Help me plan a day in Vondelpark

[DC]

Something like this then?

Yep, though don't go down the Overtoom, just turn right when ya come over the bridge from Baarsjesweg, ya can see the park from the bridge. The place on Kinkerstraat is a fruit and veg/butchers shop, go to the start of yer red line on the map and it's under the 'r' of kinker (chickens outside in a rotisserie oven thing). There's an AH at the 'P' of Postjesweg for anything else. Plus, yer not gonna get much closer to Rembrandt park than this, so ya might wanna take a quick cycle round it just to tick it off the list while yer there.

[ohm sweet ohm]

Too late.. Story of my life

[StonedSince67]

For all you nature lovers, I would appreciate any tips about trails or activities to do in Vondelpark

my vondelpark tour

suggesting a route for a tour of vondelpark is as silly as suggesting a route for the jordaan area ... both of these places are ripe for just meandering and finding one's own way around.

having said that, a preset route is useful for getting to know a place for the first time ... and then after that, one can take to just meandering.

the best map of the park that i have seen can be found at http://project.waag.org/parq/vondelparkmap.htm ... my suggestion is to print it and bring it with you

as a simplified view i have made a maps.google.com 800x600 map for following the tour ... actual route finding, however, is better done with the big vondelpark map



the place to start the vondelpark tour is leidseplein (labelled 0 in the bubble)

from leidseplein make your way to the gates for vondelpark and follow the path along past the stayokay hostel and then under the road bridge until you reach the cycle ring road at the start of the park

follow the path to the right to the filmmuseum (labelled 1) ... catch one of the old films or just have a coffee on the terrace

you may exit the park here to go to the coffeeshop tweedy or visit the horse riding school de hollandsche manege to have a coffee and perhaps observe a riding lesson

from the filmmuseum make your way to the het blauwe theehuis (labelled 2) for a coffee or maybe a full meal ... the apple tart is good here imo

after being refreshed wander past the openlucht theater (labelled 3) to get a fix on its location in case there is something interesting on during the time of your visit to amsterdam

follow the path past the openlucht theatre and bear right to get to the entrance near the tennis club ... exit here to go the coffeeshops kashmir, blue lagoon or 't tuintje

from the point at the edge of the park near the tennis club turn your body to the left until you see the children's wading pool (labelled 4) ... have a gentle saunter past the pool and the crowds of kids, parents and grandparents ... this place always reminds me of the wading pool i loved as a kid in chicago in the 50s, so for me this is a nice time warp

carry on until you hit the path again and bearing right carry on along the path with the rose garden to your right ... just before the bridge there is a path which goes through some bushes/trees and then opens out into a lovely green area with the water to your left ... the rose garden will again be to your right ... btw this is a good area for a smoke ... also i once saw a pizza being delivered to someone in the park !!! ... wow ... smoke and pizza

continue walking on the grass and keep the water on your left-hand side ... just keep walking until you pass a bridge and then keep walking next to the water all the way to the end of the park (labelled 5) passing by some islands built for the ducks (note the little wooden ramps which the ducks use to get onto the island from the water) ... in the trees where the path comes out into an open green area are green parrots ... no, really ... there are about a dozen or so green parrots which have escaped from somewhere and now live in these trees

this open green area by the water is another good place to have a smoke

after all this activity it is time for some more refreshment ... skip the cafe in the bottom-left corner of the park and walk along the main path by the green area until it joins with the main cycle ring road

continue walking until you come to the emmalaan exit from the park ... walk straight along emmalaan and past emmaplein until you get to the main road koninginneveg ... across the road on the right-hand corner is the gelati spot (labelled 6), a small cafe with excellent coffee and pastries and real italian ice cream ... yummy

to finish the tour return along emmalaan back into the park and turn right along the cycle ring road ... wander along to the end of the park back to the place we were at the beginning of the tour ... as an optional extra take a few minutes to wander up to the statue of joost van den vondel (labelled 7) the dutch writer and playwright

take the path which goes under the road bridge and past the stayokay hostel and make your way across the street back to leidseplein (labelled 8), the point where the tour began ... of course there are a number of coffeeshops in the leidseplein area to end the day with a nice relaxing/chilling puff of something tasty

i hope you enjoy the park as much as i do ... and don't forget to meander a bit too

[Boner]

That's an amazing post.

[hardboiled]

Yeah, its repetitive....but...

Shit man, that's an amazing post.

[evergrey1968]

Has anyone seen the Island Shop at the Leidseplein end of the Park ?

Carribean Islands etc for sale, we spent about 15 minutes window shopping

[puffpuffgive]

De Graal coffeeshop is ten minutes walk or so away from the willemsparkweg side of things.

If you're on the other side, Resteraunt Dosa isn't far if you want a curry http://www.dosaindianrestaurant.nl/

there are prettier parks in the world- and it's filled with cyclists- but I still go here every time I visit the city, just to be in a big green space. I love smoking in parks & forests

[tuttiflutes]

nice tour...

tutti

[titus wong]

Hey SS67,

Wotta gr8 post!! Thanks. It'll take me some time to digest all the info. Ironically, my plans for a tour of Vondel have gone belly up due to my buddy's disinclination to cycle in a strange city whilst stoned out of his gourd. Understandable.

I'm sure other folks will find the intel useful tho' and I'm bookmarking this for the future!

Mebbe Lemming can make this a sticky?

[crackerbread]

that is a great post, i LOVED my visit to the park last year, just laid out on the grass with a nice joint of amsterdams finest, did make me laugh though seeing all the tramps/vagrants going around picking up peoples joint stubs, just keep your belongings close, i always had my backpack at the side of me sometimes looped through my belt loops or wrapped round my arm