#WhenIn Amsterdam

Yuan Nielsen
Jul 25, 2017 · 4 min read

Amsterdam has truly surprised me as far as the “hidden gem” factor. After spending some wonderful days in this superbly attractive city, I became rather interested in what it would take to acquire an apartment here…

Where to stay:

Zoku Amsterdam Hotel has some pretty awesome apartments, which especially cater to the creative entrepreneurs, who appreciate having a roll of drawing paper handy should they be hit with sudden inspiration (imagine that Google Campus had an illegitimate child with WeWork, and when it came of age, it went off to Japan to learn how to tastefully squeeze coolness into small spaces and design for maximum utilization of such space; then on its way to Amsterdam, having realized that this was naturally the perfect place to create the ultimate hipster lair, it had a convenient layover in Australia, where it recruited all its employees to globalize your new work-home environment… well, that’s pretty much Zoku in a nutshell). Oh and they make a killer breakfast buffet.

Hotel The Neighbor’s Magnolia is a charming little boutique hotel located just below Vondelpark in a quiet and beautiful neighborhood. We stayed in a room downstairs that opened up to a small green garden (and in the morning, you can let the friendly neighborhood cat in, and it will hang out with you while you get ready).

How to get around:

Biicycle, biiiiicycle! The best part of Amsterdam is how easily you can get from point A to B, and then to C, D , and E on a bicycle. Most hotels will rent you a bike so that part is easy, and it is tremendously fun getting around like this.

Where to eat:

Breakfast:

Zoku, as mentioned above, makes a pretty mean breakfast with freshly-baked frittata, homemade granola, warm bread, and much more.

Bakers and Roasters has a very extensive breakfast and brunch menu, and from what I could see around the tables, they do it all very well. I, of course, indulged in the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, and that was super good.

Lunch:

Scandinavian Embassy offers a simple and well-executed lunch with local ingredients from small, niche suppliers (we had a dish with shot-down goose from the airport). While you wait for your food, you can even browse their little wardrobe shop for Scandinavian clothes.

Dinner:

Restaurant de Plantage serves amazing food and wine in a stunning building with great service and reasonable prices (what more could you want?). We had a perfect evening with the best food on the trip (I normally don’t like the taste of lamb, and here I completely devoured a giant leg of lamb).

What to eat:

Spritz, bitterballen, and cheese galore must be the right answer to this one. Although the best food we had was at Restaurant De Plantage with the runner up being the Eggs Benedict from Bakers and Roasters, one really must enjoy some Spritz, bitterballen, and cheese galore by the canals.

What to do:

Bike around in Vondelpark. This park is just so green and lovely. In the summer, everyone is sitting out in the park or bicycling around in it, and the air is just clean and wonderful.

Bike or boat around the canals. The canals, bridges, cobblestones, and houses are all so incredibly charming, so walking, biking, or boating around them is an absolute must.

What not to do:

Don’t join the long wait in line to go inside Anne Frank’s house; don’t spend too much time in the Red Light District I guess it’s a must if one hasn’t been, but there really are better places (that smell less like pee), to enjoy in this wonderful city.

#WhenIn

Yuan Nielsen

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#WhenIn

#WhenIn

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