Tourist Attractions in Amsterdam

The Damrak just did not really appeal to me. Too commercial, too many stores, fast food places.... I dunno. Just not my cup 'o tea.

Unique Suggestions: Hit the American Express office and cash in some traveler's checks.

Fun Alternatives: Anywhere else in Amsterdam!

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Hey - it's innocuous and harmless - why not get your photo taken at, in front of, or inside - the IAMSTERDAM sign!

It's located on the Museumplein, in between the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum, so you are going to be here sooner or later.

Of course, you will join 10,000 other people who have exactly the same idea as you - especially if it's at all a decent day.

Unique Suggestions: There are plenty of other photo opportunities spread through Amsterdam - some of which aren't even cliches!

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Conveniently located across the Prinzengacht from the Anne Frank house, the entrance looks interesting enough to enter. The first floor is an overcrowded cheese store with innumerably sale items, many with sample plates. Some good, some exotic, some not good. The so-called museum is an afterthougt in a small basement room access by a rickety circular staircase. There are a few wooden items scattered around, some graters, a short film clip - perhaps the owners get a tax deduction for calling it a museum. The cow, partially visible (image 3 ), does not help.

Walking from the Westermarkt tram stop to Jordaan, one almost has to pass in front of this place. Unless you would like to sample some cheeses and perhaps buy some, there is little of interest here.

It was described to us as a 3D overview of Holland, what we got was a tourist video with some cheesey effects. Not worth it.

Located at Waterlooplein 17.

Unique Suggestions: The best thing I got from here was a yellow pages for Amsterdam designed for tourists. It was free and gave me a list of resturants and other services in that country.

i know that many (especially) young people just come to amsterdam, go to the closest coffee shop and see red light district - i did the same when on my first time in Amsterdam - and i didn't like it all
second time i went a little bit out of the center and i love it

Unique Suggestions: of course u have to see a red light distrit but take it easy and don't hang there for too long - just a stroll will be enought and there are other places that are much nicer

Fun Alternatives: just ask some locals where to go, i found few nice places close to princenstraat otherwise the "gay" quater is the best from center in my opinion

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Yes, we actually went in here. The admission price was about 5euro and I personally didnt think it was worth it. Its very small,TINY! It was as though someone did a class project and put it up on display. You can take all the pictures you want but I really didnt take any. We took a few of the cannabis garden they have there and thats about it. The museum displays other cultures and the significance that Marijuana has on their culture as well as the many vessels that are used to smoke it. There are a few books on display and there is a section on medicinal uses or marijuana. I didnt find it all that interesting surprisingly neither did Rob.

Unique Suggestions: Dont make this place a priority on the top of your list. If you did it all and you have some time to kill then maybe if you are still interested come here.

Fun Alternatives: If you are realy curious about cannabis just go to one of the coffeeshops. I am sure anyone there who takes smoking weed seriously will be more than happy to inform you on the ins and outs of marijuanna use. Trust me,when it comes to serious pot smokers they are filled with so much knowledge on the subject..... For free.

Part tourist trap, part flower riot. We were warned that some of the vendors sell last year's bulbs, and the varieties on the labels do not necessarily match the contents of the bags of bulbs. Better to deal with the established growers and order for delivery to the States. That way, you know that the bulbs are from this year, are innoculated for export to the States, and will arrive at the correct time for planting according to your choice of blossom time. We are also warned that deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and other rodentia are quite fond of Dutch bulbs, so good luck.

Unique Suggestions: Despite the above, take the opportunity to enjoy the massive amounts of cut flowers at the market. Also available: wooden tulips, cactus and cannabis. Look for the cannabis lollypops and grow-your-own cannabis seeds. But don't get suckered into thinking you can bring some home.

Fun Alternatives: This is hugely fun and there are some good opportunities to view varieties and order for delivery. If you're in Amsterdam for the spring flower festival, take an excursion bus out to the Keukenhof, the growers' display/garden/park. If you have a day to spare, there's an international cut flower auction year-round at Aalsmeer that is also spectacular, but if you only have a few days, there are better uses for your time.

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The Floating Flower market is touted as a glorious explosion of colour and scent, a "floral paradise" of many many varieties of flowers and tulips (in season) which are my favourite flower. That's why i went to Amsterdam in May, hoping to see them. We did see them, but all the tulips we saw in the market were wooden or silk. Apparently we had missed the prime season by a couple of weeks. Rats! There were tulip bulbs to be purchased in quantities, and that was something i did expect to see in addition to fresh blooming flowers, and other fresh flowers too but quite a few of stalls along the canal seemed to carry souvenirs rather than flowers....so in my opinion, it's a bit of a tourist trap really.

Still, i know if we'd got there at the right time, we would have seen more tulips in the flower shops that are among the houseboat/stalls and we did see some lovely roses and some nice flowers. I'd say at least half or more sold souvenirs and crafts, more than i expected. I expected most of the stalls to be flower shop type stalls selling either flowers or seeds and bulbs and gardening items. It wasn't like that, not when we were there at least. I certainly wouldn't say that i was overwhelmed by flowers but i was overwhelmed by souvenir kiosks. I do realize that tulips aren't going to be prominent in the market most of the year, they have their prime season like any other flower and we missed that but i did think there would be more flowers and displays than there were. They were there, don't get me wrong, just not in the quantities i thought, judging from all the descriptions in various guidebooks and websites.

The flower market is a group of houseboats permanently anchored on the Single canal not too far from Rembrandtplein and has existed since the mid 1800s. Trams stop nearby and it's a short walk from Dam square. There are cafes and food stalls nearby as well. It's open Monday to Saturday, 9 to 6.

Unique Suggestions: There are still flower shops and stalls and it's definitely a good place to get bulbs and seeds if your are allowed to bring them back or ship them into your country. For tourists, you can't really do much with fresh flowers purchased here except decorate your hotel room. There are lots of souvenir stalls and crafts but there are a lot of those all over Amsterdam, too. It's very busy so watch your personal belongings.

Fun Alternatives: If, like me, you love tulips, try to get to the Netherlands mid April and take a visit to the tulip fields outside the city.