MAINPAGE

TOURIST INFO

HISTORY

ART

PICTURES

MAPS

Amsterdam is one of Europe's great cities and major tourist destinations. No matter what you're looking for in a city, you'll find it in Amsterdam. Built on a network of canals, along which are the beautiful tall houses typical of the region, the centre of Amsterdam is compact and largely pedestrian - or cyclist - friendly. Pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants abound, there are boat trips on the canals and sights at every turn. Amsterdam's red light district is world famous, but the night life is much more than that. Theatres, concert halls and venues catering for every sort of music and entertainment mean you are spoilt for choice. Add to this the wonderful mueums and galleries, especially the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum and the Anne Frank House, and it's easy to understand Amsterdam's popularity.

The Dam, Leidseplein and Rembrandtsplein

The dam, with the national Monument at the center is the place where young people from all over the world meet each other.

The Leidesplein is the hub of Amsterdam's nightlife. There's probably a greater concentration of bars, restaurants and clubs here than anywhere else in the city, and the streets extend off the square in a bright jumble of jutting signs and neon lights. Around the corner is the famous Melkweg - which offers a theatre, concerts, a disco, films, a bar and a restaurant.

The Rembrandtsplein is another nightlife center although the square's crowded restaurants are firmly tourist targeted. Of the cafes, only the bar of the Schiller Hotel stands out with an original Art Deco interior.

The Anne Frank house

This is one of the most impressive places of Amsterdam, just an ordinary house at one of the canals, but believe me if you go unto that house something happens with you. Here you feel how bad the holocaust was !!!!!

The Heineken Brewery

The Heineken Brewery, Stadhouderskade and Ferdinand Bolstraat, is one of the city's best-known sights. After the tour you are given snacks and free beer and the atmosphere is convivial - as you'd imagine when there are 200 people downing as much free beer as they can drink.

Bars

The city is better known for drinking than eating and with good reason; its selection of bars is one of the real pleasures of the city. De Hoogte, Nieuwe Hoogstraat, is a small cafe , situated on the edge of the Red Light district, which has good music and an engaging atmosphere. Hoppe, Spui, is one of Amsterdam's longest-established and best known bars and one of its most likable. Tapvreugd, Oude Hoogstraat, is far and away the most amicable of the loud crowded music bars on this and surrounding streets. Dantzig, Zwanenburgwal, is an easy-going bar of the grand cafe variety which serves food. IJ, in the De Gooyer windmill, Funenkade, is a fun place to get seriously tired and emotional - the beers are brewed on the premises and are extremely strong. Kalkhoven, Prinsengracht, is one of the city's most characteristic brown cafes and is warm and welcoming. 't Smackzeyl, Brouwersgracht. is a boisterous drinking hole on the fringes of the Jordaan.

Coffee Shops

The so called "smoking" coffee shops are easy to identify: pumping out varieties of acid house or hard rock and about as far from the cozy Dutch brown cafe as its possible to get. They're also usually filled with tourists.
Information about marijuana can be found at marijuana.nl

The Bulldog, Leidseplein, is the biggest and most famous of the coffee shop chains and sports a large cocktail bar, coffee shop, juice bar and souvenir shop. Rusland, Rusland, is one of the first Amsterdam coffee shops and is a cramped and vibrant place.

Non-smoking coffee shops include Cafe Vertigo, Netherlands Film Museum, which is a good place for a beer or coffee and Puccini, Staalstraat, which has wonderful coffee and cakes.

Restaurants

Bojo, Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, is possibly the best value Indonesian place in town and it's open until 6am. Roses's Cantina, Reguliersdwarsstraat, is in the heart of trendy Amsterdam and qualifies as possibly the city's most crowded restaurant.

Claes Claesz, Egelantiersstraat, attracts a good mixed crowd and serves excellent Dutch food. Koh-I-Noor, Westermarkt, is one of the city's better Indian restaurants.

Clubs

Escape, Rembrandtsplein, is Amsterdam's largest disco with a dance floor that can accommodate 2,000 people. Herenhuis, Herengracht, is one of the longest established discos and plays a broad selection of music. Mazzo, Rozengracht, is one of the city's extravagant discos and The Roxy and DiscoIT are also on the city's hip list.

Red light zone

Just like any other city or town in the world, Amsterdam has its fair share of hookers, but here, the girls are allowed to advertise their products in a legal and quite open manner.

Porn shops

No-one, man or woman, should be embarrassed or scared to poke their heads into an Amsterdam Sex Shop. These are legitimate stores run by real business men who pay their taxes. You will not be ripped off or intimidated. You may be disgusted but Amsterdam porno stores are something to see. A warning to Americans and Canadians, Dutch VCR tapes will not run on your VCR's. Ask the store for an NTSC tape version. Another thing you like to visit perhaps are the life sex shows, the The Casa Rosso is one of them. Another funny and useful shop is "De condomerie", a shop with an amazing collection of condoms !

ALRAC communications 25-04-02