Christmas is my favourite time of year, and this year was even more special because I got to…
Times visited: 4 (1 day in 2017, 1 day in 2023, 2x 1 day in 2024)
Cities visited: Amsterdam
I don’t actually know how many times I went to the Netherlands as a child, as my family often took the ferry from Hoek van Holland to England. But the first time I went there as a tourist was in the summer of 2017, on a 1-day stopover in Amsterdam en route to Luxembourg.
I’ve never really prioritized the Netherlands as I always thought of the country as similar to Denmark but with less natural beauty. But I had heard so many good things about Amsterdam so I decided to give it a shot. After all, it was much cheaper to get to Luxembourg by flying into Amsterdam and taking a night bus!
I was quite good at touristing in Amsterdam. I got up early to start my 8-hour sightseeing walk around the city centre with a long list of things that I wanted to see. I walked and walked and walked, finding one pretty view of the famous canals after the other. Did you know that there are more than one hundred kilometres of canals with 2,500 bridges and 90 islands in the city!? Venice, move over! I went on a canal cruise that took me all around the city center and through some of the most scenic canals. And yes, I did also visit the Red Light District and no, I didn’t buy any weed.
I know it’s not fair to judge a city after just one day, but I just didn’t love Amsterdam as much as I thought I would. To be honest, I couldn’t help comparing it to Copenhagen and that just isn’t a fair comparison!
I honestly never thought I’d return to Amsterdam, but six years later, I unexpectedly ended up with another half day in the city as I was travelling overland from Scotland to Denmark with my little dog. I took the same route twice in early 2024 as well, and tried to keep an open mind about the city, but I just don’t love it. However, I am sure that the rest of the Netherlands has lots to offer, and I am excited to one day explore some of it!
