Amsterdam, Netherlands

[^Vain_Chiq^]

How far between Ultecht & Amsterdam by cab?

Hi sis Aquacharly! I just came from a holiday in pinas so now ko lang nabasa your question . Like mama squeak! said, it is better to take a train kasi its cheaper and quicker. Amsterdam to Utrecht Centraal is roughly 20 minutes lang by train and by cab 30 minutes. You can check out train schedules here: www.9292.nl.

I'm from Utrecht by the way and I just live near Centraal .

[kreez]

Ngayon ko lang nakita na may Amsterdam thread

I live in a village very close to Amsterdam Centraal, a town called Haarlem.  I would really recommend visiting this town to visitors, its called the little Amsterdam.  Hindi masyadong maraming tourist but you get beautiful canals, nice structures, great shopping (the town square won the best shopping area in the netherlands couple of years in a row) and nice dining experience din.  Its a really nice area to visit and since its only 15-20 mins by train from amsterdam centraal easy lang puntahan.

We also take a lot of our guests to zaanse schans, nandito naman yung mga traditional windmill, pagawaan ng clogs, pagawaan ng cheese, may diamond shop din and the very first albert heijn nandito sa town na to. 

then isa pang nice na puntahan is the volendam, dito naman you can have your picture taken while wearing the traditional dutch costume.  Its in the harbor so you might as well sample the herring (well I haven't tried it pero maraming nasasarapan )

[pinky_twinkee]

^ yes masarap nga ang herring

sa mga nasa Netherlands ngayon, Gay Pride sa Amsterdam ngayon(August 3) 2:00pm ang start ng parade

[letters_to_cleo]

^^I am in NL now sis, for bakasyon :-)  I am staying at Rotterdam at a friend's house.  Am planning to
visit Haarlem, Den Haag, and will go to Breda (to meet with another NL-based friend) in the coming days.  I went to Amsterdam na before kaya di ko na sya babalikan haha, but since I have a week here, I plan to go to the other towns naman :-) Medyo nalilito lang ako sa train ah!
Last weekend andaming nagdstop na trains! Eh pa-Brussels pa mandin kami, mga 4x kami naglipat ng train para makarating lang ng Brussels haha!

[pinky_twinkee]

^sis maganda din daw sa Maastricht. Sobrang busy tska dami talagang tao nung weekend kasi Gay Pride sa Amsterdam and maganda din kasi weather kaya marami talagang tao ang nagala ngayong summer minsan lang kasi mangyari na maganda weather sa NL

[aquacharly]

There is a 2nd  Extended Family/"Talaba" (hahaha, as I call it kasi padami ng padami) --  trip for the year -- London, Paris-Amsterdam-Rome-NYC set for mid-Sept.   

We enjoyed Amsterdam last June (last Euro stop).  Top on my list was the Musumplein -- spent hours at the Rijks & Van Gogh Museum. 
(Didn't bother with Anne Frank).

IMO, the Red Light District is over-rated.  But well, interesting area.  Made a stop at the Marijuana Museum, ha.

WHERE are the canals clean? 

NEMO --  funny, I enjoyed walking there, & scrutinizing their old ships. 

There were no tulip blooms that time.  May seasonality eh.
But the weather (2nd week of June) was great.

Stay away  from the Chinese restos near DamSquare --  overloaded with MSG! 

Shopping reasonable but nothing really heart-stopping.

Yes, I hate fish; but I got addicted to the herring.
May seasonality din.
When there's more herring offered to be eaten without the buns -- a resident Dutchman told me that then is the height of the herring's freshness.  You grip it by the tail, upturn your face to the dangling herring, and start eating.  Hehe.  Sarap.

Ok, we will plan for the outer areas line Haarlem this trip.
(We applied at the Dutch Embassy this time --  takes them longer to return the passports with approved visas --  but they give a longer period, multiple). 

[little_princess]

anybody tried the gondola canal cruise instead of the typical big boats?

what's a good place to see windmills? been to one before but i forgot where but it had a store selling touristy stuff and cheese, a bit far off from the city center too.

[^Vain_Chiq^]

For the traditional windmills, it's either Volendam or Zaandam and for the cheese it's in Gouda. Regarding outlet shops, there are a few outlet villages like Roermond, Bataviastad and Rosada but I didn't go to any of these kasi a lot of people said it's not worth it na puntahan. Aside sa malayo from the city, there's not much of good deals to be found. The only outlet shops that I know of are Esprit in Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena and Sting in Hoofddorp.

[little_princess]

^ are those near amsterdam or the city center lang ba? is the esprit outlet shop good? how about hema and the other department store in NL?

[^Vain_Chiq^]

It's mostly outside the city center except the Esprit outlet which is located in Amsterdam Bijlmer Arena. Just below the trainstation. Re: Esprit outlet, depende sis sa stocks nila eh. Minsan they have good deals and have minsan naman panget ang stocks nila. It's a hit or miss ika nga but it's worth visiting pa rin lalo na if you come to the Netherlands. Hema is just a simple department store which is reasonably priced but nothing special. I like their pastries though and their hotdog sandwich . DeBijenkorf is like Rustan's and V&D is like SM.

[summer_princess]

Waaaahhh!!! sale na naman ang KLM AMS & Paris bound at only $888 ALL IN!

[little_princess]

^^ thanks sis! still debating if we will go shopping in Amsterdam since we're from London naman.

Working on our itinerary and parang there is so much to do in Amsterdam! Will be there for 4 days lang and parang bitin sobra.

[D_12]

Hi guys! I a newbie. Anyone tried B&B barangay?

[glacy_rein]

is it wise to just visit Amsterdam since very limited budget yung kasama ko? he only wants to see Amsterdam talaga but if 3hrs train ride lang ang paris might as well see the Eiffel Tower ng balikan, pwede ba un?

travel date off season mga november 2014?

Thanks!

[mama squeak!]

^sis parang sayang pera nyo if balikan lang kayo plus bitin-bitin pa kayo nyan. If you really plan your trip well you can work well even on a tight budget to see both places na hindi naman kayo super bitin. Plus November is an off-peak month so you can get good deals on both train fares and accommodation. Try to back read on the this thread and the other Euro threads to get tips on how to save and maximize your time.

[glacy_rein]

^thanks mama squeak! masyado akong naeexcite hehe. you think mas okay ng DIY kesa magpa-travel agency? kaso worry ko pano ba nagagwa yung pre-booked tickets?

[mama squeak!]

If you're on a tight budget, DIY ka makakatipid. Yun lang dapat matyaga ka talaga sa pagplano and you have to do it way in advance. For example, you'll get better deals if you get your tickets in advance both for train and air fares.

It's also easier to DIY travel nowadays since you can get/buy/book everything online. Travel ka pa at your own pace.

 

[sandd]

hello all! I will be in amsterdam for 10 days in feb for a wedding. i got 4 days before and 4 days after the wedding to mock around. Thinking of doing Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, then back to Amsterdam for the wedding then maybe go to Germany? However, I am interested in Munich and Berlin which are in opposite ends. Any idea how to travel to either one the fastest yet reasonably priced? Or any suggested itinerary? Not keen into going to France as I've done that already. thanks in advance!

[letters_to_cleo]

Antwerp and Brussels very mabilis puntahan from NL :-) You can check the sched and fares at  http://www.nshispeed.nl/en/belgium. or yung thalys site. Join the email subscription of  thalys so you get notifs of their flash sale of train fares :-)  I think a daytrip to Brussels will do basta first train out, last train in ka, but you can also do the NL-Antwerp-Brussels routr, overnight sa Brussels then back to NL. As per germany, when I was in NL for ten days for bakasyon I also plannec to go to Germany but since summer sya, peak season and mahal ang fares haha, but I think the german cities closest to NL (where most of my NL friends go for weekend pasyals) are Dusseldorf and Cologne. Berlin is malayo na sis. Maybe our NL based sisses will have more tips pa :-).

[scarlet]

Hi sis, anyone here, nakapunta na ng Castle de haar in utrecht? Is it worth it ba? Any suggestions, like, places to visit, food to eat in utrecht? Also, what is the weather like in september? TIA