Just 24 hours in Amsterdam is too short to appreciate and love Dutch culture or to learn to pronounce all those extra vowels. On the other side, Amsterdam is small to cover all the great places in a single day.
No visit to the Netherlands is complete without taking in Madurodam on the outskirts of The Hague. Miss out anything else and it won’t matter because you’ll find it there, just on a scale of 1:25.
Madurodam Mini ParkThe Peace Palace is there. You can see the queen arriving at the opening of parliament at The Hague’s Binnenhof. Castles and palaces; churches and street markets; windmills and bulb fields; the Rotterdam Euromast in its lovely garden setting; the streets and canals of Amsterdam; even Schipol Airport is there with moving aircraft. Just everything of Holland city in miniature form.
Madurodam is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district of The Hague, Netherlands, home to a range of perfect 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch castles, public buildings, and large industrial projects as found at various locations in the country. The park was opened in 1952 and has been visited by tens of millions of visitors since that date. In 2012 Madurodam celebrated its 60th anniversary.
The model city opens at 9 am every day. Closing time is 6 pm in the fall and winter, 8 pm in the spring and 11 pm in high summer. Special illuminated evening visits outside of these hours are also organized from time to time.
I bet you will find much more than the tulips, canals and the lovely buildings as the beauty of the city is beyond words. Here is the photogenic journey of my time here in Maduroam, Hague…
24 Hours in Amsterdam
Things To See
The Van Gogh Museum: A trip to Amsterdam would not be complete without visiting the Van Gogh Museum which houses more than 200 paintings by the most famous European painters in the past century.
Rent A Bike: In a city which is home to over 700,000 bikes, why not start pedaling to have unforgettable experience since almost everything is within pedaling distance. Head south up the Amstel river towards Oudekerk – a favourite sketching route of Rembrandt. Rent a bike from Frederic, for just £10 per day.
Flower Market: The Blomenmarkt sells tulips and it’s on a canal – no wonder it’s such a popular tourist attraction. The adjacent cafes lining the canal, are the perfect place to grab some quick lunch and admire your newly purchased tulip, clog and windmill fridge magnets.
Anne Frank House: Anne Frank wrote in her diary at the age of 13 the details of her day-to-day life during World War II, when German forces were occupying the Netherlands. See the secret annex where the world’s most famous Holocaust victim and her family hid for two years before being betrayed to the German authorities, as well as the original copy of her famous diary. Entrance is £9 for adults, £4.50 for children.
Canal Tour: Rent an electrical boat from Boaty and float quietly around Amsterdam’s 150 canals, which run for over 65 miles throughout the city. The canals around the Red Light District are very crowded on weekends.
Beer Taxi: So what if you don’t find any Bars open late on week days, just don’t panic: simply park yourself on a bench, and give those nice guys at Beer Taxi a call! That’s true – this is a round-the-clock beer delivery service which can reach you in minutes. Bless those Dutch!
As the sun dips down, take some time out in street cafes and wet your throat with a coffee. You’ll find everyone is very friendly and the prices just as welcoming.
As night descends, Amsterdam is a different beast to handle and there is no shortage of places to go for some light or hard entertainment… if you know what I mean!
