Archive for April, 2008
Heineken Experience reopening seems to be delayed
In late October 2007, Heineken gave almost no notice when they closed their iconic Amsterdam attraction known as the Heineken Experience for yet another renovation. At the time they announced they would reopen in June 2008 after a major upgrade that would also greatly increase the daily capacity. While corporations tend to do things like this more quickly and efficiently than governments do, they always seem to be overly optimistic anyway, and now the word on the official Heineken Experience website says the brewery tour/multimedia circus will open in “Summer 2008.”
(new sneak preview images of the future Heineken Experience are at the bottom of this post)
So don’t hold your breath if you are visiting Amsterdam in June, and July might be wishful thinking as well, but there’s no way to know for sure since they haven’t made an official announcement. Just for comparison’s sake, the nearby and spectacular Rijksmuseum closed most of its main display areas in December 2003 for a major renovation that was scheduled to last until 2008. A few years later the completion date had slipped to 2010, and in 2007 the date was revised again to “year’s end 2012/2013” although it appears that some of the main areas may reopen before total completion.
Date: April 30th, 2008 |
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How will Amsterdam's new no-smoking laws affect the coffee shops?
You may have heard that as of July 1, 2008, Amsterdam is following in the footsteps of cities all over the world in banning cigarette smoking in public places. Some alarmists have spread false rumors that this law will shut down Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, but this isn’t true (we’ll get you for this, alarmists!!!). As of late April 2008, the exact way this law will be interpreted for the coffeeshops is still a bit unclear, but there is zero chance this will close them down.
I’ve just spoken to a few people at different …
Date: April 26th, 2008 |
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July in Amsterdam
July continues to be the height of the tourist season in Amsterdam. In Italy and some other southern countries, the cities half empty during July and August as all the locals head to beaches and elsewhere, but in Amsterdam you never really get that feeling. Many locals do take the entire month of August off, but most of the big office blocks are outside the city center anyway, so the city still seems jammed with tourists and those serving them. There are virtually no July events in Amsterdam, but that’s probably just as well with the massive crowds you’ll likely encounter without anything special going on.
July events in Amsterdam
Sadly, there are no major worthwhile events to report for this month. In the past there has been a hippie festival called Landjuweel that takes place in the village of Ruigoord about 10km outside of the city, but it’s in August during 2008 and quite possibly in future years as well.
But fret not, because there will be no shortage of things to do during July. The lines at the major museums like the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank House will be long this month, so buying advance tickets online or going early in the day is recommended unless you want to spend 2 hours waiting out front for each place. If things stay on schedule the Heineken Experience should reopen sometime in June of 2008 after yet another refurbishment.
Date: April 23rd, 2008 |
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Concerts in Amsterdam
When you are traveling it can be really fun to go to a concert from one of your favorite bands that happens to be in town on one of the same nights you are. Amsterdam has surprisingly few venues for major touring bands to play, but the good news is that the major ones are quite good and relatively easy to reach when you are staying in the city center.
There is live music in Amsterdam happening every night, but the local live music scene here isn’t nearly as good as you might expect. Let’s face it, even though this city is known for hosting top Dutch DJs like Armin van Buurin, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, and Junkie XL, none of them are actually from Amsterdam, and the list of famous international bands from this city is equally short. Golden Earring is probably the most famous Dutch band of all time, but they are from The Hague. There just isn’t a lot of good local music here (although I’m sure most every local band would disagree).
Fortunately every major international touring act comes through Amsterdam at some point, so if you can look ahead far enough you might even be able to get tickets for a good show before you even arrive in the city.
Date: April 18th, 2008 |
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June in Amsterdam
To the surprise of absolutely no one, June is the first month of the year when Amsterdam is totally packed with tourists. Many locals begin their beach holidays either at the local shores or on distant patches of sand, but the massive influx of backpackers more than makes up for their absence so you can expect a month of high hotel prices combined with long lines for most all attractions. There are only a couple of notable events in June, but that’s just as well since there is never a shortage of interesting things to do in this city and having more festivals would only make crowds even more unbearable.
June events in Amsterdam
Holland Festival – most of June – The country’s largest arts and culture event takes place every June in venues throughout Amsterdam. Started in 1947, the Holland Festival has long been a showcase for international talent in opera, dance, music, and theater, and starting in 2005 they added a series of events called Fuel. These Fuel events are more contemporary displays of visual arts, concerts, debates and lectures. The 2008 dates are May 31 through June 22, and much more information can be found on the official Holland Festival website, which is all translated into English if you click on the Union Jack on the main page.
Date: April 14th, 2008 |
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Amsterdam sex clubs
When the majority of people who’ve visited Amsterdam are asked about the prostitution thing, they will talk about the girls behind the windows in the Red Light District. This is obviously the most famous public scene of prostitution in the city, and probably in the world, but it’s not the only one. Prostitution is totally legal in the Netherlands, just as it is in many other European countries, and the RLD scene is only one of four ways people can acquire sexual pleasure for a price.
Date: April 27th, 2008 |
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Early summer flights to Amsterdam
About once a month I examine trends on the cost of flights to Amsterdam from major North American cities. And in late April 2008, things are looking pretty grim for June flights. I guess the good news is that the June prices aren’t much different from the May prices I found, and a couple of them were a bit cheaper in fact.
But overall this looks like it might be the most expensive year to fly to Amsterdam ever, and the crazy strength of the euro once you get there doesn’t help anything either. You can save money by staying in one of the many Amsterdam hostels, but I’m sure the beds are being reserved early this year because no one wants to risk getting shut out and having to pay €100 for a basic Amsterdam hotel room instead.
Date: April 25th, 2008 |
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Paradiso Amsterdam
The Paradiso club is one of two famous mid-size concert venues in Amsterdam, along with the equally nice Melkweg a few blocks away. The club was converted from a church and opened in this form in 1968, but you can clearly see its church origins on both the inside and outside. The main hall still has the church windows behind the stage, and balconies still look down over the whole floor level.
Concerts
The club hosts international touring acts most nights of the week, although occasionally there will be a big Dutch act or even a lecture or other cultural event scheduled. Since most of these touring acts crisscross Europe from spring through fall, there are definitely fewer concerts during winter, but of course the schedule varies weekly. The Paradiso has hosted the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, and nearly every other act that would play in a venue with a capacity just over 1,000 people in Amsterdam. Between the Melkweg and the Paradiso, they have a lock on mid-sized concerts in the city, and both clubs have amazing lists of legends who’ve played in them.
Date: April 21st, 2008 |
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Amsterdam Brothels
Prostitution in Amsterdam takes on several different forms, the most famous of which is the girls behind the windows in the Red Light District. While this is the only form of prostitution that 99% of Amsterdam tourists will notice during their stay, this public mating ritual is only one of four methods visitors have available to them.
Date: April 16th, 2008 |
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Ten new cities now have nonstop flights into Amsterdam
The rules for which airlines can fly into which airports changed a bit as of March 30, and this should be good news for quite a few travelers to Amsterdam. Ten new cities will have weekly scheduled nonstop flights into and out of Schiphol Airport, bringing the total to 257. The new schedule only goes through October 25, 2008, so it remains to be seen if some of the new destinations are only seasonal.
Finding cheap airfare to Amsterdam should be challenging during the busy travel season when fuel prices have never been higher, but at least many people will be able to reach the city without a stopover, or in some cases with one fewer plane change on the way. Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam was the 5th busiest passenger airport in Europe in 2007 after London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt International, and Madrid Barajas.
The new cities and routes are:
Date: April 10th, 2008 |
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