Best things to do in Amsterdam- Food, Shopping and Art

My husband and I decided to go to Amsterdam because our daughter went to China with school.  Since she was not traveling with us as she usually does, we figured we’d visit a place that offers amusement that we otherwise wouldn’t participate in with our daughter in tow. We thought Greece, Bali maybe, but Amsterdam won due to the time of year and finding an amazing price on flights. Of course, we booked in September for a March 1st departure so that definitely helped in keeping flight prices down. We usually travel off-season to avoid crowds and save. We did a little bit of everything in our 8 days in Amsterdam-from food to shopping to art museums. So if you want to know the best things to do in Amsterdam keep reading.

Arriving in the Netherlands

Flying There

We departed from Miami airport on an evening flight. We upgraded our seats for about $800 to the next class up from economy on Lufthansa. This was not business class because they said we couldn’t jump two classes up. Not sure why that was but the class we got was very nice, similar to 1st class on a domestic US flight. We were greeted with a fruit juice in a flute and menus were handed to us by the flight attendants. The seats were large and comfortable.  The service was friendly too, we were happy.

We arrived in Germany extremely tired as it was the next day in the afternoon after a long flight of about 8 hours. The airport in Germany is clean, modern and offers good beer and pretty good German food. We now board a short flight from Germany to Amsterdam.

Room at the Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam

Fox door knocker at the Kimpton

Owl door knocker at the Kimpton

Our Arrival

When we arrive in Amsterdam it’s a cloudy, rainy afternoon. We researched the weather so we expected the rain and cold since its early March.  Heck, I even bought rain boots!

We take a cab from Schipol airport to our hotel. It’s like 90 euros! Wow, but we were exhausted and just wanted to get to The Kimpton De Witt Amsterdam. The hotel lobby is nice, welcoming, and modern although not too grand. Our room is super cute, the decor is eclectic modern with a large bathroom. Upon arrival, there’s a bottle of wine and macaroons waiting for us, nice.  I guess this is a perk since we used our American Express card. Later,  we realize we are eligible for an upgrade as well and request it. We get a slightly larger room on the top floor in a corner.  Score! Although the exhaustion is overwhelming at this point we still venture out.

Pip Studio Coffee Cups in our room

The entrance to the Kimpton De Witt

Our Hotel

The Kimpton is in a great location. It’s walking distance to the main train station and the port. There are many restaurants, coffee shops, and local department stores, close to the hotel. The area is very touristy but perfect for our first time in Amsterdam. The hotel offers an amazing Tea service every morning with fresh mint and ginger (not as condiments but for fresh herb tea- common here) as well as various types of tea bags. Consequently, tea became a warming morning ritual for us. As we walked out to explore the city in the morning we would grab our comp tea. My husband still misses it.

My favorite tea at the hotel tea service

Amenities At the Kimpton

In the evenings there’s an attendant who checks on the rooms. Sometimes she gives us Dutch stroopwafel cookies or candy. They also have a free wine happy hour in the lobby. It was nice to get back to the hotel after exploring the city to find a wine party. The restaurant at the hotel is gastropub style and serves as an easy place to get a good meal and craft cocktails, especially when it’s raining. The room service is just ok. The food arrives cold both times we order breakfast. The hotel is under construction but there isn’t any noise except late morning once. Overall we really liked it and would recommend it. I give it around 4 stars.

The beatuiful canals of Amsterdam

Shopping in Amsterdam

Boutique shopping in Amsterdam is amazing! Every section has its own unique shopping flavor and style. My favorite area was De Pijp. This district offers shopping at every level from street markets to boutiques at every price point. My favorite shop here is Noor– amazing prices and trendy clothes made in France and Italy. Gotta love Europe! De Pijp reminded me of SOHO in NYC. It was edgy yet clean and had a designer warehouse/fashion district vibe.

Noor boutique in De Pijp

Walking through De Pijp

The 9 Straatjes

The 9 Straatjes was another area that I’d read about before going to Amsterdam. It offers a dense boutique shopping experience that ranges from vintage to new retro to local designers. We had drinks at the authentic, colorful Café ‘t Spui-tje, ate Fries at Van Wonderen Frieten, and drank hot chocolate at Chocolatl while in the Straatges. We were here about 3 times during our trip. I think we went into all the shops. I ended buying a jumper and dress at a vintage boutique as well as a top at King Louie.

Cafe Spui Brown Bar in the 9 Streets

Inside Cafe Spui

One of my favorite discoveries was the United Nude shoe store, which was on the walk back from the Straatjes to our hotel. I don’t believe I didn’t know about this place before the trip!  I mean, there’s one in LA. The shoes are designed by an architect and are divine- got two pairs! Another fun place to shop was X Bank, a concept store at the W Hotel. I was able to buy a unique piece by a Dutch designer here.  When I go to another country I like to buy something unique and local. X Bank has both. I’m telling you, I feel like shopping in Amsterdam rivaled, need I say… Paris!

Fell in love with United Nude shoes in Amsterdam

United Nude shoe store

Art In Amsterdam

Amsterdam offers world-renowned art museums and galleries. A must see is the Rijksmuseum in the scenic museum square. It was our third day in town and a beautiful day when we went to the museum. It had been raining the two days before and it cleared up so we were ecstatic. We always visit museums when we travel so we’ve seen a great deal of art. We decided to make our tour of Rijks quick. It’s not too huge so we saw a lot. I found a new love in the dark yet colorful Dutch flower paintings while at the Rijks. The museum features all Dutch art and it contains the Rembrandt collection which we didn’t see because it required an additional ticket. We realized this when we were ready to leave to go to the Moco Museum to see the Banksy work there.

I recommend buying your tickets in advance here to make your entry to Moco as seamless as possible.

Ruks Museum Entrance

The Nightwatch

Festoon of Fruit and Flowers by Jan Davidsz de Heem

Street Art

Amsterdam is a great place if you’re into Street Art. Many of the galleries sell legitimate work by well-known street artists. I highly recommend the Moco Museum if you want to see quality street and modern art. It’s right across museum square not far from the Rijks Museum. The museum building is a quaint townhouse designed in 1904 by Eduard Cuypers. It offers fun interactive and immersive art coupled with an Instagram worthy sculpture garden.

Moco Museum building

Beijing Wawa mermaid sculpture

Os Gemeos

Banksy behind me

Hubby looks at art

Banksy

Museum staircase

The Moco offers some cool interactive art installations

Gummy sculpture in sculpture garden

Moco Museum has an amazing little sculpture garden

After Moco, we had street fries on Museumplein. The street food in Amsterdam of burgers and fries surprised me, it just seemed so American. The other food that we loved were Dutch Pancakes. They’re like crepes but lay flat like a pizza and served with sweet or savory toppings. So delish and available on every corner!

Burgers by our hotel

Pancakes of Amsterdam located in the port

On our fourth day, we went to the Van Gogh museum. This time it was a perfect rainy day to be inside. We almost didn’t get in since we arrived at the museum in the afternoon and it indicated they were sold out at the ticket booth. Very odd! Luckily, I was able to buy the tickets online. Unfortunately, they don’t allow any photos at this museum. What I really liked is that the museum does a good job of teaching you about Van Gogh’s life, not just about his art.

Food in Amsterdam

Amsterdam offers some delicious food from street vendors to fine dining and everything in between. I’ll start with our favorite pancake place. We stumbled upon it on our walk back from Museumplein. This pancake restaurant, De Vier Pilaren, looks like an old cottage so we were immediately drawn in. Inside it’s cute, no frills and the pancakes are perfect. I don’t think we ever found the perfect place for fries. We had them in a place in Neges Straatges (The 9 Streets) and in Museumplein but they were just ok.  We also made sure to eat at one of the vending machine food places. These places serve hand foods like croquettes from a vending machine. Unexpectedly the selections were fresh and hot.  It’s like fast food but faster!

Food vending machine in Amsterdam

Croquettes in Amsterdam food vending

More Food

Another notable place is a mini sandwich place we popped into to avoid the rain in Jordaan called Bocas. We chose 5 different small sandwiches, a bowl of onion soup and fries.  All neatly presented on a round wooden block. Another place we popped in to avoid rain was the art deco Cafe American it’s right by Museumplein.  The food was good but service a bit slow. I guess it’s for tourists hence the name.

My husband really loved Ron Gastropub. The restaurant casually serves high-end cuisine featuring creative presentation. We made a reservation to eat at the bar. We chose the tasting menu and every course was delicious. I really enjoyed Vinkeles which offered all the pomp and circumstance of fine dining in a beautiful canal hotel. Their sommelier and cheese expert were highlights of the meal.

Beer at Bocas mini sandwich restaurant

Surprise Egg desert at Ron Gastropub

Icecream cones served in Tulip Vase very Amsterdam!

Cheese is presented for cheese course at Vinkeles

Main dish at Vinkeles

Drinking in Amsterdam

From the free wine happy hour at our hotel to the brown bars and craft cocktail bars, there was no shortage of alcohol consumption fun to be had in Amsterdam. We started at the Flying Dutchman, a tiny cocktail bar attached to a club close to Neges Straages. This place has amazing handcrafted cocktails. I really enjoyed Dutchman’s nautical theme- so dark and sexy. We had to wait and scramble a little for a seat, about 5 minutes but totally worth it.

While walking around the city we popped into a few brown bars one was Cafe Oporto. In the Red Light District, we went to a very strange place that played American 90s music like “Who Let the Dogs Out”. On a side note- it’s funny because Ron Gastropub also played American 90s rap. The other popular music in Amsterdam pubs and restaurants was American music from the 50s. We went for cocktails at the rooftop of the W but ended up eating at the high-end rooftop steakhouse Mr. Porter, which featured great views. While shopping for antiques we walked into a tiny little bar and had Heinekens.

Excellent cocktails at the Flying Dutchman

Feuille de brick appetizer at Mr. Porters

Cocktails at Sushi Restaurant MOMO

At Cafe Oporto

There is more to Amsterdam than you think

There is more to Amsterdam than the Red Light District and the legal drugs.  It offers a vibrant food scene, eclectic art and exciting shopping all set to the scenic canals, charming row homes and beautiful landscape featuring colorful blooms. And one of the most intriguing things about the city is its transportation phenomenon. Everyone in Amsterdam and their mom ride bikes like we do cars in the US.  So cool yet dangerous if you’re a pedestrian not paying attention- but that’s Amsterdam!

Smartshop in Amsterdam

mansions in Amsterdam

Flower market in Amsterdam

Bikers at Vondelpark

Stay tuned for more Things to do in Amsterdam part II (there was just too much to talk about in one blog post)