The autumn / winter season is the time for those Friday to Sunday city breaks. Amsterdam is our first city guide in the series to get you off to a good start!

For the weekend city break all you’ll need is your hand luggage and a few key fashion pieces. Also a good pointer is to not try and cram everything in over the 2 days so you don’t find yourself stressed and tired when you get back to work on Monday morning.

So, we’ve put together a Racing Green tried and tested city guide for this high energy, fast paced and exciting city.

 

Hotel

20 mins out of Amsterdam you will find a place called ‘Zaandam’ most famous for its sweet biscuit called ‘Marie’ (similar to a ‘Rich Tea'). This is the perfect place to stay to get away from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam at the end of the day.

The Inntel Hotel in Zaandam is the most iconic hotel in the town with its unique and unusual exterior which looks like a load of houses built on top of one another (it really does look unusually amazing). Here you will get a lot more for your money with room rates much cheaper (and much bigger!) than in central Amsterdam and great spa facilities. The fact that it is 20mins outside of Amsterdam is no problem either since the train station is attached to the side of the hotel!

 

Food

Getting around Amsterdam is easy since you can walk everywhere! You will notice everyone is obsessed with bikes so if you’re feeling brave enough you could hop on one and join the bike race around the city. Whilst on the subject of bikes...make sure you look both ways at least 3 times before crossing any road!

For food all you need to do is walk around and you will come across loads of little gems (There are hundreds of nice restaurants on every street). Head to the Jordaan district where the streets are a little quieter and you will find a handful of picture perfect quality restaurants where you can really treat yourself!

 

Music

Before heading over make sure you check out the website of the iconic music venue ‘Paradiso’ which has seen some of the biggest acts in the world walk through its doors such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Pink Floyd. On our particular visit we saw British rock band The Duke Spirit play an amazing show!

 

Culture

This is where you have to be sure not to book too much and just pick out a couple of museums. First stop should be the Heineken museum which is located in the actual old brewery site. Here you will get a proper brewing and history lesson with a fun simulator (whilst drinking Heineken along the way). The end of the tour brings you to a really quirky Heineken bar/club where you can drink a bit more Heineken.

For something a bit more serious head to the Anne Frank museum (top tip: buy your tickets online so you get a queue jump) where you can tour an exact layout of the house as it was in 1942.

 

Drink

For your tipple there are plenty of places! Most people may think the best ones will be near the red light district but it’s definitely not the case. Everywhere you look you will be spoilt for choice with bars/pubs. Canal facing ones have nice outside seating, are slightly quieter and great for people watching but for a more lively area go to ‘Leidseplein’ which is near the Paradio music venue. The atmosphere here is fun with lots going on since it is packed with restaurants, bars and cafes. If you’re lucky you might even bump into the street break dancers who put on a great free show!

 

Shopping

When you’re thinking of fashion capitals such as London, Paris, and Milan one that doesn’t seem to ever get a mention is Amsterdam. However, the residents here were looking very stylish (whilst they race around the city on their bikes). The young creative’s that live here are often opening up home art galleries or becoming fashion designers. All the big name designer shops have stores here and there are tons of small boutique fashion shops to stumble upon too!

 

Words by Craig Landale