Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Where to stay in Amsterdam?

With its beautiful canals, spectacular architecture and various attractions for the tourists of every age and taste Amsterdam is one of the most popular cities in Europe to visit. Amsterdam city center which dates back to Middle Ages is a must see. In fact, Amsterdam presents its visitors one of the biggest historical city center of Europe. There are 7,000 registered historical buildings in the city and since the city is barely bombed in the World War II, many of the buildings are in their original state. But what makes Amsterdam what it is now is its countless, beautifully lit bridges, especially in the nights. Amsterdam city center is actually 90 islands connected through with 400 bridges.

For most of the tourists, Amsterdam is the half circle-shaped city center where Central Train Station is located in the center.  Until 1850, the city was actually all about these areas. The historical city center Amsterdam Centrium, is inside of 6 circles of canals; Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht, Lijnbaansgracht and Singelgracht. All together, these canals are called the Canal Ring. Other neighborhoods in the center are Jordaan and Plantage. Nassaukade, Stadhouderskade and Murtiskdae avenues circling the city were once the places where cities then-standing walls and moots found. Rests of the avenues in Amsterdam are from post 1870 era.

Even though Amsterdam is famous with its window-popping sex tourism and free light drugs trade, it’s a place you can visit with your family as long as you don’t go around Red Light District.

An important question of course is where to stay in Amsterdam. Amsterdam hotels are spread on a wide scale that go from budget to most expensive in Europe. Amsterdam Old Center provides many hotels and hostels especially around the south of the central station and Museum Quarter. Best of the authentic hotels can be found around the Canal Ring. Even though it’s an elite neighborhood, the famous Jordaan is an area where you can find mid-range and upper class hotels. Amsterdam’s cheapest and shabbiest hostels are in the Red Light District.

In this post, we’ll introduce notable neighborhoods of Amsterdam you can stay. Later, we’ll list the best hotels in different ranges and give out Amsterdam hotel recommendations.

Where to stay in Amsterdam - Amsterdam neighborhoods map
Amsterdam neighborhoods map
Amsterdam City Center (Amsterdam-Centrum, Canal Ring, Jordaan and Plantage)

Historical, middle ages era Amsterdam Centrum is also the most popular and visited tourist area of the city. It’s popular for its traditional architecture, canals, shopping facilities and of course the coffee shops.  Dam Square is actually the center of this area but the real interesting places are Nieuwmarkt and Spui. Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District is also in this area.

Dug in 17th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Area today, Canal Ring is the area where wealthy people built their homes to this day. Today, Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein, home to many of the famous and rich Dutch people, are two of the most important places of Amsterdam night life.

Once a workers neighborhood, today Jordaan is one of the well-off neighborhoods of Amsterdam with its art galleries, hip boutiques and nice restaurants. The Haarlemmerbuurt and the Western Islands are also in this area. Plantage is a place where Amsterdam’s most of the museums are located. Jewish Historical Museum in Waterlooplein, the Hermitage Amsterdam and its botanical gardens, Artis Zoo, the Tropical Museum and the amazing Scheepvart Museum are some of the places that you have to see here.


Amsterdam-Zuid (South Amsterdam)

Amsterdam-Zuid is one of the most beautiful neighborhoods here and a must-see in an Amsterdam vacation. Museum Quarter is also in this area. Sipping a wine in Vondelpark or shopping in Albert Cuyp Market has to be on your to do list in Amsterdam.

Even though answer to the question of “Where to stay in Amsterdam?” is the places that we listed above, hotels in the Amsterdam city center are really expensive. Amsterdam-Zuid, is the most popular accommodation area because it’s cheaper than the city center. If you don’t have deep pockets, we advise you to check Amsterdam-Zuid hotels first. Like most of the cities in Europe, Amsterdam has a very good public transit network so it’s easy to go from here to the city center. Amsterdam’s business and finance hub is also located here.

Amsterdam-West, Amsterdam-Noord, Amsterdam-Oost 

Amsterdam’s west, north (or noord) and east (or oost) regions are usually the places where local population lives. These are not the areas where the tourists stay despite being interesting places.

Bijlmer

Biljmer neighborhood in Amsterdam is the answer to where not to stay in Amsterdam. Although the security problem has gotten better over the last years, it’s still advised not to stay and not even travel to this area.

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