So... at the beginning of August it marked a very special day, my partners birthday! We were thinking of how to celebrate, and he sprung the idea on me of going away. We've both had a super busy year so far and hadn't planned a holiday - with me starting a new job in April, it really was at the bottom of my list. Although saying that, I was so up for it and looking forward to a well deserved break. We looked online and found a great deal to go to Amsterdam - we booked our hotel (Holiday Inn Express - more about this later!) and flights we personally go for Easy Jet as it is only a 45 minute - 1 hour flight! We literally had to wait less than 5 days before we flew... it was brilliant, as I hate a super long build up to a holiday. However... it did meant a lot less time to pack and prep for holiday!
We landed in Amsterdam on Tom's birthday, which was such a surreal experience - both of us have always said we wanted to be away one year on our birthdays! We got an early morning flight as they usually are the cheapest and it means you're out there for longer... so more time for your money spent (win, win!) You usually have to wait until 2-3pm for your hotel to be ready... every time we've been, it's been that time for check-ins. Our plan of action on the first day is to go and find a coffee shop to relax in. And, some how we seem to always end up in the same one, The Bulldog Café. This is a really popular café along the river, in the Dam Square and it's not too far from the Red Light District. We then headed for some breakfast (there is SO many choices for food... you really are spoilt for choice!)
We then checked in at the hotel, and I literally cannot settle until I have unpacked the suitcases... when you go on holiday, I think you either are one of two people... the organised one who unpacks or the 'I'll do it another later' and it stays in the suitcase the whole time! Which one are you? I like to put all of my make up and skincare out, hang all of the clothes, lay out our shoes and make it feel homely so I can settle in easier. I then got my book out, at the airport I purchased The Secret (which I cannot recommend enough... you can also find it on YouTube) and also some make-up products from Benefit! Tom decided to explore out the new area we we're staying at... and within an hour he had mapped out all of the quickest roots to get into Dam Square - first trip 15 - 20 minutes, second trip 10-15! (He is like my personal Google Maps, haha!) We did over 38,000 steps on our first day! We spent the afternoon in Dam Square going shopping, visiting different coffee shops and enjoying his birthday. I also arranged for us to go out to eat at a really nice restaurant to celebrate Tom's birthday in style! We were also very pleased by the generosity of the hotel who upgraded us to have free drinks to celebrate - this was so lovely of them.
Things to do in Amsterdam
- Visit the coffee shops (go to cool quirky ones too - my favourite ones will be listed below!
- Go on a boat cruise - you can find out more information / prices at the tourist shops!
- Go shopping around Dam Square - there are SO many shops suitable for everyone!
- EAT, EAT, EAT (So many amazing places for food and sweet treats!)
- Sex Museum
- Van Gogh Museum
- Heineken Experience
- Icebar
- Mademe Tussauds
- Walk through the Red Light District
- Red Light Secrets Museum
- Body Worlds
- Pub Crawl
I'm going to share some photo's I captured on our city break away! As when I'm reading travel posts, I absolutely love seeing what the place is like. I personally love going to Amsterdam, it totally is a different world out there. Everybody is themselves. There is so much you can do and explore if you want to have a fairly active, busy and touristy holiday. But at the same time, if you want to go and relax... it can give you that too! Amsterdam is a very busy city and during the time we went it was Amsterdam Pride which ended on Sunday 4th August - there was so much peace, love, events and celebrations going on. The festival attracts several hundred-thousand visitors each year and is one of the largest publicly held annual events in the Netherlands. The peak of the festival was during the Canal Pride, which is a parade of boats going through the canal. It was so amazing to see! There were people singing, dancing, drinking, having fun and the atmosphere was seriously amazing. We've been lucky that, every time we've been to Amsterdam there has been a big event on, so the buzz is so crazy and busy. I do find Amsterdam a bit of a whirlwind, I described it in my last post when we previously went, as the city that never sleeps and that is so true. You could start your evening at midnight and it would be packed full of people!
Our Hotel - What was it like? Location? Value for money?
If you have read my previous Amsterdam blog posts you'll know we usually stay at a beautiful hotel in Dam Square, called Die Port Van Cleve (which I still highly recommend) and I would say if it's your first time visiting Amsterdam, I would pay the extra in price to stay on the centre square. This was my third visit, and my boyfriends fourth, so we decided to look somewhere a little bit away from the centre - but still within walking distance, if you book further out, that's fine too as there are trams that can take you to Dam Square. We booked into Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam - City Hall, it is about a 15-20 minute walk into the centre, and very close to the Red Light District. There was a supermarket just opposite the hotel, and along the road there was some more shops, desert places, coffee shops and restaurant's. This hotel was considerably cheaper than where we usually stay, and was on a busy road. Although, our room was towards the back of the hotel - so we wasn't woken by any noise!
We wanted to stay somewhere different, and somewhere in a different location as we've found when we stay in the centre... that's where we stay the whole duration. The staff were very welcoming, they took our suitcases until we could check in and had a bar behind the reception area where you could have some drinks. The hotel pricing included a double bedroom and ensuite, wifi, and free breakfast during your stay. It was a Dutch breakfast and also included cereals and fruit and yoghurt. This is a BIG perk when staying in Amsterdam as a breakfast for two of you is looking at around 20 euros. The rooms were very spacious, clean and modern. Tom was most pleased about the TV and how many channels we had! Overall we were very satisfied with the hotel, it was better than I expected (although I had high hopes as the reviews were fantastic) we enjoyed drinking at the bar and still feeling close to everything, but it was lovely to be a little bit out of the centre.
Coffee Shops
We had the BEST time away. It was such a spontaneous last minute trip, and every day we had so much fun. We did lot's of walking, shopping, eating out! We also went to the Amsterdam Ice Bar which was amazing - we booked this at one of the travel tourist shops and it was around 18 euros each and it included 3 FREE DRINKS!! I hope you enjoyed reading and having a little insight to our trip away and if you've been to Amsterdam before let me know what your favourite things to do are. And if you haven't, would you go?
Thank you so much for all of the continued support on my blog. I am 100% sticking to my word this time to be actively posting a couple of times a month - I really have missed blogging and have rearranged some things to be able to commit to my blog again. Let me know in the comments below what future blog posts you'd like to see from me.
Love Em oxo
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