Originally this post was going to be a rant about how disastrous my attempt at getting to Amsterdam turned out to be, then I decided that no one really wants to read about me getting screwed by United Airlines. So, we will move along in a more upbeat manner. I plan on ranting a bit in the “getting in and out” section below, but I’ll do my best to be civil.

Amsterdam is one of those places in the world which is different for different people. Every time you stop and talk to someone about the city you get a mildly different view of the place. I like that about it.

To sum up my personal story of Amsterdam before we get started, I loved it. The city gives you every experience that you want, and a couple you probably didn’t sign up for. That’s the great thing about travel; the unexpected things which produce memories that linger long after the travel bills have been paid.

Even though I initially wanted to go to Amsterdam for the Eurotrip jokes, “We’re in Amsterdam! It’s the drug and sex capital of Europe!” I found the city to be a very enjoyable experience, and hope to return there one day. It’s worth your time to make your way to the Netherlands.

General Information

Weather: I stumbled through Amsterdam in September of 2025. The weather was mild and adequately enjoyable. Say long sleeve t-shirt to light jacket weather. Granted I was packed for fall on the mediterranean and not fall on the North Sea. That was an oversight that caused me some amount of misery. But it wasn’t the city’s fault. Pack a jacket for the fall and you’ll be good!

Money: As with the rest of Europe, the Euro is king. There are ATMs pretty much everywhere you go, and most places (including the self-serve laundries) take debit/credit cards. I would argue that the city is a little pricey, but maybe not overly so when compared to the remainder of Europe.

Passport/Visa: As you know if you have read any of my other posts, that I travel on your standard blue American passport. I had zero issues navigating customs when arriving or departing. That being said, I did visit Amsterdam before the new Entry/Exit System came online in the Schengen Zone. With EES, non-EU nationals will now be required to surrender their biometric data when passing customs (fingerprints, photos, and the like). It’s supposed to help with border security, which I can greatly appreciate. The EU has some border issues that they obviously need to sort out. I wish them well on that front.

Language Barrier: Sadly, I speak no other languages than American English. I admit to have made the attempt at learning them over the years, it just hasn’t gone well. Fortunately, I can attest that there is almost zero language barrier in Amsterdam, if you don’t speak the local. The tourist trade is huge, and I’m sure that that has had an effect on most parts of the economy being basically bilingual. I’m sure that the proximity to England, and the country hosting The Hague, certainly add to its bilingualism. But seriously, you can roll through Amsterdam on English and have a perfectly wonderful experience.

Getting In and Out

First and foremost, it is super easy to get yourself over to Amsterdam. The city has direct and indirect flights from almost everywhere. They have a major train station in the city center, and (I hear) that it’s also a cruise line/ferry line stop. Trust me when I say that the place is boat friendly.

For most people, the easiest way in is going to be an airline. The city collects almost all the major players in the airline industry. You will end up landing in Schiphol airport, airport code AMS. The airport is located to the southwest of the city, outside of the traffic beltway. Don’t worry on transfers. There is a train connection that will bring you to the city center train station. The tickets are reasonably priced (somewhere around 9.00 euros as I remember.) and there are kiosks for them located in the baggage claim area. Since most tourist traffic is headed to the canal district in the city center, it’s as simple as fly in and hop on the train.

My trip in however, was anything but simple. Thanks to heavy thunderstorms across the eastern seaboard of the US and United Airlines disgusting lack of any form of customer service, my attempt to get to Amsterdam was a fiasco. First my plane got reschedule, causing me to stay an extra day in New York and lose a day off my prepaid itinerary in Amsterdam. the next day brought an unplanned 4 hour ground stop in Pennsylvania on my way from New York to Newark (yeah, a state I was even supposed to be flying through). That little nugget caused me to miss my connection in Newark, so United cancelled the remainder of my reservation and wouldn’t retrieve my bags for me (they were checked all the way through to Amsterdam.) On a side note, if you can avoid Newark International, do so at all cost. United customer service in Newark is the worst thing that I’ve encountered in the last 40 some years of traveling about the planet.

My little missed connection, which didn’t bother United in the least, cost me $500.00 in hotel and taxis (oh, plus another day of Amsterdam hotel that was prepaid). The dropped reservation cost me 40,000 airline miles, plus the money that I had spent on seat upgrades. On top of all this, they forgot to put my bag on the outgoing flight, so I arrived in Holland with no bag. By the time I got my bags, I’d been in the same clothes for four days. Needless to say, I was in a fairly testy mood.

My Headquarter

My home ground for my stay in Amsterdam was the Hotel Atlanta, on Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam’s city center. Considering that I showed up in three day old clothes, with no luggage to speak of, they were fantastic! I seriously don’t have enough good things to say about the hotel staff. They were super friendly, and super helpful. Most important to travelers, they are also reasonably priced.

The hotel itself is hid in behind a bunch of street side sun shades, as the ground floor of the building is a couple of bars and restaurants. The entrance doors actually turned out to be hidden behind the street side action. That was beneficial, as I always had someplace to sit down and drink/think. I wish I had of taken a picture of the place. It was a cool little hotel. I would absolutely use it again, if/when I might make it back to Amsterdam.

City Highlights

This section should be significantly bigger than it is. Amsterdam as a city has a huge number of museums and attractions, and will keep one busy for days on end. I showed up without an agenda in mind, which I found out later was a bad idea. Many of the museums now require that you purchase tickets online and in advance. (Think, The Anne Frank House, The Rijksmuseum, the modern art museum, and many others.) I ended up sitting on my bed in the hotel, banging away on my iPad, trying to see what I could get into. Do yourself a favor and buy some tickets in advance. It will save you a bunch of grief.

I will mention it directly below, but the I Amsterdam card (available at the train station) will help you out with getting into some of the museums, if you are short on time, or didn’t get your tickets in advance. Since I really showed up in the city to wander the canals and consider my life choices, like any good older American man does while traveling, not getting into some of the more significant museums and attractions didn’t bother me too much.

That being said, I love a good art gallery. And, if you’re going to see art in Amsterdam, there is a massive amount to choose from. I personally like the old masters. And for Dutch old masters, you go to the Rijksmuseum. It’s super easy to find. It also requires that you buy your ticket in advance and online. It’s a bit of a pain in the ass, but worth it, once inside. (They blame it on COVID. I blame it on laziness.)

Nevertheless, whatever it’s chalked up to, the museum is worth your time. It has a great collection and is easy to navigate. No story about Amsterdam would be complete without mentioning a dude named Rembrandt. One of his major draws is just below.

The National Maritime Museum is up on the north end of the city center, kind of down the road from the train station. They have a good collection of items on display and nice exhibits. There were also several replica ships moored outside on the pier. The building is easy enough to find, as it looks different than everything else around it. It was designed as a square with a large open interior courtyard, so three of the wings hold exhibits and the fourth has a library.

I actually tracked the museum down for book research. The location is being worked into an upcoming novel. Still, I had a very enjoyable time.

As I said above, I honestly showed up in Amsterdam to wander the canals and drink beer. I did a lot of both. Amsterdam is, at its heart, a very beautiful city. Much like other beautiful cities, it is also full of, generally, happy people. You can wander the canals and eat in random places as you move along, and have a very enjoyable experience. To be perfectly honest, if I had to pick something about the city that I liked the most, it would be wandering the canals and drinking in random bars along the way. (I can say without reservation that if you’re having a bad time, it’s you and not them.)

Added Highlights

Alright, if you’ve read other posts from this blog over the years, you’ll know my general stance on city museum and attraction cards. They usually aren’t really worth the money. Now I had to eat these words while making my way through Athens in 2019. I have also softened my stance on this topic when it comes to Amsterdam. The I Amsterdam Card, specifically. I tracked one down because it seemed the easiest way to get tram tickets. I ended up using it for a bunch of stuff. It gets you (more helpful) entrance into a huge list of museum and attractions. It also cuts cost off entrance fees or lets you in for free in many places. The card is a little pricey, but if you use it, it is worth the money plus some.

One cannot go the drug and sex capital of Europe and not say something about the bar scene. It just seems wrong somehow. I had every intention of smoking a blunt while in town, you know, while sitting at some outside cafe. It never materialized, which turned out to be a good thing as I went back to work when I got back tot he USA. the job was unplanned, and my career requires drug testing, so the prudence turned out to be beneficial. I have every intention of going back and accomplishing this feat at a later date.

With beer drinking being the drug of choice, I give you The Rembrandt Bar. It is shockingly located on the corner of Rembrandt Square, in the city center area. I did most of my drinking there during the early “hanging out” hours before the nighttime activities really kicked off. The people were quite friendly and didn’t mind a random American dude scribbling book notes at the bar while doing half-liters of Heineken. The beer was cold, and the place had a good vibe. I like it well-enough, and would love to stop by again and have another beer, at some point.

The Fries! No trip to any point in Europe can be complete without a random stop at a fry-guy, for some hot, salty, mayonnaise cover goodness. This is something that I view a quintessentially European. I first stumbled across this strange combination in Germany, way back in the day. Since then, I have made it a point to track them down whenever I’m in Europe. I’ve had good luck everywhere but Spain. Not sure why Spain isn’t onboard, but that’s okay. They’re one of those things that just make me happy, like Gyros in Greece do.

Closing Thoughts

Okay, I admit this blog post is a little more random than others. I have to say that I had an excellent time in Amsterdam. I didn’t pack for the weather in norther Europe in September (more on that in upcoming blogs) and was kinda cold for most of it. Still, the city is everything you want it to be, no matter what that is. If it’s museums and attractions, they have that. If it’s drink and drugs, they have that. If it’s natural and historic beauty, they have that. Just show up without any preconceived notions and you’ll have an excellent time, independent of the weather.

Thank you for staying with it for this long. Now, get out there and explore. The world is a far better place than what the nightly news will lead you to believe. Get out and see it for yourself. Later.