The first time I (solo) visited Amsterdam was in 1986. I couldn’t get Keukenhof out of my mind then. The next one was in 2000. Quite a long time till this visit. We snagged a free walking tour of the City, a (first) lunch in a pancake house before visiting the Anne Frank House, a 2nd lunch in that Bohemian Jordaan neighbourhood and finally a quick visit of the Red Light District.

This tiny country packs a lot. This time, I won’t miss the chance to do more day trips in the next 6 days out of Amsterdam. There’s Giethorn, Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem, Volendam (this one I visited in ’86) and many more. Never realised how easy this was to do with each out-of-the-city site a mere half-hour to 2 hours max away. The train and bus systems work, and there are plenty of things to do even within the city. The museum and art scene is very vibrant. Think Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer and Bosch. And the coffee and bar culture? We even found a tiny church converted into a bar complete with a pulpit, a cross on the panelled wall and some Turkish lamps! No wonder there are sooo many tourists especially at this time of the year. There’s always something for the art and culture geek, for the camwhoring tourists, the gay lovers (the first gay marriage was legitimised here), and yes, there’s the “sex and drugs” scene. Weather was a very pleasant 17-20C — perfect weather for walking.

There’s something about (clean) canals that fascinate us. Like Venice. But unlike Venice, the bridges crossing the canals are wider here, and not as easy to get lost 🙄. I could have skipped the Red Light District but we have a couple of first-timers in our group of 6, so we went. Our 24-hour travel pass was put to good use. More so since we chose a hotel outside the city center but just a mere 1-3 stops away via the bus or train station right next to our hotel.

It was a good first whole day in this city. Since we were blessed with good weather, we thought the museums can wait. Walking around and day trips to outside towns and big cities are the order of the day. Watch this page!