Five hidden hot-spots in Amsterdam

July 19, 2010 by Mark
Filed under Europe, Guest post, Netherlands, Sightseeing

With its canals and merchant houses Amsterdam is one of the most popular European cities to visit but if you’ve done the canal tour and the Van Gough museum, you may like to try out some of the more unusual attractions suggested in my sponsored post from Easytobook.com

Amsterdam is one of the most popular European cities to visit in the world. The beautiful canals, green parks, stressed-free atmosphere and coffee shops all make it a desirable location to visit over and over again. Because many visitors tend to come back to Amsterdam for a second or third time, we gathered here some of the best hidden hot-spots that are not mentioned in the standard guide books but still worth visiting:

Cafe Vertigo in Amsterdam

1. Lunch in the park at Café Vertigo

This charming café could not be located in a better spot, right in the middle of the famous Vondelpark, underneath the Dutch Film Museum. Not only will the location blow you away but also the décor and the delicious food. The combination of the green surrounding, relaxed environment and the sounds of birds, will all make it an incredible afternoon. The greatest advantage of this café is the option to visit the film museum after a pleasant lunch.

Café Vertigo, Vondelpark 3, 1071 AA Amsterdam, tel: 020 612 3021

2. Dining in the dark at Ctaste

This is a truly unique experience for everybody! Enjoy an evening where you will be using your all senses, except seeing naturally. The food is served by blind individuals and before entering the dark eating room, you will be welcome in the restaurant’s lounge area where you will get a wide explanation about the whole experience. For those of you who are allergic for some kinds of food, no need to worry- the waiter will give you the chance to inform him about things you simply cannot or do not want to eat.

Ctaste, Amsteldijk 55, 1074 HX Amsterdam, tel: +31-(0)6 22335366

Red light district of Amsterdam by Marcel Germain

3. A red-light walking tour

This 2 hour tour may not be for everyone, but then you can be certain it is not the typical tourist Amsterdam sightseeing experience! The tour through the red light district, will start with visiting the prostitution information centre where you will get an interesting insight about the Dutch attitudes, rules and regulation, in this field. After the introduction meeting is finished, you will start exploring the red light district area, the Wallen. Your tour guide will take you to wander around the Zeedijk, (which in the past used to be a dangerous area and now it is one of the most lively places to have a drink and dinner in Amsterdam) afterwards you will continue strolling around in the old red light district’s narrow alleys and you are likely to finish somewhere in a central area. Please note that this tour is completely safe and you will be surprise how much you will learn! A number of tour companies offer this tour, or ask at the local tourist information office.

4. Dine with the Dutch

This is a must for those of you who would like try an at-home dinner with the locals! Just go on the Internet and register yourself on the Dine with the Dutch website. Fill in your details and this remarkably smart system will be able to find the most suitable family for you. The choices are tremendously broad: from a married gay couple to a large family with 5 children – everything is possible. After choosing your family you will get an invitation to a 3-course traditional Dutch meal. This will cost you 49 EUR per person including tax. Kids over the age of 12 will have to pay 25 EUR.

Amstelkring Museum Our Lord in the Attic by SacredDestination

5. Our Lord in the Attic

Behind the distinguished facade of the canal house and in the center of the famous Red Light District, you will find the 17th-century residence and a completely hidden church, known as Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder or Our Lord in the Attic. This church was used secretly between 1578 and 1795 when Catholicism in Amsterdam was illegal. Today, this amazing spot is a museum where art and religion exhibitions are presented and religious services still held. In 2010 the church is under restoration but the museum is still open.

Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder, Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40 , 1012 GE Amsterdam , Tel +31(0)20 624 66 04

My thanks for the Amsterdam tips in this article to EasyToBook.com who can help you find hotels in Amsterdam. The company’s online portal makes it simple for visitors to locate hotels, compare prices and secure discount rates on hotels all over the world that range from simple motels up to celebrated 5-star venues. For more information about hotels in Amsterdam, visit www.EasyToBook.com.

Photo Credits: Café Vertigo Courtesy of Amsterdam Tourism and Convention Board, Dark Amsterdam by MarcelGermain, Amstelkring Museum Our Lord in the Attic by SacredDestination

Enjoy the historic sites of Europe on a Rhine river cruise

June 7, 2010 by HeatherCowper
Filed under Europe, Germany, Guest post, Leisure, Misc, Netherlands, Sightseeing, Switzerland

12 Comments

If you want a comfortable way to see many of the major cities of Europe, with historic sites and beautiful scenery, then you’ll enjoy today’s sponsored post from Viking River Cruises, taking us on a cruise along the river Rhine.

An introduction to the Rhine

See Basel in Switzerland on a Rhine River Cruise

For centuries the rivers were the highways of Europe – roads were poor or non existent and so rivers were the arteries of commerce and travel, with major cities growing up along their banks and wealth being created on their shores. The Rhine is one of the longest of these European river highways, rising in the Alps and flowing through Europe until it reaches the North sea at Amsterdam. A cruise along the Rhine will take you through the landscapes and treasures of Europe at a relaxed pace as you move through your destination rather than hurrying to meet it, cruising through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. Here’s a flavour of the things that you can see on the Rhine, starting in the upper reaches of the River at Basel and ending in the Netherlands at Amsterdam where the Rhine reaches the sea.

Switzerland and Germany

Visit Breisach in Germany

You can start your Rhine river cruise in the Swiss city of Basel, with outstanding art museums, historic sites such as the Middle Bridge and cathedral and picturesque winding streets as well as outstanding art museums.

Before long you’ll be leaving the Alpine scenery of Switzerland and moving through the Southern Germany, and into the Alsace region, passing through Breisach. The landscape is changing to one of rolling meadows and dense forests and you can climb up to Cathedral hill at Breisach to catch some stunning views of the Rhine valley. This is a major winemaking region and so you may like to take some time out to visit a vineyard and enjoy some wine tasting.

In Strasbourg, home of the European Parliament you can explore this Alsatian city’s blend of French and German cultures—fabulous churches, medieval covered bridges, beautiful parks and some lovely Art Nouveau and modernist architecture. The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has a world famous cathedral.

Visit Heidelberg on a Rhine River Cruise

Moving on down river you’ll pass through Heidelberg, home to Germany’s oldest university founded in 1386. You can tour the imposing Heidelberg Castle, a red sandstone ruin overlooking the Neckar River and wander through the Old Town to Heidelberg’s renowned gates. At nearby Speyer you’ll find an imposing Romanesque cathedral, built in the 11th century on the site of a former basilica and the final resting place of eight German monarchs. Its soaring interior features graceful rows of sandstone columns and a large stained glass window installed in the western façade during a later Gothic period.

In the scenic Middle Rhine Valley, the Rhine passes charming villages, castles that overlook the river from their hilltop locations and the legendary Lorelei Rock.

Dayo Castle in Germany overlooking the Rhine

The town of Koblenz is situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle and you can take an excursion to the 700-year-old Marksburg Castle and tour its museum. From Rüdesheim wandering around the Drosselgasse, a pedestrian-only street lined with restaurants, bars and shops and visit Eberbach Abbey in Hesse, where key interior scenes from The Name of the Rose were filmed.

In Cologne you can stroll through the Old Town past St. Martin’s Church and spend some time inside Cologne’s Dom, a remarkable Gothic cathedral, whose construction was begun in 1248 and was only completed in 1880.

Netherlands

We’re now crossing into the Netherlands and one of the first stops is Arnhem, a quaint town rich in World War II history. Visit the site of Operation Market Garden and the Airborne Museum or the beautiful 17th-century Paleis Het Loo, with richly furnished rooms and manicured gardens, for three centuries the retreat of the Dutch royal family.

Canal Houses in Amsterdam

You can take an excursion to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for a tour of this ingenious network of windmills and other flood management devices. You’ll learn why the windmills were built and see how they work entering a working windmill for a tour of its mechanisms and living quarters. Sample some of the many handcrafted Dutch cheeses and jenever, a distilled juniper liquor, and try your hand at sjoelen (Dutch table shuffleboard)

Our Rhine River Cruise finishes in Amsterdam where you can cruise through this canal-laced city in a glass-topped canal boat passing narrow merchant houses and the renowned Skinny Bridge and get a different perspective of this vibrant, multicultural city. You can tour of the Van Gogh Museum to see works by the famous artist and his contemporaries or take an excursion to Zaanse Schans, a Dutch neighborhood that features a collection of beautifully preserved wooden windmills.

If you’re tempted by the historic places of interest that can be visited from the river Rhine, you may like to consider a Rhine River Cruise through Viking River Cruises who offer a range of itineraries along the Rhine as well as other European destinations in comfort from their elegant and comfortable fleet of river cruise ships.

Photo Credits: Photos from Viking River Cruises , Featured content photo of Heidelberg Bridge by phatfreemiguel