Amsterdam offers more sites and photo opportunities than I even know about. But, it’s also a good idea to head out beyond the city and into nearby areas.
The Netherlands brings to mind wooden shoes and windmills but there is so much more.
Amsterdam
We stayed in Amsterdam, on a houseboat. What a great experience. There was a local little pub where we ended up a few evenings after long days of walking and sightseeing. It was perfect.
One of the best things we did was to hire a private tour guide. It was just him and us. He walked us around and through the streets of Amsterdam and filled us in on the history and had plenty of stories to go along with that. I highly recommend this. It is so much better than a big group tour. You can personalize what you want to see and do and you are able to develop a relationship with your guide.
Our guide was Henk, if you’re ever in Amsterdam he was so knowledgeable and helpful. Contact me if you’d like his information for your trip to the Netherlands.
Beyond Amsterdam
Another invaluable perk to having a local private tour guide, they can take you places you’d never have likely found on your own. Henk picked us up the next day and we visited a working windmill, the Alida Hoeve Volendam cheese farm and a stop for lunch at one of his favorite spots.
The cheese farm also has the wooden shoemaker Klompenboerderij De Vriendschap.
Then a stop at one of the working windmills in the area. Don’t forget to take videos along the way.
A wonderful side trip to the town of Marken. What a beautiful harbor area and little town. Then, dinner on the way home, one of Henk’s favorite spots. The deWitte Swain Pannekoekenhuis in Waterland. Yum!
The Cheese towns
Edam
Next, we spent some time in the towns of Edam and Gouda. We, of course, sampled cheese and visited the wooden shoe shop at the cheese farm near Edam. Alida Hoeve and wooden shoemaker De Vriendschap in Volendam.
It is so relaxing to be able to wander these towns on our own with a guide. No pressure of time to get back or be at the next location. No scheduled tourist shows or “local” treats. The local treats were legitimately local and not staged. They were everyday happenings like the food market where we grabbed a snack. Or the antique market we wandered around in for a bit.
Gouda
Tips:
- Cheese indeed! Always fun to get goofy shots. Take the tourist photos, for the memories of the laughs.
- Don’t forget to create video snippets of your travels. Whether it’s with your camera or your phone. They are nice to have to hear the sounds and see the action.
- Go back through images from past vacations. With post-processing options improving all the time, you may find more keepers and hidden gems you missed.
- Hire a private tour guide. Yes, it may be a bit more money but it is so worth it. Especially as a photographer, you can request more time in a location or wander off the usual tourist route to capture images of something you might see.
I would love to get some details on the houseboat. My wife and I are going to Amsterdam in April
Hi Will – I emailed you the information.
I lived in Amsterdam for 8 years and have been back a few times. Your sharing reminds me of how much I loved it there.
Lucky you! It is my dream to live somewhere in Europe eventually. Thanks for taking the time to read and your comment.
I’m Dutch and live in a village inbetween Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport. I understand that people who visit The Netherlands for the first time want to visit the sites that The Netherlands are renowned for, but it’s very touristic and The Netherlands have so much more to offer. It’s a beautiful little country with a lot of variety in landscapes with beaches and dunes, forest areas, heather areas in august, meadow areas, wetlands and islands. I probably have forgotten something there LOL. So if you have the opportunity to visit longer and/or again, get information about these other things and… Read more »
Thank you for your comments Betty-Lou. When my husband and I can we drive on our holidays. This particular trip we drove from Amsterdam to Berlin. We love being able to just pull off into little villages and towns to explore. Off the beaten, tourist path for sure. While you feel you ‘have’ to see certain things, it’s far more informative and interesting to learn about more than just those tourist sites. Hopefully, we’ll be back again to explore further.