Amsterdam Things to Do

The biggest and best-established arts festival in The Netherlands brings international musicians and actors into Amsterdam every June – 2013 dates are June 1 through 26. Encompassing all genres of music from classical to garage, drama, dance, film, and opera, the festival spreads across the city into every sizeable venue from the mainstream Muziektheater and the Royal Theatre Carré to the Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam and the home of leftfield music and drama, the art-house venue Westergasfabriek.

There is plenty to see in laid-back Amsterdam, from world-class museums to vintage markets and more canals than Venice. And if that is not enough, any of the suggestions below make a diverting day trip from the city of cool.

I have to say it feels like the Rijksmuseum has been under renovation forever.

In 2000 the decision was made to modernise the 1885 building designed by Pierre Cuypers, and now the date given for the gallery fully reopening is 2013. It does sound like the new-look Rijksmuseum will be worth the wait – the architects are staying faithful to the lovely Cuypers fairytale building, but they are opening it up a bit, adding a couple of new buildings, and modernising visitor facilities, security and climate control for the art works.

When I was old enough to start visiting bars (18, as I was in Australia), my eye was immediately drawn to those shiny, pretty-colored bottles gleaming on the shelves behind the bar. They were the colors of precious jewels, much brighter than the rainbow. I confess, for a while I drank only things that matched my outfit–again, I was 18. So, it was inevitable that when I got to Amsterdam, I had to seek out the place that made these magical – and frankly sickly sweet – alcoholic tints.

The House of Bols is located at Museumplein in the center of Amsterdam, very close to the Van Gogh Museum (another house of wonderful colors). It has won a Dutch Design Award for Best Exhibition and Experience.

The Netherlands is all about the sea. Firstly because it exists in constant danger of being flooded by the North Sea and therefore spends a fortune on defensive dikes and floodgates, and also on reclaiming land. Secondly because the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century ­­– during which all those glorious buildings and artworks that we flock to see in Amsterdam originated – was built on an incredibly successful seafaring trade in spices, silk, porcelain, etc.

I’m not the first to say it but really the only way to get around Amsterdam is by bicycle. It’s cheap, the city is flat, and you can go where the mood takes you and see the real Amsterdam.

Since 2009, the famous Hermitage Museum of St Petersburg in Russia has had an offshoot in Amsterdam. They hold exhibitions curated from the incredible collection held in St Petersburg. For those unlikely to travel to Russia, it’s a great opportunity to see art from the huge collections of western and other art exhibited there.

I love Christmas music. Not as much as a friend of mine who has it on his iPod and plays it year round; for me it signals the festive season and is associated with holidays, family and gift-giving (in no particular order!). In Amsterdam this December, you can get into the holiday spirit with concerts and carol singing, as well as ballet.

He might be an old man with a flowing white beard and a long red cape but The Netherland’s Sinterklaas is a little different to the Coca-Cola-type Santa Claus we all know. For starters, he comes from Spain! This is probably due to the Low Countries long ago domination by Spain and it means there is no tradition of snow and reindeer and sleighs. Instead, Sinterklaas arrives by boat from Spain, coming up the Amstel River in mid-November, this year on Sunday 13th November.

Amsterdam gets cold. Very cold. When the winter winds rush across that flat land from the North Sea, the air can feel brutal and riding a bicycle is a challenge to say the least. But there are places you can go to thaw out those freezing bones. Here are my top five