Hot coffee in Amsterdam

The winter season brings with it cold weather and the desire for hot beverages and cozy settings. This week, we will let coffee take us around the world to find the best cup of joe and great cities where it can be found.

Amsterdam, Netherlands is the world capital of coffee shops. With over 300 coffee shops and cafes to choose from, you can decide which is best for you. Young travelers usually search for the shops that offer legal “herbs”, but most coffee shops offer much more than that. Locals enjoy the relaxed settings and warm environments conducive to enjoying a coffee and a good book in the afternoon. To complement these great coffee shops are delicious bakeries–Taart van m’n Tante is a well-reviewed colorfully decorated café with large, ornate cakes luring you in the windows and centered at each table to be enjoyed.

Once you’re ready to start the day, walk through beautiful Vondelpark (complete with lakes, mystical trees, and beautiful buildings and hotels), visit the Van Gogh museum (housing the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world) and Rikjsmuseum (displaying Dutch art and history), take a historical tour of the Anne Frank house (walk on the same floors where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis), and bicycle along Amsterdam’s numerous canals to get the full tour.

Realtraveler cessna152 gives a detailed description of the Van Gogh museum collection. He says:

“The next morning we took a tram to the Van Gogh Museum. The exhibit covered one floor and led us through a complete history of the great man’s work, starting with paintings that looked nothing like what I’d expected. His early work was clearly of the traditional type, showing quite realistic scenes of various descriptions. Before long though we were gawping at the work he became famous for, including The Potato Eaters and the world-famous Sunflowers.”

Walking the city will allow you to find great little neighborhoods and a relaxed and eclectic Amsterdamian culture. Walk into a street art fair, world music shop, unique clothing boutique, or dimly lit restaurant on your city tour.

Discover Amsterdam as other realtravelers had and find the beauty and warmth within it. Sus and Pete did and reflected this:

“Amsterdam is an amazing city, we had no idea how beautiful it would be. There is a Venice like canal system that flows though the city with a number of small bridges connecting the streets. Because the streets are so small almost everyone gets around on old bicycles. We spent hours walking the many canals and found time to visit the Heineken Brewery and the Van Gogh Museum. We really had a blast.”

Enjoy the aged, beautiful buildings, deep canals, rich wooden interiors and friendly crowd as you make your way to the coffee shop capital.

To plan your visit to Amsterdam, visit:

Amsterdam Hotels
Amsterdam Attractions
Coffee shop guide: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/sep/26/amsterdam.travelfoodanddrink?page=3

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