Amsterdam-Travel-Guide

Lager  beer is the staple, served cool and topped by a two finger–thick head of froth –
supposedly to trap the flavour. Requests of ‘no head please’ will meet with a steely response.
Een bier,  een pils or  een vaas will get you a normal glass; een kleintje pils is a small glass
and een fluitje is a small, thin, Cologne-style glass. Many places also serve half-litre mugs
(een grote pils) to please tourists, but somehow draught lager doesn’t taste the same in a mug
and goes flat if you don’t drink quickly.Popular brands include Heineken, Amstel,
Grolsch, Oranjeboom, Dommelsch, Bavaria and the cheap Brouwersbier put out by the
Albert Heijn supermarket chain. They con-tain about 5% alcohol by volume, so a few of
those seemingly small glasses can pack quite a wallop. Tasty and stronger Belgian beers,
such as Duvel and Westmalle Triple, are also very popular and reasonably priced. Witbier
(‘white beer’, eg the Dutch Wieckse Witte, the Belgian Hoegaarden) is a somewhat murky,
crisp and citrus-y blonde beer that’s drunk in summer with a slice of lemon. The dark, sweet
bokbier comes out in the autumn. Don’t be surprised if the brews sold in supermarkets are not much cheaper than in pubs.

 The Central European time zone (same as Berlin and Paris) is one hour ahead of the
UK, six hours ahead of New York, nine hours ahead of Los Angeles and eight hours behind
Sydney. For Daylight Savings Time, clocks are put forward one hour at 2am on the last
Sunday in March and back again at 3am on the last Sunday in October.
When telling the time, be aware that the Dutch use ‘half’ to indicate ‘half before’ the
hour. If you say ‘half eight’ (8.30 in some dia-lects of English), a Dutch person will take this
to mean 7.30.

Calls are time-based, anytime and anywhere. KPN Telecom public phone boxes charge
€0.10 per 15 seconds for all national calls (minimum charge €0.20), and €0.10 per nine
seconds for calling a mobile phone. Phones in cafés, supermarkets and hotel lobbies often
charge more. Calling from private phones is considerably cheaper.
The cost of international calls varies with the destination, and changes frequently due
to competition. At the time of writing, calls to Britain and the USA cost €0.056 to €0.071 per
minute respectively, and Australia €0.19. The connection charge is about €0.10. To all three
countries, rates jump to €0.10 every 13 seconds when ringing from a KPN phone box.

It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about  Haarlem, which has retained more of its 17th-century
heritage than even Amsterdam. The wealth of historic buildings, leafy hofjes (courtyards)
and old-world antique shops give the centre a real sense of history and grandeur, and its
pretty bridges and winding alleys are just as charming as any in the Dutch capital.
The name Haarlem derives from Haar-loheim, meaning a wooded place on high,
sandy soil. You won’t get nosebleeds from the altitude, but it’s worth noting that the
surrounding area used to be a huge lake, the Haarlemmermeer. The counts of Holland set
up a toll post here and Haarlem quickly be-came the top inland port after Amsterdam.
When the Spanish invaded in 1572, virtually seven-month siege, but, against the odds, the
community recovered quickly. Haarlem then soared into the prosperity of the Golden Age,
attracting painters and artists from around Europe.
 If you arrive by train, your first sight will be   Haarlem Centraal, a glorious Art Deco mas-
terpiece and hands-down the country’s most beautiful train station. Walk to the old centre
along Kruisstraat, and the town’s wealth and elegance becomes apparent by the exclusive
stores, art galleries and antique shops. Lined with lovely cafés and restaurants, the
Grote Markt is the city’s beating heart. It’s ronted by the 14th-century   Stadhuis (Town
Hall), which features a balcony where judg-ments from the high court were pronounced.
The Counts’ Hall contains some amazing 15th-century panel paintings, and if it’s open
you can take a peek.Across from the Stadhuis looms the Grote
Kerk van St Bavo   (adult/child €2/1.25; h10am-4pm Mon-Sat), the Gothic cathedral with a 50m-high steeple. It contains some fine Renaissance artworks, but the star attraction is its Müller organ – one of the most magnificent in the world and played by both Mozart and Han-del. There are tours in English on request, and free organ recitals take place at 3pm
on Thursday July to early September and at 8.15pm every Tuesday from mid-May to
mid-October.

 Originally, the region that spawned a giant trading community was an inhospitable patchwork
of lakes, swamps and peat, at or below sea level; its contours shifted with the autumn storms
and floods. The oldest archaeological finds here date from Roman times, when the IJ river lay
along the northern border of the Roman Empire. Too busy elsewhere, and no doubt put off by
the mushy conditions, the Romans left practically no evidence of settlement.
Isolated farming communities tamed the marshlands with ditches and dykes. Between
1150 and 1300 the south bank of the IJ was dyked from the Zuiderzee westwards to Haarlem.
Around 1200, a fishing community known as Aemstelredamme – ‘the dam built across the
Amstel’ – emerged at what is now the Dam. On 27 October 1275, the count of Holland waived
tolls for those who lived around the Amstel dam, allowing locals to pass the locks and bridges
of Holland free of charge, and the town of Amsterdam was born. Farming was tricky on the marshland, and with the sea on the doorstep, early residents turned
to fishing. But it was commercial trade that would put Holland on the map. While powerful
city-states focused on overland trade with Flanders and northern Italy, Amsterdam levelled its
sights on the maritime routes. The big prizes were the North and Baltic seas, in the backyard
of the powerful Hanseatic League, a group of German trading cities.
Ignoring the league, Amsterdam’s clever  vrijbuiters (booty-chasers) sailed right into the
Baltic, their holds full of cloth and salt to exchange for grain and timber. It was nothing short
of a coup. By the late 1400s, nearly two-thirds of ships sailing to and from the Baltic Sea were
from Holland, mostly based in Amsterdam.
Already strained to capacity, the original harbour on the Damrak and Rokin was extended north
into the IJ river, near what is now Centraal Station. Canals were dug to the warehouses in today’s
Medieval Centre. By this time sailors, merchants, artisans and opportunists from the Low Countries
(roughly present-day Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) made their living here.
At the time, Amsterdam was unfettered by the key structures of other European societies.
With no tradition of Church-sanctioned feudal relationships, no distinction between nobility and
serfs, and hardly any taxation, a society of individualism and capitalism slowly took root.

 Make no mistake, the Dutch have a flair for social engineering. The same nation that built its
living rooms on a drained seabed also invented verzuiling (see   p28  ). This meant not only more
churches, but also separate radio stations, newspapers, unions, political parties, sport clubs and
so on. The idea got a bit out of hand with pillarised bakeries, but it did promote social harmony
by giving everyone a voice.
Although the pillars are less distinct today, they left a legacy of tolerance. Eccentric conduct in
public might go without comment, hence the Dutch saying: ‘Act normal, that’s crazy enough.’
Then, in a period of heightened social tensions a few years ago, two high-profile murders seemed
to spell an end to a libertarian society (see the boxed text,   p44  ). Amsterdam – the liberal city par
excellence – was deeply troubled for a while.
 But let’s face it, tolerance is as Dutch as herring and ice skating, and what’s more it’s good
for business. The same applies to its gezelligheid, that easy intimacy that comes out at the drop
of a hat (see the boxed text,   p182  ). Where other nations struggle to get the words out, the Dutch
are irrepressibly sociable. Flight attendants leaving Amsterdam brace for garrulous Dutch
congregating in the back of the plane, drinking and talking up a storm. Yet most people also
value their privacy, and prefer to entertain friends at home.
The Dutch also have a moralistic streak (coming from the Calvinists) and a tendency to wag
the finger in disapproval. The Dutch may seem stunningly blunt, but the impulse comes from
the desire to be direct and honest. Yet even criticism can be dished out with a sense of humour.
Amsterdammers, for instance, are quick to complain about their little city and their ‘irrelevant’
country, but always with a smile.
Dutch  women are  remarkably confident; on a social level, equality is taken for granted. Women
are almost as likely to initiate contact with the opposite sex, although they can also be surprisingly
old-fashioned (see the boxed text,   opposite  ). It’s still a different story in the workplace; relatively
few women are employed full-time, and fewer still hold positions in senior management.
Gay  and lesbians enjoy considerable freedom in Amsterdam. Discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation is not only illegal, but morally unacceptable; the police advertise in the
gay media for applicants; the armed forces admit homosexuals on an equal footing. Most sig-
nificantly, in 2001 the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex
marriages, although this is a privilege reserved for local couples (see the boxed text,   p207  ). Am-
sterdam was one of the first cities to court lesbian and gay travellers, hosting the Gay Games –
the Olympics of the gay and lesbian world – back in 1988. Not that the welcome is universal:
the last few years have seen a rise in gay-bashing incidents.
Now then, on to the sex and drugs. The ever-practical Dutch argue that vice is not going
to go away, so you might as well control it. Sex is discussed openly (such as newspaper cover-
age of breast enhancement or genital piercing, with full-on photos).

 For obvious reasons photography does not have the history of painting in Amsterdam, but what
it lacks in longitude it makes up for in latitude. The area of the Jordaan around the Elandsgracht
brims with photography studios and small galleries, while the museums FOAM (  p99  ) and Huis
Marseille (  p95  ) specialise in photography.
Portraiture is a major theme of contemporary Dutch photography. The most famous living
photographer from the Netherlands is probably Anton Corbijn (1955–), known for his portraits
of celebrities and musicians such as Naomi Campbell, Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese, often
in his trademark grainy black-and-white.
Rineke Dijkstra (1959–) creates unflinching head-on portraits, both analytical and empathetic,
of common people such as soldiers carrying rifles and folks in bathing suits on the beach. Hellen
van Meene’s (1972–) portraits are more intimate, such as a series commissioned by the New
York Times featuring pubescent Japanese girls, innocent with a tinge of eroticism. Inez van
Lamsweerde (1963–) and Vinoodh Matadin (1961–), both born and educated in Amsterdam,
create shots for exhibitions and advertising campaigns, at turns grim and glamorous.
Amsterdam-based Aernout Mik (1962–) has exhibited in Europe and North America with film
installations known for their combining of studies in group dynamics with a sculptor’s sense of
space. Marijke van Warmerdam (1959–), based in Amsterdam and New York, creates absurdist
loops of everyday life in repeating sequences – eg the Japanese technique of bowing.

When you come from a tiny country with a long history of trade, you learn to adapt or
wither.Amsterdam has always looked outward, and as a result most people you will encounter in the city speak English very well. Foreign films and TV are shown with Dutch subtitles, and
the Dutch have long used other languages in their dealings overseas. Many websites (especially
tourist publications) are published in English, with the occasional publication in German,
French, Italian and, increasingly, Turkish and Arabic.
Part of the reason for this outward focus may be that the Dutch language is confounding.
Many linguists believe that Dutch is a close relative to English, but it won’t be apparent to the
uninitiated. If you’ve studied German, Dutch will make sense grammatically, and once you
get past some spelling differences you’ll probably be able to get the gist of it, especially written.
Spoken Dutch is another matter entirely – its pronunciation is a minefield of diphthongs (vowel
combinations), throat-clearing g’s and ch’s, roiling, rolling r’s and v’s that sound like f’s.
 The Dutch speak English so well that visitors will rarely have the opportunity to practice Dutch.
When they do, the most valiant attempts at pronunciation will probably be met with quizzical looks.
Nevertheless, a few words in Dutch are always appreciated, especially the phrase Spreekt u Engels?
(Do you speak English?) with older people. Foreigners who have settled in the Netherlands report
that speaking Dutch, while hardly compulsory, warms their Dutch friends and colleagues.
For a brief guide to Dutch and some useful words and phrases, see the Language chapter
(p258), and check language courses on   p245  . For more extensive coverage of the language, pick
up Lonely Planet’s Western Europe Phrasebook.

 If you’re expecting a outright cesspool, thinkagain: the atmosphere here is much more laid-
back than in red-light districts elsewhere, anddefinitely less threatening. Crowds of sight-
seers, both foreign and local, mingle withpimps, drunks, weirdos and drug dealers – and
it’s no big deal. Salvation Army soldiers trawlfor lost souls; police on patrol chat with the
prostitutes. (Where else can you witness live-and-let-live quite like this?) One more thing:
look up at the gorgeous gables and you’ll realisethis district is stunningly attractive. Its lovely
architecture simply gets lost in the shuffle.
The best routes for wicked window-shopping are along Oudezijds Achterburg-
wal and in the alleys around the Oude Kerk,particularly to the south. You can shufflethrough the dark, medievally claustrophobicTrompettersteeg, which ends abruptly at an
interior gallery of prostitutes, cloying named
 La Vie en Rose (Map   pp62–5 ). Before you go, pause for a moment by the
statue of  Nelle (Map   pp62–5 ), erected in 2007 onOude Kerk square as a nod to ‘sex-industryworkers’ worldwide. In the cobblestones
nearby there’s a bold statement, a  golden torsoof a naked woman held by a groping, pad-
locked hand. The torso mysteriously appearedone day, was removed by police and then put
back as most people seemed to like it.

When it comes to investment frenzy, the Dutch tulip craze of 1636–37 ranks alongside the South Sea Bubble of 1720,
the Great Crash of 1929, Enron and the Netherlands’ home-grown Ahold scandal.
Tulips originated as wildflowers in Central Asia and were first cultivated by the Turks, who filled their courts with
these beautiful spring blooms (‘tulip’ derives from the Turkish word for turban). In the mid-1500s the Habsburg am-
bassador to Istanbul brought some bulbs back to Vienna where the imperial botanist, Carolus Clusius, learned how to
propagate them. In 1590 Clusius became director of the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden – Europe’s oldest botanical garden –
and had great success growing and cross-breeding tulips in Holland’s cool, damp climate and fertile delta soil.
The more exotic specimens of tulip featured frilly petals and ‘flamed’ streaks of colour, which attracted the atten-
tion of wealthy merchants, who put them in their living rooms and hallways to impress visitors. Trickle-down wealth
and savings stoked the taste for exotica in general, and tulip growers arose to service the demand.
Ironically, the frilly petals and colour streaks were symptoms of a virus – healthy tulips at the time were solid,
smooth and monotone; the virus itself wasn’t discovered until the 20th century. In the 17th century Holland’s most
beautiful tulips were heavily cross-bred, making them even more susceptible to the virus and difficult to cultivate, and
their blossoms unpredictable.
A speculative frenzy ensued, and people paid top florin for the finest bulbs, many of which changed hands time and
again before they sprouted. Vast profits were made and speculators fell over themselves to outbid each other. Bidding
often took place in taverns and was fuelled by alcohol, which no doubt added to the enthusiasm.
At the height of the Tulipmania in November 1636, a single bulb of the legendary Semper augustus variety fetched
the equivalent of 10 years’ wages for the average worker; a couple of Viceroy bulbs cost the equivalent of an Amsterdam
canal house. One unfortunate foreign sailor made himself rather unpopular with his employer by slicing up what he
thought was an onion as a garnish for his herring. An English amateur botanist, intrigued by an unknown bulb lying in
his host’s conservatory, proceeded to bisect it, and was put in jail until he could raise an astronomical 4000 guilders.
Of course, this bonanza couldn’t last, and when several bulb traders in Haarlem failed to fetch their expected prices
in February 1637, the bottom fell out of the market. Within weeks many of the country’s wealthiest merchants went
bankrupt and many more people of humbler origins lost everything. Speculators who were stuck with unsold bulbs, or
with bulbs that had been reserved but not yet paid for (the concept of options was invented during the Tulipmania),
appealed for government action but the authorities refused to become involved in what they considered to be gambling.
Thus the speculation ended.
However, love of the unusual tulip endured, and cooler-headed growers perfected their craft. To this day, the Dutch
continue to be the world leaders in tulip cultivation and supply most of the bulbs planted in Europe and North America.
They also excel in other bulbs such as daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses.
So what happened to the flamed, frilly tulips of the past? They’re still produced but have gone out of fashion, and
are now known as Rembrandt tulips because of their depiction in so many 17th-century paintings.

  Amsterdam’s entertainment  scene is wonderfully easy-going and remarkably diverse for a
city of its size. It may not be as sophisticated as some European cities – minimalist interiors
are still a fairly new concept – but the soft entry to most venues, apart from a few nightclubs,
is refreshing. Dress is for the most part casual, and people won’t blink if you wear jeans to
the opera. This place always feels familiar, like a cosmopolitan village where everyone knows
one another.
There are loads of big concert halls, theatres, cinemas and other performance venues.
Generous subsidies help support a flourishing arts scene with world-renowned orchestras, as
well as ballet and opera. The city really comes alive when there’s open-air entertainment in
the parks and streets, and along the canals.  Much of the action takes place in the city centre
and Southern Canal Belt, but locals may pre-fer the large, glitzy venues outside town. Most nightclubs close at 4am on Thursday and Sun-
day and 5am on Friday and Saturday. Looking for the after-party? Keep an eye out for flyers at record shops and clubwear stores.If there’s a bouncer, you may have to pass
muster; entry rules are supposed to be posted
after a member of the Dutch parliament was recently denied admission. Entry fees can be
as much as €20. Others are free, in which case you should slip the doorperson a couple of
euros as you leave.

  Amsterdam was once the warehouse of the world, stuffed with riches from the far corners of
the earth. The Dutch empire has gone the way of the dodo, but vendors here still have a knack
of bringing you rare, exotic or just plain wacky goods. Sure, you may be able to find glowing
Mexican shrines or banana-flavoured condoms back home, but Amsterdam has entire shops
devoted to such items.
Some popular gifts include tulip bulbs, rounds of Gouda cheese and bottles of jenever (Dutch
gin). Fantastic bargains are rare, but it’s worth chasing photographic art, recorded music, vintage
and Dutch designer clothing, diamonds and antiquarian books. For a souvenir of quality, try a
Delft blue vase – or a custom-made bong. There’s definitely something for everyone.
The Dutch have mastered the art of casual fashion, and it streams right out of the no-nonsense
side of the national character. The result is simple, affordable and practical designs that don’t
get caught in the spokes.
The best shops are in charming canal houses on cobblestone streets, in a village-like ambience.
The Negen Straatjes area has the best boutiques. But Amsterdam also has wonderful outdoor
markets, from Waterlooplein’s vast fleamarket to more intimate, low-key venues where organic
produce, spices and flowers are sold from carts on tree-lined squares.

 In  its typically charming way, Amsterdam has loads of hotels in wild and wonderful spaces:
inspired architects breathed new life into old buildings, from converted schools and industrial
lofts to entire rows of canal houses joined at the hip. Some of these lodgings overlook gorgeous
canals or courtyards, some are filled with art that’s historic or modern, and still others are
triumphs of clever design.
But charm doesn’t come cheap. There are 37,750-plus hotel rooms in Amsterdam, and at peak
times it can seem that all of them are full. If you’re looking to ‘do’ Amsterdam on the cheap, you
might find yourself in a tiny, threadbare room and pay more for it than you thought possible.
Leave the budget options to the college kids, take a deep breath, swipe that card and sally forth.
Or look on the internet for substantial discounts, even at the top hotels.
If you’re driving, inquire about parking in advance. In almost all cases parking is a major
problem and the most you’ll get is a (payable) parking permit out on the street – with all the
attendant headaches and security risks – or a referral to the nearest parking garage (up to €40 a
day), which may be a fair distance away. Top-end hotels have their own parking arrangements
but prefer advance notice. See Parking for other important info.
Sleeping options specifically for gays and lesbians can be found on 

Try as you will, there’s not really a bad timeto visit Amsterdam. In any given month the
festivals and celebrations will keep you goingnonstop, and in a rare lull there are plenty of
museums and exhibitions to hold your inter-est. When the weather warms up, Amster-
dammers rejoice by flocking into the streetscanals and parks, and cafés happily move their
seating outdoors. The summer agenda teems with open-airconcerts, theatre and festivals, often free. Theparty to end all orange parties is Queen’s Day
on 30 April, an unforgettable experienceMajor cultural events include the Holland
Festival and Roots Music Festival in JuneJulidans in July and the Uitmarkt in August
Outdoors enthusiasts will want to take in National Cycling Day or one of the road races
throughout the year.A few of the events listed in the followingsection are out of town but are worth the tripSee   p246   for a list of public holidays – when thecity has a tendency to shut down. Accommodation is cheapest from November to December, and can fall to ludicrously low levels in the bigger hotels in January and February.

 This pretty, easy-going town is home to the country’s oldest university, the alma mater
of Descartes. Leiden’s 20,000 students make up a big chunk of the population and lend
a young, dynamic ambience to the place. Another claim to fame: it’s Rembrandt’s
birthplace.The university was a gift from William the
Silent for withstanding two Spanish sieges in1574. It was a terrible time, ending when the
sea beggars arrived and repelled the invaders. But one-third of the residents starved before
the Spaniards retreated on 3 October (the town’s big festival day). According to lore,
the Spanish left behind a kettle of hutspot (hotchpotch), and today it’s still a staple of
the Dutch kitchen.