Amsterdam Long Weekend March 2023

This was our first visit back to Amsterdam since 2019, in fact it was my first time travelling outside the UK since all the madness of 2020. It was so nice to be in an airport, on a plane and back to exploring one of my favourite places in the world. Amsterdam is my happy place, I feel so calm when I am there. We had never visited in March before, I did miss the tree’s being lush and green, but Amsterdam is pretty no matter the time of year, or the weather.

It is safe to say it we picked the coldest week, it snowed for 2 days, and we had temperatures as low as -4. I just used it as an excuse to stop for more warm drinks and yummy pastries. My friends opened up a Vegan café 2 years ago, and to say I was excited to visit was an understatement. The café is called Margo’s (named after Margo, the owner) and is 100% Vegan. Margo bakes everything each morning, all the pastries, bread and cookies, she is so talented. You have to pop by if you are ever in Amsterdam, even if you are not Vegan, the food is delicious, the BEST croissants, and cakes you will ever try. After 11.30 they have fresh sandwiches and toasties plus coffee, tea and matcha all day long. I am so proud of them and what they have achieved, the café is a delight, and they have built such a lovely, friendly community.

If you have read any of my other Amsterdam Diaries over the years, you will know that I just enjoy exploring, finding new areas to walk in and take photos of all the beautiful buildings and streets. Amsterdam is simply the most extraordinary place to visit, it is charming, pretty, and so easy to explore on foot. Despite the snow and cold temperatures, we were lucky that March was a quiet time of year to visit.

I have eaten at The Vegan Junk Food Bar a few times and always enjoyed it, I had never been to the Reguliersdwarsstraat location and I think this might be my new favourite. I had the kebab and John had the bacon, cheeseburger and chips, delicious, highly recommend. Good-sized portions, friendly staff and very reasonable price.

Spotting the flower bikes that are dotted throughout the city is a fun thing to do, there are not as many as they used to be. They are created by a Dutch man called Warren who started by decorating his wife’s bike, you can see some of his work on his Instagram & his story is inspiring and sad in equal measure.

I have already written a post about where we stayed this time, so if you want to read that, just click here. We usually stay at the same hotel, but decided to try somewhere that has been on my bucket list for a while, it was a treat. I have a few more photos to share, as well as some café and restaurant recommendations, so keep can eye out for that post.

If you have visited Amsterdam, let me know what you love about this City.

Amsterdam Photo Diary 2017 Part 1

Pretty Canals in Amsterdam

Exploring Amsterdam Front Door Steps

I have not long since returned from my 7th visit to Amsterdam, this City holds a very special place in my heart. I love nothing more than exploring all the neighbourhoods and Amsterdam has become one of Europe’s most Vegan friendly Cities. I have a full post coming next week all about the incredible Vegan places we ate & let me tell you we found some pretty special places.

We have visited most of the tourist places & done the main museums although we like to  revisit our favourite spots like the rijksmuseum, Vondelpark, Dam Square and you can’t visit Amsterdam without going on a boat tour especially a champagne one. This time top of our list of places we wanted to see was the National Holocaust Memorial & National Holocaust Museum  which opened last year. I wanted to visit after reading the novel called Girl in the Blue Coat as some of the book is set on the site of the Museum in the Hollandsche Schouwburg Theatre and also across the street in the crèche. The Nazi’s turned the theatre into a prison and a deportation centre and it survives today as a memorial to the 80,000 Jews who were held there ahead of being deported.  I highly recommend visiting if you get the chance, the museum’s exhibitions are so well curated!

The weather was a little hit & miss much like the UK, but armed with our umbrellas we walked miles & miles each day along the stunning canals and historic neighbourhoods. I always tell people that Amsterdam is so much more beautiful that they could imagine. It is more that just stag parties, red light district and coffee shops. It is rich in history architecture and culture. Being one of the Europe’s biggest, oldest ports means its past is so interesting and Amsterdam has so many Museums to tell the story.

Gloomy Amsterdam

Discover Amsterdam

Amsterdam Herengracht Canal House

Amsterdam City Break 2017

Classic White Fiat 500 in Amsterdam

Pretty Canals in Amsterdam

Sept 2017 in Amsterdam

Typical Amsterdam View

Amsterdam Canal Boat

360 Volt Amsterdam

Amsterdam Central

Cafe Smit Voogt

Exploring Amsterdam 2017

I have a few more photos to share along with my Amsterdam Vegan Food Guide so keep an eye out for that. If you have visited Amsterdam let me know what you love about this City.

If you want to see what I got up to on previous visits just click here or check out the recommended the posts below.

Amsterdam Photo Diary 2015

Amsterdam City Centre

Hello Amsterdam

Pretty Amsterdam Canal Houses

Amsterdam Concert Hall

Comic Sans Amsterdam

Amsterdam Canals at Sunset

Amsterdam July 2015

Fiat 600 Amsterdam

Amsterdam Curiosities Shop

Central Amsterdam

Amstel Canal Amsterdam

Amsterdam Street Art

Begijnhof - Secret Garden

Amsterdam Gift Shop

Amsterdam Canals At Night

This was our 5th visit to Amsterdam, we went for a week which is a really good amount of time to do a few touritsy things & also just take time to relax. We have done all the big tourist attractions like Anne Frank’s House, Dam Square, Amsterdam Museum and been on many canal boat tours so this time we decided just to walk up and down off the beaten track a little and discover the quiet side to Amsterdam.

Its such a beautiful city and I never get tired of visiting, there is so many street side cafes and bars, I pretty much ate and drank my way round. This time we had a picnic in Vondelpark and that was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon, lounging on the grass watching the people go by. The weather was incredible all week with just one afternoon of rain, it was the perfect weather to get lost up and down the streets of canal houses.

1. Zuiderkerk (South Church)

2. Hello Amsterdam Magazine – this had THE best coffee shop recomendations

3. Beautiful Canal Houses

4. The Royal Concertgebouw – Concert Hall

4. Comic Sans

5. Amsterdam Centre

6. Off The Beaten Track

7. Fiat 600

8. Curiosities Shop

9. Amsterdam 9 Streets

10. Amstel

11. Street Art

12. Begijnhof – Secret Garden

13. Amsterdam Gift Shop

14. Amsterdam At Night

Oh & I still haven’t hired a bike in Amsterdam, I am too scared! I really want to and it looks a lot of fun but I am terrible at riding a bike, I will have to practise before I go back again.

I am going to do a separate post on our favourite places to eat & drink. Click the links If you’d like to see my previous Amsterdam Photo Diaries Part 1 & Part 2 

I also uploaded quite a few photos to Instagram if you’d like to see more of Amsterdam