I spent the other weekend running around Amsterdam with Shoshannah, Amber and the STA Travel Insider crew. If you haven’t already, check out the videos from the weekend in the YouTube playlist below. They’re a lot of fun!
Read more about my trip as the #STA Travel Insider in Amsterdam
Instagramming Amsterdam
Amsterdam came as a bit of a shock to me. I was expecting it to be a city full of drugs and sex, but it turns out it’s just a pretty awesome city. And way more beautiful than I was expecting. You hear about Amsterdam and its canals all the time, but wandering through the Jordaan neighborhood, it finally sinks in. This is a gorgeous city. I tried to capture that beauty on Instagram. Check out my favorite travel Instagram photos from the weekend below. And if you’ve got your own Instagram photos to share, join in on Skimbaco’s weekly Instagram Travel Thursday! Details at the end.
Yup, this is what Amsterdam looks like
I had my own little food tour while in Amsterdam, sampling as much Dutch food as I could get my hands on!
The Spuistraat street is full of former squat houses and graffiti. We rented bikes at the nearby Yellow Bike rental shop.
Thanks to a tip from a local, I made my way to Cafe Papeneiland which is famous for its apple pie. SO YUMMY!
With Shoshannah, we explored the Albert Cuyp market and just generally had an awesome time in the De Pijp (The Pipe) neighborhood of Amsterdam
Amsterdam’s Red Light District was not at all what I was expecting. I thought it’d be more seedier than it was. It was crowded on a weekend night full of tourists and crowds overflowing from bars — all intermixed between windows with mostly naked woman standing under red lights. Bizarre but I’m glad I saw it.
Much of my weekend in Amsterdam was spent staring into cameras like this one. Fun experience!
One of the best things I did in Amsterdam was rent a bike and ride over to the De Pijp neighborhood.
The Jordaan neighborhood of Amsterdam was one of the prettiest — old row houses, canals and buildings covered in street art and graffiti.
More wandering through the Jordaan and De Pijp neighborhoods where we spotted cool antique shops and other quirky buildings
Want some more Instagram wanderlust? Join Instagram Travel Thursday #IGTravelThursday: a weekly project with a mission to unite travelers, travel bloggers and other travel industry professionals and destinations on Instagram. Every week you can share a post about “Instagram travel” and add it to the link-up on the Skimbaco lifestyle website. Details here! And check out their Instagram Travel board on Pinterest too!
These photos are great, Adam. The snakehouse is interesting.
Amsterdam is a beautiful place. I loved just wandering around the streets and canals when I was there. Glad you enjoyed it too! :-)
Amsterdam is so Instagram friendly. Hence the quantity of Amsterdam-based famous Instagrammers! I really loved photographing the city, especially the quieter canals (as opposed to the bustling area around the train station). Other cities like Haarlem and Delft were also quite photogenic.
I’ve never been to Amsterdam, and heard mixed things. Your photos really make me want to go.
It’s been years since I’ve been back… you have me hankering for a trip!
I remember thinking of that too when I first (well, that’s the only time) visited Amsterdam – I didn’t think it would be that pretty. And it looks like spring has arrived there too already, here in Norway it’s still snowing…
ohhh I loved Amsterdam! wish I had of spent more time there. Thanks for all the instagram links!
<3 Instagram! I'm more surprised than anyone that Amsterdam is worth more than a weekend. All this time I'd barely thought there was enough to see and do there to last a weekend — and here I am wanting more!
Amsterdam looks great in your photos. I think it’s some 15 years since I last visited there so it might have changed a bit, but photographing canals was a lot of fun at the time.
Never been to Amsterdam but it seems like the photos on Instagram of it are gorgeous! It’s on my list for sure!
It’s a beautiful city, Alison! And just as picturesque as it seems
Love the photos! I’m from Belgium so I’ve seen Amsterdam a couple of times, as it was always pretty close. It’s cool to see the selection of photos you made, I guess most people would stick to the canal-shots. Never seen that Snakehouse though, looks great!
Thanks Fanny! On this trip (my first time to Amsterdam, no less!) I was pretty eager to see some of the less touristic places
Really cool pics! Amsterdam is definitely gorgeous.
Yes it definitely is, Renuka! I knew it would be pretty but came back blown away!
Really love the photos (as always) Adam! :)
So happy that you finally got to visit Amsterdam too. The videos are also great!
Thank you Cheryl! Amsterdam was lovely – can’t believe it took me so long to get there!
Definately more beautiful than I thought, thank you for sharing!
Great photos of one of my favorite cities! The further away you go from the train station in Amsterdam, the more you’ll like it. One of my favorite Amsterdam neighborhoods is Plantage. Almost tourist-free, Plantage has an important old botanical/herb garden, zoo, big old windmill and the Tropenmuseum (museum of tropics). In Plantage I really feel I’m transported back to the 17th century.
Whoa… very cool to know Lesley! And it’s funny – I definitely did notice how the further from the train station, the less touristic Amsterdam seemed. Great tip!!!
It looks AMAZING! I am going to Amsterdam in a few months. Look forward to visiting Jordaan neiborghood. :) Thank you for sharing!