cheekyq wrote:Hello, after reading loads of threads I decided to make my own to ask a few questions about how best to organise 10 people over a 3 day stay.
We will be staying in a hostel which is a 5 minute walk from the central train station.
My concerns so far are:
1) How much will it cost to take the trams and would a travel pass be worth it?
2) How big is the average coffee shop and will taking 10 people in at once fill a place?
3) Where would you recommend going to drink pub/nightclub wise and what is the best cost effect way to get back to the hostel?
4) Any recommendations of which coffee shops to try for people that are first time or not heavy smokers (myself excluded
)
5) Attractions that are worth seeing
6) Places to eat that won't break the bank
7) Some general rules about the conduct of smoking in the city (Such as do people roll up in the streets or even smoke?)
I realise that my questions essentially ask you to plan my whole holiday, but I would greatly appreciate any wisdom you could share with me.
1) theres plenty of tram info about online (price and routes etc), but i think its worth mentioning, that the centre of the city (which is pretty much what most tourists are concerned with) is easily traversable by foot. for reference, if you look on a map, the distance from central station to dam square is 10 minutes walking. this means the RLD, jordaan, harlemeerstraat, dam square, rembrandstplein, leidseplein etc etc are all walkable. ive walked form central station to the museum district plenty of times, takes maybe 30-45 mins.
2) the majority of coffeeshops dont have space for 10 to sit together on a table. and many coffeeshops would be filled up by 10 extras walking in the door. however, rest assured there are still plenty of places with adequete space, eg; downstairs in the dolphins, mellow yellow, damkring, rokerij near leidseplein etc. your best bet could be to go to the smoker friendly bars/pubs like stones, bulldog palace, lost in amsterdam etc. these are bigger bar venues and allow you to bring in your weed form elsewhere to smoke
3) my favouirte night out is warmoerstraat area. edge of the redlight district, lots of noise, lights, bars, coffeeshops, drunk people, prostitutes, etc etc. if you fancy a touch more classy/dutch night out 'de pijp' area in the south is a quailty place. some great bars, and a couple of brilliant coffeeshops (katsu especially). less of the drunk brits/yanks roaming around. leidesplein is commonly stated as the night out area, but its really not great. warmoerstraat is where the carnage is. (if thats what your after)
4) as for a good place for first timers, just make sure you like the vibe of the place, you trust the bud tender. theres no shame in deciding a place is not for you and heading back out. and be polite and conifdent in asking for what you want. theres definatly no shame in saying your not a big smoker. the staff dont want some one completely smashed in their shop in the same way you dont wanna pass out in the shop.
5) take a canal boat tour from damrak near central station. definatly a good way to see the sights. its a gorgeous city. theres plenty to do in town, and plenty written about it on various sites.
6) theres a food section in this forum which should help. there is an abundance of cheap (and sometimes very good) fast food/shoarma/falafel places in the centre. but as awlays the cheapest way to eat is buy ingredients form a supermarket and make your own meals.
