park plaza victoria amsterdam or hotel grand amrath. both gorgeous hotels about 5 min walk from one another. stayed at PPVA myself. incredible service and staff. directly across from central station. grand amrath is more expensive but also gives you free unlimitted mini bar in your room =)

never did a hotel in A'dam because I was living in Rotterdam, but here are some things you might be interested in. if you live by the airport, it will cost you about 2 euros to take the 5 minute train from schiphol to a'dam centraal. the between city/airport trains run all night (2 hours apart) and go back to normal schedule at 6am. metro/overground trams run till midnight and restart at 6am.

take the train for 50 euros per person instead of flying. its a 3.5 hour journey. you'll be coming into amsterdam centraal on the Thalys, not schiphol (the airport) if you decide to stay in A'dam and not the outskirts. http://www.nshispeed.nl/en

if you plan on staying in A'dam or the NL in general for some sight seeing, pick up an OV chipkaart (metro card that you tap when getting on AND off) so you can save money and not pay 2 euros every single time you use the metro or tram. it works in all of the NL. you have to tap it when leaving or else they charge you 4 euros for your ride. in reality its like 50 cents to a euro per ride throughout A'dam.

your US cards will not work in half the places and basically all ATMs. should be alright at your hotel and any touristy food place. if you have a capital one credit card, it definitely will work. debit cards are a problem so get cash before you enter the NL. if you get an international chip and pin card, you will save yourself many headaches. the NL is the only country in the EU who doesn't have their shit together with this and only accepts dutch cards.

i think that's the main stuff, let me know if you have any specific questions. i heard Awakenings is a good party from my dutch friends!

Last edited by cl0wnz0r on Apr-22-2012 at 16:40

Im not sure if you are like me, but I like convenience to everything.


The first trip I went and stayed with a friend in Haarlem (about 20 minutes out) and it was gorgeous but, IMO, a little annoying with the back-and-forth if you plan on being in A-dam a lot during your "off-time" from the festival.

My second trip I rented an apartment in centre city and it was the BEST. IDEA. EVER. You can rent a centralized apartment, direct views of the canals for less than the price of a hotel room, but double the size. We had a GORGEOUS 2 bedroom duplex, completely updated, massive kitchen and rain shower/spa tub, terrace that was big enough for a few lounge chairs looking over a Canal, and walking distance to Centraal Station for a really, really good price. Yes, you dont get your bed made, but its a minor price to pay. Most rented apartments will give you the basic amenities of a hotel as well, such as coffee, towels, soap, dishwasher soap, toiletpaper, etc...

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you can also look into renting a house boat on a canal. never done it but have always wanted to.

Bad decision to begin with, should of went with Sonar! nah jk lol I can't speak for Awakenings but Sonar was an experience that left me in awe- my expectations were blown away. If by any chance, you can squeeze Sonar in, my advice would be do it. In addition, there are the Sonar off-parties which are relatively cheap (10-15 euros), few are even free, with sick line-ups- there are literally like 3-4 parties going on in a day/night (beach, rooftops, etc) for a whole week, which you will have no other choice but to pick out from a hat to make you decide where you should go bc you just wouldn't be able to make that decision on your own..okay, I might be exaggerating, just a bit, but you get my point. If money is a factor and you just can't afford Sonar but still visiting Barcelona, try and arrange it that you're there during the week of the festival. That way you can hit up some good parties, especially those held @ Row 14.

I know this doesn't help you out in anyway but just wanted to share it so you can perhaps have it in the back of your mind.

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Last edited by edubbz on Apr-23-2012 at 22:03

barney's breakfast bar is now split into 3 shops, coffee shop, head shop, and breakfast bar. hit the head shop to grab your bud, walk across the street to the breakfast and get a scrambled eggs intense w/dutch cheese. you can smoke while you wait for your breakfast. don't eat any sweets at barney's, across the street there is a bakery, danishes and croissants you should definitely carry around with you to munch on, it'll be one of the better snacks you'll have on the move.

vondel park is cool to sit if you get a nice day and spark one. drink a ton of looza's

baba's is another favorite shop of mines, steer clear of bulldog its a tourist trap and there are a lot of them! don't eat the herring lol

hotels wise, don't stay at PPVA (park plaza victoria) it's a rip off. Across the street by centraal station there is an IBIS hotel, hit that up instead, it's right by the bicycle parking lot. city center is eh, more tourist traps.

in regards to the debit card mention above, there is a few ING Direct scattered around Amsterdam. Had no problems with my debit card there, but I travel often so I leave money in a global bank like Chase or HSBC (kind of like an escrow for myself).

Feebo is worth a try ONCE, and ONCE i mean ONCE. Like have one croquette from Feebo and you'll be done.

Sit down spots, if they offer up a "dutch cheese" sandwich, I'd highly suggest eating it. Another one of the better munchies you'll have within Amsterdam.

I give you 2-3 days MAX before you'll be done with Amsterdam, 1-2 is more suitable. And like others say, I'd probably hit up Sonar over Awakenings.

Last edited by EarnYourKeep on Apr-23-2012 at 20:30

I looked into Sonar but it doesn't work for us. Don't get me wrong, it is on my to do list, but unfortunately we are going for a Study Abroad program for law school. We can't afford to skip the whole week for Sonar. Awakenings, even though is the weekend right before finals, fits our schedule much better. We are gonna do two trips to amsterdam. One to see all the shit there is to see there, and then another weekend just for the festival.

quote:

Originally posted by ccastro86 I looked into Sonar but it doesn't work for us. Don't get me wrong, it is on my to do list, but unfortunately we are going for a Study Abroad program for law school. We can't afford to skip the whole week for Sonar. Awakenings, even though is the weekend right before finals, fits our schedule much better. We are gonna do two trips to amsterdam. One to see all the shit there is to see there, and then another weekend just for the festival.

you will be bored with amsterdam after the first trip, trust me.

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Originally posted by EarnYourKeep you will be bored with amsterdam after the first trip, trust me.

The first trip we are looking at is looking like 3 nights. get there semi-late on a thursday and leave semi-early sunday. This amount of time good or should we skip out one night?

Like I said, I am not really worried about not having enough to see to justify a 2nd weekend because we won't have the time to see anything that weekend. Arriving in the evening Friday. Festival until it end at 11 or 12 Saturday. Leaving early sunday.

come saturday morning you've probably seen most of the coffee shops and probably have walked about 6 miles in the redlight district

you can hit the heineken factory, van gogh is good for a day, ride a bike, it all kinda blends together cuz you're stoned most of the time.

i would put Barney's Breakfast at the TOP OF MY LIST. I have AMS down to a science now:

Continental out of EWR Thursday night 9pm
Arrives AMS at 7am
Train to Centraal Station
Barney's for Breakfast around 8:15 (think it opens 8:30)
Baba's for a brownie
Check into hostel (i normally stay at hostels in eu, no need to pay for a hotel since you'll be out and about most of the time)

You can definitely get a THOROUGH visit of A'dam in 3 days, maybe even less. Its a super small city.

While we are recommending stuff:

One random place I really liked (that we stumbled upon after seeing the Iamsterdam sign) was the House of Bols. Its a Genevere (Dutch Gin) place that is pretty awesome, both visually and in taste. You get to smell different flavours and the mixologists will surprise you by making a couple AMAZING cocktails based on what you smelled in the "perfume room." (Cocktail free with entrance!) Best cocktails I have ever had, bar none. Not to mention their showmanship and visually stimulating bar rooms. There was SO much to look at! There is also a padded room where you can "learn" to throw around bottles like the mixologists...lol....that is always hilarious, especially after downing a few of those drinks Incredible experience!

http://www.houseofbols.com/houseofbols.asp


For food, I would highly recommend Blue Pepper. A'dam is known for their incredible Indonesian food (and people!) so we had to try it. They give like 15 small-plate courses of the most delish food! yum yum. I couldnt eat it all, even though each course was about 3 bites MAX. lol

http://www.restaurantbluepepper.com/home-uk/3/home-uk

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