COSMIC CONFESSION: Guide To Amsterdam!~

Hello everyone!

I´m back from my short trip to Amsterdam!

I had a great time there, so today I will show you the best places to be when you are planning to stay a couple of days in the capital of the Netherlands!

When I´m abroad, I like to do some "touristic" stuff like going to museums or on a sightseeing tour. But, I also search for other interesting places where mostly no tourists are.

In the following, I will show you the places I saw via pictures and give you some tips for your stay in Amsterdam!

ARRIVING

After a 7 hour long train ride we arrived in Amsterdam around 12 o´clock. It is the perfect time to start your short trip because you don´t loose a day and get the chance to explore the city right after you arrived.

I recommend to get rid of your luggage first, so you don´t have to take it with you the whole day. If the check-in time in your hotel allows you to move in to your room early, it´s the best to place the luggage there. Another possibility is to use the lockers at the train station.

For a stay in Amsterdam, it´s advisable to get the "I amsterdam"-Card which allows you to use public transport like tram, metro or bus. The card also includes free admission to around 40 museums and a free canal tour.

EXPLORING THE CITY

First thing to do when you are in a city for the first time is to get to know it better while walking down the pedestrian areas or some of the biggest main streets. In Amsterdam, the hotspots are the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Königsgracht, the Leidsestraat or the Kalverstraat. There you can find a lot of stores, restaurants, the awesome dutch architecture and A LOT of bikes.

While walking through the streets you maybe find some places you want to see closer another day.

The Cornelis Schuytstraat is known for its high end and stylish clothing or accesory stores in beautiful dutch-characteristic buildings. A lot of unique and dutch brands can be found there. Restaurants, bakery shops or an organic supermarket are also represent.

For even more high end stores, you have to visit the P.C. Hooftstraat which is the place for brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Mulberry, Gucci and a lot more. Even if you don´t buy anything, it´s a nice street to see.

Amsterdam offers a lot of interesting museums and if you aren´t impatient to stay in line for a really long time and have enough time, there are even more. I was curious to the see the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum but the waiting lines were too long, you almost had to wait 1 hour to get in!

But, we saw some other ones! The Diamant Museum near the Museumsplein is an awesome place for jewelry fans who want to get to know more about how to rate or work with diamonds. There are also some rooms where you can buy jewelry.

Another museum for fashion-lovers is the Museum of Bags and Purses. It shows a collection of around 4500 bags from the 16th century to the present and is located in the former canal apartment of the mayor of Amsterdam.

Fendi Baguette Bag

1970s - Chanel 2.55

1950s - Kelly Bag - Hermés

Bayswater - Mulberry

Cupcake-Bag - Judith Leiber (appears in „Sex and the City“ movie)

There are also some really unusual bags!

If you are interested in how rich people lived in the 17th century, you have to visit the Museum Willet-Holthuysen near the Museum of Bags and Purses. This canal villa was comitted to the city of Amsterdam from the people who lived in and was changed into a museum. The visitors can walk through the full-furnished rooms and the glorious garden.

To explore the city a little more, a Canal Boat Tour is the best option to do so. In an 1 hour boat trip you can see all the interesting places from the water and learn more about the history and people from Amsterdam.