Amsterdam Travel Guide
Travel guide to Amsterdam, The Netherlands with comprehensive information about events, shopping, and major Amsterdam sporting events to help you enjoy your visit more.
Amsterdam Overview
Amsterdam has become the favoured short break destination for millions of tourists, and offers plenty to see and do to keep you very busy over a short visit.
From smokey coffee shops to brightly lit art galleries, and from churches to the red light district, Amsterdam is a city of contrasts that has something to offer for almost anyone, no matter what their interests are.
A great place to visit at almost any time of the year, Amsterdam is as well suited to a romantic short break as it is to a stag weekend (although these are not welcomed at all hotels), and is a city that you can see on a tiny budget, or spend a fortune exploring fully.
Amsterdam is a place that you can get to easily, and explore at your leisure, and for most people, is a city that gives up its secrets quickly, but has so many attractions that one visit can never be enough to experience it fully.
Top Amsterdam Attractions
Aside from the sleazy side of Amsterdam of coffee shops and brothels that attract thousands of visitors each week, there is an entirely different city to explore. A place of high art, culture, and beautiful architecture.
The Rijksmuesum is one of Europe's top galleries, and rivals the Uffizi in Florence in terms of the breadth of art on display. The Van Gogh Museum in the city centre has the best collection of his work in the world including a number of his best-known paintings.
Kids will love a visit to Amsterdam Zoo, while a cruise along the canals in a glass roofed boat is a great way to see the city in style. The Red Light district is worth wandering through, although after a few minutes it all seems a little crass and tragic rather than being particularly titillating.
Shopping in Amsterdam
With large shopping malls, and hundreds of shops selling souvenirs of your visit to Amsterdam, the city is a real shopper's paradise. You can browse through boutiques featuring the work of some top designers, look for bargains on the market stalls, or head into the back streets where small shops sell unique works of art and other trinkets.
Two of the most popular places to shop in Amsterdam include the flower market where you can see millions of blooms for sale, and the gift shop at the Van Gogh museum, where copies of all the great artist's works are available.
Amsterdam Sporting Events
Perhaps the best-known sporting team in Amsterdam is the mighty Ajax Amsterdam football team. As one of the most successful teams in European Football history, Ajax have pioneered many traits of the modern game including total football and boast players such as Johan Cruyff and Ruud Gullitt amongst their Alumni.
The team play regular matches at their stadium in Amsterdam, and a visit to a match is quite an experience, with great passion shown by the attending fans - especially when Ajax win!
