Tulip fields for days, flower markets, smoke filled cafes, beautiful street art, canals for days and delicious caramel between two crispy waffle cookies; Amsterdam in the fall was a dream come true.

Photo by Tre Dunham

Route before Amsterdam: Reykjavik to Amsterdam, Berg Castle, Black Forest Germany & Triberg, over to Alsace, France and castles in Luxembourg

Where we stayed: AirBnB in Jordan area

What we did: Boranical Garden aka Hortus Botanicus, Flower market aka Bloemenmarkt, Banksy exhibit at the MOCO, Night Boat Tour, and exploring

Amsterdam is an easy 3ish hour flight from Reykjavik on WOW air. We arrived in Amsterdam early morning, rented a car and headed out on our roadtrip through the Black Forest in Germany, Alsace in France and a then a few quick stops at Castles in Luxembourg. The Netherlands was the end of our trip, a place to relax and rocoup after a long trip abroad. Starting with a campervan road trip around Iceland and another road trip around mainland Europe, we were ready to stand still and explore the city on foot.

We rented an AirBnb in Jordan, and little did we know… the streets were so narrow and not built for cars to stop, let alone be able to fit two on the street at once; so when we pulled over in front of the apartment to unload we were immediatly were holding up traffic, cars and bikers were honking and yelling. Car parked blocking traffic, we both grabbed everything we could from the car at once and literally threw everything inside the door of the building. The stairs went STRAIGHT UP! We had no idea, the building was so tall and so narrow and we were on the 4th floor. The were so steep it almost made me neasous. Tre grabbed the large bags and threw them up the four flights of stairs as fast as he could and then basically slid down the stairs back to the car, I thought he was going to have a heart attack. Cars still honking, he threw the rest of our junk out on to the curb for me to gather, hopped in the car and headed back to the airport to return the car. He was such a badass. He returned the car back to the airport and rode the train back to central station, just across the street from the BnB.

The apartment was awesome, beautifully decorated and simple. The only flaw was that we didn’t realize where we were going to stay and ended up on a corner above a cafe and across from a few clubs, it was SO LOUD and a little hard to get to sleep. However, after our long journey we did crash pretty hard the first night.

 

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Bloemenmarkt

The first full morning we made our way to the Flower Market. This was a beautiful walk through the canals on the way to visit the botanical Garden. Situated along the Singel Canal, the flower market is where you can find plants, flowers, bulbs, magnets and trinkets. Also along the canal are beautiful shops and delicious treats like Henri Willig cheese shop, yum!

 

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Hortus Botanicus

As always we travel around the world to find the most amazing green houses and gardens. The Hortus Botanicus was gorgeous and one of the oldest greenhouses in the world dating back to the 17th century. You’ll find a butterfly house, flower garden, conservatory and cactus house. Grab a slice of cake and coffee at the Hortus Cafe. The greenhouse that dates back to 1912 (year of the Titanic) and the campus close by houses the largest seed bank in the world. Of course I found myself spending the most time among the dry, beautiful cactus house. A must see for any botanical lovers out there.

 

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Bansky @ MOCO

Oh My gosh, obsessed! This was such a treat. Once I saw the bill board we were so stoked to check out this Banksy exhibit. We seem to be lucky finding these fun, famous artists while abroad. Just like in Venice when we stubled upon the Irving Penn, and in Stockholm when we found Avedon! Just down the street from the Van Gogh museum and across from the I AM AMSTERDAM street art sign is the Museum of Contemporary Art, aka the Moco. So many amazing Banksy originals and Warhols. The exhibit is a big controversy, over the removal and preservation of the street art by Banksy, should the Bansky artwork be removed and put on display, sold at auction and be allowed to be owned by private collectors? Check out Exit Through the Giftshop.

 

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Walk around the Canals & Streets

Take some time to walk the streets, sit in a cafe or coffee shop, enjoy the beautiful weather…take it all in. We found so many beautiful buildings and canals, enjoyed some delicious traditional Stroop Waffles and dodged getting run over by bikes.

Above 3 photos by Tre Dunham

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Night Boat Tour

Our last night in Amsterdam we took a canal cocktail cruise and it was perfect!  The boat captain was very knowledgeable of the city buildings and took us around the city. We met the sweetest couple from Dallas and went out to dinner after and enjoyed our visit and getting to know them and having dinner together.

 

Other Fun places to check out:

Dille & Kamille for kitchen goods, linens, florals, trinkets and beautiful home goods. Of course the historic Red Light District that we just so happen to stumble upon while walking around on day. Side note, not so sexy really. Check out the Cafes for a smokey treat, if you’re into that. Find beautiful leather goods, backpacks, wallets and other goods by Property Of.

 

Hope you enjoyed our experience in Amsterdam. Still so much to explore outside of the city, next time we hope to venture out to the flower fields and wind mills. Until then…

Adventure On Y’all