Thursday, December 27 2012, 6:30PM
Amsterdam has a new attraction: the permanent exhibition 'Rembrandt, All his paintings'.
The exhibition shows digitally remastered reproductions of all Rembrandt's paintings. The original versions are spread all over the world, in many museums and private [....]
Thursday, December 13 2012, 12:19PM
The New Year's Eve national count-down to mark the start of 2013 in Amsterdam will happen this year at Oosterdok.
Oosterdok is the water just East of the Central Station.
There will be a light clock projection on the Scheepvaartmuseum (Maritime Museum) and there [....]
Wednesday, November 28 2012, 8:33PM
Another two restaurants have been added to the list of restaurants in Amsterdam with one or more Michelin stars.
The first addition is restaurant Bord'eau, in Hotel L'Europe, along the river Amstel.
The second is restaurant &Samhoud Places, on the Oosterdoks Eiland [....]
Thursday, November 22 2012, 10:50AM
The new Dutch government has announced that the 'Wiet Pass', that was introduced in the 3 southern provinces in May 2012, has been abolished as of immediately.
The Wiet Pass is not an actual pass or card, but refers to the obligation to become a member of a coffeeshop [....]
Thursday, November 15 2012, 9:38AM
Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, will arrive in Amsterdam again this Sunday.
The yearly Sinterklaas parade in Amsterdam is the largest world-wide (say the organizers).
Sinterklaas is an age-old Dutch tradition, at which children get presents. [....]
Thursday, November 01 2012, 11:16AM
The mayor of Amsterdam, Mr Eberhard van der Laan, has confirmed in an interview with the newspaper 'De Volkskrant' that tourists will remain able to buy soft drugs in Amsterdam coffeeshops, also after January 1 2013.
Tourists will not have to show that they live in [....]
Monday, October 29 2012, 5:31PM
The new Dutch coalition government intends to cancel the introduction of the 'Wietpas', as planned by the previous government.
Clients of coffeeshops will no longer have to register with the coffeeshop where they buy soft drugs.
What remains, however, is that [....]
Saturday, October 27 2012, 10:17AM
At 3 o'clock in the night from Saturday to Sunday, the clock will go back one hour.
This means the 2012 summertime (daylight saving time) has ended again.
The summertime always ends in the last weekend of October, in the night from Saturday to Sunday.
The [....]
Monday, October 22 2012, 4:34PM
Amsterdam appears as number two on the list of best cities to visit in 2013, published by Lonely Planet.
The position on the Lonely Planet is due to the fact that next year the Rijksmuseum will re-open completely, and the city celebrates 400 years Canal [....]
Friday, October 05 2012, 6:01PM
The Overhoeks Tower, located near the Central Station, will become a hotel/nightclub/restaurant.
The Overhoeks Tower used to be owned by the oil company Shell, together with some land around it, along the North shore of the IJ (water behing the Central Station). This [....]
Tuesday, October 02 2012, 12:01PM
Amsterdam has a new kind of taxi company: a scooter taxi, working with electric scooters.
The name of the company is Hopper.
The working area of the taxi company is only the centre of Amsterdam, and the office [....]
Sunday, September 30 2012, 8:21PM
From 29 September 2012 until 25 April 2013 the Van Gogh Museum will be closed for renovation.
During the renovation, the Van Gogh Museum will be temporarily hosted by the Hermitage Amsterdam with the presentation Vincent. The Van Gogh Museum in the Hermitage [....]
Saturday, September 22 2012, 9:10PM
Today was the opening of the renovated Stedelijk Museum, performed by HRH Queen Beatrix.
The Stedelijk Museum is Amsterdam's main modern art museum. Together with the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum it forms the 'big three' at Museumplein square.
The renovation [....]
Saturday, September 15 2012, 1:31PM
The introduction of the so-called 'Weed Pass' may be reconsidered in the case of Amsterdam.
The Weed Pass refers to the new system for coffeeshops (where soft drugs are sold). Under the new law, only inhabitants of the Netherlands can buy soft drugs, by getting a [....]
Friday, September 14 2012, 3:15PM
The American consulate in Amsterdam has closed because of a demonstration that was announced.
The demonstration, supposed at Museumplein (where the American consulate is located), is a reaction on the movie trailer of the film 'Innocence of Muslims'.
The trailer has [....]
Thursday, September 13 2012, 9:04AM
The Dutch elections of September 12 have ended in a large victory for 2 parties, the VVD (Liberal/Conservatives) and the PvdA (Social Democrats).
Of the two, the VVD has become the biggest party with 41 seats in the new parliament. PvdA will get 39 seats.
The big [....]
Wednesday, September 12 2012, 8:07AM
Today there are general elections in the Netherlands.
The Dutch will vote for a new parliament, and a new government.
The last government had fallen prematurely, so new elections were necessary. The current government is a minority government of VVD (conservatives) [....]
Thursday, September 06 2012, 4:56PM
The City of Amsterdam has started to maintain a map that shows its monumental trees and other 'green monuments'.
The map is made to be better able to protect the trees and parks that have monumental value.
On the map (
Read More
Tuesday, September 04 2012, 11:42AM
For the first, the 'Hiswa te Water' event is in Amsterdam - and it looks like it will stay there.
The yearly Hiswa boat show is a large open air show with all kinds of boats, from cheap small boats to extremely luxurious yachts.
This year, Hiswa te Water will take [....]
Sunday, September 02 2012, 10:33PM
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will be re-opened completely for the public on April 14, 2013.
The renovation of the Rijksmuseum, one of the Netherlands' most important museums, was scheduled to last 4.5 years, but this will end up to be 10 years.
The collection will [....]
Friday, August 31 2012, 10:05AM
Amsterdam has decided to increase the tourist tax with 0.5 percent, from 5% to 5.5%.
Tourist tax is paid by all tourists who stay in a hotel or a registered apartment or bed and breakfast.
The measure is temporary, says the city - the extra half percent is only [....]
Wednesday, August 29 2012, 9:09AM
The C pier on the Amsterdam airport has been closed and evacuated after the finding of an old World War II bomb in the ground.
The C pier handles European flights. Schiphol expects delays and cancellations because of the closure.
The bomb was found after digging at [....]
Friday, August 24 2012, 10:10PM
The yearly Uitmarkt, the traditional start of the culture season, has started.
The Uitmarkt lasts the entire weekend, until Sunday evening. A lot of theaters and performers present themselves with free (or almost free) short (30 minutes) performances.
This year, [....]
Saturday, August 18 2012, 10:02AM
Due to the very hot weather expected this weekend, the Dutch Railways (www.ns.nl) will deploy extra long trains between Amsterdam and Zandvoort.
Both on Saturday and Saturday record high temperatures are expected (above 30 degrees Celsius), and therefore many people [....]
Wednesday, August 15 2012, 12:00PM
The Kwakoe Festival in Amsterdam South-East has been offered money from Mr Desi Bouterse, the President of Suriname.
The organization of the festival has not yet confirmed accepting the money.
The Kwakoe Festival is a yearly outdoor festival in Amsterdam South-East, [....]
Friday, August 10 2012, 8:44AM
Today is the start of the yearly 10 day Grachtenfestival ('Canal Festival').
The festival consists of a long list of classical music concerts, during 10 days. The concerts are held at various locations throughout Amsterdam.
The main event of the Grachtenfestival is [....]
Saturday, August 04 2012, 9:51AM
Today is the most important event of the gay pride week in Amsterdam, the Gay Pride Canal Tour.
The canal tour consists of 80 large decorated boats that sail along the Prinsengracht canal and the river Amstel, mostly with a lot of music.
The spectacle normally draws [....]
Thursday, July 12 2012, 2:19PM
Amsterdam Centrum wants to spend E 100,000 extra to enforce legislation regarding illegal hotels.
Illegal hotels are apartments and residential houses that are rented out to tourists. It is against the law to rent out apartments to tourists, as (in the view of the [....]
Friday, July 06 2012, 12:04AM
It is final: the passageway under the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will remain a bicycle path. The Amsterdam city council decided so this evening.
The decision ends one of the longest on-going debates in Amsterdam.
The Rijksmuseum has been partially closed for [....]
Sunday, June 24 2012, 10:47AM
Today is the first opening day of the Ziggo Dome, the new pop theatre in Amsterdam.
The Ziggo Dome is built for pop music concerts. It has a capacity of 17,000 visitors, which makes it one of the largest theatres in the country.
Special attention has been paid to the [....]
Monday, May 28 2012, 9:53AM
The Dutch Railways have announced they will use extra trains between Amsterdam and Zandvoort.
Update 1pm:
There is fog on the beach, most people are now leaving the beach.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to the nice weather [....]
Friday, May 11 2012, 10:53AM
The main Dutch routeplanner for cyclists, the planner provided on http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner now has an English language interface.
The route planner is provided (for free) by the Dutch Cyclist Union (Fietsersbond).
The planner covers the entire [....]
Thursday, May 10 2012, 9:43AM
Police offices in Amsterdam will be closed on Thursday afternoon, due to a strike.
The offices will be closed from noon till 6pm.
Police will be available for really urgent matters and emergencies.
The strike is part of a series of police actions, having to do [....]
Friday, May 04 2012, 11:12AM
On May 4, the victims of the Second World War (and all subsequent wars) are commemorated throughout the Netherlands.
May 5 is Liberation Day: on May 5, 1945 the German Nazi regime capitulated, and Holland was officially liberated.
The main national ceremony takes [....]
Thursday, May 03 2012, 7:59AM
The Amsterdam soccer club Ajax has become national champion yesterday evening, for the 31st time in its existence.
As tradition prescribes, there was a large party to celebrate this at the Leidseplein square. There were thousands of people, but no incidents were [....]
Wednesday, May 02 2012, 6:18PM
The artist 50 Cents will appear at the grand opening of the Saturn Amsterdam Flagshipstore.
Tomorrow, May 3, between 3 and 6 pm, 50 Cents will be in the then just opened Saturn store to sign headphones of his own brand.
Saturn is an electronics store chain, that [....]
Wednesday, May 02 2012, 10:31AM
As of May 1, the so-called Weed Pass (Dutch: Wietpas) is in effect in three provinces, in the South of the Netherlands.
The Weed Pass means that coffeeshops (where marihuana is sold) are now member-only clubs. Only people who live in the Netherlands can become a [....]
Monday, April 30 2012, 9:02PM
The police has reported far less incidents at Queensday in Amsterdam this year.
About 700,000 people visited Amsterdam, which is about 100,000 less than last year.
The Mayor and the police had attempted to reduce the number of 'incidents' (often caused by alcohol [....]
Friday, April 27 2012, 8:21PM
Albert Heijn, Amsterdam's biggest supermarket chain, has announced it will close most of its shops in the center of Amsterdam on Queensday, April 30.
The measures follows after talks with the mayor of Amsterdam and the police. They seek possibilities to reduce alcohol [....]
Tuesday, April 24 2012, 11:50PM
The government of the Netherlands has fallen, after the talks about budget cuts failed.
The Netherlands had a coalition government of christian-democrats and liberal-conservatives (CDA and VVD). The two parties did not have a majority in parliament together, so they [....]
Saturday, April 21 2012, 10:51PM
Around 6.30 pm two trains in Amsterdam have collided. 125 Passengers are wounded.
Seventy passengers had minor injuries, the rest, 55 passengers are seriously wounded.
Because of the accident there is no train service between Amsterdam and the airport. The metro [....]
Monday, April 16 2012, 10:58AM
Amsterdam has announced it will fine people on Queensday, in case of public intoxication.
Queensday (April 30) is a huge street party, especially in Amsterdam. Queensday in Amsterdam attracts about half a million visitors each year, amongst whom many tourists from [....]
Wednesday, April 04 2012, 4:06PM
Today is the opening of the new building for the Amsterdam Film Museum.
Together with the move of the Filmmuseum to a new building, the organization changes its name. It is from now on the EYE Filminstituut Nederland.
The new building, along the IJ river north of [....]
Thursday, March 29 2012, 11:25PM
You would perhaps not expect it, but within the borders of Amsterdam are quite a few farms.
One of them has turned a yearly event into an attraction.
The farm 'Ons Verlangen' (Our Desire) will open the cow stables, so that the cows can freely enter the grass [....]
Saturday, March 24 2012, 10:15AM
Today, Daylight Saving Time ('Zomertijd') will start in the Netherlands, and throughout the rest of Europe.
At 2am in the night from Saturday to Sunday, the clocks are moved forward one hour, to 3am. This will happen in all member states of the European Union (except [....]
Thursday, March 22 2012, 7:59AM
Due to technical problems, there is no train service around Amsterdam, and other main towns in the Netherlands.
For example, there are no trains between Amsterdam and the airport.
The problems are expected to last to at least 12 noon.
The Railways have not yet [....]
Wednesday, March 21 2012, 12:06PM
Amsterdam has implemented a tough enforcement policy against illegal bicycle parking in the Leidseplein area.
The Leidseplein square (and the area around) is well-known for its theaters, pubs, clubs and many restaurants.
It has always been very busy with visitors, [....]
Wednesday, March 14 2012, 12:09PM
Yesterday it became known that the Netherlands has the most expensive hotels in the Euro zone (the countries in Europe that have the Euro as currency).
Within the Netherlands, Amsterdam is the most expensive place to get a hotel, with a room price of E 124 per night, [....]
Friday, March 09 2012, 4:54PM
Another step has been taken in the long sequel about the 17th century windmill 'de Otter'.
Upon the latest decision of the Raad van State, Holland's highest court of law, the neighbourhood council where 'De Otter' resides, had to take a new decsion about whether it [....]
Thursday, March 08 2012, 10:43AM
A new hotel has opened in Amsterdam, a hotel only for women.
Hostelle (www.hostelle.com) is located in Amsterdam South-East, near the Amsterdam Arena stadium.
The hotel targets women who are looking for a cozy, safe hostel to stay, and prefer to be in a place [....]
Thursday, March 01 2012, 1:00PM
On Saturday March 3, the first Apple Store in the Benelux will open in Amsterdam.
All Apple computers and gadgets will be on display in the store.
The opening will be at 10am on Saturday March 3.
The first 4,500 visitors get a free t-shirt.
The Apple Store is [....]
Friday, February 17 2012, 3:09PM
The oldest known painting by Rembrandt van Rijn has been bought by the city of Leiden and museum de Lakenhal.
The painting is 'De Brillenverkoper' (The Spectacles Salesman), which Rembrandt painted in approximately 1623-1624, at the age of 17.
Although Rembrandt [....]
Thursday, February 16 2012, 12:02AM
Amsterdam has announced extra security measures around the soccer match between Ajax and Manchester United, to be played on Thursday February 16.
The city thinks there is an extra risk of violence and riots. It is feared that a group of approximately 1,000 to 2,500 [....]
Monday, February 13 2012, 12:41PM
The Amsterdam airport Schiphol has been evacuated partly, after a bomb alert this morning
Apparently, the bomb alert is from a man in a public toilet, who says he has a bomb.
The man might well be a confused person, but for all certainty the terminals 1 and 2 have [....]
Wednesday, February 08 2012, 7:00PM
On Saturday February 11, the Keizersrace will be held.
The ice skating race is on distance of 150 meter, on the Keizersgracht canal (between Leidsestraat and Nieuwe Spiegelstraat).
See the map:
