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Amsterdam Walking Tour opinions wanted

Next fall husband and I make our first trip to Europe and will be in Amsterdam for the first week of October prior to the last BOE tour of the season. I have been reading about walking tours and wondered if any of you have experience with Sandeman's City walking tour or ThatDamGuide tour? Yes, Sandeman's is free but not much so if one tips decently while ThatDamGuide is 20 Euros each but group size is held to 10 persons. I also saw suggestions to pre-register for Sandeman's at 3 Euro each, but then saw angry reviews on TripAdvisor from a few folk who had done so only to have the tour fill up with people who had not pre-registered. I'm not concerned about us each paying 20 Euros if the tour is likely to be much better. Would you suggest the walking tour and if so, which one?
Thanks for any replies.

Posted by
1840 posts

You can have a walking tour by yourselves. There are free tourist handouts in hotels and toourist information centers that ahve maps you can use. We have walked all over the town on our own and I suppose many others have too.

Posted by
985 posts

Thanks! I guess I am just worried I will miss something special.

Posted by
1840 posts

You will miss something special. That's why you will go back. One of the axiums regarding travel is that you will never see everything on one trip.

Posted by
985 posts

lol Monte - I'm sure you're right about that.

Posted by
251 posts

Me and a few friends did a free walking tour that we found in a brochure in our hostel. The meeting spot was right across the street from the Royal Palace Amsterdam and lasted about 3 hours. Since Amsterdam really isn't that big compared to other cities, it was really easy to see most of the sites within the time frame.
IT WAS GREAT! It was free but we paid him each 5 or 10 euros because he was so good. I suppose it all depends on our tour guide. They divide the tour up by which language you prefer.

Posted by
13809 posts

I missed this when you first posted it Nance, but you will do a walking tour of Amsterdam with your BOE guide. On my tour we walked from the Anne Frank House thru some of the Jordaan then toward Dam Place, then on thru some side areas to the flower market and then the Rijks Museum. We finished the day with a canal tour and another walk thru the Nieuwmarkt area and Red Light district back to the Central Station area.

BTW, the Amsterdam day and the first afternoon in Rome were our longest walking days. One of the tour members had a pedometer and we went 10-12 miles.

This is a wonderful, wonderful tour! I am currently envious of the folks that are there now!

Posted by
985 posts

Thanks Jenna and Pam for your input. Jenna - sounds quite a bit like the Sandeman's tour that you went on. I just thought a tour to orient us and to let us see what areas we might like to (and not like to) revisit might be helpful but Monte is right, we can easily do that on our own. I'll be throwing an itinerary out there soon so there is plenty of time for people to comment and make suggestions before some last tweaks.

Pam - I too am envious and curious about those currently on tour. Early this spring I would happen to look at the calendar and think - oh, in only a few weeks Kathy and Lisa will be on tour - they must be getting sooo excited! I was too late to see Lisa's post about her blog page while on tour so missed out on the chance to see it. I'm sure she'll share when she returns. Summer is almost here and that means company coming to visit. That means I have to get all of my clothes and travel stuff off the spare bed! I guess I'll just throw it all into my backpack so none of it gets misplaced or left behind....

Posted by
13809 posts

Laughing, I think your company needs to stay in a hotel so you can still have your travel room! If you have to pick stuff up then I definitely suggest putting it in the backpack or plastic bins.

I have seen some of Kathy's pictures on FB and they look to be having fun. Last picture was Venice today in the rain.

I think Lisa is leaving tomorrow.

Posted by
985 posts

Pam - so happy to hear that Kathy is enjoying her tour!
Thanks for the pm : )

Posted by
34 posts

Hi Nance,

Wondering if you have made your decision yet? I've also read reviews on ThatDamGuide and a lot of people say it was great tour!

Posted by
985 posts

Hi Andrea - no, I haven't fully ruled out ThatDamGuide. If I do decide to do it I will certainly post about it.