Amsterdam

[CrazyCracker]

I honestly think you would be fine by yourself on a short trip. Its so tourist friendly. You do need to keep your wits about you though, dont walk alone at night with much money on you, dont get so high you cant watch out for yourself ext ext. I met a 18 year old hot Australian girl who was traveling by herself while I was there. If she can do it you and I can as well.

 

[SometimesY]

I've gone several times solo, and I enjoy it. It's sort of a weird city -- you're not as likely to strike up a conversation in a coffee shop as you might think. There are of course lots of tourists, but who wants to talk to a group of obnoxious Americans? (disclosure - I'm an obnoxious American -- well, hopefully not that obnoxious, at least in other countries)

The previous advice to watch out, especially at night, and especially closer to the center, should be heeded. You don't want to be alone and smoking pot for your first time there, as people will come up to you and try to hustle you. That probably doesn't apply to people reading this here, but be forewarned. Also, from personal experience, don't eat a bunch of shrooms and walk around (though I've read that you can't buy them in the smart shops any more).

That being said, it's a cool city, and is really beautiful. Nothing better than a wake & bake with some awesome hash, and then walking around the canals. And it's not all drugs and debauchery -- you have to do something during the day. Smoke a bowl on the Musuemplein and go to the Rijksmuseum. Go to the Van Gogh museum. Go to the Albert Cuyp Market. Go to the Bloemenmarkt. If you have to, go to the Heineken brewery. The Anne Frank house is kind of depressing (as is the line to get in). There's a good crepe shop near it, though.

I was last there a year ago (last Sept), so if you want any more specific recommendations or coffee shop reviews, I can share what little I know. There are, of course, other sites devoted to that, though, that you can get tons of info from. I'm making myself want to go back...

 

[Happycamper]

You can get drugged anywhere. San Fran and L.A (when i used to go there at least every month as a flight attendant) used to be terrible for it.


Edit: I think they have a certain lower strength mushroom that they can still sell.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

I was last there a year ago (last Sept), so if you want any more specific recommendations or coffee shop reviews, I can share what little I know. There are, of course, other sites devoted to that, though, that you can get tons of info from. I'm making myself want to go back...

Oh cool, what are some of the must see and try places/things to do? What are some essential coffeeshops to visit? I was reading about one shop called the Kashmir Lounge and they supposedly have beds and huge pillows scattered around the shop, so you can just sit back and chill, which sounds fucking great!

Has anyone here visited the Cannabis museum? I'd love to go there...

 

[Happycamper]

I was last there a year ago (last Sept), so if you want any more specific recommendations or coffee shop reviews, I can share what little I know. There are, of course, other sites devoted to that, though, that you can get tons of info from. I'm making myself want to go back...

Oh cool, what are some of the must see and try places/things to do? What are some essential coffeeshops to visit? I was reading about one shop called the Kashmir Lounge and they supposedly have beds and huge pillows scattered around the shop, so you can just sit back and chill, which sounds fucking great!

Has anyone here visited the Cannabis museum? I'd love to go there...

That is a great concept of a coffee house, it should be called 'Bedroom'.

 

[beachvaper]

I have to disagree that the herb is better here in CA than Amsterdam. I found the opposite. Spent a couple weeks there last fall as part of a 3 month wander Europe trip. I read to go to the out of the way shops rather than the well known tourist traps for the best and cheapest. You go where the locals go. The hash was amazing. I went alone and I'm a girl, age 49. Didn't have any problems at all and went out at night even. I agree to go to the museums, especially Van Gogh! I found the local natural food stores and cooked at a little apartment I stayed at. It was myamsterdamapartment.com. Was a 3 bedroom apartment with shared kitchen/bath. Just other stoners there. There was a guy from San Francisco while I was there and someone local renting long term. Real nice neighborhood with great coffee shops just a walk away. I kinda want to move there. Amsterdam is a big city but maybe Maastricht. Working on learning Dutch. I like how the bulk of them ride bikes. And they're all so very tolerant. Tall and thin. One thing I noticed that I thought was strange was there was gum all over the sidewalks. I watched to see if quite a few people were chewing gum but they weren't! Where is all the gum coming from? You have to watch out for the bus drivers. I don't think they like americans and will give you bad info and/or drop you at the wrong spot.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Sounds great beachweed! I keep growing even more anxious to go...but I've never traveled so I have some stupid, probably obvious questions.

-Where or from who should I buy the plane ticket? Any recommended sites? Cheap as possible, but not some haggard airline.

-When should I go in December? I was wanting to stay for a week sometime between the 10th-20th, if possible, but be back in time for Christmas. Or should I wait until the beginning of January?

-How do I go about attaining a passport? Do I need to go ahead and apply for one? How long does the process take?

-Any recommended hostels/hotels? I want something safe, private, and not too expensive.

-Will my american appliances/electronics work over in Amsterdam? Or will I need some type of adapter?

-How do I exchange my USD for Euros?

Any other essential information about A-Dam?

 

[bluntfaced]

The best way to buy plane tickets is on a website that shows all different airlines and give you the cheapest like travelocity.com or expedia.com.

Passports take at least a month or so but I think you can expedite it for like $60 or something. You need to get your birth certificate and a bunch of other crp together and go into the licensing office or whatever and apply for one.

Exchange your money at a bank when you get there not at the airport, which is very expensive.

You need an adapter for electronics I believe?



How old are you?

 

[choding]

$540+ $350 taxes & fees = $890 USD per person


Only 4 tickets left at this price Details
Leave
Fri, Nov 20 British Airways 278
Depart:3:50pm
Arrive:10:00amLos Angeles, CA (LAX)
London, United Kingdom (LHR)
1 stop in LHR

10hr 10min| Boeing 747
Change planes. Time between flights: 1hr 40min


British Airways 434
Depart:11:40am
Arrive:2:00pmLondon, United Kingdom (LHR)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
1hr 20min| Airbus A319
Total duration: 13hr 10min
This is an overnight flight.

Return
Sun, Nov 29 British Airways 443
Depart:9:20pm
Arrive:9:30pmAmsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
London, United Kingdom (LHR)
1 stop in LHR

1hr 10min| Airbus A319
Change planes. Time between flights: 12hr 45min


British Airways 279
Depart:10:15am
Arrive:1:25pmLondon, United Kingdom (LHR)
Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
11hr 10min| Boeing 747
Total duration: 25hr 5min
This is an overnight flight.

Just checking daydreaming here, what a nice way to spend thanksgiving

 

[tuttle]

While I'm sure more knowledgeable people can give you some first had recommendations, I love going on places like http://www.tripadvisor.com/ to look for hotels and planning vacations. As for air fair, I imagine some combination of orbits / expedia / travelocity and checking for deals on the individual airlines sites as well.

Don't put off getting the passport to the last minute. Here are all the rules for doing so, but in short you need to apply in person and show proof of citizenship. It looks like currently it takes 4-6 weeks.

As for electronics, you need to check the back of all your stuff to see what kind of power it will tolerate. Power in the United States is 120v at 60Hz, in Amsterdam it is 50hz, and a voltage of 220v. The plug type is also different, so even if your appliance says it can handle the power, you will need a plug adapter. There are ones that only change the plug type but don't modify the power, such as these. Then there are adapters which both change the plug type and also step the power down from 220v to 120v (but they will not change the frequency from 50Hz to 60Hz, which usually isn't a problem unless you have some very finicky electronics which you probably shouldn't be bringing anyway), like this.

For exchange, I find now that credit cards are by far the easiest, as you don't have to carry around a bunch of cash, but you might not always get the most favorable rate (same thing is true for using your ATM card in an ATM). But personally for me the convenience far outweighs missing a few cents on the dollar.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Thanks for all the info guys. So I can use my American Visa debit card to buy things in Amsterdam? Even in the coffeeshops? So, it will do the conversion for me? Say if I spend 10 euros, it would show up the converted amount in USD on my bank statement, right?

I'm 20 btw.

 

[Beezleb]

Its been a long time and perhaps things have changed but when I lived in Europe it was not a good idea to use the credit cards if you didnt have to as the credit card companies would wait for a more favorable exchange rate for them but this was probably at least 10 years ago. Also you end up paying on top of the exchange rate the charges/fees from the credit company but you can use it credit card no problem at all the top tourist spots for sure.

Once you get a taste of Amsterdam, do yourself a real favor and get off the tourist loop and visit some other cities like Maastricht and Rotterdam.

I am also unsure if debit cards work over their or not. They used not too but like I said, it was at least 10 years or so ago since I have been in Holland.

 

[tuttle]

Check with your bank (or card issuer) as to their exchange rates and fees. You can get the current true market rate by typing "usd to euro" into Google, then you can compare that with the rate your bank or card issuer gave you to see if it is worth it just to use your card or to change out a bunch of dollars at a bank when you get there. Also you can let them know where you are going and dates of travel so they don't shut down your card thinking it was stolen. If you do use your card in foreign markets, usually the card company will list the purchase in the currency the transaction was done in, then list the fee for conversion (if any), the exchange rate on the day you made the purchase, and finally your total in USD for the transaction.

Anyplace that takes Visa should take your card, they don't care what country it is from (at least that has been my experience)

 

[Happycamper]

With a credit card, something to watch out for is if you want to return something, clothes for eg. They will normally only refund back to the card used, and you will lose money due to the way the exchange rate works. At least that has been my experience.

 

[beachvaper]

It might be worth a try to check out couchsurfing.com Yukon. I think there's less people offering space there than other European cities due to heavy demand, but it's worth a try. When you get there be sure to go into the stores that sell newspapers to get a "Strippenkaart". They are strips of tickets for public transport that save you $. You pay way more to buy individual tickets. There's a bookstore at Central Station (the main station in the city you arrive in from the airport) that sells them. People were really friendly and helpful. Don't be afraid to ask! I got my best info. from talking to the locals. I talked to people in the coffeshops too. Sometimes it seems people are keeping to themselves but that never stops me! Be sure to ask first if they speak english. Most do but assuming aggravates them. Best herb I've ever smoked was in Negril, Jamaica with a rastaman at the beach. Next best was in Hawaii and 3rd was Amsterdam. It was so sweet to walk into a coffeeshop and light up! Miss it. This crazy country needs to legalize! One thing that surprised me was that most of them roll a cigarette with part tobacco and part herb. Not just Amsterdam, but all over Europe. Yuck! I'd never want to smoke tobacco.

 

[greenmachinexlt]

I went to Amsterdam in 97 as a High Times cannabis cup "judge", which got me a cheap package to get there and a nice place to stay. I stayed at the Tulip Inn IIRC, and was in town for 7 days or so. I ditched the cannabis cup deal 2 days into it because it wasn't my scene. A little too commercialized and tacky. I just wanted the cheaper package HT made available anyway. I did have to fly over on Uzbekistan Airways, which is another post on all it's own. I was just happy to land after that flight.

I went off on my own to explore the city and never once did I feel like I was in danger, aside from the trams and the myriad of bicycle riders. They won't hesitate to run you down if you are in their way. lol I had no trouble communicating with the Dutch as most of them speak English very well. Even the bums are tri lingual. lol
I learned a few Dutch words like thanks and hello, little things like that to be polite. I really enjoyed my stay there, and I think my fav coffeshop was Picaso. I would go there each morning and inhale a little orange crush, and a freshly squeezed glass of OJ and watch the world go by. The locals would laugh at me while I was doing bong hits. From what I saw, they prefer to mix tobacco and herb in a large blunt sized cigarette.
My eyes were bigger than my lungs while I was there. I had so much herb and hash left over the day I was leaving, I couldn't smoke it all. I had to toss about 6 grams of various strains as I was leaving my hotel for the airport. I used cash for everything while there. Just FYI. Make sure you learn your dutch money because IIRC a 5 gilden coin looks just like a nickel coin there. Luckily I had a shop owner point that out to me during a transaction.

I'm definitely interested in going back again. But next time I'll spend a little more time in museums and historical areas than in coffeshops, bars and the red light district.

If you have a chance to go, I say do it. If nothing else it's a beautiful city with much to offer. It was definitely a great experience.

 

[dub]

im going to amsterdam next month it will be my 3rd time , anyone know of good things to do while stoned ( no hookers or museums ) when me and friends go we usually do a coffee shop crawl but we need something else to do while stoned , we went to the zoo last time that was good craic
so if anyone has any ideas ??

thanx

 

[bcleez]

I went for X-mas and New Years with my wife a few years ago...

It would be cool if the people on this forum who went often got a vape, and hid it somewhere, so that every time one of us went we could go get it & use it then put it back for the next person. Wishful Thinking..

 

[Raf007]

I v been hitting A dam, once a year for the past 12 years, and those are my fav places.

Barneys breakfast bar (Harleemerstraat if i m correct), awsome place for weed and (champagne) breakfast

In the same street you have to go to the Dampkring (there you will find the chocolope at 7e per gram and 13 for the white chocolope. Imo the 7e is a good deal, the other one is too expensive compared to its little sis.).

The grreenhouse not for chilling though.

All of these do have at least one volcano. bring your own chamber and balloon if u can.

another must do are:

the Abraxas, try their hawaiian haze.

the Grey Area, try the martian mean green.

In all of these places count betweend 9 to 16e per gram for quality w. an averrage of 12.

If you are on a budget and for good weed and nice chillin place the bluebird.

The kashmere lounge is indeed really cool to chill coz you can lay down in but bring your own weed.

the twede kamel is the same as the dampkring.

the Bush doctor for hash

The Baba to chill with a bong vape when it s on service. But it s ofen crwoded and the weed is not so good anymore.

They are plenny of other good places to go but always ask to chek the weed before buying to be sure of the quality.

I personnally never liked the rookerij because the quality of weed is not always there, so be careful.

Avoid at all cost the Bulldogs, the popeye, the grasshopper, and most but not all the coffeshop in the redlight district.

For the hotels be carefull w. the cheap ones, quite some scams, read the net.
My favorite when not whith my GF is the Bothel.

Also, these last two years people have regularly reported that some of the coffeshops in Maastricht and Breda started to lace their weed so be xtracarefull in those. And it s not always easy to see befiore u start to grind it, vaporizing or smoking it.

Last but not least, if you are alone, beware of the drunken brits in the redlight district after 10pm.

Weed wise, I tghink that ducth weed aren't bedtter anymore than in the USA, different strains though.
Like the only Kush I could find was at the greenhouse in the American strains section of the menu.


Have fun in A Dam !!!

 

[DaProfessor]

I went for X-mas and New Years with my wife a few years ago...

It would be cool if the people on this forum who went often got a vape, and hid it somewhere, so that every time one of us went we could go get it & use it then put it back for the next person. Wishful Thinking..

Not to steer to much away from the topic, but a geocache could be a fun idea. Wouldn't work for long though. Even though I trust this community, I don't think I would like to use a used vape unless it was something easy to sanitize like a glass VG or something

 

[Happycamper]

I'm just waiting for the Euro/pound to get better.........it's so expensive for me atm.

But don't a few of these places have verdampers and volc's? After all it the home of the verdamper isn't it?

 

[dub]

thanks for all the suggestions , ill add them to the list , Softland and Yellow mellow are my favourite coffee shops so far .

i think the law on soft drugs is being changed in amsterdam soon (weed for locals only) but not sure , i was reading some articles

another question , any good glass pipe/bubblers shops ??

thanx

 

[stinkmeaner]

If you haven't already, do a simple Google search for activities to do in Amsterdam and you will come up with several great tourist guide sites and also some really good traveler blogs that people have written about their trip. Also keep The Netherlands are pretty small and you may want to spend a day or so in a neighboring country like Germany or Belgium so definitely don't limit yourself to just the coffee shops because that is all you hear about, I have had friends do this and regret that they did not enjoy their trip to the fullest extent once the novelty of being able to smoke in a coffee shop wears off.

 

[Beezleb]

I love Beligium, Germany is cool too but I liked Holland and Belgium the best. Maastricht was a great little spot and I like it many times more than Amsterdam but if your going for the first time, Amsterdam is a must have experience but after that wears off check out Rotterdam and if Maastricht but its a bit farther from Amsterdam than Rotterdam.

Asks the locals. They do not go to the tourist spots.

 

[bcleez]

ehhhhhhhhhhh some of the locals can be sketch... One of my friends was at a casino and got some stuff slipped in his drink by some people trying to set him up or some weird Euro/hostel type scenario. Most people there are nice, but don't act like a total tourist. Every city that gets a ton of tourists has their riff raff looking for naive people.

I feel obligated to tell people that story just to be careful. I had a great time, but obviously didn't go to the casino, basically shops and museums for me. The boat ride is pretty fun too.

If they still sell Noir De Noir chocolate bars buy one. They make you trip pretty hard.