Thinking about taking the girlfriend to Amsterdam at easter because well neither of us has been before. We would most likely drive over unless we can find cheap flights.

Does anyone know any cheap and cheerful hotels ?

Can you recommend anything to do (other than rl district and cafes, which are a given ! ) ?

basically Im trying to get some info together on a place Ive never been.

And help much appreciated.

this is a great little hotel

http://www.hotelbrouwer.nl/hoteleng.html

I wouldn't bother taking a car, the public transport is fine. Depending on where you are in the UK, train to Harwich then ferry might be a better option. Once in Holland services from the Hook to Amsterdam are frequent and cheap.

based in Guildford so it would be relatively easy to drive, about 5hrs

Hotel looks pretty good although £95 a night 🙄

we're going over in March for a night! Staying at Hotel Piet Hein up at Vondelpark.
Cafe Bern is a Fondue place we've been to before, and we're going back! its brilliant, you will need to book though its really popular.

Depends what you want – I'd say if you're just going so you can spend a weekend getting stoned in a cafe you might as well stay at home. Amsterdam is a great city, with loads of venues, parks, museums and if it's warm enough it has loads of cafes and bars with outside seating for people watching. If you're into photography there's plenty there, but as with any city, be careful. RLD is worth a look, but is just what you'd expect – seedy, overpriced (the hotels and cafes, can't speak for the girls) and full of tourists.

tbh, I'd get cheap flight LHR/LGW – AMS. Train station is in the airport and only about 15mins from the centre, and only a few €.

got a cracking weekend deal at some business hotel very central. sorry can't remember the name
Ann Frank house and museum

Ride there 🙂 I did last week. Was frickin freezing, but the North Sea Cycle route from hook of holland to near amsterdam is pretty amazing.

I rode London to Harwich and then the over night ferry to hook of holland. Then 60 miles up the LF1b and LF20 cycle routes.

Oh yeh, dam. Err theres there Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh musuem. Oh and the Heineken Experience is actually supposed to be quite good but i missed it as I was too stoned 🙁

Driving in Amsterdam itself is a nightmare due to the vast number of cyclists, the trams (and tram tracks) and the tourists, plus parking is not easy and very expensive. If you're going to drive I'd suggest to get a hotel out near the "ring" and travel in by train/tram. Otherwise I'd recommend Eurostar to Brussels and then either the Thalys or the express to Amsterdam alternatively fly to Amsterdam (or even Rotterdam or Antwerp) and take the train into the centre.

I know that the hotel prices will be steep but beware of cheap deals as some of the hotels are quite ropey (OK for students on a tour of Europe but not somewhere I'd take the wife/SO).

Other than RLD and the cafes I can recommend the Van Gogh museum, plus the Rijksmuseum. It's also sounds a bit cheesy but the canal trip is kinda fun.

When walking around you need to constantly keep an eye out for cyclists and trams as they give you short shrift. Use the tram to cover the longer distances and if you plan to use it a lot get a "strippenkart" (basically a strip of tickets) cos it works out much cheaper, but remember to stamp them. Watch out for pick-pockets on the trams.

Check out Rembrandtplein and Leidseplein for places to eat and to people watch.

Watch out for pick-pockets in the RLD area too. And people selling drugs in the street – yep we had people coming up to us trying to offload hard stuff, not just waccy baccy.

Sex museum, porn museum, condom museum, grass museum. Apparently, there are others too.

i would definately recommend doing a cycle tour and canal boat trip. we did a cycle tour that took out to the countryside to a cheese and clog maker. was well worth it.

we stayed in bulldog hostel which is close to town centre and RLD. as long as your comfortable with the other residents mainly there for the smelly stuff then is was great value and good quality.

I went many times on business, parts of it are really nice – take an evening (with dinner) canal cruise.

The Red Light is worth a laugh, but beware though, Amsterdam is also a mecca for all the dregs of Europe – and that just includes the tourists 😕

I use to stay here, very central and very nice – not sure on price to Joe Public, but we use to get a deal through our NL business.

http://www.swissotel.com/EN/Destinations/Netherlands/Swissotel+Amsterdam/Hotel+Home/Hotel+Description

We stayed in the City Hotel a couple of times, It's pretty central and good value – looking at the website, it appears to have been re-furbished too.

As said above, there's all the seedy stuff, which is still worth a look. But there's so much more besides. A really beautiful place, great restaurants and interesting stuff to see. Go to the Anne Frank Huis and prepare to be humbled.

Agree with others, driving will be a pain unless you plan to ditch the car somewhere well outside the city centre.

I've stayed in the Euphemia before ( http://www.euphemiahotel.com/ ) which was basic but nice enough – I've stayed in a few awful places since, which were generally more central and pricier. Being further south is fine though, nothing's too far away and it's only a short walk from Leidseplein which is generally a good place to head for food.

Do the tourist things – canal trip is a great way to see a lot quickly, anne frank house, sex museum, van gough museum, rijksmuseum. Boom Chicago is fun for one evening, Cafe Alto does live jazz every night in a tiny bar, Bourbon Street blues club is great and has some kind of live music every night too. If you run out of stuff to do and the weather's good, then do a cycle tour. There's a company that does Segway tours too if you fancy giving one a go.

Yeah, the cruise with wine and hard cheese served on board. The mother of all hangovers visited the following day and stay overnight.

Fly. Much easier from Guildford. BA direct, then a train in to Schipol.

Out of the station, turn left, go to MacBike. Rent a pair of Batavus Single hire bikes. That's your transport for the weekend sorted!

Go to;
Rijkmuseum
A diamond house (Just ignore the sales patter)
The markets on Waterlooplein
The RLD. It's awful, but you should at least go and see it!
Take a boat trip. Get a circular hop on hop off ticket. Great way to see a different side of the City.

Eat at;

http://www.brasseriedebrakkegrond.nl/ – Good all rounder, but if you can get in to the one next door, which is;
http://www.caferestaurantvankerkwijk.nl/eng/11.html – This place is EPIC! No bookings taken, no menu outside. It's a sublime place to eat. They simply say what's on the menu that day, you choose and it is perfect. Food is a mix of Dutch East Indies and modern interpretations of classics from the Flatlands. Trust me, this is the place to eat in the 'Dam! Informal, lively and very good value too!

Drink at:
Cafe del Mondo (If sunny!) on Nieuwmarkt, so great for people and bike watching!
In de Wildeman (Just check that beer list http://www.indewildeman.nl/biere.html ! A great place to have a beer. One of my faves!)

Go everywhere by bike. Everywhere. Just remember that you have right of way almost all the time, and have fun!

Oh, and if the sight of pretty girls on bikes gives you a stirring feeling, prepare to find out how hard (fnaar) it is to ride a bike when aroused…! 😉 Especially if it's a sunny day and you go to the Vondelpark….. Hubbah!

this here describes a nice walking tour of the less well known/less touristy places of amsterdam.

other places to visit is the diamond cutting facility Gassan

Diamonds, which does a little small tour or how diamonds are cut and shaped.

Personally i wouldnt bother driving, as it is such a pain. and public transport is excellent.
a good tourbook is the 'get lost' guide

Don't miss the PussyBoat!

If you can remember your trip you weren't even there man!