At the end of November I took a little four day mini break/getaway to Amsterdam with one my best gal pals for her birthday as we’d both wanted to go for a long while and although it was freezing when we went, we still crammed in as much as we could in those four days and had the best time!
As part of my 2019 goals (which you can read here) I want to travel and explore more this year, and with that I want to share more travel content also, so I thought it was about time I put together a little Amsterdam travel guide of the places we visited and the things that we did and loved during our time in Amsterdam!
During out trip we stayed at the Die Port van Cleve Hotel which is situated literally over the road from Dam Square and was in an ideal location for us as it was in walking distance to everywhere we wanted to go, of which i’ll mention throughout this guide.
Places to Eat
Starting off with the single most important thing… food! Prior travelling to Amsterdam I did what every blogger does and had a good search on Instagram for the most instagramable places to visit and we ticked a few off the list whilst we were there, all of which I’d recommend for different reasons!
PolaBerry
Starting off with Polaberry which has got to be #1 on the Instagram gals guide of places to go in Amsterdam. This is a really cute coffee shop that sell the cutest chocolate covered fruits, cake pops and the most tasty treats you can imagine, along with warm drinks and smoothies/shakes to go.
Polaberry itself is located around a 10 minute walk from the Dam Square area and is situated amongst Amsterdams beautiful canals, which is why you’ll see many Instagram photos similar to mine as you can literally run outside and take a photo with the beautiful canals in the background.
Mook Pancakes
Another place i’d stumbled across on Instagram in my quest for my pancake fix was Mook Pancakes of which have two locations within Amsterdam but we went to Mook West which has a lovely bar area as you first walk in, and a seating area towards the back which is beautifully lit with natural light and lots of greenery. If like me you love a good stack of pancakes i’d highly recommend giving Mook a visit as they are truly truly delicious!
On the menu they have an array of pancakes (obvs), fruit salads, salads and avocado sides, along with a bunch of coffee’s, tea’s and fruit juices including ginger shots, which I can confirm are HOT! From the menu I opted for ‘The Infamous’ which as you can see from my photo was loaded with all the sweet goodness!
Ree7
The last place i’d come across on Instagram was Ree7 of who are known for their amazing freakshakes! Unfortunately whilst we were there we didn’t have one but we saw them being made and oh my god they looked incredible. We actually stumbled upon this place as it’s literally seconds away from Polaberry, so we decided to stop and grab a bite to eat in here as they had some really nice lunch style things on the menu as well as loads of cakes and sweet treats!
Other places we ate included: Pasta Pasta (best garlic bread i’ve ever eaten), Hard Rock Cafe and if you’re wanting a sweet fix Ice Bakery is your place and there are dozens of them scattered all over Amsterdam!
Things To Do
Moving onto a few things that we did whilst in Amsterdam as there is so much to do and see that it can be a little overwhelming to know what is good to do! Some of the things we did we booked before we went and others we booked whilst we were there and if i’m honest, apart from Anne Frank which you have to book online i’d say you could book everything once you’re there!
Explore Amsterdam by Night
On our first day/night we decided to just explore and get our bearings of Amsterdam in relation to where our hotel was. As most people say you’ve not experienced Amsterdam until you’ve visited the Red Light District and i’m going to be honest it is what it is, and once you’ve been past a few windows it’s all the same. Also during our first evening we visited one of the Sex Museum’s which are good fun but also quite eye opening at the same time!
Other things we did during our evenings was walk through the main streets around our hotel area as they were all beautifully decorated with Christmas lights whilst we were there and i’ve got dozens of pictures to last me a life time of how truly beautiful Amsterdam is during Christmas time!
Canal Tour
Another thing we decided to do whilst we were there was a canal tour and we did ours through Lovers Canal Cruise who are known for their orange canal boats. The canal tour itself lasted around 45 mins and they take you through the main canals, and give you a bit of history about Amsterdam and different buildings/areas which was really good fun, and it was nice to see Amsterdam in a different light. Also during the time we were there they have the Amsterdam Light Festival and I wish we’d of done a night time cruise because i’ve heard they’re amazing!
Other things we did included: Ripleys Believe It or Not, Anne Frank’s House and the IAmsterdam Sign, however this is currently on a tour of the city so check where it is.
So that is my little guide to the places and things we did during our little time in Amsterdam! I hope this gives you some ideas of some places to visit and eat during your next trip, and let me know if this has been helpful to you.
Have you visited Amsterdam before?
