Read this in: German
Sometimes it is really interesting to see how a city changes over the years and we, as a couple that have been traveling Amsterdam for years every January, somehow have an eye on this city. I mean: We all know that, we recommend going to our old hometown or to a city in which we have lived for a longer period of time … Like walking through the city center and looking at what has changed.
This year I had to fight rain for the first time since 2014 and getting to know bad weather and a city that you know quite well in a different weather is also something special. We have already written everything in detail on my personal blog. Well, but my ultimate tips over the years for bad weather that I have put together for you from 2014 to today.
This ice rink in Amsterdam is considered one of the most beautiful in the Netherlands. But since we only had rain almost all the time, we had to look for alternatives.
Fashion shopping tour in Amsterdam
Going shopping is really not the worst idea in Amsterdam. Of course, you can first set aside all the fashion chains that you have left in your own country anyway. In my opinion the vintage fashion stores are really interesting. On the one hand there are the classic vintage shops with a really beautiful selection of dresses that make every heart beat faster. I’m out of plus size and unfortunately have to say that there is little or no selection in the area. But up to about size 42 you have no problems finding nice things and even with size 44 or 46 you can still catch one or the other snapper.
There are also kilo stores where, depending on the material, you pay a certain price per kilo. In the city center of Amsterdam, it is of course not as cheap as it sounds at first. But Amsterdam just keeps getting fuller and more expensive from year to year, I can confirm that from my own experience.
Amsterdam is known for its ice bakeries. Yes, it all looks a lot like food porn. But believe me: it’s nothing for vegans anyway. And besides, that’s often just a lot of dye and not a good taste behind it. Nevertheless, there are delicious things in the city for every taste. My husband and I feel like eating there all day.
Food
Once again, going to eat something in Amsterdam is quite special. There is really an oversupply of incredibly great things for every taste. On the one hand there are street food stories again at Albert Cyup Markt. You can get the fresh juices and smoothies and groceries for everyday life as well as smoked almonds from Nüssemann or just as nice specialties as Dutch cheese or waffles or poffertjes. And if you have never tried a Stroopwafel, you can really get a waffle there that is fresh and deliciously prepared. By the way, we devoted the topic of food in the whole blog post last year.
Unfortunately one of the favorite places in Amsterdam has now closed last year for reasons unknown to us. The concept of “Trust”, later “labeled with Trust” was simple and ingenious: volunteers from a working group on this project cooked for you and you paid what the numbers wanted, a fund of trust. About two and a half years ago they changed to another location and nowadays there is a Raman restaurant in the old location. The concept store offered more space and also sold small rhymes that one should trust in the good in people. In itself a nice concept. Last year they had already started with the “pay as you feel” concept, fixed, but still cheap prices for Amsterdam and unfortunately the shop has since been closed and why that is, I was able to find out why after several days of research with some contacts in the city do not trace back.
Since my husband now also lives vegan, we decided to visit more vegan restaurants in Amsterdam this year. The Vegan Jung Food Bar really has a colorful selection. There you can spend great time in Amsterdam in bad weather. At some branches, however, you sometimes have to queue up.
Art and culture
Amsterdam is a party city and therefore a meeting point for young people who really want to indulge in hedonism. However, one should not forget that there are also an incredible number of great museums and culture in Amsterdam and of course the Van Gogh Museum is first for me. I just find personally that van Gogh and his life story are incredibly interesting and simply shows that a really legendary artist today may not have been so legendary in his lifetime, he didn’t have a great life down there.
Where you now demand more in reality on Instagram, you can say more reality in the life of a rock star of his time. Because you can’t deny this man a really blatant lifestyle. I’m not just talking about his life episode with the ear cut off, but also about his beginning and that he just started painting at a relatively old age. I know enough people my age who are now in their late 20s or early 30s and are wondering whether it was a good idea with their apprenticeship or their studies or maybe they want to do something completely different and then suddenly retrain from a real estate agent to a nurse , Therefore, I can unconditionally recommend the museum to anyone who has not yet dealt so intensively with van Gogh.
Another important museum besides the Reichsmuseum, which is flooded by the Americans in phases due to the important pictures, is of course the Anne Frank House. Each of us has probably read or heard about Anne Frank in history lessons at school or maybe even read the diaries in German at some point in the course of school life.
More than just beautiful motifs for Instagram. The museum is very different from those in Germany that I have visited. It was pretty busy in the afternoon and I would try again in the morning.
WONDR Experience Museum
I had already reported about this museum last year. And I have to confess: only now do I understand it better. Because even if it somehow reminds of Instagram Museum in Düsseldorf or Cologne, it is different once you have entered it. Tickets are only available on the Internet. So if you want to go, you should order a few days earlier. With 25 euros it is quite cheap for a museum of this kind.
This museum is really perfect for bad weather and especially something great for families. You might think at first that this is only for influencers for great photos, but the first impression is deceptive. You really experience this museum with all your senses and it is innovative and colorful and loud and crazy and wonderful for children. It is up to you whether you want to take photos or shoot videos or leave it entirely. And although I also celebrate the museums in Germany with beautiful Instagram motifs, it is the museum that I enjoyed most.
To be honest, I can personally imagine that I will visit the museum again, maybe with smaller relatives. Because it’s not about photos, it’s about having a good time. And hands-on art. A little bit about daydreams you can touch, a playground for adults. In my opinion, there can be something like this in Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover or Berlin.
From cloud dreams with pillow walls to marshmellow pools. And from fluffy karaoke boxes to the yellow jungle with blue bananas. The WONDR Experience is hands-on art.
Just have a coffee?
Amsterdam and the cafes is a special story. Then on the one hand I would say that the cafes there are great. There are so many different ones and something for everyone. There are many vegan options, which is very important for us, because my husband has been a 100% vegan since the beginning of the year. This then restricts our selection again. Amazon has these tourist bakeries with their brightly colored macarons. I can advise against them. Everything looks very, very seductive at the Ice Bakeries. But it usually tastes very artificial and not particularly tasty. There are also wonderful cafes and this time I was so inspired that I made an entire Instagram post about branding and color branding based on cafes and restaurants in Amsterdam.
And I always find new great cafes in new restaurants and new beautiful places. But unfortunately there is a big catch: in every coffee my husband and I have always experienced that you are very rushed.
A recommendation for a coffee chain?
Perhaps it is simply because I personally live almost like a digital nomad and work one day on the train and spend the next day in a café in Hanover and the day after next in Hamburg … But you should go to cafes in Amsterdam on It’s best to order something new every 10 or 20 minutes or otherwise free up the space for someone new. The only exception is a certain coffee chain, which is not as common in Amsterdam as in other cities. In Amsterdam rather in train stations or near the train station. My husband is personally not a fan of this coffee chain for the simple reason that he doesn’t drink coffee and the tea in it doesn’t taste so good. But Starbucks is more or less the only one at the café in Amsterdam who was just able to sit for an hour without ordering anything new. However, this mentality is not the same everywhere in the Netherlands. In Groningen, for example, it is completely different and you can sit down comfortably in any coffee without having to reorder. This is again a development in Amsterdam, which gets more violent from year to year.
Regardless of whether in Amsterdam or Brussels: All branches share a common menu.
The Avocado Show
Anyone who has read several blog posts from me here on the topic of Amsterdam or maybe last year the blog post on the topic of Brussels should already know this name. Two years ago, when I started blogging for this blog, we visited this restaurant and wrote about it. Since then, two branches have been added, one in Amsterdam and one in Brussels. That with this restaurant The Avocado Show a story of its own. Because now I can give you my helpful tips on the two branches in Amsterdam.
If you want to eat there, you have the following options: Either you are safe and reserved. Or, you are about to open the branch at the Holy Experience. As far as we’re concerned, we’ve almost gone through the map. At least as far as the vegan dishes are concerned. Because my husband has also been completely vegan since the beginning of this year and also runs a vegan Instagram account.
This café is one of the most photographed places on Instagram. But is it also worth taking a look inside?
Best coffee in Amsterdam
Coffee in Amsterdam is a topic in itself, I have already discussed that above. Unfortunately, the mentality has changed a lot in the years I’ve been there. Where you used to find cozy cafes without the need to order, today it is often a completely different picture. If you don’t order something new every 10 minutes, you’d better pay and go. This is sometimes very uncomfortable, but of course I understand all parties. There are many cult cafes thanks to Instagram, such as the Pluk with its unicorn bowls. And not to forget Polarberry with its Unicorn Cakepops and the chocolate bars with Amsterdam symbols, a great souvenir.
As a customer, you don’t have much time inside. In, order, consume, pay, next please.
But as a customer who waits outside, you don’t want to put your legs in your stomach. Queues in front of cafes have been part of the cityscape for years.
And you have to understand the operators somehow. Customers who do not order anything do not generate any income. The rents are downtown Amsterdam are expensive, so they have to take something.
In addition to coffee and food, there is also a nice selection of pottery in a pink atmosphere.
A small island of calm with a really, really good coffee, the best in town, was the Blond Amsterdam, also near the Holy Experience towards the Albert Cuyp market. This café is incredibly pretty and pink, but it can do more than just be pretty and pink. No, in addition to the café and funky cake creations in all the colors of the rainbow, there were also dishes. Because yes, this shop is a coffee that also sells pottery. For us, too, a hand-painted mug was allowed, which you will surely see from time to time on Instagram. And yes, we also had vegan milk for the coffee. And for my husband a vegan brownie.
Twice my husband and I went on such a trip through the canals to the Amsterdam Light Festival. Was it recommended? Rather not. Many also rated the Amsterdam Light Festival badly because they misinterpreted the word festival. It’s more of an outdoor exhibition. This year the things we looked at were rather difficult to take pictures of and a bit out of town.
A kind of conclusion
My husband and I have had this tradition for years, but now we have decided: we love traveling. But soon we’d rather see Amsterdam in summer. And also other cities in the Netherlands. Or a tour if we take the ferry to our relatives to England. Just take a few cities like Rotterdam or Zwolle with you. I see this conclusion with a laughing and crying eye. On the one hand, it always felt the same at the Light Festival and my husband and I are out of breath. On the other hand, it is of course sad to break such a tradition. But I assume that other traditions will come for it.
