We will be visiting Amsterdam between the dates of Dec 1 -6 of this year. This is a return visit for us and will again be staying along the canal in the Jordaan area. Looking forward to enjoying the Christmas markets and other holidays special events. My husband and I would love Forum feedback regarding the Amsterdam Light Festival scheduled for Nov 29, 2018 - Jan 20, 2019. Especially interested in the various canal tours offered as part of this festival plus how best to purchase tickets in advance. Thank you in advance for any and all replies.
Tess
Posted by
Orange Park, Fl
985 posts
Tess - hubby and I were in Amsterdam Dec and Jan 2016-2017 and took a night time canal light festival cruise with Those Dam Boat Guys. They provided a larger boat than usual (held 20 people instead of the usual 10), was covered and heated (but one could stand outside at the back with the captain to look, smoke, visit, talk), and they served big pots of steaming gluhwein during the cruise. It was very cold the night of our cruise and we were glad to be able to duck inside to get warm but spent quite a bit of time on the back of the boat in the clear air. They have both smoking and non smoking cruises that allowed one to smoke outside only on the back of the boat. It was a great cruise, mainly due to size and the fact that we could stand outside to get a clearer view. I made my reservations online before we left home for Amsterdam. The art exhibits prepared for the festival were amazing. You can also walk the festival route, but I was glad we didn't due to the freezing cold.
Note - I had to watch their website into the fall until I saw the light festival tickets on sale.
Posted by
OP
68 posts
Nance...just a quick update regarding your suggestion. We just booked our canal tour with “ Those Dam Boat Guys” for the Amsterdam Light Festival. Really looking forward to the experience and our return to such a great city. Take care!
Posted by
Orange Park, Fl
985 posts
Yippee! Have a marvelous trip and boat ride. I hope you will share a trip report with us when you return. I wonder what beautiful sculptures and such will be part of this years light festival?
Posted by
OP
68 posts
Nance...we will definitely follow up with you regarding our visit. This is our second trip to Amsterdam and we are again staying in a lovely VRBO along the canal in the Jordaan area. Looking forward to checking out the Christmas market scene. We will begin this trip with a Viking Rhine tour. In April 2019, we will be doing our 8th RS tour ...this time the Heart of France. Yes .....we suffer from Travel-lust!
By the way....my husband and I lived in the Eagle Harbor community in Orange Park about 16 years ago. Great memories there !
Take care, Tess
Posted by
NL
143 posts
Looking forward to enjoying the Christmas markets and other holidays special events.
Looking forward to checking out the Christmas market scene.
You do realise that Amsterdam and The Netherlands arent really known for their Christmas markets. In the South you will find https://www.kerststadvalkenburg.nl/ and thats about it. For Christmas markets take a look at our German neighbours, for instance Cologne (Köln): https://www.cologne.de/events/christmas-markets (2h45m by direct ICE from Amsterdam)
Posted by
Orange Park, Fl
985 posts
Eagle Harbor, lol. About 15 minutes from me.
While in Amsterdam, we enjoyed the Christmas market at the museumplein as well as the Funky Christmas market at the Westergasfabriek, which holds a Sunday market the first Sunday each month. There are lots of eateries and some shops there to browse. Leiden as well as Den Haag had nice Christmas markets as well.
It appears as if your trip might fall before many of the Christmas festivities/markets begin. You could always train to Cologne if you really want to enjoy some markets. I would advise a week day trip (overnight?) as weekends are more crowded.
Even if you don't go to a Christmas market you will have a great time. Amsterdam is always shining with little sparkly lights and the Light Festival should certainly be enough to get you in the holiday mood.