So far I have only visited Amsterdam, and this was back in the winter of 2018. This was one of my solo trips, staying at a hotel in central Amsterdam (Hotel NH Amsterdam Leidseplein) for several days.

Things to see and do

Since it was winter, Amsterdam was bitterly cold during my visit, so the majority of my time was spent indoors at different museums, attractions and restaurants. I visited the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum, and Red Light Secrets: Museum of Prostitution, so this was a trip involving wildly varying content!

The Rijksmuseum

For me, the Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank House were the two most memorable and worthwhile places to visit in Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum, being the national museum of the Netherlands, is colossal, and contains enough art to easily fill a day of wandering around and taking it all in. Here you will also find works of art by the likes of Rembrandt and Van Gogh, including Rembrandt’s famous “The Night Watch” painting.

Anne Frank House

I found the Anne Frank House to be an emotional experience. Considering that I had read Anne Frank’s diary years prior, a visit to the house itself really brought things to life, and evoked some very uncomfortable sentiments within. As fascinating as it was informative, I would thoroughly recommend any visitor to Amsterdam to pay the Anne Frank House a visit. There is often a long queue to get in, and tickets (at least when I went) need to be pre-booked for entry, therefore some pre-planning here will pay dividends for your trip.

Unusual Museums

The Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum and the Red Light Secrets: Museum of Prostitution were a couple of wild cards for this trip. They were both informative and thought provoking at once, and well worth a visit if you are in the area. The Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum even grows its own cannabis as an exhibit, which I heard occasionally gets confiscated by the police when too much of it is grown!

The Museum of Prostitution

The museum of prostitution was fun, but had a serious message to it at the same time. I did not realise that prostitution in Amsterdam was still largely an underground affair, mired by gangs, violence and people trafficking, despite prostitution being legal here. It is definitely worth a visit here to learn the good, the bad and the ugly of a trade which is so synonymous with Amsterdam.

Cuisine

The cuisine on offer in Amsterdam is largely international, although some traditional Dutch pancake/waffle houses can be found amongst the mix. I visited one of these, “The Pancake Bakery“, for a lemon and sugar pancake (my favourite!), which was a real treat. Many of the tourist shops on the main streets of Amsterdam also sell waffles of different varieties to take away, alongside some suspicious looking bakes and green herbal “snacks”! I didn’t sample any of the herbal treats on offer in Amsterdam – am I too sensible?!

Out of town spa visit

Although I do not have any photos of it, I did visit an amazing spa on the outskirts of Amsterdam one evening. This was called “Hotel & Wellness Zuiver“, and welcomed paying day guests to its spa (you didn’t need to be staying at the hotel to use the facilities). This was one of the best spas that I have ever been to, offering a multitude of spa experiences to try out, from different types of steam rooms and saunas, to a large indoor/outdoor pool, and finally multiple hot tubs. I didn’t feel out of place visiting alone, and I made sure to try each and every one of the experiences, bar anything ice or freezing cold orientated!

Sessions can be either clothed or unclothed, so if visiting, make sure to choose a date and time that fits your preference. There is also a restaurant near the spa area, which you can visit in your spa gown, and have a delicious meal. A quick Google images search for this place, and you will see how alluring it is!

In summary…

This ends my brief journal for Amsterdam. If any readers have been to Amsterdam before, would you go again? Did you also visit the Zuiver spa, or any nearby spas which were just as good? And how did you find the culture in the liberal city centre – was it a shock to the system at all?