Amsterdam Diaries: Highlights & Recommendations - Museum's, Canal Cruises, Bars & Coffee Shops

Happy Friyay all!!

She's back on it and only posted a blog on her usual scheduled days, can you believe it?! Anyway. Those of you that are reading this and keep up-to-date with me via social (I'm always posting on good ol' insta, you can check out my profile here), I recently went away for a little city break to the weird and wonderful Amsterdam. I've been before, once, however I went with my University and I was pretty much studying instead of going there just for leisure. So it was lovely to go this time for an actual break and to fully embrace myself in everything Dam.

Those that haven't been before, I highly recommend taking a visit - it's a very peculiar place, but there is so much to do from museum's, history, tours, art galleries, restuarant's, bars and coffee shops (if that's up your kinda street). This being the case, I wanted to show you some of my highlight's from the trip for those that are perhaps taking a visit the end of this year or whether you have it lined up in the new year! Or, if you're one of those that are planning next year's holidays and are potentially eye'ing up Amsterdam as a trip (that could be you).

So we only went for 4 days, and although I think that was plenty of time to fit everything in - we weren't able to do some of the tours etc. we wanted as you needed to pre-book in advance. TIP!: those that are considering doing the Anne Frank Museum make sure to book before you go away (and I mean like two months in advance, because otherwise they'll sell out and the queues are insaneeeely long and you'll have to wait for a couple hours plus). We didn't do this because of this pure reason, and were donuts for not pre-booking.

ACTIVITIES:

If you're into museum's and tour's - especially one's that are slightly whacky and unusual then you'll love Ripley's Believe it or Not! in Central Amsterdam right next to the national monument. It's quite a laugh when you've had a few bev's (we had a few)!! For an adult it only costed about 20 euro's each, so it's too spenny. There are different sections of the tour and some odd curiosities including shrunken heads (yes, really!), but there is also a bit of history too which is pretty interesting! We also had a VR experience once we finished the tour which was absolutely hilarious. All in all, recommend!

Probably, my main and favourite highlights from the whole trip HAS to be the canal cruise river tour located at Oudezijids Voorburgwal 230 which is in the central of Amsterdam. We managed to do it on a sunny day although it was pretty cold (so a lot of layer's were needed), but it was pretty ideal and probably best to do it on a good weather day. The tour lasted an hour, it had 'lounge like' sofa's, blanket's and even a bar on board. Dreamy. It was a great way of seeing the City not just from the street's, but weaving through all the beautiful canal's and also learning a little bit of history about the City (our guide was great, and pretty comical too). It was about 19 euro's each, disincluding drinks we had on the boat but I absolutely adored it and I think the photo's below will justify why...

For those that are an arty farty fan (like me) and want to go to a few exhibitions and galleries whilst you're out there - I highly recommend the Moco Museum. Located within Museumkwartier (more on the outskirts of Central Amsterdam), there was a variety of exhibitions ranging from Bansky and Andy Warhol. Tickets for adults were roughly under 20 euro's and it took just over an hour or so to go through the whole exhibition. There was some really interesting and inspiring work, and I have always found the context of Banksy's work intriguing so it was find out more.

FOOD:

There were so many cool cafe's and restaurant's dotted around the City - the food there is just amazing, and you are pretty much guaranteed good food wherever you go (although don't quote me on that hah)!! One of the cafe's we went to was called CT Coffee's and Coconut's located near our accommodation more on the outskirts of Central Amsterdam. It's quite near the Heineken experience for your reference. We tried to get into this place everyday (not kidding!) when we were walking past, but it was ridiculously busy so I would advise booking a space in advance (especially if you want to go in the weekends!). Anyway, we managed to get in on the Monday when it was so much quieter, and I LOVED it. Firstly, the interior is super cool and it has quite a modern vibe with loungey sofa's and tables. And secondly, the food was uh-mazing. It is ideal for breakfast/brunch but they also have a lunch menu too. I had french toast for brunch, and it was the most ascetically pleasing french toast I've had - and also extremely yummy.

Another really great cafe we went too was located more in Central Amsterdam near the Amsterdam Dungeon's. We went to Lexi's Coffee and Bakery for breakfast and the food was delish. You're going to see quite a recurring trend here and notice that I have s u c h  a sweet tooth - but I had american pancakes (I mean, you have too whilst on holiday right?) and they were so scrummy. There was quite a lot of variety for either breakfast or lunch and it was also reasonably priced too which was a win win!

BARS AND COFFEE SHOPS:

And finally, for coffee shops which is something that Dam is pretty renowned for! We tried out a few places (because why not, you could), and there were a couple of places that were pretty cool and had quite a chilled atmosphere.

There was a coffee shop near the Red Light District called Hill Street Blues. It was very retro, had loads of quirky deco and there was also a bar where you could have a drink too if you wanted. We went during the afternoon so it was relatively quiet, but I can imagine the bar getting quite busy in the evenings - but all good fun.

Another coffee shop we checked out was also relatively near the RLD named The Greenhouse Effect  (lol). We went to this place a couple of times, and it has more of a chilled atmosphere and environment compared to the Hill Street Blue's. The music is more relaxed, if you prefer this vibe. You were unable to drink alcohol whilst at the shop, but I thought it was a great place!

And there we have it! I quick run though all the highlights of my trip away. I absolutely loved it and I feel like we did so much within 4 days, but it was also very relaxing and chilled out. My favourite highlight was definitely the canal tour so I strongly recommend doing that if you are intending to go! I'm sure I'll be back at some point, because I didn't do the Anne Frank museum and will 100% be booking that way in advance. hah.

If you have any other recommendations, be sure to comment below and share!

Speak to you in another blog post,

Chloe x