Hello I'm Colm Hanratty from Hostelworld.com and if you want to know the Dutch capitals
best known street market What is the best way to get around the cities
canals and what are some it's more traditional cafes
go nowhere because here are 10 things you need to know about Amsterdam
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built on a cobweb of canals and home to some Europe's most beautiful
architecture Amsterdam is one of the most picturesque cities
in the world nothing beats spending a day enjoying the
city's waterways or soaking up culture in one of its world-class
museums and while its famous for its liberal attitudes
toward sex and drugs there's much more to the city than a red light
district and a bunch of coffee shops
now here is the first of those 10 things (Instrumental)
(Instrumental) making up approximately 45 percent of amsterdam's
traffic the bicycle is by far the easiest way to get
around the Dutch capital and after a number of hours it will dawn on
you that there are people on bikes absolutely everywhere
there are lots of places around Amsterdam where you can rent bikes some companies rent
bikes just like the ones the residents use
while other companies rent bikes fwith their logos all over it but my advice is to rent
a bike without a logo on it this way your'l fit in with the locals better
somewhere that rents unbranded bikes is 'Rent a bike, Damstraat'
just off Dam Square but if cycling isn't your thing
you can use the city's Trams to get around the Dutch capital has more than 160 canals
and over 1,250 bridges make sure to take some time out to stroll
along the different canals admiring the architecture and houseboats along
the way there are lots of different boat tours in
Amsterdam but if you're looking for a fun way to get
around the cities canals find one of these canal bikes
the canal bikes are operated by a company called 'Canal bus'
and can be rented at four different locations around the city
these include litzeplan and the Anne Frank House
(Instrumental) Amsterdams largest and certainly most famous
park is Vondel park which can be found just south
of leidseplein it opened its gates back in 1865 when it was
originally called 'New Park' but then after a statue of the famous Dutch
poet Joost van den Vondel was erected in
1867 it adopted the name Vondelpark and if you're looking to get away from the
hustle and bustle for a few hours this is the perfect place to do it
Amsterdam is a shopper's dream come true and there are lots of places to treat yourself
to some retail therapy the two main shopping streets are Leidsestraat
near leidseplein and and the pedestrianised Kalverstraat which
is closer to Central Station and the imposing Magna Plaza is the city's
number one shopping center if you're looking to pick up a bargain probably
the best place to find one is in the Albert Cuyp Markt which is also
Amsterdams number one street market it's located in an area called the pipe which is
just behind the Heineken brewery and here you can pick up everything from clothes
to food too many people who visit Amsterdam
only see the touristy areas around litzeplan, Dam Square and the red light district but
the city has so much more to offer you are down near the Anne Frank House is
full of quaint streets and boutiques while in the pipe your'l find find bars and
cafes along Eerste van der helst straat and right
beside the red light district is 'New Markt' which is where your'l discover
Amsterdam's China town located just west of Central Amsterdam
ninth Street De Negen Straatjes is one of the city's most charming areas
and one that isn't visited enough by people coming to Amsterdam
This small area is full of specialist stores and secondhand shops
most of which are independently run and owned by locals it's also really full of
cool cafes and restaurants
if you're on a really tight budget and you're looking for some free things to do
here are some suggestions located behind the square known as speil
behind hoff is a tranquil courtyard that was once home to a female religious
community and the entrance is free another cool thing
to do that won't cost a cent is go on free walking tour operated by
New Amsterdam tours from Dam square they last around three hours and and take in the
city's main sites and if you want to see Amsterdam from the
water without having to spend any money take a trip
on one of the free ferries from behind Central Station
Amsterdam his home to some of the world's best known and most fascinating
museums these include the Van gogh museum which houses
the world's best collection of the famous painters work
the Rijks Museum which is the Netherlands largest museum and is home
to many well-known works by Rembrandt and the Anne Frank House
which tells the story of the famous teenager
who kept a diary in the building where the museum is housed
Found on the Amstel River the Hermitage Amsterdam
is one of the Dutch capital's newest and biggest attractions located in a
beautifully restored seventeenth century building this enormous museum has exhibitions on mid-nineteenth
century Russia and more
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like in most capital cities there are hundreds of restaurants in Amsterdam
here you can take your pick between everything from Greek cuisine to Thai
and in particular there are lots of Indonesian restaurants and
steakhouses but something that you will only find in the
Netherlands is a chainof fast food resturants called Febo and
the way it works is simple: you choose what you want in this case I'm
going to go for a traditional Dutch crochet and you put in your coins
and enjoy and you can find Febo restaurants all over
the city
while Amsterdam is better known for its coffee shops that sell hash and marijuana
all over the city are older cafes known as brown cafes
these are traditional dutch bars that get their
name from their brown stained walls caused by all the cigarette smoking over the years
They are a great place for coffee in the morning or a beer anytime
Cheers ones to look out for include
café Heuvel on Prinsengracht near the Rijks Museum Café Chris in Jordaan
which dates back to 1624 and arguably the most famous evolved cafe
Hoppe on spou
because there are so many bars in Amsterdam a great way to enjoy a night out is on a bar
crawl the best one is called ultimate party and
if you join this party when you're right the Dutch capital you're
guaranteed a pretty crazy night (Crowd cheers)
The bar crawl which can be booked by logging onto hostelworld.com
forward slash tours meets in the cities liedseplein area
and visits many of its top bars before ending up in one
of Amsterdams coolest clubs so that is our 10 things you need to know
about Amsterdam if you ha vn't planed your trip here just
yet hopefully it will give you a few hints and tips for for a fact sheet on everything
that's in this video log on to www.hostelworld.com forward slash
videos and for the biggest and best selection on
hostels in Amsterdam on the Internet stay on the same site
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