Peter is an Amsterdam local who's traveled the world, but calls Amsterdam his home. We were fortunate enough to hire him for a half day tour of Amsterdam.
In his initial email to us, he asked us what kinds of things we were interested in to help tailor his tour to what our interests were, rather than just giving us a tour that may bore us. (One of the worst things about tour guides IMO is when they take you on what THEY think you should see.) Obviously this wasn't going to be the case here! We told him that we would like to see the Amsterdam that tourists don't typically see and that our interests lay more in the food and drinks of Holland and Amsterdam than its sights. So with that, his response email read "We will start with the best Apple pie in town." How perfect is that?!
We met up with him in the Rembrandtplein and he led us around Amsterdam avoiding the touristy main streets while pointing out interesting things of significance and great photo spots. He also gave us great insider tips on how to enjoy Amsterdam on the cheap and how to make the best of our time here. To avoid one of the top tourist traps in Amsterdam, also known as the Heineken Experience (17 Euros?! Are you kidding me??), he took us to a local brewery to enjoy some local beer with other locals - not tourists like you'd find at Heineken. After that, we hopped on a tram back to the Red Light district to see the world's oldest profession at work and a quick tour of Chinatown.
In short, we had an amazing time with him and it was hard to believe that 5 hours had passed so quickly. I'd highly recommend booking a tour with Personal Amsterdam Tours if you are ever in Amsterdam and want to see it from a local's perspective. read more