Archive for March, 2008
Add your Amsterdam budget hotel or hostel to the Hostel directory
If you own or operate a hostel or cheap hotel in Amsterdam - or you know someone who does - you (or they) should enter the information into the new worldwide Hostel Directory. This will be a huge and global directory of hostels and other budget accommodations. You won’t get any spam from this, but you should get some extra bookings.
The site is new but it’s part of a big travel network so it should be worth your time. Go to this hosteldirectory entry page for Amsterdam to add your …
Date: March 31st, 2008 |
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Late spring airfare to Amsterdam
If you are planning an Amsterdam trip coming up soon and you haven’t yet booked your ticket this could be a tricky time to get a cheap flight to Amsterdam. I used to live in Amsterdam, but now I live in Portland, Oregon and I go back and forth doing research trips so I’m always investigating airfare trends and whatnot. Now that spring 2008 has arrived things are getting quite expensive and with the fuel surcharges going up lately there isn’t much reason to think these prices are going to go down much soon.
Since I’m always curious about airfare from all over and I frequently have friends asking me about this subject I’ve decided to report on this regularly here on Amsterdamlogue. You possibly saw my last installment when I reported on Spring 2008 airfare to Amsterdam early in the year. Take a look at that list and you’ll see how much prices have shot up in just a couple months. I’ve also added Toronto to the list, and I’ll keep checking that one as well since I have friends in Canada who occasionally fly to Amsterdam.
Date: March 28th, 2008 |
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This might be a good year to visit the Americas
If you’ve been keeping an eye on currency exchange rates in the last year or so you already know that the US Dollar has been getting clobbered lately. This makes visiting Europe crazy expensive for Americans this year, and it wasn’t too cheap last year or the year before either.
Amsterdam will always be a fun place to visit for a few days, but if you are in Europe you might want to think about heading across the Atlantic for a longer holiday this year because things there have never been cheaper for …
Date: March 25th, 2008 |
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Free Amsterdam travel guide
Researching a city online is really valuable and can be very inspiring, but once you get to the destination it really helps to have something physical to hold in your hands. I’m a big guidebook nerd and I love Lonely Planet guides and especially Rick Steves when I’m in Europe. But those guides cost quite a bit of money and they take up a bit of space in your daypack as well.
As an alternative to that you might be interested in downloading a miniature pdf travel guide, and as luck would have …
Date: March 21st, 2008 |
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Tipping and service in Amsterdam
If you are from Europe these will all be things you are well aware of, but for North Americans visiting Amsterdam for the first time, especially if you haven’t traveled extensively elsewhere in Europe, the topics of tipping and service are interesting. The culture of both things is very different from one side of the Atlantic to the other, and more than a few people get riled up needlessly because they don’t understand the other system.
Here’s the short version:
Tipping: A service charge that is the equivalent of a tip is already included in every price. This includes taxis, drinks, food, haircuts, carrying luggage, and everything else. So leaving no tip at all isn’t really insulting because tipping is optional through Europe. However, it’s most common, even among locals, to tip around 5% or so on many things. Typically you round up the bill. If your meal in a restaurant is €18.50, then you leave €20 or even €19. If your taxi ride is €10.20 you give them €11.
Date: March 19th, 2008 |
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Amsterdam's most famous brothel will stay closed
In early January 2008 Amsterdam ordered its most famous and most expensive brothel, Yab Yum, to close its doors pending further investigation on charges that the business had backroom ties to organized crime and/or the Dutch branch of the Hell’s Angels biker gang. Now in late March 2008 the business has lost what might be its final appeal so it appears Yab Yum will probably be closed forever.
Up until January 7, 2008, Yab Yum, which isn’t actually located in Amsterdam’s Red Light District, had an admission charge of €70 and a reported minimum charge of €300 for an hour with one of the brothel’s high-end prostitutes, but most transactions also reportedly involved the patron purchasing an expensive bottle of champagne as well, so the cost of the whole entertainment package could be several times the normal hourly fee.
Date: March 28th, 2008 |
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Live sex shows in Amsterdam
One of the many legends about Amsterdam that some people have trouble believing is that there are theaters where patrons can pay for entrance and then witness actual live couples on stage having sex, as well as quite a few different-but-similar tricks involving bananas, pens, ribbons, vibrators, and whatnot. Just like the legend of Amsterdam’s coffee shops and the Red Light District itself, this one is absolutely true, at least as of now. (Starting in late 2007 the city began cracking down on many sex-related businesses and closing down …
Date: March 26th, 2008 |
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Vondelpark - Amsterdam's central park
By far Amsterdam’s largest and most famous park, Vondelpark is often compared to New York City’s Central Park. The size and shape are very similar between the two, but Vondelpark isn’t particularly central, although the location is still quite handy for most visitors.
Just as with NYC’s Central Park, Vondelpark has a loop road that zigzags just inside the exterior borders, so it’s ideal for both runners and those who want to pedal their bikes around in a pleasant area without dodging much traffic. The interior is filled with open green areas, forested areas, lakes, many playgrounds, as well as the individual things listed below.
The name
The park was originally opened in 1865 and called New Park, but thanks to a statue of 17th Century Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel placed near the entrance two years later, the public began calling it Vondelpark and later the name was officially changed to match.
Date: March 24th, 2008 |
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Amsterdam somehow isn't one of the 12 places to see really good-looking locals
BootsnAll recently published one of those “list stories” called 12 places to see really good-looking locals, and Amsterdam seems to be a glaring omission. The article is fairly interesting and most of the photos are nice, but you still have to wonder how a city known for attractive locals like Amsterdam was left off.
It appears that they picked most of the 12 cities by region. Copenhagen is on the list and so is Prague, and both of those certainly belong, but Stockholm was left off as well. I guess the …
Date: March 20th, 2008 |
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Amsterdam recommendations for a first-time visitor
I recently got an e-mail question from someone wondering a few things to prepare for their first trip to Amsterdam. One question was to name my top 3 things to see on a first visit to Amsterdam. I think this is a pretty common question for many people, so I thought I’d expand the answer just a bit here.
Take a canal tour as early in your trip as you can
Unlike nearly every other European city (except for its brother-in-canals Venice) Amsterdam has no good city bus tours. It’s not really obvious just from looking at an Amsterdam map, but those streets that go along the canals in the city center are really small in addition to being almost completely residential. That puts half the city off limits to big buses, and the other half is mixed with a few busy streets and a few that are off limits to everything but trams and/or bikes.
The good news is that many different companies offer a similar 1-hour canal tour that is the best way of getting the lay of the land quickly. There are some that do hop-on/hop-off with stops near Leidseplein, Museumplein, the Heineken Brewery, and other attractions, but the quickest way for most people is just walk either straight out of Centraal Station, or just to your right out the door, and you’ll find several companies offering these tours so you can often walk up and be underway just a few minutes later. You can get more information here about the Amsterdam canal cruises. They are also the best first thing to do on a 5+ hour layover at Schiphol, and more information can be found on the Amsterdam Layover Guide.
Date: March 17th, 2008 |
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