We were in Amsterdam on our way from Lisbon to St. Petersburg. The duration of the connection between flights was 6 o’clock.
Below I tell you what you can see in Amsterdam in 1 day.
If you want to order a comprehensive planning of your trip to Holland or, on the contrary, learn how to organize your own trips, then that way🙂
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol – the main air gate of the country and one of the largest transport hubs in Europe. There is even a registry office 🙂
Amsterdam Central Station
Most likely you will travel from the airport to the city by train, so the first point of our route is Central station.
Amsterdam Central Station was built in 1889 on three artificial islands. To erect this building, it was necessary to drive in already 8687 wooden piles!
The station building has two clock towers, but the values on these clocks are different. This is because on the tower on the right there is a clock showing the time in Amsterdam, and on the tower on the left there is not a clock at all, but a weather vane indicating the direction of the wind.
All of Amsterdam built on a swamp. It is amazing how an attempt to equip the swampy territories grew into the construction of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Although why am I surprised, I myself live in St. Petersburg 🙂
pay attention to parking for bicycles I have only seen this in Denmark. More than half a million “iron horses” are registered for local residents!
You can also rent a bike and take a bike tour. But personally, I like to ride a bike in parks and other quiet areas, and not in the center of a busy city with very dense traffic, so we walked the entire route on our own two feet.
Singel Canal
From Central Station, a stone’s throw from Amsterdam’s most famous canal – singel channel.
Among dozens of modern canals, in Amsterdam there is only one natural reservoir – Amstel river.
Amsterdam is built on a dam, so the city is dotted with a network of water channels. In addition to all, Amsterdam is 4 meters below sea level. Therefore, the number of piles on which the city is built simply rolls over.
Initially, Amsterdam was a “flat” city, but time played a role, the piles rotted, and the houses squinted. But what saves them from complete destruction is that they rely on each other.
By the way, v Amsterdam has about three times as many canalsthan in Venice.
Pay attention to the windows – there no curtains! This tradition is rooted in the Middle Ages, when during the Spanish yoke, under which Holland was, the Spanish governor, the Duke of Alba, fearing conspiracies, ordered that the windows not be curtained. This did not save us from the revolution, but the tradition of openness and transparency has been preserved to this day.
Dam Square and Royal Palace
We go further along the Singel, take pictures of rickety houses, avoid collision with bicycles, turn left on Raadhuisstraat and find ourselves right at the Royal Palace, immediately behind which is Dam Square.
The area is unique in that it was originally a dam. The dam was gradually strengthened, and eventually turned into the very heart of the city that grew around it.
In addition to the Royal Palace on Dam Square, you can see new church, Madame Tussauds museum and national monument. To the left of the square is the red-light district, but we will look there on the way back 😉
The national monument appeared on Dam Square in 1956. Every year on May 4, people who died in World War II and other military operations are commemorated at the monument.
Begijnhof
Having reached Spui Square and passing through a narrow passage, you will find yourself in one of the most beautiful and oldest architectural ensembles of Amsterdam – in Begijnhof.
Begijnhof (or as it is also called – Beguinage) is a medieval courtyard, the first mention of which dates back to the XIV century. This is where they settled beguine – single and widowed women leading a monastic lifestyle and engaged in socially useful deeds, but did not take a vow of celibacy.
An interesting feature of Begijnhof is that its territory is at the level of medieval streetsi.e. one meter below the rest of the old city center.
Find house number 34, it has an almost black color of the walls. This wooden house is called Houten-Hayes. It was built in 1420 and is today the oldest building in Amsterdam.
In general, Holland, like most European countries, surrendered to the German fascist invaders without much resistance. This made it possible to avoid catastrophic destruction, but did not allow, nevertheless, to go through the war without losses – The Germans took out a huge number of bicycles from the country (horrible!) which the Dutch still cannot forgive.
And we go further towards the flower market.
A few words about vegetation. According to local laws, a Dutchman can grow up to five cannabis bushes at home. Or buy a finished product by weight. But as everyone knows, only forbidden fruit is sweet, so legalization of hemp led to a decline in interest in it among the local population. Therefore, to tell the truth, most coffee shops work exclusively for tourists.
Although this does not prevent the Dutch every year in November to hold cannabis festival – competition between professional growers.
flower market Amsterdam
The Amsterdam Flower Market was founded in the 17th century, and today it is the only flower floating market in the world.
Be sure to buy souvenirs in the form of shoes, in which bulbs of real Dutch tulips are neatly packed.
Rijksmuseum and I Amsterdam
The next point on our route will be the Rijksmuseum with the famous inscription I Amsterdam in front of it.
Try your luck to take a photo with an inscription in such a way that another fifty people will not get into it;)
If time permits, you can take a walk along the Vondelparklook into van gogh museum or in Moco Museumwhich presents works by Banksy and Dali.
The building of the Rijksmuseum is very similar to the building of the Central Station. And all because both buildings had the same architect — Peter Kuypers.
Red light district
It’s time for us to return to the Central Station, and along the way we will look at another attraction, without visiting which no self-respecting tourist will leave Amsterdam. And this attraction is the red light district.
In the meantime, we are going there, I propose to taste the most popular dishes of Dutch cuisine – sandwiches with herring and french fries with mayonnaise. Perhaps the most delicious potatoes are cooked in Manneken Pis Amsterdam.
Be sure to try the beer! Holland – the birthplace of such world-famous varieties of foamlike Grolsch, Amstel and Heiniken.
So, we came to the final point of our route – to the Red Light District or, as it is called officially, the quarter De Wallen.
On the first floors of old houses there are several hundred booths (you know what I mean), and on the next floors of these same buildings, the most ordinary people live. Here you can visit one of the many coffee shops.
As funny as it may be, the red light district originates from the Old Church. And this has an explanation – initially there were a lot of monasteries here. After the Reformation in 1578 they were converted into orphanages, orphanages and prisons, but the proximity to the harbor quarter meant that the orphanages and prisons were turned into brothels.
So in a couple of hours we saw the main sights of Amsterdam.
Don’t forget to buy before you leave. real dutch cheese You won’t try this at home!
