This is one of Amsterdam\u2019s most famous and most unique tourist sites. Whatever your opinion is on women being displayed for sale in windows, it\u2019s something you won\u2019t see anywhere else, and the district is definitely worth a peek. Just remember \u2013 pictures are strictly forbidden, and your camera will be confiscated if you don\u2019t keep it stowed away.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t know what Amsterdam\u2019s coffeeshops are known for, then let me give you a hint\u2026 it\u2019s not coffee! Since marijuana is legal in Holland, many tourists flock to Amsterdam to smoke a joint or two in one of the city\u2019s many coffeeshops. These are literally everywhere, especially in the city centre and near to the Red Light District, and are always packed with people sitting outside and enjoying a smoke. You\u2019ll probably notice the distinctive smell everywhere. By the way, there are also plenty of great places to drink actual coffee as well!<\/p>\n There are a couple of main squares in Amsterdam, which are all packed with cafes, restaurants and bars, but Dam is the biggest and most iconic. During our trip there was a funfair going on there, and it\u2019s definitely one of the more lively parts of the city, packed with people. By night, all the restaurants and bars around this area are busy, and sitting outside is a great way to people-watch and experience the Amsterdam nightlife. Be sure to also check out\u00a0Rembrandtplein \u2013 where you can easily grab a table outside to eat dinner or have a drink, and Museumplein, where all the biggest museums (and the famous Amsterdam sign) are.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re anything like me, then you probably don\u2019t instantly associate the Netherlands with great cuisine, but actually you\u2019d be wrong! Amsterdam has plenty of good international restaurants, but is particularly good for Indonesian cuisine due to the country\u2019s links with its former colony. We also found a fantastic Dutch restaurant in the centre, where I tried the traditional dish Hotchpotch, which is basically a combination of mashed potato and vegetables, served with bacon or meatballs, which was really tasty and filling. Make sure you also order a pint of Heineken (brewed in the city) and try some traditional apple cake or poffertjes (small pancakes), which are really popular.<\/p>\n Technically this should probably come under \u2018Dutch cuisine\u2019, but I think it deserves a point all of its own. Herring is a very traditional food in the Netherlands, as in much of Northern Europe and can be bought from various stalls in the city. Try it with pickles and chopped onion in a roll for a tasty, cheap and portable lunch while you\u2019re sightseeing!<\/p>\n The stereotype that Dutch people are ridiculously good at English is true, so don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t speak any Dutch<\/a>; you can definitely get around and order food in English. However, people are generally friendly and happy to let you try out a couple of phrases on them. We got chatting to some locals in a club, and they were happy to teach us some basic words, although their English was completely fluent. Dutch people seem to be very open to chatting with foreigners in English (more so than elsewhere) and it\u2019s an easy place to make some new friends.<\/p>\n Don’t forget to bring uTalk<\/a> with you, even if you only use it to decipher what\u2019s on menus!<\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty to check out on the cultural side too. The Van Gogh museum has permanent queues in front of it, to see some beautiful paintings by the most famous Dutch artist of all time \u2013 even if he wasn\u2019t well known at all in his lifetime. We visited the Rijksmuseum nearby, which has some paintings by Van Gogh and fellow Dutch artist Rembrandt, as well as many other exhibits. However make sure you leave plenty of time to see everything \u2013 as it\u2019s huge and takes at least 3-4 hours to explore everything. Michal recommends the children\u2019s science museum, and the Museum of Sex also sounds intriguing\u2026<\/p>\n Well, this one is rather weather-dependent, but the weather was great over the Easter weekend, and a stroll around one of the parks was definitely in order. The Vondelpark is quite central and really big \u2013 great for a run or a walk. We also sunbathed for a few hours in the Osterpark (a bit further out) where you can easily while away a sunny afternoon.<\/p>\n Finally, the other big thing the city is famous for: bikes. The first thing everyone said to me before I went to Amsterdam was \u2018watch out for the bikes\u2019 and they weren\u2019t wrong. It seems like absolutely everyone cycles everywhere, which means it\u2019s a very clean city and the air quality is good. It\u2019s also a very healthy way to get around. Renting a bike is an ideal way to see the city. You can walk just about anywhere, or there are trams and even a (small) metro network, but cycling is probably the quickest and easiest way to zip around the main sights and get from one side of the city to the other. Even cycling home from a night out seems to be the norm.<\/p>\n So there you have it\u2026 Everyone in the office seems to have a lot of opinions on what the best things to see and do are, so let us know what we\u2019ve missed in the comments!<\/p>\n Alex (and team!)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As part of our non-stop quest to bring you an insiders\u2019 guide to the cultural and linguistic highlights of Europe and beyond, here are my top ten reasons why you should visit Amsterdam. 1. The beautiful canals Of course I knew that Amsterdam was famous for its canals, but I didn\u2019t realise that they\u2019re everywhere. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[385,456,97,18],"tags":[452,453,454,198,86,455,457,202,458,203,459],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2122\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Amsterdam](\"https:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/a3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n2. The Red Light District<\/h4>\n
3. The coffeeshops<\/h4>\n
4. Dam square<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n5. Dutch cuisine?!<\/h4>\n
6. Haring (herrings)<\/h4>\n
7. Try out a few phrases in Dutch!<\/h4>\n
8. The museums<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n9. Parks<\/h4>\n
10. Bikes, bikes, bikes!<\/h4>\n