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 2016 Part 2

Crooked Amsterdam Canal Houses

Amsterdam in October

Crooked Amsterdam Canal Houses

Bikes Galore Amsterdam

Amsterdam Secret Garden

Luxury Canal Houses Amsterdam

White Bridge Amsterdam

Amsterdam Ceramics

Amsterdam Photo Diary

Empty Amsterdam Streets

Amsterdam Pluk Coffee Shop

Amsterdam Exploring Autumn 2016

Amsterdam Pretty Streets

Plantage Amsterdam

Amsterdam Church Exploring

Beautiful Amsterdam Shop Fronts

Red Citron Classic Car Amsterdam

Amsterdam Lookup

If you didn’t catch Part 1 of my Amsterdam photo diary just click here to take a look. I only got back from my trip a month ago and it feels like forever, I need to book another trip ASAP so I have something to look forward too.

As I said in my previous post I have visited Amsterdam quite a few times now so I have managed to do most of the big tourist things like Anne Frank’s House (which is an absolute must visit!), Rijksmuseum, Museum Van Loon, Red Light District and such like. So when we visit now we just relax and enjoy the beautiful canal streets. We walk so many miles in a day just exploring all the back streets and visiting our favourite restaurants and cafe’s, of which there are so many!

One lovely cafe / shop I must recommend to you is PLUK – there is usually a wait for a table but it is well worth it because they ave the most delicious smoothies, lunches and sweet treats. You can take away if you don’t have time to sit in but its such a welcoming, instagramable space & they have a shop selling stationery and the cutest homewares, if you are able to resist buying something then you have a lot more willpower than me!

Oh & if you want somewhere really nice to go for dinner or just a few drinks then The Hoxton Hotel is pretty damn cool and the food is amazing!

Let me know where you love to visit when you’re in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam 2016 Photo Diary Part 1

Amsterdam City Break

Amsterdam City Break

Amsterdam Shop Fronts

Amsterdam City Centre

Exploring Amsterdam Streets

Amsterdam Canal View

Amsterdam Houseboats

Amsterdam Adventures

Blue Fiat 500 Amsterdam

Look Up Amsterdam

Bikes Amsterdam City

Autumnal Days in Amsterdam

October saw me turn 38 and to celebrate my lovely husband took me to Amsterdam. If you have been a long time reader of my blog, then you will know we have visited Amsterdam quite a few times over the years. We just can’t help going back, its incredibly beautiful, inspiring and vibrant. I always return home feeling refreshed and with a promise to myself that I will live there one day & I am still working towards that dream (6 visits later).

Amsterdam is such a short flight from the UK and you can always get a cheap deal. I know most people associate it with Stag Parties and the Red Light District – which is a part of it and of course what is a visit without visiting the oldest part of the City. That aside there is so much more to see and do there, when people ask me for suggestions I always tell them just to explore the canals, walk, walk and walk some more. You can’t fail but to stumble across lovely independent shops (Amsterdam has very few chain shops, although more are opening each year) there is an abundance of incredible places to eat and drink and the scenery is always breathtaking. The tree lined canals, houseboats and bridges are so romantic especially at night when they’re all lit up. We have covered so many miles just wandering the streets romanticising about living in one of the crooked canal houses.

I would say seeing the city by boat is a really nice way to spend a few hours, I like to use the smaller eco boats that sit 6 – 8 people and have a local guide. You learn so much about the history of the city and about the canals themselves. Its so nice to see everything from a different perspective.

A picnic in Vondelpark is a relaxing way to spend a warm afternoon, I love to people watch in there. It’s such a mix of locals and tourists all having fun.

I could go on & on about this European gem but I know most of you have been before but if you haven’t you must visit you won’t be disappointed, I promise you that. It’s one of the most friendly, beautiful and vibrant cities I have ever visited.