Stopped here for souvinirs in the airport. There was no line and they had the cutest items.read more

Very helpful people, whether you purchase anything from them or not. We purchased IAmsterdam cards…read moreand got much more than their cost in transportation, tours and museum vists.

Date of Visit: 2/26/2016 Time of Visit: 3:51 pm…read more So I popped in here after my flight thinking I could some helpful information. Apparently not. Not only were the two ladies who worked here not friendly (how do you not smile back at someone when they approach with giant smile and a friendly hello?) but they don't know anything. And they are supposed to be the tourist information office. They are more interested in selling you something than providing information. Which I totally understand, it's a business. But instead of calling it Tourist Information call it, Place to Buy Sightseeing Tickets or something along that line. Oh, and nothing is free in that office. The maps aren't even free. You'll pay 2.50 euro. Wait till you get to your hotel and get one for free. I'll update this with photos when I go back by here for my flight home.

This visitors center was exceptional. Special shout out to Mariana Pietersz. She was able to…read moreseamlessly assist me in Spanish and took the time necessary to answer my questions and inform me of all of the options I had with the iamsterdam card.

With several Amsterdam Museum passes available, how do you choose? Look for the activities that…read moreappeal to your travel partners. Definitely was able to maximize our experience with the I Amsterdam Card. Download the app and map out what you would like to explore. We planned our trip in regions. Day 1- Ferry and Canal Tour Picked up a physical card from the central train station location. Although our internet worked well, I had some concerns about the app working after reading reviews. A small booklet is also provided at the Visitor Center. Took the free ferry across the river to This is Holland, The A'DAM Tower Lookout and the Eye Filmmuseum. Definitely do the swing if you are an adrenaline junkie. The restaurant at the Eye Filmmuseum was amazing. Would skip the Eye Filmmuseum if you are short on time. Back across via ferry and hopped on a Lover's Canal Cruise before heading to Tujah Maret for an Indonesian Rice Table. Day 2- Museums, Lunch and More Museums My friend wasn't sure if we could max value this pass, so this was a busy, busy museum day. Rembrandhuis, Portuguese Synagogue, Joods/Jewish Museum, Holocaust Memorial, Museum On's Lieve Heer Ops Solder with a complete church hidden in the attic, Huis Willet-Holthuysen and the Tulip Museum. Took a lunch break at the Joods Museum. The fish sandwich on challah with salad was delicious. Loved the biscuits that came with the tea and lattes. Bought separate tickets for the Anne Frank House six weeks in advance as they sell out. Day 3- Windmills and More Museums. Spent the morning in Zaanse Schans and the afternoon in Museumplein. Used an I Amsterdam Card discount to get to Zaanse Schans on the Hop On Hop Off Tour, then used the card to gain access to the Zaanse Schans Museum and Windmills. Cheese, sheep, oversized clogs, Claude Monet and Peter the Great. Use the Zaanse Museum ticket to even go to a very clean bathroom before you head back to Amsterdam. Spent the afternoon in Museumplein exploring the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and Design, and the Moco Museum. Love Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" and "The Jewish Bride," Van Gogh's Self Portraits and Wheat Fields and Marc Chagall's Muse. Could have used the pass for the morning on Day 4 but headed to The Hague and Rotterdam instead. For €90 for a 72-hour pass (not three day), this was a great value. We never felt rushed and were able to sample so many parts of Amsterdam for about € 5-6 per venue. Even the public transits are included. Make sure to make reservations for the Rijksmuseum, the Rembrandthuis, and the Holocaust Memorial as they get booked. The perfect way to explore Amsterdam.

We haven't even arrived yet and they have been so helpful and friendly. We are prepared, thanks to…read morethem, to begin our adventures and save money as soon as we arrive.

They have an office at central station that sells merchandise and more. I Amsterdam has a card for…read moreusing the city public transportation and admission to many museums and other places. You can buy the card when you get there or buy it online through your smartphone and the app. The app has great tools for planning and finding places for the card. The problem is that if you have trouble with reception or the app, it won't work. There were several times that I couldn't load up the QR code and one person couldn't load it at all and had to go get a paper one. The staff were very friendly and helpful with this. Overall I don't know if it's worth getting you have to plan your travel to see if it would work for you. I didn't have to wait in lines and it is easy to tap and pay everywhere including on public transportation. Overall it's a good idea and they have good service but there needs to be a way to download it onto google or Apple wallet to improve the system.

I was going to attend a Gallery opening and needed a gift suitable for a conceptual artist. I spent…read morea week wracking my brains and finally decided to check out this store and Yee-haw! Found just the perfect gift in the artsy plastic recycled vases they sell, which are a Dutch design & innovation, but made in Mumbai by women and children escaping prostitution and giving them a working wage. Shout-out to a staffer by the name of Giovanni who was super helpful. When at check-out I mentioned it was a gift, he offered me free gift-wrapping which I totally took him up on. He also mentioned that if the gift wasn't to the recipient's taste, if they had the receipt, he could exchange for up to 7 days, which I thought was very useful info & good of him to mention. I didn't really get to browse thru the store much, as had to catch my train to get to the Art Show, but this was a fantastic shopping experience with excellent service rendered, so plan to come back for a longer browse thru all their shelves when have more time. If you too find yourself at Centraal and looking for a gift, think beyond the flower shop or the chocolates/ stroop waffles at Albert Heijn and come and check out this store instead! PS - The artist very much liked his gift and the concept behind it! Yelp 58/ 2019

Verouderd en nogal saaie bedoening. Het doet overkomen dat het half jaren zeventig mooi was en…read moredaarna niet meer goed onderhouden. Het Restaurant/cafetaria heeft bepaald geen kwaliteitseten en ook geen sfeer, nouja de sfeer van een middelbare-schoolkantine. De rondvaart was leuk, maar puur omdat het een boot is. De uitleg van de kapitein (?) was onverstaanbaar of door overstuurde speakers.

This was another ship related excursion and for someone like me, who loves major construction…read moreprojects, it was heavenly.. The first thing we saw when we walked into the visitor center was the skeleton of a mammoth that had been unearthed during construction of the Delta Works. http://media2.ct.yelpcdn.com/photo/fTk-twKk-NUpScAITT6BXw/l It was a very cool, very complete skeleton. There was an exhibit of the 2000 year history of the Netherlands' battle w/ the North Sea. After wandering through the exhibit we saw a half hour film about the Great Flood of 1953, which inundated 2/3 of the country, twice a day because of the tides, for NINE months! At that point the plans for the storm surge barrier were laid. Rather than give you the details here, I'll just include their website: http://www.deltawerken.com/Deltaworks/23.html There was one leftover tower from the construction project which is in a field across from the visitor center and is used to teach climbing and firefighting techniques, if I'm remembering correctly. There's a waterpark--mostly for kids, I think--on the same property but we didn't visit it. After the film we went through the gift shop filled w/ overpriced junk and then continued by bus to the Delta Works itself. It was a massive project, w/ 62 40 meter wide gates suspended between tall towers. The gates can be lowered mechanically if very stormy seas are predicted. We were able to walk through the structure and then to climb a series of stairs up to the top. Inside the structure were explanatory exhibit and our guide gave us further information. The project was competed 25 years ago and has been used three times since, successfully. It's tested regularly to make sure it's mechanically fit. The expectation is that it will have to be rebuilt in the future, using technology that has been developed since. You can be sure the Dutch are paying attention to the issue of climate change and will be factoring that into their plans. The hope and expectation is that what's in place now will be adequate to protect the country from the rise in the sea that's currently predicted.

Not a bad park near Amsterdam. Less of a US style national park and more of a cool suburban…read moreprotected area. Well maintained hiking trails. They have a herd of European bison. Visitor center is small and has limited interpretive content. Not a destination but a cool place for a hike if in area.

Park! A national park! I love to come here and bike or walk or run on all the trails, it's a nice…read morerespite from the urban life and I'm just lucky it's so close to home. One of the few bits of nature you find in the Netherlands, and part of the important natural water protection system between the North Sea and North Holland.