Amsterdam tourist attraction # 8: The Jordaan

The Jordaan is a typical former working class area. It is not a working class area anymore, but you can still feel the ambiance of the old days.

The Jordaan has a lot of bars that are the remains of the old days. They still play the original old Amsterdam music and are still decorated like the old days. If you really want to experience how it was in Amsterdam in the old days, you have to visit the Jordaan. The Jordaan is very popular under students so it is always crowded.

There are also real Amsterdam markets, two on Monday (Westerstraat and Noordermarkt) and three on Saturday (Lindengracht, Boerenmarkt and Noordermarkt). Every year in September there is the Jordaan festival. Click here to learn more about the Jordaan festival. Another fun day to visit the Jordaan is at Queensday. But be aware, it is very crowded at Queensday in the Jordaan. So when you do not like to walk like packed sheeps, do not go there on Queensday.

Have fun with our number 8 of the Amsterdam Top 10 tourist attractions, The Jordaan.

Storytelling Festival Amsterdam 2011 (November 4-6, 2011)

This weekend (Nov 4-6, 2011) there is the fourth storytelling festival in Amsterdam. Storytellers from over the world (mainly in English) and national storytellers will perform at several places in Amsterdam.

The festival will mainly take place at the NDSM shipyard, but also on other locations like the Central Library and Maison Descartes.

International storytellers like Ben Haggarty (England), Cat Weatherill (England), Theresa Amoon (France/Libanon), Manya Maratou (Greece) and Fred Versonnen (Belgium) will perform at the storytelling festival. Beside international storytellers there are also Dutch storytellers like Anne van Delft, Godfried Beumers,Wijnand Stomp and many others.

The festival will have a variety of attractions like long and short stories, workshops and a story dinner. You can buy tickets for attraction you like to attend. Some attractions are even for free.

Have fun at the Storytelling Festival Amsterdam 2011.

Amsterdam tourist attraction # 7: Visit a Coffee shop

On number 7 in our Amsterdam tourist attractions Top 10, you find a visit to a coffee shop. A lot of young tourists visit the Netherlands purely for its coffee shops. 

In the Netherlands it is tolerated to smoke Marijuana, but other drugs are not. Officially marijuana is illegal, but small quantities are tolerated for own use. Be aware, bacause when you take a lot with you, it will not be seen as "for own use". Most young tourist love this freedom and smoke until they drop. Some marijuana is so strong that the government is now talking about to label this as hard drugs. So when you are not an experienced user, ask for a milder variant at the coffee shop.

A lot of young tourist also experiment with other drug, like mushrooms. Watch out what you do, because these can give hugh halucinations. You will not be the first to die, jumping out of your hotel room in Amsterdam because you think you can fly.

So when you want to visit a coffee shop and watch out what you do, you can have a lot of fun and enjoy Amsterdam from a different point of view.

Have fun with the number 7 of our Amsterdam tourist attractions Top 10.