We stayed in Amsterdam a couple of years ago. It's a great city and the museums you mentioned are well worthwhile.
As a photographer, I'd also highly recommend the FOAM Museum of Photography. There is, of course, the Anne Frank house, and a number of Canal houses that were opulent residences, now converted to museums reflecting the lives of their owners. The Jordaan district is particularly nice for a stroll. There are a number of open air markets near downtown that make for nice photo ops. The Albert Cuypmarkt was great. You may want to take the canal tour twice, once during the day to get a sense of it, and once at sunset. Most of the boats have you sitting behind the windows or trying to shoot through narrow little openings in the glass, so I found it worthwhile to get outside on the stern of the boat. You can't hear the commentary, but the photographic options are better. Fewer seats there, though, so claim one early. We stayed at the Hotel Americain, which offered reasonable rates (for central Amsterdam), and comparatively larger rooms than typical. It has a very photogenic art deco restaurant/bar worth visiting even if you don't stay there. It's close to the museums you mentioned, and otherwise well located, but a pretty long walk from Central Station. The tram stops a block away, though, and it's at most a 10-15 minute ride to the station. The trams are the best way to get around downtown and vicinity. They run constantly and are very convenient to hop on and off. Save money by getting a strip card from the tourist office. Other hotels that were recommended to us were the Ambassade and Sheraton Pulitzer, but if I recall they were a bit pricier. The Lonely Planet City Guide for Amsterdam was quite useful. Hope that helps. Paul Wasserman >------------------------------ > >Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 16:03:18 -0600 (CST) >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Lars Michael) >Subject: EOS OT: trip to Amsterdam - third try > >Third try: > >>From lmichael Mon Feb 5 12:28:52 2007 >Subject: OT: trip to Amsterdam > >Pardon me for being off-topic, but perhaps our esteemed list >founder or other members of this list can provide input nonetheless. > >Thank you in advance! > >My fiancee wants to visit Amsterdam for our honeymoon in first >half of June. We always go through Schiphol when we travel to >and from Germany, so the inflight Amsterdam information left >her curious. > >The amount of hotels available in that area is - quite frankly >- overwhelming to me, and the search options available are >sub- optimal to me. > >We will be traveling by train from Germany. > >* We like to stay in easy walking distance > to the central train station, or near a > station with good connection to and from > the central train station. > >* A jacuzzi / whirlpool would be great to > have in the room, but as long as the > rooms are clean, we don't need much > of luxury. > >Any good reasonably-priced restaurants >in that area? Anyones I should stay >away from? > >How is public transportation? Routes, >website? > >As for attractions, we probably will >do a harbor / Grachten tour, stroll the >pedestrian zone. Perhaps go to the Van >Gogh / Rijks museum and visit the parks in the area. Depends >on how mobile we are / can be relying on our feet and public >transportation. > >I am also considering to go to Foto Nivo for EOS gear (list >topic, ha!), and to Foto Abro (30 mins with train; for LF gear). > >What else? Any suggestions welcome. > >Would it make sense to drive with car >instead, and perhaps do a daytrip to >see the coast or the tulip farms? > >Perhaps PM to me directly to keep the >noise on the list low. > >Thanks! > >Lars >- -- > .~. Lars Michael > /V\ [EMAIL PROTECTED] >/(_)\ http://www.larsmichael.com/ >^^ ^^ * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
