Tr avel report AMSTERDAM A
MSTERDAM has a reputation for the Red Light District and cakes you wouldn’t offer to your granny. But these are unfair stereotypes the Dutch city is working hard to shake off. Yes, the Red Light District is there (and at least 200 ‘coffee shops’) but they are both easy to ignore in a city that has so much else to offer.
Noticeably quieter – and quainter – than most cities back home, the centre of Amsterdam (given Unesco World Heritage Site status) feels small and friendly, and the canals – dominated by tall narrow old houses – put you in a completely different environment to the UK, It didn’t feel like I was just over an hour’s travel away from Manchester. It even has beaches a short boat ride away.
Amsterdam has trams as well as buses and you can buy an I Amsterdam city card, which will give you free public transport across the city for up to four days. It’s not cheap but also gets you free entry into lots of museums, plus discounts on other attractions and amenities. Roaming around is one of the best things to do in Amsterdam. Explore the canals, independent shops, bars and restaurants to your heart’s content and enjoy the friendly and easy-going vibe. Stroll outside the city centre to the neighbourhoods for even more variety. We spent time in De Pijp, the city’s Latin Quarter to the south, which has a lively multicultural feel and is home to creatives, students and bohemian spirits – as well as the behind-the-scenes Heineken Experience.
After a delicious lunch at Bazar restaurant, tucking into sharing platters of Middle Eastern and north African cuisine, we saved a little bit of space for a purely Dutch delicacy – poffertjes – at nearby Albert Cuyp market. The tiny pancakes, not much bigger than a £2 coin, are served by the tray-full traditionally with a knob of butter and sprinkled with icing sugar. I couldn’t resist mine with chocolate and fresh strawberries – and very good they were too.
Food is just one of the myriad of things for sale at Albert Cuyp – at 1.5km long it is famous as the biggest open air market in Europe. Another good place to explore and see where the city takes you. After all that walking, let a boat take the strain and see Amsterdam from a different perspective by taking a trip along the city’s many canals. Numerous boat tours ply the waterways during the day and restaurants also take to the water at night offering dinner cruises. If you have a taste for Indonesian food and fancy splashing out, head for Blue Pepper restaurant which offers evening cruises at weekends. If you’re over 18 it’s worth hunting out the House of Bols, celebrating the world famous liqueur company which started life in 1575. Described as a ‘cocktail and genever experience’ this is more than a history tour and introduces you to all 42 Bols liqueurs before you order your new-found favourite cocktail at the bar. A cocktail is included in the price and they also offer cocktail workshops if you fancy spinning the shakers yourself. ■■Cafes sell coffee, tea and buns just like the UK. Coffee shops are different. ■■Cycle lanes look more like a part of the pavement than the road. So if - like me you keep hearing the tinkle of bells and screech of cycle brakes, chances are you’re standing in the cycle lane - again. Oh, and cyclists have right of way - always. They even have their own trade union. ■■You will get lost. But there’s always someone to show you the way. cheese tasting events. We went to Reypenaer, an award winning firm which has been making cheese for more than 100 years. Sat in twos in rows we were encouraged to slice off and taste a number of cheeses which had been maturing for up to three years and comment on their colour, smell, taste and consistency before being presented with a certificate. Feeling more like a park than a zoo, Amsterdam’s Royal zoo houses an aquarium and planetarium as well as more than 700 animal species and 200 tree varieties. Modern and with