King’s Day Amsterdam 2016
King's Day, the party of the year in Amsterdam. Save the date: 27 April. Koningsdag is one of the biggest street parties in Amsterdam to celebrate the King's birthday. Thousands of boats with partying people fill the canals. Expect a lively atmosphere and big crowds, Amsterdam’s population on King’s Day is twice that of any [...]
Summer 2015 in Amsterdam – hit the festivals or chill in style
Amsterdam is a city of festivals, the majority of which take place on those long, sun blazed summer days and evenings that make you wish you had a lifetime to spend in this city. No fewer than 300 festivals take place this year, and a little company called Amsterdam Marketing has been commissioned with a [...]
King’s Day 2015 – the bricks and mortar version of eBay
Traditionally, the Dutch know themselves to be either cunning traders or preachers with pointed fingers, yet on King’s Day all fingers go. It seems that literally everybody will engage in the activity of commerce at the most basic level when knickknacks that have been saved up for the preceding 12 months are displayed on blankets [...]
How to celebrate the Van Gogh Memorial Year in Amsterdam and places
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the death of Vincent van Gogh and in case you’re planning a visit to the Van Gogh museum of Amsterdam, you’ll find yourself in the company of an estimated 180,000 international visitors wanting to take stock of the artist's legacy. According to the people making this prognosis, around half [...]
Rijks throws generation Y Rembrandt party
The Rijksmuseum appears to have a permanent deal on offer; for every generation that grows up, it organises one Rembrandt exhibition. Every twenty years or so, the old Master is broadly measured out by the museum. The Rijks’, already kind of obsessed with the painter on a regular day, then pulls out all the stops to prime the latest [...]
7 Tips to enjoy a godly meal out in Amsterdam
You can go on a culinary tour of the world in Amsterdam and spend weeks, if not months, before you arrive ‘back home’ again. There are many options to choose from! However, only a few maverick cooks at restaurants are active in the gastronomic jubilance spectrum. To make sure your evening out is unforgettable, take [...]
2014 Anne Frank visitor number rises to 336 people per hour
Most people visiting Amsterdam pay a visit to the Anne Frank House, so it should be no wonder that this museum continues to top the bill of most popular tourist activities in Amsterdam. But it appears that Anne Frank’s fame is ever growing. Last year, the Anne Frank House drew another record number of visitors. A [...]
How to claim back VAT on gifts you purchased in Amsterdam
When you have been shopping in Amsterdam and have bought expensive items, you might want to hold off opening them during your stay in an Amsterdam Apartment accommodation. The reason is that in some circumstances you are eligible for a tax refund if you leave the items unopened until you head back home. Here is [...]
Where to go Christmas shopping in Amsterdam
‘Little pockets of resistance’, is how my friend alluded to the various districts in Amsterdam with shops so delightful you will want to spend time in them every weekend. I never really got the resistance part until I happened to over-indulge myself. Within the space of two hours, I had spent what I earn in [...]
Learn how to navigate Amsterdam without a map in under 5 minutes
Strolling around in Amsterdam along the beautiful canals this winter is one thing, getting lost on purpose another, and finding your way back to your Amsterdam Apartment abode can turn out to be yet another thing altogether... Asking the locals works most of the time but what do you do when you’ve been out clubbing [...]