News of: Monday, May 16 2005,
This year, the city of Amsterdam will have 4 urban beaches - even 5 if you support a wide interpretation of the word 'beach'.
(see also: Extra trains to Zandvoort beach)
The first beach is the Blijburg beach (website in Dutch), which is located on IJburg, the new islands in the East of Amsterdam. It is reachable from Central Station with bus 326, and starting May 30, this bus will be replaced by tram 26, the new fast tram to IJburg.
You can take the last stop, and walk a few minutes to the beach.
It is also a nice cycling tour, about 25-30 minutes from the centre of Amsterdam.
TIP: on May 28 2005 the new tram line to IJburg will be officially opened, and you can have a free ride that day.
This beach is the only one where swimming is officially allowed. A cafe/restaurant is on the beach.
2005 is the last year for this beach; next year construction of new houses will take place.
The second beach is Strand West (website in Dutch).
This is one of the larger beaches, which is located in Amsterdam West. You can reach it by bike; use your map to find Houtmankade/Spaarndammerstraat) and find the Houthavens (between Van Diemenstraat and Tasmanstraat). The beach is located along the IJ banks.
Public transport: take bus 22 from Central Station (the one in western direction!), and get off at stop 'Spaarndammerstraat'. From there it is a few minutes' walk.
The beach has opened on May 14.
In the weekends and on nice days, food and drinks are available.
The third beach is Amsterdam Plage (website not yet up-to-date for this year).
This smaller beach is located just West of (and behind) the Central Station (location is called 'Stenen Hoofd').
You can reach it with a 15 minutes' walk, if you simply follow the IJ water side.
This beach is open from June 15 to September 15.
The fourth beach is Strand-Zuid, located at the back of the RAI Congress Centre (between RAI and Beatrixpark), just south of the centre of Amsterdam.
It has 2,000 m2 of sand, chairs, terraces, a beach volleyball field and there are showers.
It can be reached by metro line 51 or tram 4 from Central Station. You can also arrive by boat, as there are places to moor your boat.
The beach is open from June 12 to August 21, 7 days a week, from 10am to 11pm (midnight on weekends).
A fifth beach, if you like, can be found on top of the Nemo building. This building is the large, green ship-like building just East of the Central Station.
Though not a beach in the true sense of the word, from the building you have a nice view over central Amsterdam. Sand, water, food and drinks are available.
To reach it, you can best walk from the Central Station over the 2 modern metal bridges, along the large construction site.
This beach is open July 4 to September 4.
(see also: Extra trains to Zandvoort beach)
