Proost to the beautiful city of Amsterdam!! Learned that while I was there— Proost is how they say cheers in Dutch. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I absolutely loved Amsterdam. First off, if I had ever imagined a fairytale village it would be of Amsterdam because of how cute and quaint the city was. The beautiful canals, the floating houses, the people riding bikes everywhere and the enchantment of it all just made the weekend so perfect. Amsterdam is a very small city, so we were able to see it all within two days. I cannot count the amount of times I said “This is so cute” as the city called for it many a times. Here’s a guide to the perfect weekend in Amsterdam. I have bolded all the places we visited.

Day 1:

So my friends and I decided to do an overnight bus from Paris to Amsterdam that arrived at around 6AM. We really couldn’t check into our Airbnb until 2/3pm and since at that time nothing was open, we literally just walked around the city while it was dark. It was actually really interesting to see the city at that time and the really pretty window displays. At 7AM we finally found a place that looked good, cheap and was open called All-Stars Steakhouse. This place was actually really sweet and it was attached to a hotel so the service was impeccable. I had this really good spicy chicken sandwich (I don’t like breakfast foods all that much ergo the sandwich LOL), some fries and super sweet freshly squeezed orange juice. All that came out to about 14 euros so I was happy.

Next, now that the sun was out, we headed to Dam Square which is the famous square in Amsterdam that has the Royal Palace. There were barely any people there at 9AM which was actually really nice for pictures. We did have a lot of pigeons join us, though. It was the most peaceful square I had ever been in.

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We then walked around the square for a bit and discovered this cute passageway and obviously stopped for a photoshoot. A great thing about being out and about at 9AM is that there aren’t a lot of people to photobomb your pics. After that, as uneventful as it may sound, we just walked around Amsterdam. I believe though, that was the best way to experience Amsterdam besides maybe riding a bike (Side note: the bikers in Amsterdam are very aggressive so ride with caution and walk with even more caution or you will be run over). We saw so many different things that we never would have seen had we just hit the tourist sights. You can click on each photo below to enlarge them. I was in awe of Amsterdam the entire weekend.

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Next we stopped at a place called Tasty Bakery where I had just an amazing hot chocolate. They also had delicious treats available. We then had lunch at an amazing restaurant that you all need to try if you go to Amsterdam called Sefa: BBQ and Grill Restaurant. I’ve never had such well flavored and well cooked Turkish food— just wow. It was pretty close to the center of town and also in a very popping area. We then headed over to the famous Bloemenmarkt: the floating flower market. While the flowers weren’t in season right now, it still was such an interesting place that displayed Dutch culture very well.

I couldn’t believe these were fake tulips, they look and feel so real in person. I hope to someday be back in Holland when the flowers are in bloom. We also got to eat a stroopwafel while we were there!! Stroopwafels are thin Dutch waffles that have a caramel filling in between- so so good. MUST HAVE!! We ended the day with dinner at super chic place called Chin Chin. We constantly throughout the day passed by my favorite thing in Amsterdam— the Westerkerk Church that had the most beautiful bell tower depicted above. I absolutely loved listening to bells. That was the end of day one and it was so intense it felt like two days. We walked a total of 11 miles so what a workout.

Day 2:

Day 2 we did a little more of the touristy things. Well we started off having a very authentic late breakfast/lunch at such an amazing place called Bistro Bij ons and the owner was the sweetest but sassiest older woman who was so great to us. I highly recommend this place and it was walking distance from Anne Frank’s house. I can’t remember the name of the dish but I know it was a traditional Dutch meal that had fries with lamb stew on top, it was pretty good. We headed to Anne Frank’s house next and it was so cool to see (make sure you get your tickets in advance online as soon as possible!!). We then headed over to this kind of square that had a bunch of museums and had an ice skating rink and little shops- very cute. From there, we went to the famous Van Gogh Museum (also get your tickets in advance for this!). We actually went back to Tasty Bakery after to get some treats and they were fabulous. Last thing we did before dinner was the famous Heineken Experience. Heineken is a dutch beer and even if you don’t drink it is a really cool experience that I recommend you check out for only 21 euros. We had some amazing burgers at a place called Bariloche. We ended the night with a walk through the red light district and that you just need to see for yourself because I can’t even describe it but I’ll put a picture below.

Overall, my first weekend trip in Europe was a major success. I highly recommend Amsterdam to anyone who travels through Europe. It will forever hold a special place in my heart. To finish off, here are some more pictures of the marvelous city.

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UPCOMING: This weekend I’m heading to Brussels, Belgium! Photo shoot at the Louvre is happening Thursday so that will be up soon, and Eiffel Tower next week. Disneyland next week too. Lots happening so stay tuned. Much love to you all as always.

-TRR