Hello,
I am flying in and out of Amsterdam from the United States and I arrive around 1pm on Wednesday July 2nd. I am staying at the Holiday Inn Express Amsterdam Arena Towers. I am meeting up with a tour group the next day but I wanted to see if there were things I could see in the afternoon and evening on my own. Also, are there any good recommendations for more local places to eat?
I was unable to get Anne Frank tickets for that day unfortunately.
Thank you!
Your hotel is a bit away from the main area of downtown Amsterdam, so you'll need to
either figure out public xport or Uber to get around.
A boat ride on the canals would be a nice easy early evening activity. The Van Gogh
Museum is open until 6pm. There is a Broadway pops concert at the Concertgebouw.
A boat ride on the canals would be a nice easy early evening activity.
I do not recommend a boat ride on a jet lag arrival day - I nearly slept through the one I took. I suggest downloading a RS audio tour and get out and about that way https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/amsterdam Your hotel is certainly out of the way for the historic area, but you can use CityMapper to get yourself to the sights easily (looks like a tram stop is about a 10 minute walk from your hotel).
Definitely walking around the canals and seeing the architecture. A fun place to duck into is the Mouse Mansion aka the Sam and Julia Shop (https://www.sam-julia.com). If you have (or expect) young kids in your life, pick up a book, as I found out the hard way you can't really get it here.
I disagree that a canal tour will put you to sleep. Certainly, one of the big boats probably would, but the smaller boats used by Those Dam Boat Guys (and, I assume, Captain Jack, who Forum folks also recommend), are livelier. I have taken two evening trips with TDBG and enjoyed seeing the buildings lit up and hearing how quiet the city is in the evening. If it's the last tour of the night and the captain offers to take you to the marina instead of returning to the pickup place, say yes. There is a very good local pub nearby that has delicious fried food, including bitterballen. (https://www.blaauwhooft.nl). I was there in March, but it appeared that there would be lovely outside seating in the summer. I really enjoyed the Texels skuumkoppe (beer), but they had a good selection of other drinks, as well.
You can bring your own food and drink along on your canal tour (with TDBG, anyway). I recommend picking up a prepared salad or something else that catches your eye at Sterk Staaltje (https://www.sterkstaaltje.com). For a sit-down dinner with Dutch (and French) dishes, try 't Zwaantje (https://www.zwaantje.net).
This is the canal tour that our hotel recommended, and we loved it! Jack is really personable, and these are very small groups, so you will not have a chance to doze off.
http://www.amsterdamprivateboattour.com/
Our favorite dinner place was The Pantry. You definitely need reservations!
What about doing a walking tour during the day? We did this one and loved it. https://freewalkingtoursamsterdam.com .Our guide was excellent! There is no cost, but you tip at the end what you want.
