Hostels

Hostels are cheap when staying in a 16 bed dormitory. In Amsterdam the locations are awesome. Try an IYHF Stay Okay Youth Hostel. https://www.stayokay.com/en

Vondelpark, Zandpad 5,1054 GA

Stadsdoelen, Kloveniersburgswal 97, 10011 KB

Zeeburg, Timorplein 21, 1094 CC (our fav)

Shelter Jordans | Bloemstraat 179, 1016 LA.

urban CocoMama | Westeinde 18, 1017 ZP

new WOW Artist Space & Hostel, in outer neighbourhood Bos & Lommer, Wiltzanghlaan 60, 1061 HC

Lucky Lake Hostel Vinkeveen is a 20 min drive from Amsterdam, Vinkenkade 75.

Hotels

casa 400 | +31 20 6651171 | eerste ringdijkstraat 4, 1097 bc amsterdam, neigbourhood Amstelkwartier| http://https://hotelcasa.nl/
volkshotel | +31 20 2612100 | wibautstraat 150, 1091 gr amsterdam, neigbourhood Amstelkwartier | https://www.volkshotel.nl/en/
hotel not hotel | +31 20 8204538 | Piri Reisplein 34, 1057 amsterdam, neigbourhood kinkerbuurt|
west side inn
my home
flying pig uptown
hotel abba
citizen m
hans brinker
st Christopher's

Appartments

Most appartments offered via Craigslist, Airbnb and other online platforms are expensive and run by professionals.

Be aware that ' sharing economy ' does not mean here: profits go to the '1 %', problems to the citizens of Amsterdam. Many house-owners with a too heavy mortgage try to ease the pain by renting out their appartment. Try to find original Dutch bed & breakfast websites or ask the official Amsterdam Tourist Information V.V.V.

"Bed & Breakfast" is a long known concept in Europe to offer a sleeping room in a normal household to visitors from abroad for an affordable price.

Rooms for students can be found on Dutch-language websites. When Amsterdam is fully booked or way too expensive, try small towns in the region.

Houseboats

Utmost romantic and " born-to-be-wild " experience. Not recommended with young children.

Most are sadly over-priced, but in general it's cheaper to live in an appartment. Negociate with the owner, there are now so many boats on offer, that you often have a choice.

Camping Sites

The Dutch are champion campers as a life-style. True campers recognise each other by the brand of their tent. A caravan is for softies.

That means a camping site can be a good alternative for bricks & mortel. Most sites offer cabins.

Bed and Breakfast

"Bed & Breakfast" is a long known concept in Europe to offer a sleeping room in a normal household to visitors from abroad. "Bed & breakfast" originally is a sleeping room in a household, where shower, toilet and breakfast table are being shared with the family. In Amsterdam usually you'll get a studio, labeled b&b for tax-reasons.

Deep-browsing for individual websites can be worthwhile.

Public Transport Amsterdam airport, region (Alkmaar, Haarlem, Leiden) :

TRAIN

Public Transport Amsterdam centre :

TRAM & METRO (subway)

tram lines - tickets - routes

Public Transport Amsterdam, Volendam, Marken : BUS

Bike Rental & Buy

Biking is a stressy way of transport in Amsterdam when you're not living for longer than 2 years in the city.

Visitors should not, we repeat, should not rent a bike that does not look like a rental bike unless you're very experienced in bike-riding in the following cities: Berlin, Beijing, London or New York.

Car Sharing

Amsterdam is a pioneer in car- and bike sharing. The "Witte Fietsen Plan" and the "Witkar Projekt" are dating back to the early 70s.

Car Stop, Hiking

As a general rule hiking is safe in The Netherlands, in cars with Dutch numberplates (yellow with black numbers). Be cautious in the normal way like: women do not get in a man-only car or: when it doesn't feel safe, for whatever reason, even for no rreason, don't get in the car.

Heineken Rowing Regatta

MARCH 9 & 10 | Amstel River . The Clubhouse of Amsterdam's famous and notorious rowing club NEREUS at Amsteldijk is center of ceremonies. Here you can have a good time (and beer), whilst on the river freshmen row their first official match and savvied seniors demonstrate how they've survived wintertime.

Stille Omgang | Silent Procession

In the night of MARCH 21 to 22 (year 2020) catholic people from all over the netherlands walk silently along the spot where in 1345 a miracle happened. As the story goes, this was the most busy night in the red light district.

Head of the River Amstel

MARCH 18 & 19 | Rowing Races on Amstel River for all ages. Opening of Dutch Competition Rowing Season. An 8 km course from Amsterdam, Nieuwe Amstelbrug between Ceintuurbaan and Ruyschstraat to pittoresque Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. Watch out for madly dressed supporters on bikes that only have eyes for their team.

Tulip Fields

Mid of March - Mid of May Take a train or bus in the direction of the seaside, to villages named Noordwijk (close to Leiden), or Voorhout (close to Haarlem). In springtime the flower bulb region is an amazing feast of colors. Once there, rent a bike.

Kings (Queens) Day

APRIL 27 | Kings' (formerly Queens)' Day or Koninginnedag is a traditional Dutch citizens' festival to celebrate the Queens Birthday, since 2014 Kings' Day. Amsterdam becomes one big garage sale with semi-professional bargainers on both sides, aged 5 till 105. Vondelpak is for kids. A public party with 1 million smiling friends. Wear orange.

OMG Festival

The Catholic Religion offers great stories of events taken place over 2000 years ago. Some are still annually celebrated, supported by the state with a public holiday. Very well known is Christmas, another event is Christ' Ascension, when catholics celebrate that one of their central religious heroes floated to heaven. For NDSM Werf a reason to organise the Hemeltjelief ( best dubbed as OMG ') Festival, open for al .

Rolling Kitchens | Food Truck Festival

MAY 29 - June 2 | Rollende keukens. From elegant deli carts to eccentric bbq trucks, this is the world wide pioneering food truck festival initiated by three best friends. Free entry.

Location : Westergasfabriek

Open Garden Days

JUNE 14, 15, 16 | Anual opportunity for garden lovers to stroll into the city’s private green oases, formal parterres, flowering plants and remarkable garden houses and ornaments. Both classical and contemporary gardens can be visited from 10 am to 5 pm.

Amsterdam Roots

JULY 2 - 10 | Festival on different locations, for kids, grown-ups and more. Two days open air in the Oosterpark. Free

Gay Pride Festival

JULY 29 - AUGUST 4 | Gay Pride Festival all over Town, with fun and celebration parties and more serious things to do.

Canal Parade

AUGUST 3 | Part and for many absolute highlight of the Gay Festival is the Canal Parade. Saturday August 3th 14:00 - 17:00 Canal Parade with boats through Prinsengracht. Over 500.000 visitors, be prepared :)

De UITmarkt

AUGUST 23 - 25 | Sneak peak of all productions and events from the upcoming theatre season in a festival setting.

Jordaan Festival

AUGUST 23 - 25 | Jordaan neighbourhood for ages housed the poorest citizens, notorious for their 'engaging' live-style, especially when it comes to city politics.

Open Monuments

SEPTEMBER, 2nd weekend | About 4000 monumental buildings and sites all over The Netherlands open their doors and fences for the public. Entrance free. Be aware that you sometimes enter private houses or private property. Behave as such.

Classic on Amstelveld

SEPTEMBER 14, 15 | Klassiek op het Amstelveld. | Open Air concert in cosy Utrechtsebuurt the neighbourhood around Utrechtsestraat, the boutique shopping street between Rembrandstplein en Frederiksplein. Amstelveld. Free

Museum Night Amsterdam

November 2 | Almost all Amsterdam museums are open during the evneing and early night. | Special entrance fees, special programmes, specia public transport fees & & &

Dam to Dam Run

SEPTEMBER 20, 21 | 35.000 citizens run from Zaandam to Amsterdam. Participate or support,

Amsterdam Marathon

OCTOBER 20 | Annual running event ranking alongside races in Boston, New York, Paris and Berlin. Elite runners from all over the world as well as thousands of ambitious amateurs participate. Start and finish at Olympic Stadium.

Amsterdam Dance

OCTOBER 16 - 20 | Over 2000 artists from all over the world, 80 clubs and venues, a festival and conference, workshops and masterclasses.

Things to do in winter time

Simple website with top 10 things to do in winter time on a low budget.

Ice Amsterdam

Museumplein.

National Tulip Day | Free tulip picking

January 18 2020 | On Dam square Dutch Tulip growers offer the public the best they have on stock. Free take aways.

Bicycling

only if you did that before. when you stay longer, buy a bad looking stadtfiets for around €150,00 in a fietsenwinkel of at the fietsenmaker. Buying at the street for € 25,00 means you get a stolen bike. Amsterdam inhabitants are not lucky with that. Buy good locks and lock the bike-frame always to a non moveable object

Ferry Boats IJ-river

Behind Central Station you'll find the landing-docks for all ferries over IJ-river. As there is no tunnel for bikers and pedestrians, These are being run as a communal service, that means sharing economy oldschool , paid by Amsterdam inhabitants, free for all!

Borders of Amstel River

The river that gave Amsterdam it's name, amstel re damme or dike in amstelriver is upstream from the famous Amstel Hotel, where Weesperzijde starts, a beautiful trip to stroll or bike. All the way to Ouderkerk is an hour bike-drive, cross the Bridge there and come back on the other side, passing a windmill and statue of Rembrandt

Canal Belt

Defenitely the most romantic and emotional part of Amsterdam. It's history from mainstream Dutch perspective tells about Golden Age, pioneering entrepeneurship and maritime heroes. Another perspective tells about colonialism and slavery. It's worth the money to make a canal boat tour. Otherwise put on your walking shoes and go.

Roof of Nemo

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Public Library

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Serious Warning

DO NOT BUY 'STUFF' ON THE STREETS, IN PARKS etc. May the deal sound great and the dealer look really nice and trustworthy, do not buy stuff on the street. For wonderware like weed, hash, pot, you go to a "coffee-shop". It's allowed to buy small amounts here.

Red Light District

Against the background of human trafficking and exploitation, the City of Amsterdam Council has been closing down a lot of places in the sex-work-industry. The famous Red Light District still exists, but in a lean way. Mind this is the oldest part of Amsterdam and worth a visit anyway.

Weed, Hash, Pot

Amsterdam is a good place in Europe to buy weed, hash, pot. Buy it in official "coffee-shops", smoke it in the shops as much as possible, don't buy on the streets. It's not allowed to drive stoned. If something goes wrong - call the police or an ambulance, dial 112 - be honest, do not lie about what you did consume. Mind that the amount of THC (the stuff that makes you high) relatively is high. Dummies and starters: start slowly, don't take cake or cookies!

Permanent Fleamarket

Waterlooplein | Go there on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. With bad weather there won't be much daghandel stuff brought in on that paricular day. Many shop-a-like secondhand boots. Negotiating as a tourist will be difficult. If the asked price is much too high, just friendly say no and walk away. Otherwise don't bid too deep under the asked price and negotiate quick.

Monthly Flea Market

JUNE 15, 16 | JULY 27, 28 | AUGUST 17, 18 | SEPTEMBER 7, 8 | SEPTEMBER 21, 22 | OCTOBER 5, 6 | Europe's largest fleamarket, flocked with professionals and amateurs selling. In wintertime inside the industrial former shipyard halls of NDSM. It takes most of the day, travelling from Amsterdam city center. Free Parking.

Location : Papaverweg 50, 1032 KJ Amsterdam

Amsterdam Yard Sale

A thriving vintage second hand stuff exchange community on Facebook where only the contacting is online. Further steps all offline - in real life.

Zaanse Schans

Early Industrial SIte with windmills along river the Zaan, 30 minutes from Amsterdam.

Cheese Markets

Gouda, Old Amsterdam, Beemster. names you know from cheese and we know as names of dutch cities. Two towns still have a vivid cheese market, worth a visit: Alkmaar and Gouda.30 minutes trip by train.

Borders of IJsselmeer

Biketrip crossing IJ-river per ferry from Central Station or over the bridges in Zeeburg. Head for Durgerdam.

Rowing and swimming at Botshol, Waverveen

Chinese Restaurants

In the old sailor entertainment district "De Wallen", Close to Central Station, is a very small China Town. Check out the uncosy looking places, or for instance Kam Yin, Warmoesstraat 6 or Win Kee, Zeedijk 76.

Indonesian Restaurants

Westergasfabriek | Westerpark

Frikandel Falaffel Döner Shoarma

Wok to Walk

Burgermeester

Café Getto

Pancakes

Pannekoeken are not exactly the same like pancakes, we also say. We say a pannekoek is a must. Famous variations are sweet 'n salty, like apples, bacon, syrup.

Café De Schutter

Students, loud, cosy, cheap, Voetboogsteeg

Wagamama

Leidseplein. UK concept, fresh cooked noodles, meat and vegetables in open kitchen. Dinning on long wooden tables sitting on benches. Often quick service, sometimes some waiting.

Friet | Patat

Learn how to cook Patat, Friet, or Pommes Frites, Patatas from true Potatoes. With a salad and home made mayoniase it is not sooo bad for your health....

Mana Mana

Hemonystraat 66

Wednesday Thursday Friday

Must Eat Snacks

pannekoek	stroopwafel
haring	bitterballen
sate	loempia
borrelnootjes	krentebol

gele vla

chocoladevla

hagelslag	muisjes
pindakaas	kaas

Snackbar aan 't IJ

Piet Hein Kade, Close to Albertt heijn on the waterfrond side

University Mensa

Soccer in the park

In most bigger parts people make up pretty spontaneous teams that play europen style soccer, according the "streetsoccer or park rules"

Swimming & Sunbathing

IJsselmeer, Amstelriver close to office sky scrapers

Iceskating Jaap Eden IJsbaan

Named after an Amsterdam Ice Skating Champion from the 1920's (after that, not many Amsterdammers did so well in Ice-Skating, except for Ellie van den Brom) the Ice Skate Parcours at the East Part of the city is a great place to be.

Visit the Beach per Train

From Amsterdam Central Station a direct Train goes to Zandvoort, or "Amsterdam Beach" (don't say that loud in Zandvoort :))

Lectures & PhD Defend Ceremonies

Amsterdam University UvA organises lectures and PHD Defend Ceremonies are public by principle.

Concerts

Public Rehearsal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Roof of Nemo

Awesome "please touch" science museum Nemo, close to central station, offers a free roofterrace. Take the bridge outside to walk up.

Oosterdok 2

Terrace Muziegebouw aan't IJ

Sky Terrace

Terrific  view from the SkyTerrace on the top-floor of Double Tree Hotel. Walk in, not too badly dressed, turn to the right and take an elevator to the top. Look for the terrace, order a € 5,50 french fries and sit like Paris Hilton.

Discount Cards

Hofjes

Friday Night Skate

Best Sunset Spots

Seeing the sun go down in autumn Amsterdam can be an awesome experience. The sky turns into a thousand shades of pink, and you can lie back and enjoy the iconic Amsterdam cityscape turn into a romantic movie scene - if you know where you can see it best!

Hacker Space

Nerds, tinkerers, thinkers, trying-it-outers, most male, some female, having fun in discovering by doing. Initiated, supported by Dutch Telecom Provider KPN / Xs4All

Social Wednesday Night.

Cheese on Daymarkets

Check neighbourhood day-markets like Dappermarkt,or Ten Catestraat Markt for good offers in cheese.

Weekend Amsterdam?

Get the best tips and trends here

Laundry Service

Was Salon or Wasserette

Not cheap, nor budget. Ask locals on the street in the neighbourhood were you live and check prices beforehand.

Take Care when Buying Wine

Wine is expensive when you're used to prices in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Austria and so forth.

We made bad experiences in buying wine in supermarkets.

City Halls

The main City Hall at Waterlooplein offers free wi-fi.

City-district halls offer free wi-fi, working seats, cheap coffee or soda's. Often you do not have to wait there as long as in the main city-hall.

Expatcenter Amsterdam

Official expat & highly skilled migrant services.

The Expatcenter provides a one-stop-shop service for international talent: companies and their highly skilled migrant employees, scientific researchers, international entrepreneurs and international graduates.

The Expatcenter helps with residence and work permits, startup visa, registration with the municipality, the 30% tax ruling and many other official matters.

Amsterdam Salon

International network combining Amsterdam’s bustling cultural life with social events and professional and cultural exchange.

Membership is free, members purchase tickets per event.

Swimming Pools

Public Library

An awesome concept outside and inside. A piano free to play, lots of computers free to use and books, books, books. Offered by the Municipality of Amsterdam. At the top is a "snel-restaurant" with OK food and a terrace with great view.

More Shared Economy Services in Amsterdam

To come

Nieuwendammerdijk

This long street in Amsterdam Noord is a trip through a piece of Holland that one doesn't experience much. Normal people live in Disney World alike houses.

Look for your princess or prince.

Sounds under the Bridge

Underneath the bridge in front of Muziekgebouw aan't IJ an Artist created a sound world.

Tennis in Oosterpark

Weekly Markets

Monday	Lapjesmarkt Westerstraat
Monday	Fleamarket Noordermarkt
Monday	Plantjesmarkt Amstelveld
Saturday	Biologische markt Noordermarkt en Nieuwmarkt
Saturday	Weekmarkt Lindengracht, Jordaan

Kringloop Winkel

All over The Netherlands people can bring used, but usable stuff to a "Kringloop WInkel" or Recycle Shop. Mostly run by volunteers and people supported in return-to-work programmes. In Amsterdam, inside the old rings.

Rataplan	Willem Roelofsstraat 2, 1062 JX
Rataplan	Slingelandtstraat 39, 1051 CG
Juttersdok	Kerkstraat 354
Juttersdok	Zeeburgerpad 90
De Lokatie	Camperstraat 42
De Lokatie	Distelweg 85

Daily Markets

Each neighbourhood has a daily market, organised by the City council. Fresh vegetables, fish, cheese, clothes, flowers, diverse daily deals, pommes frites, loempia and loads of local atmosphere.

Ten Katestraat
Albert Cuyp	De Pijp
Dappermarkt	Oost
Mosplein	Noord
	Bos & Lommer
Bloemenmarkt	Centre