Adventures in The Netherlands: King’s Day, Tulips, and More!

I wish I could put into words how much relief I got from this trip. In spite of partying for a majority of it, it just felt like so many stressors were lifted off my shoulders.

That might just be a product of being in Europe, where they care about the environment and making sure everyone has access to healthcare, but I am thriving off of it.

Why the Netherlands?

The Netherlands take sustainability one step further by biking everywhere which makes transportation easy, affordable, and environmentally friendly. And I haven’t even mentioned how great the public transit is, in spite of the prominence of cycling.

Their public transportation runs 24 hours (only once an hour after midnight), which is completely unfathomable for me.

So to recap, in the states I’m always worried about my environmental impact, worried about my how my purchase choices could be contributing to lobbying against rights I am passionate about, like LGBTQ and mass incarceration, about how the food I’m eating has chemicals that are killing me… the list goes on and on.

It’s the first time in my life that I’ve been able to take these issues off my shoulders and be happy about the day to day. This was pretty much the ultimate trip. The dates accidentally included King’s Day, the biggest drinking holiday in The Netherlands; the tulips were also in bloom, AND it was my birthday.

TLDR: Get a Go City Pass and don’t try to visit everywhere, stick to one place and explore it fully.

Let me walk you through it… or rather, bike

Speaking of walking, I averaged 18,000 daily steps while I was there, in spite of using public transport frequently and biking. I started my trip by missing my flight to Amsterdam, staying up too late in Barcelona like a rookie. I was able to rebook one for the same day, and ended up getting there later that night, rather than early morning.

Amsterdam

We visited Amsterdam for King’s Day specifically, and that was the best decision we could’ve made! It takes place at the end of April, and it’s a great time to experience the city, and the tulips are still in bloom too.

If you’re thinking about visiting for King’s Day, here’s everything you need to know for Kings Day in Amsterdam.

First up, accommodation

The first night, I headed straight to my hostel, The Hans Brinker, which had everything I needed and a decent bar for it’s guests with outdoor seating. It would’ve been nice if I had the energy for it, but I only needed it for some shut eye.

I would recommend for low budget (it’s really not that cheap though, but good for solo travelers). The next day when my friend got there, we moved into a hotel room which cost about the same as 2 hostel beds, but definitely much better.

Di-Ann City Center Hotel was in the center of the city, as the name proclaimed. Since it was prior to check in time, we just dropped off our luggage there until we were all set to check in.

When we did have the chance to check it out, we had 2 more flights of stairs (3 narrow flights total). The room itself was a bit small too, but it had everything we needed and a great view of the city.

I want to emphasis how happy I was with this hotel, it was super central, and pretty affordable, and overall very convenient.

I don’t know why the reviews are so subpar, but it fulfilled our needs well and I’m glad we didn’t get too hung up on reviews when we were planning.

My friend and I stayed in a hotel close to the airport that night in Hoofdoorp (we dropped our bags before heading into Amsterdam). I moved my bags to the airport the next day since my flight wasn’t for another 24 hours.

I ended up getting a cheap hotel nearby for my flight again the next day since it was very early in the morning. A big shoutout to public transport there, since I was able to easily get a bus ride early enough to catch my flight in the morning.

Hungry in Amsterdam?

On the first night, with little sleep and a big upcoming week, I grabbed some food from Febo (fast food restaurant with the ease of vending machine-like purchases). FoodHallen was our the first memorable food destination, and great for sharing. It’s a huge food hall, with a ton of options from every culture you can think of.

We got bitterballens, which are Dutch, some dumplings, and chicken wings. A very random variety, but I loved being able to do that. Drinks were also available, so of course we partook.

On King’s Day, we went to a place called Lotti’s, which is technically a hotel, but it was one of the only places that we could find open. Luckily, the food was incredible so we were impressed. There was also a dance floor a stone’s throw away which seemed a bit odd, but definitely a social place.

I’d recommend stopping by Polaberry to get some chocolate-covered strawberries. You also definitely need to try a stroopwafel, so we went to Van Holland Stroopwafels Amsterdam, since the line at the famous Van Wonderen was way too long.

Van Holland’s Stroopwafels were also incredible, so I think it’s worth it to skip the long line next door.

We met up with a friend we met in Noordwijk for dinner at Boca’s. They did tapas dishes, and WOW those were good. We got a charcuterie board and a few other plates, and I’d highly recommend.

Afterwards, we headed to Schumich Café which was a cute little bar with a great, very chatty bartender. I would highly recommend, but it was certainly a bit obscure.

My final day in the Netherlands was totally solo, and I started with breakfast at Bagels & Beans. There are a few locations, but I chose the one by the water/central train station. I got a fully veggie bagel with a coffee to start my day, and spent some more time exploring the area.

I grabbed some nachos at a place I’d been to in 2020, but it wasn’t quite as cathartic as it had been back then, but if you want to check it out, it’s called Harlem Soul Food.

The most affordable way to take in attractions

We started out our time in Amsterdam by activating the Go City Amsterdam Pass that each of us got. It’s pretty affordable for all the things you get. You can either get a time based or an attraction based card.

I’d recommend time based so you can take advantage of the free public transportation and it gives you plenty of time to see the museums you want, go on a canal cruise, etc. Either way, it comes with an app, so you can’t lose it.

Playing the whole trip by ear was a bit of a mistake for us, since we wanted to go to some of the most popular places. We didn’t book anything in advance, which was a bit of an issue for this time of year.

We tried to get tickets to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh, but it was booked solid all week. We figured our Go City Amsterdam Pass would get us in, but that was not the case, so don’t make our mistake.

On the bright side, the Moco Museum was available and nearby and since I loved that one last time, we decided to check it out. The new exhibits were really interesting, and I always love the political commentary there. Definitely check out that museum if you like modern art even a little bit, it’s so nice.

We headed over to the Anne Frank House next, the one thing that we actually booked. The tour was so worth it, I would recommend it to everyone. The audio comes in a ton of different languages, and it makes the experience more personal since everyone has their own, and are typically listening to different sections of the audio at once.

These tickets can pretty much only be booked 6 weeks in advance, so make sure you mark your calendar to buy some before your trip. The first few visits to Amsterdam, I wasn’t able to go because it was always booked. You can get your tickets here.

Attractions outside of the common attractions

After our pass time ran up, we wanted to do some sightseeing without guidelines.

Of course, we needed some pictures on one of Amsterdam’s many famous canals with the flowers, and there are plenty of those in Nine Streets. I came across quite a few beautiful flowers during my walk, so I’d certainly recommend planning your photoshoot in that area.

We took some pictures from across the canals where we found an empty spot… it’s quite the hassle to get the architecture in the pictures with the canals as well for a straight on picture.

Public transit was starting to get really pricey, especially since we didn’t know how much we were paying every time we tapped our cards, so we decided we needed to rent some bikes for the further destinations.

On the main street, near Amsterdam Centraal, there is a shop where you can rent bikes. I’d recommend you spend at least one day on a bike while you’re in Amsterdam. You can rent a bike here for a reasonable price.

Since we had the bikes, we had to pop through Vondelpark (which is certainly much better on bikes) and we got to explore the whole park. We also spent a while watching the boats pass in the canal, which was a nice element of peace to add to our day.

There is a massive bookstore that’s been around since 1853 called Scheltema that we popped into (more than 4 floors!) with some great views of the streets from the top. We finished our touristy activities with a canal cruise by Stromma, which was on our pass. It’s BYOB, or buy at the start of the cruise, so that was a good start to our trip.

Are you visiting on King’s Day too?

King’s Day is the biggest drinking day of the year in the Netherlands. Make sure you bring some orange, because everyone will be decked out for this holiday. It’s technically a celebration of the King’s Birthday, but in my eyes, it’s just an excuse for some chaos.

Since it can be a little confusing to visit during this holiday, I wrote up a guide to help you plan your King’s Day Trip.

First and foremost, if you’re visiting for King’s Day, buy your drinks in advance since most stores will be sold out or closed.

We got all the details about where to go for King’s Night (the eve of King’s Day). The streets were PACKED. It took us forever to get through the crowd, and we also learned that looking for a bar which was a bit naïve of us.

We ended up popping into a convenience store (since we idiotically left our drinks in the room, assuming we’d be barhopping), and grabbed some drinks to get us started.

This is where the Dutch friendliness comes in, we struck up conversations with several people in the crowd, and it was actually very fun and so easy. Eventually, we made it through the crowd and met up with a Dutch friend that I met in the states and his friends.

Once again, we were greeted with that friendly hospitality… and I don’t know why I was always so surprised at social norms being so altered from American ones. We met these guys close to midnight, and lemme tell you that the Dutch know how to party. We were out at bars until 5am, which was insane and a ridiculous amount of fun.

Not to discredit the rest of the trip, but this night was probably my favorite. I don’t think there is a better way to describe my euphoria of just merely existing that night.

Unfortunately, it put us in a tough spot in terms of staying awake on the actual King’s Day. Luckily, we didn’t have any early plans for the day, since we got out of the hotel around 2pm. The festivities were just getting started.

King’s Day was a bit different from the night before. The first people we ran into that day somehow worked in (in less than 10 minutes time) the fact that they don’t like gay people and that they love Donald Trump.

Let’s just say, I was ready to book it out of there. That first comment was very surprising to me since the Netherlands led the way on legalizing same-sex marriage.

When we got up, we just wanted to find dinner and then go to bed, which proved to be quite difficult with so many places closed. We definitely did the first part.

When it came to heading back, an American guy intercepted us to order us shots and invite us out with some of his Dutch friends. Sooo, that’s how we ended up having a much more interesting night than we planned when we left the hotel.

Peep Amy’s orange shirt for the festivities.

The club they brought us to was just as I would expect, except for the lockers, which were a nice touch for me to throw my jacket in. Anytime these Dutch guys ordered us drinks, we ended up with something VERY licorice flavored (maybe ouzo?), same went for the night before.

I didn’t realize how much the Dutch enjoyed licorice, but I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised by that random quirk. Honestly, I must say that I would prefer that to regular shots since it goes down much easier… but I draw the line at the candy.

We ended up ubering home (which is definitely an option in the Netherlands, but more expensive). It was the only thing running on King’s Day since public transport was off.

Initial thoughts on the Dutch

I would like to backtrack to something that I would consider quite important, the love that I’ve developed for the Dutch. I love how direct they are, and in my experience, everyone was quite friendly. It was pretty obvious no one was biting their tongue in conversations, like I have been known to do as well.

The difference is that it’s considerably more taboo in America to say what you’re thinking because of the social consequences. That fear is quite pointless though since most wouldn’t call someone out for saying something out of pocket unless it’s offensive in the states. I felt free here, it was an incredible change.

Noordwijk

Our next stop was Noordwijk, which was about 1-2 hours from Amsterdam by transit. It also probably cost us a little under $30 to get there.

We stayed there to make it easier to go to Keukenhof without lots of traveling in between, but next time I’d skip the extra stop. Most tours include transportation from Amsterdam to the fields, so this was an unnecessary stop.

If I did it again, I would have stayed in Amsterdam since these flower fields are only 45 minutes by public transit from Amsterdam, and going to another hostel was a major hassle.

Accommodation Deets

Flying Pig Beach Hostel was pretty good, but I didn’t really like their bed setup since there wasn’t any space for storage under the bed, and the lockers were pretty small themselves, and that’s assuming you left a deposit for the key. It was also a mixed room with 12 people, and it was about $60 per person per night… It would’ve been better if a random guy hadn’t kept us up with his insanely loud snoring.

So far, it’s been hit or miss with that for me. That’s why I would prefer female only dorms, because I have yet to have a bad experience with stuff like that. There is a bright side though, because we met this really nice guy that we ended up meeting up with again later in the trip, the Canadian.

My friend and him really hit it off, and we ended up playing beer pong all night until the bar closed at 2am. While I didn’t like the bed situation here, the company was pretty great… OH, and they have their own bar with a happy hour and reasonably priced drinks.

They also serve a complimentary breakfast from the hostel, which was pretty much just bread and juice.

What is there to do in Noordwijk?

We were headed over there to make it easier to see the Keukenhof flower fields, which are in bloom April into mid May every season.

We didn’t want to plan a specific date and time, in case something came up while we were in Amsterdam. As a result of that, we ended up having to go on the cold, rainy day, and rush there from Amsterdam to our hostel to the flower fields.

Now onto the whole reason we were there, Keukenhof. I think that’s probably the only Dutch word I could pronounce and spell without missing a beat.

The flower field was soo worth the cost, and it’s only open for about a month each year so plan ahead. It was incredible seeing all these flower arrangements that go on forever.

We were there for 2 hours and barely scratched the surface of what we got to explore… but they were closing, so we had to leave. While it was definitely busy, and pretty crowded, no one was really in any of our pictures since there is so much there to see and it’s very spaced out.

I will definitely be going back and taking a cruise along the big fields too. Next time, I want to explore some windmills too. Did you know that people would live in them? Wild.

Noordwijk is also right along the beach, and I was a bit too optimistic in assuming it’d be a little warm. We also tried to catch the sunrise there, and it was all clouded out. Maybe next time.

Groningen

Now onto our big ol’ travel day. We didn’t sleep much with the snoring man, late bar night, and our sunrise wakeup. Now we’re onto Saturday, and it was a bit of a shit show to say the least.

We knew it was going to be a long travel day, but I don’t think we realized the extent. Nonetheless, after 5 hours of trying to figure out public transit, we did indeed make it around 3pm (or 15 technically) to Groningen.

Accommodation

This time we stayed at a place called Rebel Rebel Hostel which was a 15 minute bike ride (or 45 minute walk) from downtown Groningen. I was pretty unimpressed with it, but the idea is cool since all the rooms are in shipping containers.

The best way I can describe it is that it did the job… and it was also half the price of everywhere else we stayed. That cheaper price did not transfer to the town where we were staying, the food prices were similar, if not worse than Amsterdam. We started our day out renting bikes from the hostel for a few bucks.

Hungry?

I would like to premise our Groningen plans with a shoutout to my friend Mike, who lived in Groningen for a bit and gave me a ton of really helpful tips for exploring there. Most of the bars and restaurants we chose were at his recommendation, sightseeing too.

We started with a very late lunch at Konbu, which was pretty good but definitely a bit pricey. It was Pho and Ramen though, so those are typically a little more expensive. This place also didn’t serve tap water, which was starting to get frustrating paying so much for water every time we went out. The pho was very good, and the dumplings too, but we opted out of drinks because they were pretty expensive… and we were already stressed about the water costs.

We grabbed breakfast to start at Du Nord, which had some pretty delicious sandwiches and the smoothies looked incredible. I just got a cappuccino because that’s my new thing right now.

My favorite spot was definitely Bodega & Tapas, which we had been thinking about since we got there. It’s an unlimited tapas menu for like $20 at the time of writing this. Drinks are extra, but that deal is insane. We got more than 10 tapas, and they were incredible. I have a newfound obsession with tapas.

Or are you thirsty?

We ended up biking back to change and get ready to go out and start drinking. The first place we checked out was Het Concerthuis, which had some incredible cocktails that were pricey for Europe, but definitely really cheap for America ($10 for a nice cocktail).

We also grabbed a bite to eat here, but I cannot remember for the life of me, what that was. This place was also quite aesthetically pleasing which will always get a thumbs up from me.

Next up, we went to the coolest spot I’ve been a speakeasy. Even though we had the address and knew what it was next to, it took an embarrassing amount of time for us to find it, mostly because someone finally walked out.

It was called the Stockroom, and was positioned in an old stockroom of the restaurant next door, and was created in the style of being hidden for prohibition.

The experience in combination with the drinks were a force to be reckoned with. I don’t think I’ve had a better drink in my life. A little after we got there, the lights went dark and the bartenders started playing with fire, which was insanely cool and made my whole night. Not only that, but the drinks were less than $13 each. Just for comparison, in America, it would cost $20 minimum for a drink of that magnitude.

I don’t think I could give specific names for the other bars we went to, since there were a lot. We accidentally ended up walking into a private party room because we couldn’t read the door. We stayed there for way too long before we realized our mistake.

The street to be on is Poelestraat, there are no cover fees and it’s lined with bars, so you can just pop in and out.

In my opinion, all the drinks were pricey compared to everywhere else we went in the Netherlands. We rationalized that it was probably because this is a college town.

While we popped in and out of a few spots, we were both very unimpressed with the atmospheres and drinks. We ended up at a karaoke bar, which we tried to avoid since my friend had lost her voice, but we figured this was better than nothing. I’m definitely glad that we did.

While most people in this bar, same as all the others didn’t pay us a second glance, we finally found someone to chat with… and prior to that we were really enjoying ourselves with the music, since every other song was American, so we could actually sing along. A personal favorite was “It’s Raining Men.”

Hearing all these Dutch accents accompanying the songs we knew and loved was very fun, and we were pretty surprised how well versed they were in what I would consider classic American tunes. I’m curious how that translates to the rest of Europe.

Before heading home, my friend and I got to check out a cool houseboat. It reminded me of a regular boat that has bunk beds and such, so I’m assuming that most of the classic Dutch houseboats are different from that, since they look just like an actual house floating on water.

We had a 45 minute walk home from there, so that was unfortunate, but not the worst. We regretted not bringing our bikes.

Nonetheless, we persevered. We made it home and decided to sleep in. Showered and ready, we took our bikes back into the world to do some sightseeing.

I was so exhausted from the whole week that we decided to take it easy for my birthday. I had been celebrating enough.

Although, I was kind of sad that no one that looked at my ID put together what the date was. It was kind of nice to have my birthday be subtle this year, rather than some huge thing.

I did some research on how the Dutch celebrate birthdays, and you are expected to host your own party, pay for dinner for everyone and then you would get gifts from them to thank you for that.

Birthdays are a big thing for the people around you too. People would be wishing aunts, uncles, parents, siblings happy birthday because of their contributions to your life… I asked a few Dutch people and they confirmed this tradition!

Now Let’s Go Over the Sightseeing

I don’t think I really needed a list, since just biking around the Netherlands is scenic in itself, but I followed the list to make sure I didn’t miss anything important. When we started sightseeing, we began at Het Forum which is a huge building in the city center that’s really cool to see. We went past the Groninger Museum since we were getting a bit to strapped for cash for paid experiences.

We checked out Prinsentuin, which is an old English style garden that was free and cool to walk around in. The whole garden was well-kept, so we were surprised it wasn’t a paid experience.

It wasn’t too busy either, in spite of the unseasonably warm day. We also checked out a street called Lage der A, which is a cobblestone road along the canal with boats and sunny terraces.

My favorite part of Groningen was Noorderplantsoen, which is like their version of central park. We spent at least an hour there basking in the sun, and the park was pretty big for biking too.

We went around the whole thing before returning to sit in the sun some more. After biking for quite a while, we finally settled down to get dinner.

We headed back afterwards so we could get some well needed rest, and grab our train back to Amsterdam early the next morning.

All in all, Amsterdam is one of my favorite places to visit. The other spots in the Netherlands wouldn’t make my top ten list, but I’m glad I got to see more of the beautiful country and I intend on exploring a bit more.

Final thoughts

If you’re looking for some additional reading to learn more about how to explore the Netherlands, here are some articles with more details:

• What to Expect on King’s Day in Amsterdam
• 18 Best Places to Eat in Amsterdam
• Top 14 Things to Do in Amsterdam
• Amsterdam Travel Guide

Did I mention I visited in 2020 too?

Things might have changed since my first trip in 2020, but I wanted to share a couple spots that could be worth checking out during your trip.

I wrote a lot of notes about Amsterdam that I am going to share here as tips. Most of these tips utilize things on the i Amsterdam Pass, and they’re all up to date/still open locations post covid.

Additional Amsterdam Tips

First off, stay near the center. Public transit may be easy, but it’s not cheap.

Some More Food to Consider… and drinks and sweets

If you want to go to a certain restaurant or museum, you need to make reservations. If you’re looking for some cheap, mediocre breakfast, perhaps consider Global Kitchen. The Commons (also called the Social Hub) is a place to grab some food, there are lots of students, phenomenal pizza and garlic bread (try the house special).

Rene’s Croissanterie is an affordable pastry shop with no seating, but WOW were these treats good. We went three nights in a row. I wouldn’t recommend G’s Brunch Boat cruise. It makes much more sense to separate brunch from a canal cruise, way too pricey for what you get, but if you’d prefer to eat some eggs benedict while watching the canals from a front row seat, then I’d recommend it for that reason.

If you want some specifics about Food Hallen, I tried a ton of stuff last time so I’ll lay it out for you. Aforementioned was the bitterballen from Ballenbar, but you also need to go to Maza Gastron for a good Mediterranean board, Pita Place has some good spicy fries, Shirkann had an incredible samosa set, and Ten to Threw Bakery was a damn good cupcake… kinda weird though.

Skek had some really good food, and students got a discount… and I must mention, FREE WATER! Corner Bakery had some of those cool, insanely photogenic milkshakes, definitely pricey though so plan to split. They had food too, and a bit of a wait, so keep that in mind!

Wok to Walk was a delicious and super cheap noodles place that we grabbed on the go. Café Hill Street Blue – not a coffeeshop, but you can smoke there which was cool. It had some weird happy hour options, but insanely cool graffiti in the toilets. Café the Tribe was a perfect place, we could smoke there, the drink deals were great and there was free tap water and bathrooms which was quite convenient.

Some Coffeeshop Recommendations

Bulldog is the classic coffeeshop, but everyone will tell you that’s not the one to go to. Look for smaller ones outside of the center, they aren’t hard to find.

Amnesia was a decent coffeeshop we checked out, but I wouldn’t recommend it for it’s priciness and lack of variety.

On The Pass:

Red Light Secrets: Museum of Prostitution is really cool to check out (not for kids). The Foam Photography museum has a lot of different stuff going on, but definitely not a top museum. We did the A’dam lookout, which was quite picturesque, and you can swing over the city for quite cheap. We checked out the Amsterdam Tulip Museum since it was on the pass, but ultimately anticlimactic.

Off the Pass:

In regards to souvenirs, we went to Dam Square souvenirs and Christmas Palace, and Scamm, but you could realistically pick any souvenir shop and you’ll do well. The Van Gogh Museum was totally worth going to, it’s incredible seeing all of the famous paintings that you’ve certainly seen pictures of. Book in advance!

I also recommend sampling cheese at the Cheese Museum (which is free), and consider buying some if you can because it’s incredible and down the street from the Tulip Museum.

Nine Streets is an area with a bunch of cool shops, but they were definitely a bit pricey. Xtra Cold Ice Bar was a cool thing to try, and it wasn’t very expensive since it included 3 free drinks, and they give you extra coats and gloves for your experience. Don’t expect to stay in the actual ice bar for longer than 20 minutes, it gets a little unbearable. The Church of Our Lady was really beautiful with an English service, if you’re interested in a catholic church during your visit.

Amsterdam Central also offers a cheap place to store bags (need train ticket to access). We stayed at Hyde Park Airport Hotel, which would’ve been better if we used it when we needed to for our flight, but instead, we slept in the airport. If you want Anne Frank House Tickets, you need to buy them 6 weeks in advance, don’t forget. If you don’t, you have a teeny chance of getting some when they release some more day of, but don’t count on it.