Slow Travel in Amsterdam

I’m excited to share my slow travel city guides from our trip through the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium this summer! And there’s no better place to start than a Slow Travel in Amsterdam guide!

Slow Travel in Amsterdam

We flew in and out of Amsterdam (it’s a very nice airport), so we didn’t arrive by train. But isn’t the Amsterdam central train station just beautiful?!

Before we jump in, a little housekeeping:

1) For overall backpacking tips, take a look at this post about backpacking Western Europe for three weeks.

2) Curtis and I love slow travel! This means you’ll see a lot of cafes, parks, and free activities in my city guides, but you won’t see a lot of tourist attractions or popular sites. More on that here.

3) If you like city guides, I’ve got tons of them! I’ve written city guides to everywhere from Los Angeles, to Seattle, to Washington DC, to Bratislava, to Berlin, Prague, and so many more.

Where To Stay in Amsterdam

Hotels in Amsterdam can be quite pricey, but we found a gem in The Muse Amsterdam Boutique Hotel. It had everything we needed: a cozy bed, free WiFi, bike rental, and great customer service. We were dealing with a lost luggage fiasco when we arrived and the staff at The Muse took care of it all for us while we sipped on the complimentary “welcome champagne.” Highly recommend them!

Where to Eat & Drink in Amsterdam

When in the Netherlands, you must have this classic Amsterdam combination of herring, pomme frites, and Heineken. We had fried herring and beers at two places: Frens Haringhandel (my favorite! right in the canal rings) and Volendammer Vishandel. This is a perfect cheap, street food options while you’re exploring the city.

Our favorite “sit down” dinner was at SOI 74, Thai Food Cafe. We set out to have Surinamese food, but the restaurant we were recommended had closed, so we stopped into this Thai restaurant instead. The chefs are Thai and the food was cheap, authentic and good. The place has a funky atmosphere like a hostel, which we — as backpackers — enjoyed.

Cute Cafes in Amsterdam

We started every morning in Amsterdam with a cozy cappuccino power-up. There’s so much to see when you’re travelling, but I love to keep up my slow morning coffee ritual. Plus in Amsterdam, this allows for great people watching!

One day we had lunch at Pluk Amsterdam, which is a trendy little cafe along the canals. To me, this was a quintessential “blogger” cafe — everything was very Instagrammable. You could purchase fresh flowers, gifty items like mugs and stationary, fancy avocado toasts, and super sweets like matcha cake.

Craft Beer in Amsterdam

In the Netherlands you say, “proost!” to cheers and we did plenty of this at Brouwerij Troost. We really enjoyed the De Pijp neighborhood, but there are a couple of Troosts’ throughout Amsterdam. I highly recommend their Honingblond beer, which is the blonde “honey” beer I drank all night.

Where To Shop & Stroll in Amsterdam

You just can’t beat a stroll through the canal rings. Every corner you turn will be full of picturesque views like this. Curtis and I walked for miles and miles each day just taking in the houseboats, flowers, and other beautiful sights.

We stopped in at Zap Records in central Amsterdam and were just blown away by their selection. It’s so difficult to browse amazing record shops  when you’re backpacking because you can’t take any of the great finds with you, but that didn’t stop us from doing a thorough browse through Zap.

Amsterdam was also full of charming plant shops. We popped into a few while we were out on our daily wanders. I really appreciate how the Netherlands values greenery. In almost every restaurant, cafe, or shop you’re sure to find unique and beautiful houseplants used as decor.

Where To Sight See in Amsterdam

We didn’t visit the popular and famous Rijksmuseum (like I mentioned, we’re not huge on spending money to tour places) but we did enjoy exploring the museum grounds and the public art plaza surrounding it.

And there’s more!

We did all of Amsterdam by bicycle, so I’ll write a post with tips about seeing the city by bike. Check back for that post next week!

Until then, let’s stay in touch! You can find me on Instagram or Twitter, where I’m @brumeanddaisy. If you like music recommendations, you can listen to my monthly playlists and follow me on Spotify! And Goodreads is where you can find what I’m reading lately.

Last but not least, did you know I run a podcast? That’s what’s delayed me getting these travel posts out, but it’s my pride and joy. I’d love if you give it a listen here.

Talk soon, -Emily