TRAVEL

There are many of these sorts of museums in Amsterdam, and a visit can be an informative and fun way to pass a hung over afternoon. A word of advice: Be careful in the Red Light District after dark, especially if you’re traveling alone or have imbibed any mind altering substances. It can be dangerous. Pick pockets and drug addicted dealers abound, and the place can be quite frightening at night when all of the little souvenir and head shops have closed. Some streets are deserted at night, despite the fact that a few hours earlier they might’ve been buzzing with people and activity. Although I’ve always traveled with a friend and have been lucky, someone I know was robbed at knifepoint late at night. He managed to escape unscathed, but I loathe thinking what would have happened had he been drunk, or worse, a woman alone. It always pays to be on your guard when visiting a strange city at night. Most of the Dutch people are snug in their beds by 11:00p.m., leaving the mean streets of Amsterdam to the junkies, and thieves, and tourists.

I would recommend visiting Amsterdam during the summer. The winters tend to be long, cold, rainy, and bleak. I’d also try to avoid major holidays such as Christmas, New Year’s or Easter. Things tend to shut down early on those dates, and it’s easy to find yourself staring longingly into the windows of private parties that those smart Dutch people have organized, to party with their friends, and keep the tourist element out! It’s a good idea to reserve rooms in advance. The cheaper places fill up fast, and if you don’t plan ahead, you could find yourself paying top dollar for a four star hotel room, or sleeping with one eye open and your head propped up against your backpack in the train station.

Some good budget options are hostels, but one must keep an open mind and be happy with minimum comforts. Hostels usually sleep six to ten people per room in bunk beds, with a common bathroom and shower facility. Most include breakfast: bread, juice, coffee, cheese and a hardboiled egg is popular breakfast food in most Amsterdam hostels. With some research and planning ahead, one can find any kind of accommodation. If you find yourself there without any reservations, the tourist information center is helpful in finding rooms available. And a visit there is much less exhausting than hoofing it all over town, going from hotel to hotel with all of your luggage.

A very nice thing about Amsterdam is that it serves as an easy access portal to many other European cities. Europe has an excellent train system, and Amsterdam is always a great one or two day stop when traveling on a Euro pass. Personally--I think a visit of more than a few days visit to this city would be depressing or dangerous to one’s health.