Personally, I think the best and cheapest way to see the city and explore is by walking!  Amsterdam is not a massive city so the centre and all that it has to offer is in walking distance. If you’re not a huge fan of walking, you can hire a bike for 10€ at most bike shops which is really fun!

If you decide to choose one of these two ways, and do not have data on your phone, I recommend you pre-download an app called Maps Me. I have talked about this app before but that is because we use it religiously while we travel.

You pre-download a map of the city/place you are visiting while you have WIFI, then you can use the map offline. It’s perfect when you’re travelling around and have no data package! Click here to read our review of the Maps.Me app.

When you’re in Amsterdam it is very common to get LOST. Ask anyone you know who is there visiting for their first, or even second time. The city is in the shape of a circle, so it is very possible to keep going round and round without even realising it. My brother and his best mate tried to find us one night and ended up walking 2km in the wrong direction. They were so lost they actually paid a guy to bring them to us on his bike!!

Just download the app and save yourself some hassle.

If you aren’t a fan of exercise, the public transport system is very handy. Below I have outined a few tips on which cards to buy depending on your length of stay.

Amsterdam Public Transport

If you are in Amsterdam for more than a week and you’re using public transport a lot, you may want to consider buying a Transport Chip Card (OV-chipkaart). The card can be used on various modes of transport including trams, metros, buses and trains.

The most convenient option for us tourists though, is a disposable one hour card or a day pass. Amsterdam, just like many other big cities, is trying to be cash-free. This means that it is better to buy your tickets at a machine rather than on the actual transport itself.

The best part about tickets in Amsterdam is that they are valid across the whole network from the time of purchase. This allows you to make as many journeys as you choose, on a range of transport, within the one hour.

TIP! The last trams and metros in the city run around 00:00 – 00:30. There are night buses which operate after these hours and you can usually find your way using one of these.

Getting to and from the Airport

The train leaves every 7 minutes from platform 1 and 2 to Amsterdam central and takes around 15-20 minutes. Single tickets are €3.70 per person.

Using the train is definitely the cheapest and most convenient way of travelling to/from the airport.

The post The Cheapest and Most Convenient Ways to Get Around Amsterdam City appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

Canal tours

There are around 20 different company’s who offer all kinds of deals and cruises on the Amsterdam canals. We chose to get the cheapest one of course, the Lovers Cruise. How cute, we know.

The tour didn’t actually have anything to do with romance at all, but it was a fab tour! You are provided with a set of headphones which you plug in to the wall and choose your language. There were many languages to choose from.

A few minutes after the boat sets off, the audio guide begins to tell you stories about the history of Amsterdam. Each part of the canal plays a part in Amsterdam’s history.

The boat ride takes about a hour in total. It is very interesting and a great experience to see Amsterdam from a different perspective. We paid €12.50 online. The tickets go up to 20 euros depending on what kind of cruise you book.

Bike Hire

Hiring bikes in Amsterdam is great! Many people are quite skeptical when it comes to hiring them and I can understand why. There are more bikes than people (if that could be possible it would be accurate!) and it can seem quite dangerous.

However, using bikes to get around is effective and it makes it easy to get from one attraction to another. It also doesn’t need to be expensive. A few years ago, the city introducted the OV fiets (bike). If you have read our Amsterdam Transport post, you’ll see that we have talked about the OV transport card. You can charge the card with money and use all the public transport in the Netherlands, including the bikes! Go to www.ov-chipkaar.nl to find out where the specific spots are in Amsterdam to pick up these bikes.

If you are only wanting a bike for the day, go to a rental shop like we did. We paid 10€ for 3 hours, which was enough time to see the city in. If you would like the bikes for more time, you’ll just have to pay a bit more, simple 🙂

Hiring bikes and riding around the city is an awesome experience in itself and it was probably my favourite day in Amsterdam!

Sex museum

The sex museum in Amsterdam is definitely something else. The entrance fee is only €5 and it’s definitely worth it. You walk in and are immediately introduced with a bang (not literally!). There is a lovely statue of a man opening up his jacket to show you his bits as you enter.

There is no hiding when it comes to the sex museum, everything is on display. As soon as you walk in you know it’s going to be a laugh! Just wait until you get in to the next room!

I won’t give you anymore spoilers because you have to go and see it for yourself! But in the meantime, enjoy this picture of my sister and I sat on this giant penis.

Getting there: The museum is at the Damrak, the main street between Central station and the Dam square.
Opening times: Mon-Sun, 9.30am until 23.30pm
Price: 5€

Anne Frank House

For those of you who don’t know the story of Anne Frank, you should have probably paid a little bit more attention in History class.

During the second world war, Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl, had to go into hiding to escape the Nazi’s. The Anne Frank house is an amazing place to visit as it is so interesting to visit the house where her, alongside 6 others, hid for so long. It is definitely a eye opener for most people. Walking through the book-door where there shelter was, seeing the small rooms they had to live in for 2 long years was such a incredible experience.

Getting there: Anne Frank House is located in the centrum of amsterdam on Prinsengracht 263-267. For walking just type in Maps Me App and you’ll find it. From central station it is about a 20 minute walk. Tram 13, 14, 17 stop at the ‘Westermarkt’ which is just a 1 min walk to the Anne Frank House.
Opening times: 1 Nov 2017 – 1 April 2018 Mon-Fri: 10am – 8pm, Saturday: 9am – 10pm, Sunday: 9am – 7pm
Opening times after April 2018 Daily: 9am – 10pm
Prices: Adults; €14.50, 10-17 years old is €10 and under 10’s are free
Important information: There is no need to bring your student pass for this one, there isn’t any discount.

TIP! Definitely buy a ticket online! The queues can be up to 2 hours long in the summer months. Even during winter when we went, the tours were all booked up.

Ice Skating

During the winter months, if the weather allows it, go Ice Skating! It is such a good laugh when you’ve had a drag of a joint (or haven’t – either is cool) and you get on the rink with a bunch of mates. I couldn’t stop laughing the whole time we were on there.

Getting there: The Ice skating rink is located directly opposite the IAMSTERDAM sign, outside the Rijksmuseum.
Opening times: 10:00-21:00
Price: €5 entrance if you have you’re own skates. €12 if you need to borrow some skates

There are so many things to do in this crazy city, make sure you get out and explore it!

The post 5 Fun Things to Do in Amsterdam appeared first on Green Eyed Traveller.

First of all, let’s talk cheese. If you like (okay, love) cheese like we do, you’ll probably end up spending a lot of time in the Cheese Shops. Conveniently enough for us cheese lovers, all of the cheese shops offer free samples, of a range of different cheeses. Jesus how many times did I just say cheese!? Whilst we wandered around the city, we sampled over 20 different cheeses!!

Amsterdam Cheese Shops

If you want a fun afternoon and practically a free lunch, I would recommend wondering around the streets of Amsterdam centre and exploring all the Cheese shops. Walk in and just taste all the free samples they have! It’s absolute heaven. There are a ridiculous amount of shops offering the same thing so you end up eating more than enough. You can buy some of the things on offer to take home with you too. If you walk down the main shopping street of Amsterdam (kalverstraat), you’ll easily find about 15 on just this street alone.

Haring Handel

Not quite full from your cheese adventure? Why not try a typical dutch snack?

You need to be a little more daring for this one. Haring is basically a raw fish, and it is consumed with onions and pickles. T was our tour guide for the day and got my sister and her boyfriend to try it. The look on their faces was priceless!

Getting there: The junction between ‘kalverstraat’ and ‘spui’ (it is easy to find on the Maps Me App)
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 12.00-19.00
Price: €2.10

You may have heard of the tradition, but if you haven’t it looks a little something like this.

You have to “dip it in the onion, tip your head back and chuck it in”

Although, many locals nowadays are seen eating it cut up in small pieces using a toothpick. A lot less messy!

Febo

Febo is again a typical Dutch snack. It is a quick version of dutch ‘snacken’

Snacken means to go to a ‘snackbar’ and order fried food, such as chips with mayo, frikandel speciaal or a kroket. Okay, these are all words that neither you or me actually understand. T helped me with this one! Basically, in English.. Febo is a ‘vending machine’ like dispenser which serves fried foods on the spot.

TIP! When you visit Febo, there is one thing you need to eat. Order The kroket!

Dutch pride, the Kroket is basically a french invention but they put their twist on it. It is a bread crumbed croquette with a meat stuffing and a gravy taste. They are really delicious!

Getting there: There are many Febo’s in Dam but the one we visited is located on Leidsestraat 94
Opening times: The best part about this thing is that it is open 11:00-04:00AM
Price: All the snacks in the dispenser are under €2. There are also burgers available for €2-3

Manneken Pis

Okay, try not to laugh at the name. I know when I first saw it, it made me chuckle, and again now.
Every day, for about 12 hours long there is a line outside this little chip shop on the busiest street of Amsterdam. We tried, we ate and we judged. This chip shop has been voted to sell the best chips in Amsterdam. To be honest I didn’t really get it. They are good don’t get me wrong, but chips pretty much taste the same everywhere. (Except chips from your local Chippy in the UK, they’re unbeatable!)

They have a wide selection of sauces which are amazing though! There are about 22 different ones to choose from, such as mayonnaise, vegan mayo, truffle mayo, cheddar cheese sauce, pesto mayo and the list keeps going!

Getting there: Located on the main street.
Opening times: 11.00 – 01.45AM
Price: 5 euros and you’ll have a medium size portion with sauce.

TIP! Medium was more than enough for me. They are decent size portions.

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