Amsterdam is a magical city with its canals, historic buildings and numerous cyclists. Winter time is over, the streets are being filled with greenery and the tulips are blooming. People are filling terraces to catch warm sun rays and you’ll see the first people with sunglasses on. In this blog we wrote down some of the things you can do during your layover or the few hours you’ll have here in Amsterdam.
Kingsday: Everybody wearing orange
This is thé day of the year in the Netherlands. Street parties, boat parties, flea markets everywhere, games on the street, food stalls, and everybody wearing Orange. It’s the day the Dutch celebrate the birthday of the King and because the family name of the king is ‘from Orange Nassau’ everybody is wearing orange. This amazing party day is celebrated on the 27th of April.
Children selling stuff during Kingsday
Keukenhof: Walk through Blooming tulip fields
Walk through 7 million colorful tulips, crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths. Discover the flower shows, surprising inspirational gardens, unique art and tulip mania exhibition. When walking through the tulip fields you will get to see a variety of 800 different tulips. A unique experience, not to miss when you’re in Amsterdam. Keukenhof will be open from 22 March – 13 May 2018.
Ju and PJ at the Keukenhof
Vondelpark: Relax in the Central Park of Amsterdam
As soon as the first sunrays hit the Netherlands everybody goes outside. In Amsterdam the place to be is then the Vondelpark. Having a drink on the grass or running through the park. Another option in the vondelpark is to visit one of the Free Concerts at the Vondelpark Open Air Theather. The first concert is planned on the 5th of May. Check their schedule here.
People chilling in the Vondelpark on a sunny day
Amsterdam Beach: Go for a windy walk
Amsterdam Beach, Zandvoort aan Zee is only a 30 minute train ride from Amsterdam Central Station. The train station at the beach is a 3 minute walk from the beach and from there you’ll have direct access to the North Sea. Zandvoort aan Zee is one of the most famous beaches in the Netherlands and together with the sea and dunes it forms a wonderful nature reserve. Amsterdam beach has wide, sandy beaches and many great beach bars for food and drinks from which you may overlook the sea.
Go boating: See Amsterdam from a different perspective
Amsterdam is beautiful on foot, by bike, but certainly from the water by boat. Many people in Amsterdam own boats and there are many houseboats. Make sure to not miss out on a beautiful canal cruise, preferably on a local boat so you’ll get to see the narrow canals.
Visit local brewery: Have a delicious beer on a terrace
The Dutch are not the Belgians, but they can brew beer. That is confirmed by the numerous breweries there are in Amsterdam.
Liberation day: Festivals all over the city
The Dutch were set free by the allied forces during world war two on the 5th of May 1945. The surrender of German forces in the Netherlands was negotiated on the eve of May 5, 1945 (three days before the general capitulation of Germany), in Wageningen.
Festival and event season
Amsterdam hosts around 300 festivals each year. The event agenda spans all tastes and genres. The range of festivals is broad and diverse, attracting both Dutch and internationals. The festival season has started from now. We recommend going to Rolling Kitchens, it hosts dozens of food-mobiles and free concerts. It is hosted in the Westerpark from Wednesday 9th of May till Sunday 13th of May.
