This trip was ten years in the making, but man was it worth the wait. Everything you can imagine had gotten in the way up until now: my health, my finances, a global pandemic, my ex-boyfriend stealing my birthday trip that one time... but alas! Here's how I spent six days in Amsterdam, way back in April 2023.
We stayed in this airbnb along one of the smaller canals in the suburbs, about 45 minutes outside of Amsterdam central. It meant a train journey there and back every morning/afternoon but having an escape from the mayhem and the crowds was so neccesary for me. It was big enough for just us and well equipped for a few days visit. Waking up with the sun glinting off of the canal, a family of ducks with their ducklings swimming by every morning... I felt so at peace and so present. It was a very good, grounding base for me whilst we were away. Definitely check out Assendelft if you're booking a trip, although Haarlem and Jordaan also come highly recommended by friends of mine!
WHAT WE DID
Rather than create a rigid itinerary we created a Google Maps, er, map, for our trip which gave us more flexibility if we ended up in a certain area earlier or later than intended. Wandering through Amsterdam is enough of an activity on it's own, though - there's so much beauty in the canals and the architecture and the pace of life there. I spent a lot of time people watching. But I also did all of this:
Rembrandt House
The Rembrandt House was a weird one, mainly because in the incredibly informative and interesting audio tour, they really didn't shy away from how much of a not very nice* man Rembrandt was. I had no former knowledge of Rembrandt at all, not even his most famous work, The Night Watch, so this being my introduction to him was a little jarring. I found it hard to feel inspired by the man who I'd grown to rather dislike in quite a short space of time. The museum is dedicated to his life and artistry and is set up in almost the exact same way as it would have been during his time living there, although most items and artworks in the house are recreations as our man was not particularly clever with money and sold off almost all of his original works and curated art collection during his bankruptcy. I'm not sure what I had expected - creative working inspiration, maybe - but I was left unfulfilled by the Rembrandt House.
Champions of the odd and the extraordinary, the NXT is dedicated to new media art, showcasing light, sound, movement and colour. I had no idea what to expect and I honestly recommend you also go in with as little knowledge as possible! It's so bizarre, so completely immersive that it takes you completely out of your own reality and places you into some kind of psychedelic, mind-altering new landscape that kinda looks like life but also kinda doesn't. As you can imagine, a lot of the other guests had done some mind-altering of their own, but being completely sober didn't stop the immersion for me. They had several rooms (all of increasing insanity, it felt) showcasing different installations by different artists but were cohesive enough with one over-arching theme threaded through them all. The NXT is slightly outside of central, and wedged amongst a slightly dodgy-looking trading estate, but it's definitely worth the trip.
Situated on the Museumplein, the MOCO is a compact and cleverly curated independant modern art museum showcasing both fresh talent and the ol' classics such as Banksy and Keith Haring. It's a small space but has several permanent exhibits worth visiting as well as seasonal temporary exhibitions. The guest feature when we visited was contemporary artist The Kid, who I thoroughly recommend checking out. I spent so long studying his exquisite paintings. For the Instagrammers among us, the digital art installation is a cute space to snap some fun pics for the grid!
This experience was a dream to me. To be in space where Anne had lived and breathed and written, to see her original diary, written in pencil... it was and still is so special to me. The House stands empty as per Otto Frank's wishes and it's incredible to feel how compact and tight the rooms are, even without any furniture in them. There are recreations in photographs along the way which help you contextualize what it would have looked like and the audio tour was absolutely brilliant, so informative and immersive. It adds to much context to Anne's life and their time in the Annex.
When in Amsterdam...! I'm absolutely fascinated by sex and sexuality so we made sure to leave space in our itinerary to hop over to the Sex Museum. I found it so interesting to see how sexuality has been represented in art the media since the dawn of time, especially Queerness. It's comforting to see that we've existed all of this time. The museum itself was smaller than I expected and felt more like viewing someone's private collection, purely due to the lack of education/information displayed, but it's a great way to kill an hour in between bigger attractions!
Other places of note:
Stedelijk museum - huge contemporary art museum with a great audio tour.
de winkel van nijntje - the official Miffy store! Worth a visit if you're a die-hard fan but tbh there's Miffys absolutely everywhere. I found my Tulip Miffy in the Van Gogh Museum gift shop and we picked up Sam's Boris in a boba tea shop (seriously).
De 9 Straatjes - If you're in the mood for some shopping, hit up 'Nine Streets' for a mix of big retailers, gift shops and vintage stores.
Rijksmuseum - the national museum of the Netherlands, I was beyond devastated that they wouldn't let us in when we arrived five minutes late for our booking. Learn from my failings, kids!!
Van Gogh museum - another museum we missed out on tickets for! Most attractions in Amsterdam are booked months in advance, so bear that in mind when you're making your own plans.
Albert Heijn
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but is anyone else completely fascinated by the supermarkets in other countries? The mundanity of it, the comfort of 'running errands' in a city that isn't your own, surrounded by the normality of other cultures... it's always a cornerstone of a trip for me. It calms my anxiety, somehow. Albert Heijn is basically the Dutch Sainsbury's and they're literally everywhere. My favourite was the one on Museumplein, but the one by the train station was good in a pinch, too. We ate breakfast and dinner at our Airbnb most nights and Albert served us well.
Margo's is the cutest all-vegan cafe a little out of the centre of Amsterdam but definitely worth the effort it takes to get there. We got takeout sandwiches, coffee and homebaked American-style cookies and oooooh. It was so good. Sam had the 'Hoisin Luck' and I had the Tofu Katsu sub (which was our favourite of the two). They have a little seating area outside of their little shopfront but we took our subs and wandered to a local park to eat and it was so lovely and peaceful.
I am living and dying for the day that Vegan Junk Food Bar sets itself up in England. It was SO. GOOD. We wanted to try a little of everything so ordered a sharing platter amongst other bits and pieces and it was a great way to sample the menu. Sam insists the VJFB Daddy is the best vegan burger he's ever had and those onion rings. I still dream of them, with the gorgeously pink garlic dip on the side... VJFB please. I'm begging you. Brighton needs you.
LOCALS
We knew for our first morning we'd never made it for breakfast anywhere so brunch was the next logical step and LOCALS served us perfectly. Sam had their Eggs Benny and I had a triple stack of vegan pancakes which were served with fresh fruit and a generous drizzle of maple syrup. As soon as we were finished we scoured our itinerary for a space for us to come back for round two! The freshly squeezed orange juice and house coffee come highly recommended, too.
I always felt like Amsterdam would only ever exist in a dream for me. It still feels that way, even a year after visiting. 18 year old me - this trip was for you <3
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