TIPS:
HOTEL:
Volkshotel: Artsy/trendy place. Nice atmosphere and great view from the rooftop. There are also sauna and jacuzzi with free use outside on the rooftop terrace!
FOOD:
- Breakfast/Brunch:
- Cafe BelCampo: Coffee place with a library and lots of nice events like lectures and guest speakers. Check their events!
- Breakfast Club: Yes, it has all the instagram clichés... but that's actually what we like! Great atmosphere/decoration and all the basics on the card for a trendy brunch.
- Bar Spek: Do NOT stop at the logo 😆 Nice place with good menu for brunch and lunch.
- Mook: Pancaaaaaakes fever!
- Lunch/Diner:
- The Commons: So many choices on the menu! The pizzas are delicious (I recommend the goat cheese one) AND I HIGHLY recommend the brownie... amazing.
- Kanarie Club: If you want to spend your day eating and chilling well, that's the place! Lots of corners/food trucks to fulfill all your food wishes. It's also a great location in an old factory with lots of shops and coffees around.
- Sunday Market at Westergasfabriek: Same, you can spend the day there but it's IDEAL for a sunny lunch/afternoon. You can grab different food (and drinks) and chill in the park around.
- Jansz: A bit too fancy for me BUT if you like this atmosphere it's a great place.
- Coffee break:
- Skybar - Madam Amsterdam: Perfect break spot after a long day walking and what a view! I would also recommend it for evening drinks and/or diner. The prices are surprisingly ok.
- Tolhuistuin: Perfect for a coffee or drinks during a sunny afternoon.
- Scandinavian Embassy: for coffee lovers.
- Drinks:
- Pulitzer's bar: "Cocktails in a cosy and elegant atmosphere" place.
- Canvas: On the rooftop of the Volkshotel, great view.
SHOPPING:
- Harlemmerstraat: You will want to buy everything, yes. You will feel poor, yes 🙈 Hypster street to be with all the trendy boutiques. Nice to walk by and close to the Sunday market so good combo.
- De Hallen: I already refer to this place for food (it's where The Kanaris Club is) but in this factory space there are a lot of shops. I recommend The Maker Store: adorable/fun/trendy items from AMS. There is also a coffee upstairs.
- The 9 street in the Jordan: lots of adorable boutiques. Yes, expensive.
- We are vintage: vintage fashion shop to find unique pieces to bring back!
- Handmade Heaven: DIY shop!
WHAT TO SEE:
- Catch the ferry to AMS North: Once there I recommend to go to the A'DAM Lookout best view over AMS! To go there via ferry is a nice journey, the coffee place at the top has an amazing panorama and you can test your limits with the swing on the roof!
- The Jordaan: when you think AMS and the canals you actually think about The Jordaan. It's adorable. Go through the famous "9 streets".
- Begijnhof: the most famous square in AMS.
- Flowers market: you have to see it once.
- Take a canal cruise: yes it's cliché but it is actually really nice and a great way to get an overview of the city. I would start by this. Be careful and check the different prices/tours because it differs a lot.
- Museums: AMS has SO many museums and for all tastes. Nevertheless it is really expensive. Check the "Museum cards" option to save some money if you intend to do several museums. I highly recommend the Stedelijk Museum if you like contemporary art.
- The red district: to see by night, it's an experience.
- Check the events in parks and the difference markets! It's a great way to get away from the super touristic spots. I recommend the Sunday Market at the Westergasfabriek.
- Rent bikes! Great way to experience the city and gain time to do everything.
THE TRIP:
Dates: 28/02/18-04/03/18
Departure: Nuremberg
Arrival: Amsterdam
DAY 1:
Here we go! Well, almost... A LONG trip waits for me…
The day starts with Lufthansa announcing me that my first flight in cancelled...
After waiting for a REALLY long time on the line I hear that I have another flight scheduled and that I should make it on time to Munich. Because yes: I don’t flight directly to Amsterdam, I have a stop in Munich (yeah, WTF 🙄). Once in Munich, I hear that my second flight is delayed! Indeed it is freezing and snowing in all Europe. Anyway, long story short: I arrived at the hotel SEVEN HOURS after leaving my home… Paris-NYC is faster...
We stay at Volkshotel. Really nice/hipster place. I like the simple and artsy vibes.
We are all super tired (everyone got delayed) so we just go to diner in front of the hotel at The Commons. It’s actually really nice! Great atmosphere, good food, and the brownie is AMAZING (see food section above).
DAY2:
I wake up for a quick workout in my room. Abs circuit + yoga flow.
I cannot believe all the weird places I trained in my life 😆
We then go to the Facebook Offices because we have the chance to be part of a Creative Hack for our future adidas Women campaign.
Super happy to meet again with the facebook team ❤
We stay all day long there and then go for diner at Jansz. Nice place, maybe a bit too fancy for me. Then the team goes down for drinks at Pulitzer's bar. It looks super nice but I decide to go back to the hotel because I want to wake up early tomorrow to go running.
DAY 3:
Straight after waking up I put on my running clothes. It's INSANELY freezing (really...) in AMS and I don’t want to find excuses not to go out. I go first to the rooftop of the hotel to enjoy the view and then I go for a short run (I am not supposed to run, I have an inflammation in my shoot but shut... 🤫). I stop along the canal to practice my daily yoga flow.
The light and the vibes are amazing... What a moment when the sun hits my face at the end of the flow. In those moments I really realize how lucky I am and how many opportunities we have to be happy in life ❤
I then go for a nice breakfast with a view and meet the team to head to Facebook again.
All day meetings/workshops and then it’s the weekeeeeend.
I go to meet my friend Stefanie who I met in Morocco during my last trip in January.
What a story: we became friend with her at the surf camp (see my article about my surf trip in Morocco) and I told her and the other surfers living in AMS that I would come to visit and here I am, less than 2 months after!
We order asian food delivery. I love those girls catchup basics 💞
DAY 4:
We go for breakfast at Bar Spek and then she has to work. I then go for my usual "full day walking to discover the city". I usually start with a long run but I am feeling really sick so I cancelled it.
It is... FREEZING. I have layers of clothes on and my ski jacket and still, I am frozen. The canals are frozen too and people ice-skate on the river... it's pretty cool!
I join my friend Kellie who I met at Facebook. We have a long walk in the city center: Begijnhof, Jordan, De Wallen, Train station.
Then we take the ferry to go to the A'DAM Lookout. Nice way to "escape" the city and discover another side of AMS.
We discover that there is a swing on the top and... we are IN!
e are crazy people and I love it.
The view from the top is amazing AND you can take funny pictures included in the ticket to go up 😉
Kellie has to go and I decide to go to the Stedelijk museum. I walk there so I cross all AMS: I would like to have the time to enter all the boutiques/coffees! I arrive at the museums district and same: I want to go to all the museums!
I love contemporary art so I really enjoy the Stedelijk museum. It is really expensive though! (See tips at the start of the article).
Nevertheless I am really sick I cannot really stand up anymore so I have to grab a uber to go back home and I have to lay-down for the rest of the day.
DAY 5:
I do not feel great but I want to make the most of my last day.
I go to The Breakfast Club with Stefanie and Britta (another friend from the surf camp ❤). We have a nice girly brunch and then with Britta we go to De Hallen to see The Kanarie Club. We stop by The Maker Store for some shopping.
We then go to the Sunday Market at Westergasfabriek... by bike! So nice to cycle along the canals. The place is SO nice!
Exactly what I love: old factory, lots of food trucks, handcrafted and second-hands shops. It's also really sunny now and two other friends (one met in Nuremberg and the other in New York! I love to keep in touch with people ❤) join us so we have all the ingredients for a chill afternoon.
After that we head to Harlemmerstraat for window-shopping and come back via the Nine streets in The Jordaan, so cute.
I have to say bye, pick up my bags and head to the airport 😢
I am thankful once again that my job gave me the opportunity to travel, learn and meet great people! Thanks to this I also had the chance to catch-up with friends met all around the world. I was pretty sick so I could not do as much as I wanted but I believe I still did a lot and anyway, I will be back (A.D.E is my next target) 😉