, restaurants, discos, cinemas and theaters. Here is also the Holland Casino.

The square of Leidseplein is located at the end of Leidsestraat street, very close to the Vondelpark and five minutes from the Rijksmuseum. Leidseplein is a very popular square and it's always very frequented by locals, travelers and tourists, and even artists who use the environment to exhibit their works and creations.

You feel like the go to a disco or prefer a nice dinner, come here. In the square are the best known coffee shop in Holland (The Bulldog) and the De Melkweg music temple. The Paradiso concert hall is just a stone's throw away.

In Amsterdam, it would seem that all roads lead to Leidseplein.

If you are looking for good and cheap hotels, most of them you will find in De Pijp, the Latin Quarter of Amsterdam. This neighborhood lives around the amazing Albert Cuyp market, the largest and most famous open-air market in Europe.

At the tourist level, apart from this market, also It has interesting green areas and the Heineken Experience. In general, De Pijp is a neighborhood where a large number of foreigners live with a great student atmosphere.

If you get a hotel in the southern part of the neighborhood you are still really close to everything. From that area you can go to Museumplein and Leidseplein in 10 minutes walking or even less.

Amsterdam's Red Light District has a small “branch” in the De Pijp district. On the street Ruysdaelkade, named after the painter Salomon van Ruysdael, you can see some red light showcases with prostitutes offering their services.

Get to Amsterdam by train

To travel from Spain to Amsterdam unfortunately there is no direct connection, to get to the capital of the Netherlands you have to make transfers. One of the options is acquire the InterRail, with which you can travel throughout Europe or for the countries you choose. Its price and amenities depend on the type of ticket you choose, you can get information on the official Renfe website (http://www.renfe.es).

Another widely used option is travel by train Paris and make the transfer there to get to Amsterdam. The trip to the French capital has departure in Madrid and in Barcelona and in either case its destination is the Austerlitz station.

If you want to get to Amsterdam as soon as possible and not take a walk through the "city of love", you should take the metro that leads to the Gare du Nord, there we will find trains that will take you directly to Amsterdam. The best option may be the company Thalis, which offers high-speed trains to reach the Dutch capital in 4 approximately hours.

Once you get off the train, already in Amsterdam, you will find yourself in Central Station, the train and metro station, which is located in the center of the city. Once there and depending on where you are staying, you will have to use or not another means of transport to take you to the requested place.

How to move around Amsterdam by public transport

Move in metro

Amsterdam has 5 operational lines. These communicate the center of the city with the peripheral zone and work between the 6 of the morning and the 12 of the night with the following routes:

Metro Amsterdam @ luismonteiro / Shutterstock

Lijn 50 (50 line): Start at Gein and finish at Contacteg, passing through Duivendrecht, StationZuid / WTC, Lelylaan and Sloterdijk.

Lijn 51 (51 line): Its start is in CentraalStation and continues through Amstelstation, StationZuid / WTC and AmstelveenCentrum, ending in Middelhoven.

Lijn 52 (52 line): This line is under construction. When it is operational, its route will be Buikslotermeerplein, Van Hasseltweg, CentraalStation, Rokin, Vijzelgracht, Ceintuurbaan, RAI NS / Europaplein and Zuid NS.

Lijn 53 (53 line): Your tour is CentraalStation, Amstelstation, DiemenZuid and Gaasperplas

Lijn 54 (54 line): Start at CentraalStation and your tour is Amstelstation, Bijlmer, Holendrecht and Gein.

You must be very careful when choosing which stop you should get off at, as the name of the station does not always correspond to the name of the street. To make sure you are in the right place, it is best to take a map of the city's metro with you.

To enter the subway you must seal the call Strippenkaart in the machines that there are for it before accessing the platforms or buying a simple ticket in the automatic machines or in the window (in none of the cases they accept credit cards).

The Strippenkart is a card with numerical spaces (from 15 to 45) that serves nationwide and allows travel by tram, metro, bus and on some trains. There are three types: normal, reduced fare (children and seniors) and night bus service.

La rate depends on the area in which you move being the 1 zone the center of the city and the following areas the periphery. Depending on your route, the trip will be worth more or less squares or stippen. This card is very useful for traveling around the city. You can buy it at tourist offices, supermarkets, tobacconists and stations.

The service offered by the Amsterdam metro is punctual and fastor, one of the most efficient means of transport to get to know the city thoroughly. It is very important to know that you should not risk not paying your ticket, as it is very controlled by the police, high fines what you have to pay at the moment.

Move us by tram

The tram is a great transport option when the weather conditions prevent cycling, Most used form of transport in Amsterdam.

Tranvia Amsterdam @Steve Photography / Shutterstock

For the population that lives in Amsterdam the tram is very important, due to parking problems, which has caused the lines of this service have increased exponentiallyconnecting all the points of the city.

There are 17 tram lines Although the single ticket can be a bit expensive, it is more advisable to buy multi-trip vouchers that you can buy in any metro, in the central station and in various establishments. In addition, the trams in Amsterdam use the National Tariff System of Holland, or what is the same, that the tickets bought in Amsterdam can be used in other cities of the country.

If you want to visit the city, it is undoubtedly one of the most recommended means of transport because it reaches all the places in the periphery, being able to be interesting when choosing the accommodation for the trip.

You can check the routes of the tram lines and their schedules on the GVB page. (http://www.gvb.nl)

Move us by bus

Amsterdam has 55 bus lines that connect the center of the city with the different populations of the periphery and that connect the network of metro and trams. It is one of the fastest and most effective ways of traveling that we can use during our trip to the Dutch capital. The company that is responsible for providing the public transport service is GVB.

Bus Amsterdam

To calculate the prices, Amsterdam is divided into different tariff zones, doing so, the more areas you cross, the more you pay. For the tourists, The best option when traveling is to acquire the OV-chipkaart one or several days, a card that will allow us to move around the day and night as many times as we want paying a fixed amount. There are different types, depending on the time we are going to use it (the hours start counting from the first use): 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, 96 hours, 120 hours, 144 hoursy 168 hours.

The way to use the OV-chipkaart It is very simple: we just have to pass it through a reader located next to the driver of the vehicle and we can take our seat. To acquire them, we must address the same driver (You can only provide us with a GVB of 24 hours), stations metro (24, 48, 72 and 96 hours), Selected VVV offices construction and also in some hotels.

In addition to the previous modality, another that can be advantageous for the visitor is the card I Amsterdam, with which we can enter for free in 37 museums, use as many times as we want the buses (both daily and nightly), trams and lines of metro and benefit from an 25% discount on numerous restaurants and tourist attractions. There are 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours.

The regular bus schedule is from 6: 00 to 00: 30, although there is a night service that works between 00: 30 and 7: 00 every half hour. The night rate is different from the daily rate, but with our OV-chipkaart of one or more days or the I Amsterdam We will not have to pay any extra cost, since it is included in it.

Moving around on a bicycle

Cheap, healthy and ecological. This is the bicycle transport, and that is well known by the Dutch, proud of the culture of the use of pedals that they have developed (half of Amsterdam's traffic is due to cyclists). Nobody escapes this good habit: from children to retirees, passing through students, executives in suits and of course tourists; everyone prefers to pedal rather than get in the car.

Amsterdam bicycles

Many companies are engaged in renting a bicycle at affordable prices. In Central Station, Leidseplein and Dam Square are several major rental centersAs StarBikes Rental Amsterdam (From Ruyterkade 127), MacBike (Stationsplein 5 and Weteringschans 2) and Mike's Bike Rental (Kerkstraat 134). . If we go with small children or we want to take the food prepared for our walk there is no problem, since bicycles with baby seats or with baskets for the picnic are usually available (some include even the food).

A curious way to use the bicycle, although more expensive (20 euros half an hour), is to rent a rickshaw. The pedicabs they are nice three-wheeled vehicles that work, as their name suggests, in the same way as a bicycle, but with the advantage that have two small batteries that will save the driver the effort of pedaling to exhaustion if a passenger is overweight or you have to climb a steeper slope than normal.

Something that you have to keep in mind are a series of basic rules to avoid any unnecessary disgust. Some of them are the always use more than one anti-theft protection (thousands of bicycles are stolen every year), obey traffic signs (the police do not hesitate to fine whoever jumps them), make use of the lights when we walk at night y be careful with the trams.

Types of transport tickets in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has a network of subway, tram, bus and ferry that connects all the points of the city and makes it possible to move around at any time. The whole system is managed by the company GVB for more than forty years.

Regarding prices, although There are several current rates, the most economical for the visitor is the OV-chipkaart (an electronic card that fulfills the function of the traditional ticket) one or more days. The GVB offers this card for 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 hours. With her, the traveler will be able to go up and down as many times as he wishes of all the meters, trams and buses. Also the night buses are included in the price. What does not cover OV-chipkaart They are the ferries, which have to be paid separately.

To withdraw from your buy one of them We have several alternatives: do it at the time of riding on the bus or tram (the drivers only sell the 24 hours card), in a subway station (where we will be provided with one of 24, 48, 72 or 96 hours), at the offices of the GVB which are found in the main stations of the city and in selected hotels.

Finally, train schedules, trams and buses they vary, but they are between the 6: 00 and 00: 30 hours. The night bus lines run between the 00: 30 and the 7: 00. The ferries, meanwhile, each follow a different program, having a service during the 24 hours of the day, another one until the mid afternoon and several until the night.

For more information about schedules, routes, prices and points of sale, the GVB has the following website: http://en.gvb.nl/pages/home.aspx

I Amsterdam City Card

A wealth of advantages. This is how you could define the I Amsterdam Card, the card that it will save us a lot of money and that will also make our trip to the Dutch capital easier.

The most useful thing about I Amsterdam Card is that It allows us to access all the metro, tram and bus lines (also the night lines) showing only the card. At the same time, includes free admission to more than thirty museums (such as the Amsterdam Historical Museum, the Hermitage, the Van Gogh Museum and the Museum of the Resistance) and an 25% discount on numerous activities (Amsterdam ArenA, Heineken Experience, Tun Fun or XtraCold Icebar). Even offers us the option to take a walk through the channels totally free! Of course, you have to do it with the Holland International company or with the Blue Boat Company.

The price of the I Amsterdam Card, unlike what you can imagine, it is very small if we compare it with all the services it offers, since just adding the cost of transport and the entrance to a couple of museums will make us realize how beneficial it is acquisition of this card. There are three modalities that are available: 24, 48 and 72 hours (The period of validity of the same begins to count from the first use, not when buying it).

Main points of sale

It is possible to make us with our I Amsterdam Card via Internet, but if we prefer we have the alternative of buying it when we arrive in Amsterdam.

The main points of sale are Schiphol Airport (Arrivals hall 2, Holland Tourist Information), the Information and Tourism Office of the Central Station (Stationsplein 10), the Uitburo Ticket Shop (Leidseplein 26) and the Keytours office (Paulus Potterstraat 8). Other places to buy I Amsterdam Card are all Ticket & Info offices of the GVB, Stayokay hostels y the kiosks of the Canal Bus.

To see the complete list of museums, activities and sites in which we can benefit from the I Amsterdam Card is the official website: http://www.iamsterdam.com

The best thing you can see and do during your stay in Amsterdam

Although the simple fact of visiting Amsterdam is really interesting, there are certain places that can not be forgotten, since they are quite striking and above all curious.

When is the best time to visit Amsterdam?

If we have not yet decided which time to go to Amsterdam, we will give you a hand. The choice of date depends on many things, but among other things, we have to take into account our tastes and preferences. In this city we can enjoy temperatures soft and pleasant, but we can also meet with the city full of snow. For this reason it is very important to choose well when to go.

Canals of the Amsterdam Center @Vitaly Titov / Shutterstock

If we decide to go in summer, during the months of June, July and August the temperatures in this city are quite far from the typical "summery" temperatures to which we are accustomed. During these months, the temperature minimum can be placed around the 10 ° C, while the maxims they are around 22 ° C. As for the rains, we can find ourselves with some bad days but, as a general rule, the precipitations are smaller in this time that in winter.

Taking into account these data, we can say that this time of year, especially August, is the time of year in the what else are we going to be able to enjoy the city for its climate. We also have to know that there are more tourists and people in general through the streets of the Dutch capital.

On the contrary, in winter months (December, January and February), are the coldest months of the year. It is usual to spend a few days below zero, without exceeding 0º C. If we have a little more luck, the maximum temperatures can exceed 5º C. If we visit Amsterdam in winter, we must be well wrapped, since there is a good chance we will meet snow.

At the time of making the suitcase to visit Amsterdam, although we travel in summer, it is highly recommended to take us some outerwear. Although apparently the weather may seem good and sunny, we can find that it worsens quickly and we appreciate a warm coat to avoid being cold.

Villages around Amsterdam

Conclusion several villages that are worth visiting on the outskirts of Amsterdam, from memarchodeviaje we are going to recommend you three of them, but do not stay only with there are three, there are enough and it is worth paying them a visit. To get to these villages it is best to make use of the autobus. The bus station is next to Amsterdam Central Station, there are signs so it is not very expensive to get there.

Lo best of the season is that the frequency of buses is very good, what peor, that there is no one to ask, so there is no choice but to ask any bus driver you find out there.

Map of the Peoples of the Waterland in Amsterdam

If you are going to go out in the surroundings on buses, you know there is a subscription that for 10 € is worth to travel all day, being able to ride on any of the buses (there are two companies, one with yellow buses and one with red buses), what changes of these companies is the frequency with which they operate.

La credit card in question is the waterland (they give you when you buy a map to know the towns where you can use), in this web http://www.localbus.nl You can find all the information about it.

Also, you can download an application for the mobile that tells you the best of each town and how to go from one to another, that if, you need a connection to the internet and for that you have really worked, all buses have free Wi-Fi and some information panels that we would like in Spain !!!

Edam

From the Amsterdam bus station and taking the red bus number 314 you can go up Edam, it's almost 40 minutes of journey, but if you are going to visit several villages in a day, maybe it is best to go first as far as possible.

Church next to the Lavadizo Bridge in the streets of Edam

Edam is famous for its cheese production, so you can take one to remember in several of the shops that are throughout the town.

This town is lovely from the first moment you arrive at your entranceBasically what you have to see and do in this town is to stroll through its streets and enjoy the tranquility of a town that, by the way, is almost uninhabited if you don't catch it during tourist season.

Do not forget to look at the drawbridges what about the channels because they are an authentic culcada. The visit to Edam in an hour you do it without problems, it all depends on how many streets you want to see, it is not a big town either.

That yes, for those most interested in this town, at the end there is a fort that still retains its wall, but beware, there are about 20 minutes walking from the center of town to reach it.

Voldendam

You can go to Volendam from Edam with the yellow bus number 110. Volendam is the largest of the stalls around Amsterdam, much more inhabited and with many more businesses than the others, the most common is to head towards the port area (it has no loss !!!), it is the most interesting thing you will find, it is worth walking the length of the port line visiting its curious places where you can make a souvenir purchase and also its restaurants, we recommend this area to eat

Walk around the Fishing Port in Volendam

We ate very well, the attention was very good, and as we expected, it was full of enough Spaniards, it seems that we were not the only ones who let ourselves be carried away by the advice of the network ...

We have eaten in a restaurant We saw that on trip advisor it was well recommended (Lunch), especially by Spanish tourists and we are not wrong.

The visit in Volendam takes a total of about two and a half hours between eating and seeing the clothes.

From Volendam you can take the ferry to Marken that leaves the same port of Volendam, a journey of half an hour for the small price of 16 euritos of nothing ...

Take note, the pictures of the port of Marken from the ferry are great !!!

Brands

Interior of the Marken Village in Amsterdam

If you dare to go by ferry, half an hour after leaving Volendam you will reach small port of Marken, the loneliest of the 3 towns of which we are recommending.

If you fancy a drink or even lunch or dinner, there are a few restaurants in the harbor, they have very nice stalls, we recommend you to make a mini stop in one of these restaurants to have a drink.

If you have time, you can visit the factory wooden shoes that there is.

If you want to go back to Amsterdam from Marken, all you have to do is go to the bus stop in Marken (at the entrance to the town) and take the bus back to Amsterdam (unos 25 minutes).

To do this, take the red bus number 316, be careful that the bus frequency was every half hour!