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Visiting Appsterdam
judykitteh edited this page Feb 26, 2014
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- @agileben wrote an excellent blogpost on "Your first day in Appsterdam."
- Wikitravel is a great site for all basic information about visiting Amsterdam. They have a nice overview of the different neighborhoods (buurten in Dutch) and some of the main attractions.
- An explanation of Amsterdam's neighborhoods.
- For visiting with a toddler, check out Amsterdam Mamas, which lists attractions and includes info about which age group they're geared towards and when they're open, etc.
- Another excellent resource is Iamsterdam, run by the local government. They cover everything from where to stay, how to get around, things to see, etc.
- People who've visited Appsterdam have been successful at booking housing through AirBnB. Try there first before looking at hotels, which can be quite expensive.
- If you're interested in potentially house-swapping with an Appsterdammer, we can put the word out on Twitter and see who responds. Just use the hashtag #Appsterdam.
- Frederic rent-a-bike is mentioned in Rick Steves' guide book. They have rooms and short-stay apartments for rent to accommodate tourists. It's worth checking out and will be more affordable than staying in a hotel, particularly if you're staying for more than a week. And, of course, they also rent bikes.
- See also Housing Info.
- Rick Steves' guidebook. Here's the Kindle edition.
- Secret Amsterdam is another excellent guidebook which showcases the path less traveled.
- A train from Schipol airport to Amsterdam Centraal, the main train station, costs about €4 per person. A taxi costs about €60-65.
- After a long trip, the ticket vending machines of the National Railway at Schiphol can be a bit confusing at first, so consider buying your train ticket online on their website.
- At Centraal Station, you can use the machines to get yourself an OV-chipkaart. This is a card which you can use for all public transportation in the Netherlands and is valid for 5 years. You can also visit the transportation office--the GVB--just outside the station if you have any questions. There you can also purchase one-day or multi-day GVB passes (only valid on trams, busses, and the metro).
- Driving and parking in Amsterdam can be quite the challenge, to say the least. If you need help finding parking, download the Park Shark app created by Glimworm. You can also refer to I amsterdam's page on parking.
- Biking is, by far, the best way to get around the city. There are plenty of bike rental places where you can rent a bike for a day, week, sometimes longer. You can also buy a bike for about €70 at Waterlooplein and other bike shops. Sometimes the bike rental shops also sell bikes, but usually at a higher price (€150 and up) because they've been properly maintained all year. Use Glimworm's FietsFinder app to find a shop near you.
- @ratkins wrote a great blogpost on "How to bike in Amsterdam."
- Need more bike tips? Download @erikpub's app Bike Like a Local.
####Transportation apps
- 9292 ov (Android, iOS, BlackBerry) - The app version of http://9292.nl/en/ for routing and notifications about service disruptions
- Openbare Vervoer (iOS) - Real time status for over 3500 Dutch public transport lines. Written by @erikpub.
- DB Navigator (Android, iOS, BlackBerry) - For routing between countries.
- We hold events every week including a Weekly Wednesday Lunchtime Lecture, weekly bar meetup on Wednesday evenings, Peer Lab for asking your peers technical questions, monthly speaker training, monthly pitch training, and 2-3 hands-on workshops each month, plus other social gatherings. All events are listed on our Meetup.
- Need a place to work? Come to our Appsterdam HQ where we have free workspace for all Appsterdammers.
- There are many tech meetups in and around Amsterdam all the time. Check out this tech events calendar, maintained by Peter Robinett.
Sim cards are available as sim card-only (with subscription) and sim card-only pre-paid. The former is subscription based which still requires a contract to be signed. The latter can be useful if you only need the card for a short period of time and don't want to tied to a contract. Do note that the calling rates on prepaid cards can be slightly higher compared to subscription cards.
- Bliep - cheap temporary solution, starting at €0.50 a day (incl. unlimited data & text, voice is €0.25/min.)
- An overview of various places to buy a simcard only subscription.
- T-mobile - €10/month voice, €10/month data
- Vodafone
- KPN
- Simyo - Low cost sim-only provider that works with the KPN network.
- Lyca Mobile - A low cost phone network offering free sim cards with low calling rates.
- Lebara Mobile - Free sim card for low cost network provider.
- Summer can be quite warm and humid. Rain can happen out of nowhere, as well, so be prepared for that!
- Winter's are cold, rainy, and sometimes snowy. If you're lucky, the canals will freeze over so you can go iceskating.
- Eating vegan in restaurants might be a bit challenging. The Dutch love bread, cheese, milk (usually buttermilk), and meat. There are some vegan/vegetarian restaurants, and certainly lots of Indonesian and Asian restaurants where it's easier to eat vegan/vegetarian.
- Museums: There are over 50 of them in Amsterdam alone! If you're going to be here for a while, get the Museumkaart (Dutch only). Info in English. This allows you free, or low-cost entry to over 30 museums in Amsterdam, and over 200 in all of the Netherlands.