Bike tickets are € 5 and Night Bus trips cost € 4.70. Paper chip tickets are good for travel for specific periods of time: one hour (€ 3.20) 1-day (€ 8) or multi-day passes for up to 3 days (€ 28) or 7 days (€ 37).
With e-purse, you pay a fixed base rate for the distance you travel, plus a fixed rate per kilometer. Visitors may have their non-Dutch cards rejected, so a Maestro Debit Card with PIN appears to be your best bet - especially outside tourist areas. Some locations accept cash payment, but in a now mostly cashless system, many transactions now require bank debit or credit cards. OV-chipcards, purchased at GVB Tickets & Info, GVB Service points, and metro station ticket vending machines, can be loaded and reloaded with sufficient balance as you need it. They don't run all night, but few nightspots will be far from your hotel room. GVB public trams and trains are frequent and convenient. Bikes can easily be rented try Bike City, Black Bikes, MacBike, Star Bikes, or Yellow Bike for rentals and guided bike tours. Step aside as they whiz past, or join them. The bicycle is the favored mode of transportation, with designated lanes along many streets. The Connexxion Airport Express bus number 397, from Schiphol to Museumplein, Leidseplein, and Busstation Elandsgracht, departs every 7-10 minutes from bus stop B17.
For info on Netherlands train service see the NS website. Speedy direct trains cost a few euros and depart from the airport every 10 minutes. Watched by tens of thousands from canal-side perches along the Prinzengracht, and on the Amstel River, the parade is one of floating barges decorated in over-the-top gay glory, unique to this city and a treat to behold.Īmsterdam's Schiphol International Airport is several kilometers from the city center. The main event, Canal Parade, is on the Saturday afternoon.
On Koninginnenacht, the night before, the streets surge with celebrants, dressed in orange, and full of national pride and high spirits and of course the bars are packed and circuit parties throb.Īmsterdam Gay Pride takes place each July/August, with events and street parties over a weekend.
Avoid those nasty pizza slices around Warmoesstraat ( Reguliersdwarsstraat has better) - but the Vlaamse frites (fries to go, with mayonaise, ketchup or vinegar) are fresh, cheap and satisfying, pretty much wherever you see them.īig annual events here include King’s Day, the commemoration of Dutch King Willem-Alexander’s birthday, an occasion for the whole country to party each April 26th. Every sort of international cuisine can be sampled at the many restaurants, but fresh sandwiches, quiche or pastries from bakeries, taken to eat at Dam Square on a sunny day - perhaps while watching the street performers there - can taste special. Or, you can enjoy peaceful canal-side cafe relaxation or reading, seeing the works of the city's renowned artists at the many museums and galleries, browsing the stores in car-free pedestrian shopping streets and squares, or ambling the bike paths along tree-shaded waterways. Big circuit parties regularly roll into town throughout the year, especially during the gay holidays, and for leather events in the fall. Sex-work is legal and regulated, but with health issues in mind, rather than moral concerns. Sex, that other big North American taboo, is also less of a legal issue here, with live shows, and plenty of busy backrooms and regularly scheduled naked party nights. Magic mushroom and peyote grow-kits, ready to use magic truffles and cannabis products, along with sexual stimulants, are sold at " smart shops." Hash and pot smokers over 18 may still enjoy the freedom to buy and light up at one of over 200 Amsterdam " coffeeshops." Members of the coffeeshop union Bond van Cannabis Detaillisten ( BCD) operate with licences, shown by the display of official, green and white stickers in their windows. What does this mean for gay people? You won't find police roughing up guys in the cruising spots for one thing, and at one local park, De Oeverlanden, there are signs provided by the city, pointing to the cruisiest section.Īs for nightlife, there are plenty of cozy cafes, lounges and dance clubs for every taste, and as English is almost universally spoken there's no difficulty in meeting people. People don't look kindly on institutions, whether political party or religious denomination, that tell people what they can't do. Historically this is a live-and-let-live society, with this being the first country to allow same-sex marriage. See Netherlands nationwide measures, and for current Dutch entry restrictions: Reopen-Europa/Netherlands, Government of the Netherlands Covid-19, Travel Bans/Netherlands, and Shiphol Airport websites for updates. Emergency measures in the wake of Covid-19: