Amsterdam Guide

June 27 - June 30 (2016)

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

• Watch out for cyclists and bike lanes - there are four times as many bicycles as cars in Amsterdam!

• A coffeeshop does not sell coffee. If you want some caffeine, head to a café or koffiehuis.

• Buy tickets to the Anne Frank House in advance!

• The best time to see the tulip fields is in April.

FUN FACT
Amsterdam has 160 canals (10 more canals than Venice) that add up to nearly 60 miles in length!

Thank you to my mother for all the wonderful photos from this trip! I regret taking pictures on my flip-phone.

Amsterdam is a very fun city, with tons to do. I really enjoyed walking around different areas, such as Rembrandt Square and Albert Cuypstraat. There are a lot of museums scattered around the city, like the Van Gogh Museum, where we saw Self-Portrait of a Painter. We also walked around the Red Light District (during the day - this was a family vacation). We also spent one afternoon looking for the bench in The Fault in Our Stars. While we didn't find the exact bench, we saw a lot of the city.

The Anne Frank House is located in the city center of Amsterdam. Anne Frank's father, Otto, was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. He was the driving force behind publishing his daughter's diary and transforming their secret annex into a museum. The house has the original Anne Frank Diary, as well as many personal artifacts.

'I hope that Anne's book will have an effect on the rest of your life so that insofar as it is possible in your own circumstances, you will work for unity and peace.'
-Otto Frank, 1970

You can read more about Otto's mission here.

Across the street from the Anne Frank House is the Tulip Museum. I gained a new appreciation for tulips after this museum. I would like to go back to the Netherlands to see the tulip field when they are in blooming season - the photos look beautiful!

I highly recommend taking a canal tour. It is a unique way to see the city, plus it is super fun. I can't remember the name of the company we used, but there are plenty to chose from.

On our tour we saw the smallest house in Amsterdam, located at Oude Hoogstraat 22. It is very tiny - just 6 feet wide and 20 feet long.