Cityguide to Amsterdam

Tove M Taalesen
31. juli 2018
2 min lesing

The best way to explore a city is by using the bike. Then you will get close to the people and the life of the city. You will not miss out on the hidden gems that hide around the next corner. The first thing I do when I get to a new city is to rent myself a bike, either by asking the hotel or finding a close by bike shop. Amsterdam is perfect for cycling, and it's super easy to get around. The Netherlands is well known to be well facilitated when it comes to cycling, and the urban environment takes good care of the cyclist.

Some good tips for a successful bike ride in Amsterdam: - Follow the cycling roads marked with pink. - Be careful with the traffic rules for the cyclist. - Give a signal on what direction you are going to the ones behind you. - Always ride with the flow of the cars – be careful with the one-way streets, make sure you are going in the right direction. - Lock your bike with double locks, there is a lot of bike thieves in Amsterdam.

Sightseeing in Amsterdam You can ride a bike to all parts of town and most of the tourist attractions without using too much energy. The landscape is flat, which makes it nice to be a cyclist. The areas around the channels are especially good for bikes. Here will you find your "instamoments" fast as the wind blow. Amsterdam has a fine architecture, a lot of bridges over the channels and they have a talent for decorating entrances with colorful flowers. I recommend a trip to the foodhall, this is a closed down tram stall that’s made over to a foodhall. Foodhall with a big success. It is a bigger version of the foodhall in Vulkan in Oslo. I was there an ordinary Tuesday afternoon and I was impressed with how many people were there. It was also live music from the stage in the middle, it was a local jazz band that played for us. Amazingly convenient to lock the bike on the outside, use the opportunity of the offer of food and drink and end it with a coffee in the sunset right on the outside. Afterwards, we cycled home alongside the channel. I can also recommend a visit to the house of one of Amsterdam’s most wealthy family – Museum van Loon. Today is the house a museum, but in the 1800’s was an invitation to a party here at the top of the list for a lot of people. The family started the Dutch East India Company and continued banking services. The house’s wife, Thora van Loon-Egidius was the court lady for Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.