Walking
tours
The Amsterdam Tourist Office – VVV (telephone number: (020)
551 2525 or (0900) 400 4040, fax number: (020) 625 2869, e-mail:
info@amsterdamtourist.nl
website: www.visitamsterdam.nl)
publishes a number of brochures detailing informative and interesting
walking tours of the city. The series A Walk Through… includes
Maritime Amsterdam, Jewish Amsterdam and The Jordaan. Another, Amsterdam
in the Footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh, covers places associated with
the artist.
Mee in Mokum, Hartenstraat
18 (telephone number: (020) 625 1390), offers guided tours around
the Old Town and Jordaan. All the tour guides are long-term residents
over the age of 50. The content of the tours varies between guides,
as each has their own very personal and individual perspective on
Amsterdam. The three-hour tours, which run from Tuesday to Sunday,
set off from the Historisch Museum and cost €3.50,
advanced booking is essential.
Bicycle
Tours
Yellow
Bike, Nieuwezijds Kolk 29 (telephone number: (020) 620 6940,
fax number (020) 620 7140), operates tours between April and November,
with prices starting at €17 for a 2 hour tour of the city,
including the Vondelpark and the Jordaan.
Tours are conducted and English but German, French, Spanish or Italian
speaking guides also can be arranged. All tours depart from Nieuwezijds
Kolk 29, which is a 5 minute walk from the Centraal
Station.
Bus Tours
The new De Opstapper mini-bus is run by GVB
(telephone number: (0900) 9292). The hop-on hop-off bus circles
away from the Centraal Station and curves around Prinsengracht
towards Waterlooplein and then back. It leaves
every 10 minutes and, as there are no dedicated stops, passengers
just tell the driver where they want to get off. Standard public
transport strippenkaarten for one zone, at €1.60, are valid,
as are day cards (see Getting Around), otherwise, tickets are available
from the driver, also at €1.60.
Water
Tours
One of the best way to see Amsterdam is from one of the many canal
tour boats available. There are a number of companies operating
these tours. The hour-long itinerary varies little but the price
and delivery of information does.
Visitors should choose from The
Best of Holland, Damrak 34 (telephone number: (020) 624 6340),
Lindbergh, Damrak 26 (telephone number: (020) 622
2766), Lovers,
opposite Prins Hendrikkade 25–27 (telephone number: (020)
622 2181), and Rondvaarten, opposite Kooy BV Rokin
125 (telephone number: (020) 623 3810).
The tours run throughout the year, at regular intervals during the
day. Passengers can choose either to go once in a loop or use the
boats as a hop-on hop-off way of getting around the main attractions.
The price per adult starts at €8, for the basic once-round
loop. Other boat tours that combine the cruises with visits to various
museums or take in the canals by night are available.
The national tourist office can provide information on travelling
outside Amsterdam.
Excursions
for Half a Day
Castricum
A 25-minute train journey from Centraal Station, approximately 40km
(25 miles) north of the city, this coastal town is wonderful for
getting away from it all.
Bikes are available for hire, costing approx €6 per day, at
the train station (telephone number: (0251) 654 035, for reservations).
Maps can be obtained from the station restaurant, before cycling
through beautiful woodlands and meadows to reach the dunes. VVV
Castricum, Dorpsstraat 62 (telephone number: (0251) 652
009, fax number: (0251) 672 363, e-mail: info@vvvcastricum.nl)
can provide further information.
Marken
and Volendam
Two of the region’s prime tourist attractions, these pretty
fishing villages are easily accessible from Amsterdam. Marken
is situated on an island, joined to the mainland by a bridge, while
Volendam is located on the banks of the IJsselmeer,
both approximately 15km (nine miles) north of the city.
The locations both have plenty of atmosphere, there are lots of
wooden houses and many of the locals still wear traditional dress.
Visitors can wander through streets of quaint old houses, dress
up in traditional costume and learn how to buy and sell fish at
the Volendam fish auction. The outing can be extended into a full-day
tour, by stopping off for a fresh fish lunch and visiting the Volendams
Museum, where one old sailor’s collection of over a million
cigar bands is on display.
Volendam offers a variety of watersports, including excellent windsurfing.
Transport is through an organised coach tour or the excellent bus
service from Centraal Station. Departure times are available from
the public transport information line (telephone number: (0900)
9292). VVV Marken, De Zarken 2 Monnickendam (telephone
number: (0299) 651 998) and VVV Volendam, Zeestraat
37, Volendam (telephone number: (0299) 363 747, fax number (0299)
363 484) can provide further information.
Excursions
for a Whole Day
Tulips
Between the last week in March and the last week in May, is the
best time to head for the 28 hectares (69 acres) of the Keukenhof
Gardens, Stationsweg 166a (telephone number: (0252) 465 555,
fax number: (0252) 465 565; e-mail: info@keukenhof.nl).
Open daily 0900 hrs – 1800 hrs, the themed gardens are filled
with tulips, narcissi and hyacinths, entrance is €11.50. Trains
run from Amsterdam’s Centraal Station to Leiden, from where
a shuttle bus connects to Keukenhof.
Eight kilometres (five miles) north of Keukenhof is Haarlem,
where the Frans Roozen Nurseries and Tulip Show,
Vogelenzangweg 49 (telephone number: (023) 584 7245), can be visited
from late March to late May, daily 0800 hrs–1930 hrs, entrance
is free.
Haarlem town centre is a beautiful mixture of 16th and 17th century
buildings, with 2 fine museums. The Frans Hals Museum,
Heiligland 62, is home to paintings by the artist of the same name,
while St Bavokerk Cathedral, contains a 5000-pipe
organ, which Mozart is reputed to have played. Regular trains from
Amsterdam’s Centraal Station run to Haarlem. VVV Haarlem,
Stationsplein 1, Haarlem (telephone number: (0900) 616 1600, at
100c per minute, fax number: (023) 534 0537, e-mail: info@wvzk.nl)
can provide further information.
Rotterdam
Holland’s second largest city is often neglected by tourists
but Rotterdam has a lot to offer. It might be most renowned as the
home to Europe’s largest port and it is, to some extent, blighted
by the mass of industrial infrastructure that goes with this. Nevertheless,
Europoort is an attraction in itself, with daily
boat tours of the massive port.
Rotterdam has a buzz and character, which was further enhanced by
its recent stint as European City of Culture. Situated
45km (28 miles) southerly to Amsterdam and neighbouring The Hague,
this city boasts a number of first-rate museums, an impressively
modern city centre and plenty of shopping opportunities.
The city’s nightlife is also legendary, with a more cutting
edge and raffish feel than touristy Amsterdam. In addition to this,
the red-light districts of Rotterdam have a harder edge that is
a million miles away from the much tamer tourist venues in Amsterdam.
Over the last few decades, the city has boldly let itself become
a testing ground for the avant-garde ideas of some of the world’s
more esoteric architects, with a variety of stunning and challenging
buildings dotted around the city.
Regular trains run to Rotterdam from Amsterdam’s Centraal
Station. ANWB/VVV Rotterdam, Coolsingel 67, Rotterdam (telephone
number: (0900) 403 4065, fax number: (010) 413 3124, e-mail: info@vvv.rotterdam.nl;
website: www.vvv.rotterdam.nl)
can provide further information. |
