A Winter Trip To Amsterdam

If you follow me on Instagram and Twitter, you may already know that last week my friend Jess and I took a trip to the beautiful city of Amsterdam for a few days. I'd already been last year and I absolutely loved it. It's one of the prettiest cities I've ever visited, full of personality and history, along with a few very bizarre things too! I could never tire of wandering through the winding streets and down by the canals, looking at the tall, thin buildings and the Rosie and Jim style canal boats. It's such an amazing place and I don't think you can fully appreciate it until you actually go and see it for yourself. 

A lot of people choose to take the ferry over to Amsterdam but Jess and I decided to fly from Manchester. It worked out incredibly cheap and we got a lot longer in the city than if we had gotten the ferry as sometimes you can get just a few hours. The flight took literally fifty minutes on the way there. Seriously, fifty. It takes Jess longer to get to work on a morning!! We stayed in a lovely budget 4* hotel right in the centre of the city, just a few minutes walk away from Centraal Station, called Inntel Hotel Amsterdam Centre and if you're looking for a cheap, spacious and clean base for your trip I would definitely recommend it. Amsterdam can be a tricky city to navigate, given the very narrow streets and canals so it is a good idea to have a really central hotel so that once you've gotten your bearings you can find your way back from anywhere. 

S H O P   T R A V E L   E S S E N T I A L   C O A T S 

Not surprisingly, it absolutely poured down for 90% of the time we were there and it was absolutely bloody freezing but we wrapped up warm and braved the cold and had an absolutely fantastic time, despite a few hiccups like getting my Michael Kors purse stolen out of my bag. I'm no stranger to big cities and I'm completely aware of the dangers of pick pockets in big crowds meaning I'm always so careful with my bag but it just shows that you can never, ever be too careful. It's such a shame that it happened but thankfully it worked out alright and we didn't let it spoil our trip but it's just a warning to keep your bag as close as possible whilst you're away in any big city, whether you're abroad or in your hometown! 

Amsterdam is beautiful in the rain anyway and we still managed to see all of the main tourist attractions, including the Iamsterdam letters and so much more. I'll be doing a post about what we did tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled for that! Also, the rain gave us an excuse to go inside and eat a lot of pancakes and Nutella so that's always a plus too! 

Amsterdam is definitely a city full of culture, art and history and is one of those cities that has something for everyone, whether you're a big drinker and want to go for the party, or whether you're an artsy traveller looking for new experiences and history. Decent hotels are cheap and the flights are budget friendly and extremely short so you have no excuse not to visit at some point!

Posts coming soon about the best places to eat and things to do in winter! 

Amy x