A Side Trip to The Netherlands

Visiting The Netherlands wasn’t our plan at all. But since we’re already in Europe and that it’s near London, we gave it a try. Since we didn’t have anything planned, we decided that it’s best for us to take the hop-on and hop-off bus for us to cover all the possible tourist spots.

What’s excellent about Amsterdam’s Hop-On Hop-Off tour is that you can ride it on and off on your most convenient bus stop. All you have to do is to check the arrival of the bus so you won’t miss it. It’s pretty convenient, especially for our family. We didn’t have to follow a strict itinerary for as long as we complete the trip within twenty-four hours.

The bus route covered eleven tourist spots in Amsterdam. The city is the largest one in the country, and it’s where the tourists usually flock to know more about the Netherlands.

We rode the bus at the Central Station which is perfect for any Van Gogh fans as it housed a small cafe in which you can view some replicas of this great artist’s work, which, for me, is the highlight of our trip. After that, the next stop was at the Amsterdam River Cruises followed by the Passenger Terminal. We’ve just passed the river cruises, and you’d need a separate cruise trip actually to get on the boat. However, we thought that we could cover more grounds if we were to stay on the bus

After passing through the terminal, we headed to the Gassan Diamonds where there was a showroom that you can see finely made diamonds. We passed by the Jewish Cultural Center and Royal Theatre Carre for some culture trip.

Afterwards, we went to see the Heineken experience. It’s an interactive tour in which you can learn more about the history of the brewery. At the end of the tour, there will be a tasting session. Then, we also saw the Leidseplein, Jordaan, and Westerdok.

Touring Netherlands didn’t take much of our time, but we’re still happy that we made this side trip. Although unplanned, we sure did have a lot of fun learning about this beautiful country.

Few Tips:

– Avoid long, boring lines at museums/attractions by pre-purchasing tickets online for fast-track entry.
– If you’re visiting a lot of museums, invest in an I Amsterdam Card, which also includes a canal cruise, public transport and 24 hour bicycle rental.
– Amsterdam is a safe city but watch out for pickpockets, especially where there are crowds of tourists.
– Look both ways when crossing bike lanes (marked with white lines and bicycle symbols) and never walk along them.
– Many businesses don’t accept non-European credit cards – check first.

Where We Stayed:

Hotel Abba

Arriving by plane