Recently on an official trip I landed in Amsterdam. The official work was only for few hours on Monday morning and I had plenty of spare time. So here is how it went :
Notes :
1. November weather is pretty chilly.
2. Got a Lebara SIM (prepaid) on arrival on airport. 10 euro top up for talk time and 10 euro for 1 GB 3G internet. Activates immediately.
3. Uber has pretty good taxi service here. You should create a new Uber account with your local number as the cab drivers would find it easy to call/sms you.
4. While booking taxi on Uber, try to enter exact address, as it will be easy for the cab driver to locate you and you won't have to spend time in guiding him over the phone.
5. Talking of Uber, the drivers of the cheaper variety (Uber Pop) are mostly blacks and immigrants ( I hired 3 Pops - 2 were driven by blacks and 1 by an Afghan immigrant). Whereas the expensive ones are driven by Whites and locals.
6. Stayed at Hotel Eden, Amstel.
7. If you are with a kid - take a stroller with you - will be very very useful.
8. Starbucks sells very good Chai in Amsterdam.
9. Walking around there - Google maps came in pretty handy.
Day 1 : (Saturday)
1. Very tired on arrival(Bangalore -> Mumbai -> Amsterdam). Rested for a while and headed to Rijksmuseum. Good intro to Dutch Arts & History. There are plenty of other museums in this city of museums if you are interested. I skipped them. But if time permits - go to Nemo science museum. From the museum headed to Bollywood Indian Restaurant on foot. Called them to make sure that they are open as many other restaurants were closed at that time ( around 4PM). Had food there (food was good) and went to hotel again to rest. Bought weed on the way from a Coffeeshop to be used in night. In the night headed to De Wallen - the top tourist attraction in Amsterdam. From there went to Moti Mahal (another indian restaurant) on foot. The food wasn't good here. Called an UberPop taxi which dropped us to hotel for 4 Euros.
Day 2 : (Sunday)
1. Booked the Zoo tickets online to avoid queues and spent quite some time there. Zoo is okay. You could visit Micropia nearby if you like. From there went to the Kohinoor Indian restaurant(UberPop 8 Euros) - food was good again. From there went to Amsterdam Centraal and took the 1 hour Canal Cruise. From there to home and strolled the night away. Ate some small stuff in Starbucks and nearby Mcdonalds.
Day 3 : (Monday)
1. Wrapped up the work in the morning and walked to Vondelpark on foot. Nothing great there. From there walked to a shopping mall - Magna Plaza. Paid 1 Euro there to take a leak. From there headed to Memories of India restaurant.
Day 4 : (Tuesday)
1. Headed to Efteling. Booked online to get discount and avoid queues. Almost 100km journey. Train to Den Bosche and from there bus till Efteling. Plan your journey well and arrive there on time so that you don't miss anything in this very large amusement park. We missed some due to the height restrictions and also missed Pagoda/Aqua show. Here are the attractions we enjoyed the most with our 3 year old :
Notes :
1. November weather is pretty chilly.
2. Got a Lebara SIM (prepaid) on arrival on airport. 10 euro top up for talk time and 10 euro for 1 GB 3G internet. Activates immediately.
3. Uber has pretty good taxi service here. You should create a new Uber account with your local number as the cab drivers would find it easy to call/sms you.
4. While booking taxi on Uber, try to enter exact address, as it will be easy for the cab driver to locate you and you won't have to spend time in guiding him over the phone.
5. Talking of Uber, the drivers of the cheaper variety (Uber Pop) are mostly blacks and immigrants ( I hired 3 Pops - 2 were driven by blacks and 1 by an Afghan immigrant). Whereas the expensive ones are driven by Whites and locals.
6. Stayed at Hotel Eden, Amstel.
7. If you are with a kid - take a stroller with you - will be very very useful.
8. Starbucks sells very good Chai in Amsterdam.
9. Walking around there - Google maps came in pretty handy.
Day 1 : (Saturday)
1. Very tired on arrival(Bangalore -> Mumbai -> Amsterdam). Rested for a while and headed to Rijksmuseum. Good intro to Dutch Arts & History. There are plenty of other museums in this city of museums if you are interested. I skipped them. But if time permits - go to Nemo science museum. From the museum headed to Bollywood Indian Restaurant on foot. Called them to make sure that they are open as many other restaurants were closed at that time ( around 4PM). Had food there (food was good) and went to hotel again to rest. Bought weed on the way from a Coffeeshop to be used in night. In the night headed to De Wallen - the top tourist attraction in Amsterdam. From there went to Moti Mahal (another indian restaurant) on foot. The food wasn't good here. Called an UberPop taxi which dropped us to hotel for 4 Euros.
Day 2 : (Sunday)
1. Booked the Zoo tickets online to avoid queues and spent quite some time there. Zoo is okay. You could visit Micropia nearby if you like. From there went to the Kohinoor Indian restaurant(UberPop 8 Euros) - food was good again. From there went to Amsterdam Centraal and took the 1 hour Canal Cruise. From there to home and strolled the night away. Ate some small stuff in Starbucks and nearby Mcdonalds.
Day 3 : (Monday)
1. Wrapped up the work in the morning and walked to Vondelpark on foot. Nothing great there. From there walked to a shopping mall - Magna Plaza. Paid 1 Euro there to take a leak. From there headed to Memories of India restaurant.
Day 4 : (Tuesday)
1. Headed to Efteling. Booked online to get discount and avoid queues. Almost 100km journey. Train to Den Bosche and from there bus till Efteling. Plan your journey well and arrive there on time so that you don't miss anything in this very large amusement park. We missed some due to the height restrictions and also missed Pagoda/Aqua show. Here are the attractions we enjoyed the most with our 3 year old :
- Droomvlucht
- Raveleijn: an exciting live show
- Fata Morgana
- Bob
- Carnival Festival
In the night went to Shiva restaurant and finished the leftover weed.
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