Going to Amsterdam in May is your last chance to avoid the massive summer crowds, and the weather is generally quite pleasant most days, but it can always be cool and gray in Amsterdam during any month so you can never come feeling certain of warm sunshine and blue skies. Since Queen’s Day in Amsterdam is a huge national holiday on April 30, May begins with something of a national hangover, but there are several notable events in the city to look forward to this month as well.
May Events in Amsterdam
Dodenherdenking (Remembrance Day) – May 4 – Everyone who lost their lives in World War II is remembered with a solemn ceremony at Dam Square that begins with the flag taken town to half staff at 6pm and really gets going with 2 minutes of silence at 8pm followed by the national anthem and about an hour of speeches. There are similar ceremonies all over the Netherlands, but this is the major one and is often attended by the royal family. The May 4 date is kept even when it falls on a Sunday, as it does in 2008.
Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) – May 5 – The quiet events the day before are immediately replaced by this national holiday marking the anniversary of the date in 1945 when the Netherlands was liberated from Nazi occupation. Canadian troops were the first allies to arrive, so Canadian flags are part of the decoration. There are concerts and celebrations throughout the country, including quite a few in Amsterdam itself. The most noted events take place in Museum Square in the southern part of the city center, but there are also performances and celebrations in Leidseplein, Vondelpark, the Rokin street area near Centraal Station among other places. There is also a market similar to, but much smaller than, the one on Queen’s Day. There are also gay and lesbian events in different parts of the city, most notably at the Homomonument. Some shops have limited opening hours or remain closed altogether, but most places of interest to tourists will have normal hours on May 5.
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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 …
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Queen’s Day is Amsterdam is one of those love-it or hate-it type holidays where a whole city goes mad for the day. It’s quite a spectacle with plenty to do, but public drunkenness and spontaneous and random-seeming celebrations are not everyone’s cup of tea. If you’ve heard it’s the city’s biggest party day and that appeals to you then by all means plan a trip in late April, but if you cringe at the sound of this description then avoiding it is probably the best advice.
What and when is Queen’s Day?
Koninginnedag, as its known in Dutch, started in 1889 to celebrate Queen Wilhemina’s birthday on August 31, and then it moved to April 30 when the new queen, Juliana, began her reign after her mother’s 1948 abdication. When the current Queen Beatrix took over in 1980 the holiday stayed on April 30, partly out of tribute to her mother, and partly because Beatrix’s actual birthday of January 31 would be a poor day on the weather calendar for a huge national outdoor celebration. April 30 is likely the permanent date now, but be aware that on years when that date falls on a Sunday the celebrations are shifted one day earlier.
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Sad news this week for Amsterdam museum-goers as the city announced that the Rijksmuseum, which was most recently scheduled to reopen after a renovation in 2010, now won’t complete the massive overhaul until late 2012 or early 2013. The country’s most impressive “State Museum” has been mostly closed to the public since 2003, so now it appears that the upgrade will be a 10-year project even if things stay on this new schedule.
The reason given by the Dutch culture ministry is that the company that won the deal to do the improvements for €134 million now says it will cost €222 million. So the ministry has responded by putting the contract up for bids again. The Dutch are almost as notorious for their efficiency as the Germans, but it does make the casual observer wonder what has been happening for the last 5 years.
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The nerds who do the technical stuff on Amsterdamlogue are still working on the upcoming map feature for this site, but they have now completed a really cool interactive map feature on some of the main travel guide pages for BootsnAll.com, which is the main site on the travel network that hosts Amsterdamlogue and many others.
The new map on the mini Amsterdam travel guide over there can be accessed by clicking on the Map tab on the navigation bar near the top of the page, or you can go to it directly on this Amsterdam map link. It’s probably easiest to use if you zoom in one level and then move the map around with your mouse.
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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.
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The results of a new Trip Advisor survey of over 1,100 travelers give Amsterdam high marks in at least three categories comparing major European cities. Amsterdam ranked second only to Dublin in the Friendly Locals category, second to only London in the Best Nightlife category, and we tied for third with Barcelona and Copenhagen for Best Parks, which puts the Dutch capital behind London and Paris in this group.
Out of the 13 categories listed, 9 of them rank positive things and 4 of them rank negative attributes, so being in the top 3 of three of the positive ones and staying clear of the negative ones (Most Expensive, Most Unfriendly, Dirtiest, Most Boring) seems like a pretty good showing.
Personally, I have mixed feelings about Trip Advisor, and at least a few of the results make me think that many or most of the people surveyed have only been to a small group of the possible cities being considered. Particularly in the Most Attractive Locals category, seeing that Rome and Paris came out on top of Stockholm, I’d argue this one until I was out of breath. Rome and Paris are both outstanding cities and the locals tend to dress well for sure, but I’d put Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam way ahead of those for attractive locals.
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As the first month of the year when you can expect reasonably pleasant weather most every day, April can be a great time to visit Amsterdam for people who like to avoid crowds without having to worry about bringing a parka. The year’s events calendar begins to pick up steam, and the blossoming of the local tulips is in full swing in April.
April events in Amsterdam
National Museum Weekend – Each April over 500 of the countries museums offer free or discounted entry and also run special programs meant to draw locals into these fine institutions. The official website is only in Dutch so it’s hard to sort out exactly who’s doing what, but it appears that all the museums in Amsterdam will participate one way or another. The 2008 weekend runs April 5 and 6.
Queen’s Day – April 30 - This national holiday is one of the biggest parties of the year as Amsterdam fills up with tourists and residents of nearby areas alike. Many people dress in the national color of orange as they celebrate the day through. A citywide flea market pops up on every street, and all major squares and parks fill with stages and events. Vondelpark is dedicated to the kids, and alcohol is abundant nearly everywhere in the city on this one special day. It’s April 30 in 2008 and every year that date isn’t a Sunday, when it’s shifted to the Saturday April 29.
>>more information about Queen’s Day in Amsterdam
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March can be one of the best months of the year to visit Amsterdam. The weather is noticeably warming up, crowds are still quite small, and airfares to the city are still at or near their lowest point of the year. And at least up until Daylight Savings Time starts on the last Sunday of the month, the sun comes up by 7:30 a.m. for the first time since October. There aren’t many events in the city that are of note to visitors, but all the museums and other attractions are open with their normal schedules, so with the small crowds you can see a lot in a short time.
March events in Amsterdam
Stille Omgang (Silent Procession) – Each March the Catholic Church organizes this event commemorating the ‘Miracle of Amsterdam’ that took place in 1345. It has to do with a dying man who lived on after last rites were administered, and it’s one of the biggest Catholic events in the country. The procession starts in the Spui area and heads along Kalverstraat to the Centraal Station area, and then back to Spui on Warmeostraat. The 2008 date is March 8, but it’s usually later when Easter doesn’t fall in the month.
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February in Amsterdam is not marked by any special events that would be of special interest to most visitors, although there is obviously a lot still going on. This is mostly an indoor city and all the museums and other attractions are all open, only with smaller crowds than during most of the rest of the year. Many fans of the city like to plan annual pilgrimages during these mellow winter months because prices on many things are lower, and the lack of crowds means visitors can move about freely without having to dodge the slow-moving masses.
Getting there
Airfare to Amsterdam is at its absolute lowest from early January through early March, so flights are usually both cheap and fairly easy to find, even at convenient times of the day. Of course, once you arrive at Schiphol Airport, you’ll take the train to Centraal Station that leaves many times per hour right below the airport. Even if the weather is not ideal, you won’t even have to bother with it much.
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