Welcome to Amsterdam! In Amsterdam, you will be docking at the Amsterdam Cruise Terminal where you can begin your Amsterdam shore excursion. This terminal is next the Moevenpick Hotel. When exiting the Cruise Terminal, it’s just a short tax ride into town, and costs about 10 Euros. You have a couple of options on where to do go from the terminal. You can asked be dropped off at Dam Square which is center to Amsterdam. Here you will find much to do within a walking distance. You can walk to the many shops and stores, restaurants in the area. Tour the canal streets. There is even a row of sight-seeing tour boats that cost around 20 Euros. The typical trip was about 1 hour. There are also a number of museums in Amsterdam that are worth checking out. The Van Gogh Museum, the Rembrandt House Museum, and the Museum Rijksmuseum, which is the state museum.
From Dam Square, you can walk a few blocks to the Anne Frank house. However, this is a very popular attraction in Amsterdam and the queue lines may be long to get through. The cost is just under 10 Euros for admission. You can also grab a taxi from the Cruise Terminal to the Anne Frank House. You can also walk to Amsterdam Central which is the main transportation hub to Amsterdam. Public Transportation, such as trains, trolleys, bikes, and walking is the main mode of transportation in the country.
Dining – If you are going to eat out in Amsterdam, it is well noted for it’s Indonesia cuisine since the Dutch discovered Indonesia’s culture and trade. There are many fine restaurants in town. If you just wanted try a restaurant from the cruise terminal, exit the terminal and walk left. There is a restaurant called the Fifthteen that has a unique dining experience right near the port.
While in Dam Square, be sure to check out some of the small restaurants, pubs and cafe’s. This picture is from O’reilly’s Irish Pub in Amsterdam.
‘In summary, Amsterdam is a port where you can do your own excursion. You will want to plan what stops you wish to make ahead of time so that you can map out your travel and walking.
A travelers tip for Europe! I had used Waze on my smart phone with WIFI connection at some of the local hot spots. While my phone didnt have Data coverage because of the roaming data was off, I was able to use Waze to get around and walk. Simply when I had Wifi at a local establishment, I would plug in the location, hit GO. And Waze would some how download and store that map locally on the device. Because I had walked all over Amsterdam off the network just using Waze to get around. It was probably square miles and worked ok. I noticed the same trick while riding the train up and down the entire Netherlands. I purchased the Wifi package off their Rail, and noticed when I would load Waze and go, it somehow cached the map in the device. It’s a nice trick, and may work in other locations!