Hello Friends, A-dam Virgin here..

[Jointman69]

Hello all,

I have been creeping for a little while, thought i'd post. I've never been to the Dam before but I'm planning a trip. I'll be in town around the 10th of December '09 and stay until around the 20th. I have some questions(who doesn't?!) on this though. It's not my first time out of the country(USA) by a long shot but i haven't been to Europe since i was less than a year old.

So help me please!:

A) Food Price- how many euros are needed for 2 people for one week?(nothing fancy except maybe one dinner)
B) Hotel: abba, verdi, cornerhouse, or something I haven't discovered?
C) Sights besides coffeeshops?(i'm sorry, I'm American remember, we are not quite as cultured).
D) Is December really really really rainy? like so bad I should just go in January, or I'll be fine?
E) I definitely want some souvenirs to take home. How expensive are things and what are some good take home gifts n such?


Thanks in advance everyone, I look forward to hanging on this site!

the J man!

[FlyByNite]

Welcome to the forum.

When your dates have firmed up, get them to me.
I'll post you on the Whos In Town page.

You can pass some of your wait browsing the menus on the Coffeeshop Menus page. The De Kuil menu was taken yesterday, so some are current.

Enjoy
FlyByNite - Travel preference, not business practice

Coffeeshop Frog Hollow
home of the
Whos In Town
and
Coffeeshop Menus
pages.

[liquidSwords]

Hello and welcome to the forum dude

Glad to hear you gonna make the trip across the pond to the Dam.....

Food will cost between 30-50 euro's per person per day depending on how claasy you eat , of course it can cost 12euros having Mc'd's all day but you wouldnt wanna do that now would you

I stayed in Hotel Abba and had no problems what soever, they even put an ashtrya in the room for smokers, also had a balcony!!! all for 25euros per night (75 euros for a triple room)

The Van Goth Museum and the Henniken Brewery are places i would like to visit, havent donw any sightseeing in my 7 trips so far, planning to do a sightseeing trip with the missus in october.

As for your others questions its best for locals to answer... but anytime is great in Dam as when the rain comes down it means one thing time to dive into a coffeeshop and build that perfect spliff....

Have fun mate

[Lubricant]

Hello all,

I have been creeping for a little while, thought i'd post. I've never been to the Dam before but I'm planning a trip. I'll be in town around the 10th of December '09 and stay until around the 20th. I have some questions(who doesn't?!) on this though. It's not my first time out of the country(USA) by a long shot but i haven't been to Europe since i was less than a year old.

So help me please!:

A) Food Price- how many euros are needed for 2 people for one week?(nothing fancy except maybe one dinner)
B) Hotel: abba, verdi, cornerhouse, or something I haven't discovered?
C) Sights besides coffeeshops?(i'm sorry, I'm American remember, we are not quite as cultured).
D) Is December really really really rainy? like so bad I should just go in January, or I'll be fine?
E) I definitely want some souvenirs to take home. How expensive are things and what are some good take home gifts n such?


Thanks in advance everyone, I look forward to hanging on this site!

the J man!

Some good questions in preperation of a visit.. Here is my advise.

As for food, you can cut your food costs by renting an apartment for the week. They can cost as little as a cheap hotel room, and get pretty expensive, but come with a kitchen and seating areas. I have done a week for about 150 euro making nice meals for my wife, a friend, and myself. Albert Heijn is where the locals shop. It is their supermarket and you can find anything you need to make a meal in there. Just a note, the containers that look like chocolate milk in the USA, actually have chocolate pudding in them. Its a big surprise the first time you buy that as a big weeklong 2euro snack..

As for hotels, you have my advice above. Check www.bookings.com for accommodations. On each hotel listing, there is a map link so you can see exactly where you are staying. For hotels, pick nothing less than 3 stars, and make sure it is not a shared bathroom, unless you dont mind sharing to save a hundred or so euro on the room.

Sights? Tons of them. The torture museum was a ripoff for me, but some people like it. Van Gough museum is nice, Rembrandt. There are great clubs, movie theatres, comedy clubs, and all venues in the area. In December, you should be able to ice skate if its cold enough on some of the canals.


December and Jan seem to be the same temp.. COLD.. Rainy and Snowy!! It snowed on me in November and in March in Amsterdam.. It is a very wet town, but more of a sprinkle when it rains.. Not much of a big downpour unless its a normal storm that blows in.

Souvenirs are pricey sometimes. T-shirts are all around for 10 euro, and try them on first to make sure they fit!!! I see most keychains for 3-5 euro, and lots of fridge magnets 3 for 10..

Let your bank know you will be in the Netherlands so you can use your ATM for the best exchange rate, but be sure to bring at least 100 euro with you as a backup.. You can pay for most hotels with a credit card, or your ATM with visa logo card as long as it does not exceed your daily limit. Be mindful of the exchange rate, your limit is in USD, not EUR...

[hilian]

We have stayed in Hotel Abba & Greenhouse Effect. Both offer clean ,smoker friendly rooms and a good breakfast.
Abba is a little off the beaten track but the tram stops outside and takes ya to most places.
We normally spend about 5 Euros each for lunch and then 10 Euros for dinner, plus the odd munchie
below is a link to the nemesis map, which includes guides to Museums, shops & stuff and is well worth printing out a copy as well as the ACD map to help ya find ya way round.

http://www.amsterdamer.supanet.com

Have a great trip

[intricatethakid]

First time I've seen it

[murphyscafe]

yeh nice map!

anyone else notice that there are TWO red light areas on the map!

ive only known of the one! and we all know what one that is!!

[angry pirate]

yeh nice map!

anyone else notice that there are TWO red light areas on the map!

ive only known of the one! and we all know what one that is!!

you never noticed the windows round spuistraat before? up by the little abraxas. i remember pulling back the blind upstairs one afternoon in any day c/s and down across the alley was a brazzer sat in her window doing what looked her uni coursework, not a classic redlight pose but what the hell, eh?
p.s. definetely over for 26/10 as i missed 4/20 . see you then and maybe a chill upstairs in any day could be on the cards.

[SoulRider]

yeh nice map!

anyone else notice that there are TWO red light areas on the map!

ive only known of the one! and we all know what one that is!!

you never noticed the windows round spuistraat before? up by the little abraxas. i remember pulling back the blind upstairs one afternoon in any day c/s and down across the alley was a brazzer sat in her window doing what looked her uni coursework, not a classic redlight pose but what the hell, eh?
p.s. definetely over for 26/10 as i missed 4/20 . see you then and maybe a chill upstairs in any day could be on the cards.

There are 3 red light districts in Amsterdam. The main one. One on Singel out the back of Abraxas, and then another along Hobbemakade by the end of Albert Cuyp Straat.

I can take you around all of them next time if you fancy murphyscafe

[angry pirate]

a third one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SR, you ever thought of a bit of moonlighting for the vvv? can't beat a bit of local knowledge.