Amsterdam is a gouda city!
As our European summer escapade drew to a close, Amsterdam emerged as our final stop on a journey back to Australia. Our entourage for this adventure in the Netherlands? Anything but typical – a spirited 2-year-old leading the charge, accompanied by her septuagenarian grands-parents.
Five days in the Dutch capital allowed us to discover its unique rhythm, especially as we navigated its waterways with our multi-generational crew in tow. You might think we’d seen enough canals in Venice during our round-the-world trip, but Amsterdam took it to a whole new level. Canals are everywhere, and they give the city a unique charm that took us by surprise!
Let’s embark on a discovery of the city’s soul, one leaning building and winding canal at a time. Welcome to our slow-paced family-friendly Amsterdam and surroundings exploration!
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Day 1: Amsterdam historical centre – from Centraal to Dam Square
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Walk around town
5km (3.1mi) | 3h -
Valeriussplein to Centraal Station
5km (3.1mi) | 23min
We landed the day prior, late afternoon, allowing us to find our bearings and discover the beautiful neighborhood we were staying in for the next few days.
An abundance of bicycles lining the sidewalks, demonstrated the clear preference for this mode of transportation, and confirmed we’ve arrived in Amsterdam!
For this trip we opted to discover HomeExchange, a platform that allows verified people to exchange their homes and discover new places. As we were exploring Amsterdam, as an exchange, we welcomed our hosts as guests at Bene’s parents’ B&B in the Bordeaux wine region!
Group travel is always synonym of slow-travel and managing a group requires patience! Our first day started way past 10.30am, setting the tone for the rest of the trip.
Centraal Station and Cyyperspassage
Our first stop is Centraal Station. As we stand, under a beautiful blue sky, we are in awe of an impressive architecture, a landmark that welcomes you to the heart of Amsterdam.
After this amazing introduction to Amsterdam historical centre, we head West of the station to Cyyperspassage. The pedestrian and cyclist passage is 110m long and its left wall is covered with Delft tiles.
A company spent a year painting 46,000 wall tiles in the traditional Delft blue Dutch tile size of 13 x 13cm. The paintings are inspired from a tile panel from the collection at the Rijksmuseum by Cornelis Boumeester.
Damrak
As we leave the passage to start our deep dive in the narrow streets of the historical centre, we spend sometime wandering around Damrak harbor.
The harbor provides beautiful photo opportunities to capture the colorful and quirkiness of the architecture of typical canal houses.
Zeedijk Street
As we enter Zeedijk street, our first stop is Hotel Prins Hendrik, a plaque commemorates the jazz musician Chet Baker who spent his last days, leaving behind a musical legacy.
A couple of meters from there, across the street, you can witness Amsterdam’s oldest wooden houses, a historical gem nestled in the heart of the city.
Where to Stay, Eat & How To Get Around
- Budget / HomeExchange
- Lunch / Fabian Pizza
- Dinner / La Cavataria
- Snack / Amsterdam Cheese Store
- Snack / Van der Linde (Ice Cream)
- Snack / Three Little Bottles
(Beers & Liquors)
- Tram / We simply use our credit cards to touch on and touch off calculating automatically your fare. Note that if you intend to take more than 2 times transport during the same day, it’s a better deal to by a day pass in the tram.
Day 2: Anne Frank house, Jordaan and a Canal Cruise
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From Valeriusplein to Paleisstraat
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Night Walk
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Canal cruise
0km (0.0mi) | 90min
While our first day was a testament to European summer, featuring a bright blue sky and warm temperature, our second day set the tone and offered us a grey and very wet morning!
Anne Frank House
Wander in Jordaan
Day 3: Van Gogh Museum, Leidsegracht and Flower Market
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Where to Stay, Eat & How To Get Around
- Budget / HomeExchange
- Lunch / Panini & Hot dogs stall – Museumplein
- Snack / Poffertjes – Road side stall Rijksmuseum
- Snack / Cookies – Banketbakkerij Het Koekemannetje
- Snack / Dutch Appletaart– Café Blue Amsterdam
- Dinner / Bierfabriek
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Day 4: Zaanse Schans, Edam, Voledam and Broek Waterland
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Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans
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Zaanse Schans to Edam
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Edam to Voledam
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Voledam to Broek Waterland
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Broek Waterland to Amsterdam
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Where to Stay, Eat & How To Get Around
- Budget / HomeExchange
- Lunch / Wolf Sand Zaandijk
- Snack / Beers – DamHotel
- Dinner / Cafe Restaurant De Groen – Voledam
- Rental Car / We rented an electric 9-seater van to get our group of this day trip out of Amsterdam
Day 5: Amsterdam historical centre south east exploration
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Where to Stay, Eat & How To Get Around
- Budget / HomeExchange
- Snack / Pancakes Amsterdam Central
- Bus to Airport / We took bus 397 about 10min walk from our accommodation that goes direct to the Airport
by Guillaume Debever and Bénédicte Bouchereau. All rights reserved.