Amsterdam Travel Blog

Amsterdam's Artis Zoo by Night July 2 and 16 On a few special days during the summer months Amsterdam’s Royal Artis Zoo opens its doors until sunset (around 22:30). During these extended opening hours, not only do you get to the see the animals bedding down for the night during special tours (including...

NEMO Science Museum - Free Entry for Museum Weekend This coming weekend, starting on Saturday 2 April, it’s Museum Weekend in the Netherlands. This means that 33 museums in Amsterdam will be offering something for nothing! And in the case of 15 museums this means that entrance is free. These include: Allard...

The Keukenhof flower gardens in Spring By Scott Roane The fact that the website of the Keukenhof, the Netherlands famous flower exhibition, is in 11 different languages tells you something about its popularity as a tourist destination. With over 800,000 Germans alone visiting each year, you get an...

Secret Santa is a popular Christmas activity where I’m from (Canada), and is probably popular in other countries too.  It’s simple: we draw names from a hat and then have to buy a present for that person, and sometimes taunt our giftee with secret clues as to our identity. The Dutch do their...

If you’re looking to get away from busy Amsterdam, consider taking a step back in time and visiting the village of Zaanse Schans. The little historic houses now contain souvenir shops and demonstrations of traditional methods of cheese and clog making.  The coast is lined with windmills, and the...

April is tulip time in Holland! Many visitors to the Netherlands come to see the country’s famous tulips, and the most famous garden of all is Keukenhof. April and May are the most popular times to visit, but if the weather is warm the tulips will bloom early, so visiting in mid April is ideal....

Each year on April 30, the Dutch nationwide dress in Orange and hit the streets to celebrate Queen’s Day. The entire country is brought to a standstill by street parties and markets in honor of the Queen’s Birthday, while the color orange (the Royal Family name is Oranje = Orange) is visible on...