Amsterdam Celebrations

If you are looking to go to Amsterdam and want to join in some local calibrations then you have to go on Queens’s day, the Dutch celebrate the birthday of the Queen mother but in reality they use it as an excuse to party hard, any old excuse.

The best cities to stay at whilst celebrating Queens day is the Hague, Rotterdam and off course Amsterdam, although the hole of the Netherlands celebrate this occasion these cities have a special atmosphere during this spectacular party.

In particular Amsterdam has something special going with an estimated ¾ of million people coming into the city to party, many of whom wisely travel in by train. In the city centre hot spots like Leidseplein, Spui, Rembrandtplein, Damrak, Rokin and Dam you will find a great atmosphere with everybody dressed and partying in orange.

Also on Queens’s day you will find that all the street trade is unregulated so it makes it a good day for some second hand shopping, and in Vondelpark all the kids’ show of their business expertise by offering a wide variety of attractions.

Amsterdam city is a vibrant place to be with hundreds of quality and historic attractions to visit.

Right in the middle of the centre of Amsterdam is the Dam square; it has a lot of culture and includes the National Monument Commemorating the fallen Dutch soldiers of WWII, there is the wonderful Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) that is flanked by the Royal Palace.

If you go by the Kalverstraat all the way to the Spui, then take a right and follow along until you come to the Begijnhof, There is a lovely traditional although small chapel that is defiantly worth a visit if religion or history is your kind of thing, the courtyard shelter next to the Chapel that is surrounded by the enclosing homes along the edge is home to single religious women who devote their time to their religion.

Beyond is the rest of the fabulous city that is surrounded by monuments and churches that are punctuated by the canals that are used for navigation through the city. The Largest and most distinctive building in the city has to be the Westerkerk (West Church) that can be recognized by its large blue crown. Neighboring the Homomonument is the popular tourist attraction Ann Frank House. Walking along down towards the Haarlemmerstraat by the Prinsengracht you will come across boutiques, restaurants that disperse in either direction. Just by the Haarlemmerstraat towards central train station and you will come across the multi storey bicycle park rthat is used by thousands every day, cycling is regarded as one of the easiest ways to travel around Amsterdam as it is almost completely flat.

Amsterdam is easy to get to, especilay by ferry, there is ferries arriving and going from Amsterdam ferry port in IJmuidennoon day and night from varouse european countrys.

As we have mentioned several times, Amsterdam is a wonderful city to visit at any time of year. However, we thought that it would be useful to post some videos to try and convey the character of Amsterdam and some of its tourist attractions. This is a selection of some of the best that we have come across, including general tourist guides, the Rijksmuseum, Cycling around Amsterdam and the Anne Frank Museum and the ferry to Amsterdam.

Lonely Planet Travel Guide to Amsterdam



Cycling around Amsterdam



Rijksmuseum State Museum Tour



Anne Frank Museum



Amsterdam in Spring Part 1



Amsterdam in Spring Part 2



There we go! - Hopefully these videos have given you a feel for the atmosphere around Amsterdam, as you can see it is a vibrant and exciting city - try and get there ASAP.

When visiting Amsterdam you can't miss out on visiting the Van Gogh museum. Opened in 1973 and is the home of one of the worlds greatest ever artists, Van Gough was born way back in 1853 in a Dutch town called Zundert. He had a good a education but left school abruptly in 1868 and a year later he managed to get an apprentice at the Goupil & Cie, An international art dealers which had headquarters in Paris. He moved to England in 1873 where his love for Art took a nose dive and he starts to lose interest and turns to the church and not so long after that he becomes a clergyman after being let go by his employers, through the years he gets more interest from helping others than anything else and does some work in Amsterdam helping the poor before moving to Belgium where he starts to give away his possessions so he can help the poor old mine workers who that time lived in appalling conditions, Aged 27 he decides he can still help the church wile learning to paint and in the Van Gough museum you can see that great collection of one of the greatest artists who has ever graced this earth. You can see and learn a whole lot more if you visit the van gough museum in Amsterdam.