Thursday, December 31 2015, 10:01AM
The national New Year's countdown will again be held on Oosterdok, the water just East of the Central Station, in front of the Maritime Museum (Scheepvaartmuseum).
On this location there will be a grand firework, and the admission is free. The same location has been [....]
Tuesday, December 29 2015, 11:09AM
December 2015 will become the first December without any temperatures below zero, since the measurements started in 1901.
December 2015 has been exceptionally warm, so far. Several species of butterflies have already been seen, and blooming daffodils have been [....]
Monday, December 07 2015, 9:05PM
Today was the annual Michelin star award ceremony. For the first time the ceremony was held in Amsterdam.
Whereas the number of Michelin stars was steadily rising in Amsterdam since 2008, the Michelin guide of 2016 shows a stabilization.
Just like last year, [....]
Saturday, November 28 2015, 10:24AM
Today (Saturday) is the start of the annual Amsterdam Light Festival. The opening show is today, in front of the Opera House, from 5.15pm.
This year's theme of the festival is friendship. Throughout the centre of Amsterdam, 38 works of art with light can be seen, in [....]
Thursday, November 26 2015, 1:55PM
The new indoor food market Yada Yada, which opened its doors on November 15, has closed again.
There is a heating problem.
YadaYada is a very large indoor food market, comparable to the Amsterdam food markets the Foodhallen and the World of Food.
Part of the concept [....]
Sunday, November 22 2015, 7:19PM
A 110 meter long bicycle tunnel has been opened under the Amsterdam Central Station. The tunnel is for pedestrians and cyclists only; mopeds are not allowed in the tunnel.
The tunnel connects the ferries to Amsterdam North, and the taxis stand in a [....]
Friday, November 20 2015, 6:43PM
The controversial taxi service UberPop is no longer available in the Netherlands.
UberPop is a taxi service with which you can (could) book a ride with a non-licensed driver. The advantage is that this is cheaper than a regular ride with a taxi company.
However, [....]
Wednesday, November 18 2015, 8:38AM
Today is the start of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, the IDFA.
The festival will last until November 29.
There will be 319 documentaries, shown on 12 locations.
De main locations of the festival are Pathé Tuschinski, Pathé [....]
Sunday, November 15 2015, 11:33PM
It's now official: large indoor food markets are hot. Today opened the third one in the Greater Amsterdam area - the Yada Yada food market.
And it has its own ferry connection with Amsterdam Central Station.
Yada Yada is a big indoor market, where you can buy food to [....]
Sunday, November 15 2015, 10:30AM
The Mayor of Amsterdam (Mr Eberhard van der Laan) will be present at a march in Amsterdam South today (Sunday), for the terrorist attacks in Paris.
The march was already planned as a march for immigrants, a joint initiative of a number of mosques and synagogues in [....]
Saturday, November 14 2015, 1:00PM
Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, will arrive in Amsterdam again tomorrow (November 15).
The yearly Sinterklaas parade in Amsterdam is the largest world-wide. The parade normally attracts thousands of (grand)parents and children along the route.
Sinterkla
Tuesday, November 10 2015, 12:17PM
Getting high in a restaurant, while eating? This is now made possible in Amsterdam, by restaurant Greenhouse Kitchen.
It is not allowed to smoke marijuana in the restaurant, as smoking is prohibited in restaurants in general. So, the restaurant provides vaporizers, so [....]
Saturday, October 31 2015, 11:54PM
The annual Halloween Parade in Amsterdam has attracted thousands of participants and spectators.
The Halloween parade is held every year, in the Halloween weekend at the end of October.
This year's parade had about 5,000 participants, according to the organization. [....]
Thursday, October 29 2015, 10:40AM
Coffeeshops (selling soft drugs) are not allowed near schools. Coffeeshops that are less than 250 meter away from a school must close.
This is why a number of coffeeshops oppose the opening of a new school in the neighbourhood. The coffeeshops fear they have to close [....]
Tuesday, October 27 2015, 3:05PM
It may be said to be a bit late in the season, but, at last, the Blijburg Beach cafe has re-opened on its new location in Amsterdam East.
Blijburg derives its name from IJburg, the new suburb of Amsterdam which consists entirely of newly made islands.
From the [....]
Monday, October 26 2015, 6:28PM
The last performance of the play 'Anne' (about Anne Frank) has been announced for January 31, 2016. This is 1.5 year after the premiere, on May 8, 2014.
And that is earlier than hoped and expected. It was estimated earlier that the play, for it to break even, would [....]
Saturday, October 24 2015, 9:29PM
At 3 o'clock in the night from Saturday to Sunday, the clock will go back one hour.
This means the 2015 summertime (daylight saving time) has come to an end. It means this weekend we have an extra hour.
The summertime always ends in the last weekend of October, in [....]
Saturday, October 24 2015, 10:11AM
Amsterdam will become 740 years old on October 27, and traditionally, this is celebrated with displaying the oldest known document that mentions the name of Amsterdam: the Tolprivilege
The Tolprivilege is a document that dates from October 27, 1275. In it, Earl Floris [....]
Wednesday, October 21 2015, 11:11AM
Today is the start of the '3 Dwaze Dagen' ('Three Crazy Days') in the Bijenkorf department store. It will be the last one.
Drie Dwaze Dagen ('Three Crazy Days') is a yearly shopping event in the Bijenkorf department stores. Every day there are special discounts on [....]
Wednesday, October 21 2015, 11:01AM
Today's revenues of a list of Amsterdam theaters will be donated to Vluchtelingnwerk Nederland, a help organization for refugees in the Netherlands.
The participating theaters are located around Leidseplein square and Nes.
They are De Balie, [....]
Saturday, October 17 2015, 4:18PM
One of the big sport events in Amsterdam is the Amsterdam Marathon, held every year in October. This year's edition is on Sunday October 18.
Tomorrow's Marathon has about 45,000 participants from a record number of 105 nationalities. About 17,000 will do the entire [....]
Saturday, October 17 2015, 1:26PM
A 33-year old woman from the town of Zwolle has died yesterday, probably after using drugs on an Amsterdam Dance Event party.
The woman is said to have used several kinds of drugs, and died in her sleep in her accommodation in Amsterdam. She had bought the drugs in [....]
Wednesday, October 14 2015, 3:53PM
Unions have announced a strike of public transport companies in Amsterdam and Utrecht.
The strike will take place on Thursday morning. Between 5am and 8.30am there will be no buses, trams and metros in both cities. In Amsterdam, the strike only concerns the GVB, the [....]
Monday, October 12 2015, 9:51PM
About 150 Amsterdam residents have demonstrated against the massive growth of the number of hotel rooms in Amsterdam, last Friday.
The demonstration was organized to stop the growth of the number of hotel beds in Amsterdam, particularly in the centre.
Tourism to [....]
Wednesday, October 07 2015, 11:13PM
The addiction clinic Jellinek has announced it will have extra opening hours of its drugs testing service during the Amsterdam Dance Event (October 14-18).
The Amsterdam Dance Event has more than 2,000 artists performing at 350 events over days. It's the world's [....]
Monday, October 05 2015, 5:20PM
The British newspaper Daily Mail reports that an apartment booking through AirBnb went very wrong. The apartment did not exist, and the replacement apartment had used linnen.
The Daily Mail reports about Lauren Dudley, 20, and Danielle Whiteman, 20, who had decided to [....]
Friday, October 02 2015, 4:31PM
This week, the taxi stand in front of the Central Station of Amsterdam has been moved to the back side of the station. It remains to be seen whether the new location is a very practical one.
The good news is that, currently, there are not so many complaints about the [....]
Monday, September 28 2015, 5:12PM
The Bethaniënklooster has been sold earlier this month. It will be converted into apartments and offices.
The former monastery had been a residence for music students from all over the world, for decades. Also, it served as a concert venue for high quality classical [....]
Friday, September 11 2015, 12:47PM
Like every second weekend in September, on September 12 and 13, dozens of buildings in Amsterdam will be open to the public for free.
The Open Monumentendag is held in the Netherlands since 1987. Thousands of historical buildings and sites take part, and because [....]
Friday, August 28 2015, 1:41PM
Tonight is the opening of the Uitmarkt weekend in Amsterdam, the traditional opening of the cultural season.
The concept of the Uitmarkt is that you get to see many performances on stages and in theaters all over the centre of Amsterdam, for free. This is for the [....]
Thursday, August 27 2015, 2:49PM
Miffy (Nijntje in Dutch) is a world-famous rabbit, created by the Dutch artist Dick Bruna.
Dick Bruna's work is the topic of an exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, on the occasion of Miffy's 60th birthday.
Miffy is not Bruna's only creation, he made a lot of other work. [....]
Sunday, August 23 2015, 9:52AM
Today is the last day of SAIL Amsterdam 2015. For the first time, the tall ships will leave Amsterdam in a parade.
Previous editions of SAIL only had a SAIL-in parade, but the ships left on their own after the event. This time, the ships will sail the same way they [....]
Saturday, August 22 2015, 12:16PM
With the busy SAIL 2015 going on, you'd almost forget it: tonight is the 34th Prinsengracht Concert.
The Prinsengracht Concert is an annual open-air concert, that is held as part of the Grachtenfestival (Canal Festival). The concert is held on floating pontoons that [....]
Thursday, August 20 2015, 5:34PM
One of the side events of SAIL Amsterdam is the Crew Parade. About a thousand sailors of the tall ships will take part.
In the 2010 edition of SAIL there was also a Crew Parade. All tall ship crew members put on their nicest uniforms, and go in a parade through [....]
Monday, August 17 2015, 10:42AM
Preparations for Sail Amsterdam 2015 are in full swing. Some 1.5 to 1.8 million spectators are expected for the nautical event in Amsterdam.
The city expects more visitors than ever before, and tries to disperse the crowds over a larger area by organizing various [....]
Wednesday, August 12 2015, 6:08PM
Controversy has come up around the participation of the Chilean ship 'Esmeralda' in the nautical event Sail Amsterdam 2015.
Sail 2015 is held every 5 years in the harbours of Amsterdam, and this year it is held from August 19 to 23. It attracts hundreds of thousands [....]
Monday, August 10 2015, 11:31AM
Newspaper 'De Telegraaf' (www.telegraaf.nl) reports that so-called 'proppers' are becoming a real nuisance in Amsterdam.
'Proppers' are hired by restaurants to try to lure customers into their restaurants, by talking to them or handing out brochures or discount [....]
Saturday, August 01 2015, 11:03PM
The Amsterdam Gay Pride canal parade of 2015, held today, was the busiest ever.
For the first time in the Amsterdam Gay Pride's history, the police have warned the public not to go to the Gay Pride street parties any more, as the locations are considered to be 'full'. [....]
Thursday, July 30 2015, 9:54AM
If you can not visit the Amsterdam Gay Pride canal tour this year, you can view it on your computer.
A special 360 degrees camera will be on one of the boats, so that live footage of the Canal Pride can be seen on everyone's computer.
The boat tour will be on [....]
Saturday, July 25 2015, 6:39PM
A heavy summer sturm has hit the West part of the Netherlands. In Amsterdam there's a lot of damage, and there are no trains to and from Amsterdam.
By itself, the storm is not very severe, but due to the fact that the trees still have all there leaves, the effect is [....]
Wednesday, July 22 2015, 5:50PM
Tourists in Amsterdam no longer need to go to several information offices for their public transport needs. In Amsterdam Central Station is now the one-stop OV-service shop.
The OV-servicewinkel can give information and sell tickets for all forms of public [....]
Friday, July 17 2015, 10:43AM
There is a new urban beach in Amsterdam, near the Central Station. It is called PlaygroundCS.
Everyone is welcome on the beach, but the organizers specifically had families with small children in mind when they set it up. There will be things to play with, and the [....]
Friday, July 03 2015, 10:59AM
Today is the start of the yearly Amsterdam Fashion Week.
This year it is actually 10 days, including two weekends.
The week has events on every day, with music, food and of course many fashion shows.
These shows are on various locations in Amsterdam, and can be [....]
Thursday, July 02 2015, 12:05PM
Bungee jumping is now possible in Amsterdam North, from the Faralda Crane Hotel.
The Faralda Crane Hotel is an old crane converted into a hotel. As of July 1 it is possible to bungee jump from the crane.
For E 85 per person you can fall down 90 meters.
More info [....]
Wednesday, July 01 2015, 1:00PM
Under the title 'Inside AirBnB', Murray Cox has published a website that shows all AirBnB locations in Amsterdam (and other cities).
It shows that 80% of AirBnB listings are entire apartments or houses, the rest is shared with the owner.
Inside Airbnb is an [....]
Friday, June 26 2015, 11:57AM
The wheel clamp is going to be introduced again in Amsterdam, after an absence of 7 years. At the end of 2008, the 'last wheel clamp' was officially handed over to the Police Museum.
As of January 2009, wheel clamps were no longer used in Amsterdam. False parking was [....]
Friday, June 19 2015, 11:10AM
In 2014, the most erection pills have been sold in the Amsterdam region. This was shown by an investigation by the Foundation of pharmaceutical statistics.
Usage of Viagra and similar pills in Amsterdam is 1,5 times higher than the average in the Netherlands. Men in [....]
Thursday, June 18 2015, 11:46AM
A petition by a group of Amsterdammers has led to more than 6,000 signatures to ban the beer bike from Amsterdam.
Beer bikes are large bicycles with about 10 seats, so that a group of people can participate in the ride. They all cycle, but one person steers.
And it [....]
Monday, June 01 2015, 10:09AM
Sleeping in a work of art is now possible in Amsterdam. Wednesday June 3 opens the Urban Campsite - an exhibition of works of art that can be booked for overnight stays.
Urban Campsite is a temporary camp site on Centrum Island on IJburg in Amsterdam East. The works [....]
Tuesday, May 26 2015, 6:25PM
An investigation by the Economist of 50 cities worldwide, places Amsterdam on number 5 of the safest cities in the world.
The 4 safer cities are Tokyo, Singapore, Osaka and Stockholm.
This general list is made up of 4 specific safety indexes: digital security, [....]
Friday, May 22 2015, 5:32PM
Today the ArtZuid 2015 exhibition was opened by Princess Beatrix.
The exhibition is an (outdoor) international sculpture route through Amsterdam South, about 2.5 km long. The route goes along Apollolaan, Minervalaan and the Zuid-As (South Axis).
There are works of [....]
Wednesday, May 20 2015, 10:20AM
The maximum fine for illegal taxi services has been raised from Eur 100,000 to E 1 million.
For each illegal taxi driver who gets caught working for UberPop, the company has to pay a fine of E 50,000. The maximum fine is E 1 million.
Taxi drivers can also get fined [....]
Monday, May 18 2015, 10:09AM
Today the flag is flown on official buildings for Queen Máxima's birthday - even although her birthday was yesterday.
The reason is that according to the flag instructions, the Dutch flag will not be flown on a Sunday. If a member of the Royal House has a birthday on [....]
Sunday, May 17 2015, 9:57AM
This was made known by the European Museum Forum last night.
The museum received the price for the beautiful result of the renovation (the Rijksmuseum re-opened in 2013, after a decade long renovation). The Forum was very content with the way the museum guides the [....]
Monday, May 04 2015, 12:19PM
On May 4, the victims of the Second World War (and officially all later 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 for [....]
Saturday, May 02 2015, 3:20PM
Starting May 1 2015, the famous Blijburg beach on IJburg can be visited again.
The location is a bit north of what it used to be. On the old location they will start building houses, so it is now closed for the public.
The new location is on the new Centrum eiland, [....]
Monday, April 27 2015, 8:27AM
Parking your car in the streets of Amsterdam is free today (April 27). There are limitations though.
Cars will not be able to reach the city centre. As usual on King's Day, the inner city will be far too busy to allow cars. The P+R carparks will also not be free, but [....]
Friday, April 10 2015, 8:42AM
A 42-year old man has turned himself in at an Amsterdam police station. He says he sold the drugs to tourists that turned out to be white heroin.
He says he thought he was selling cocaine. The man turned himself in after the police had issued footage of the alleged [....]
Friday, April 03 2015, 2:54PM
The Dutch real-estate owner Rappange Makelaardij has started to claim money from renters who rent out their apartment through AirBnb.
The real-estate agent not only wants to terminate the lease of the renters, but also seeks to claim the profits made through [....]
Friday, April 03 2015, 2:31PM
An employee in the Uber office in Amsterdam has been arrested, after failing to deliver information to the Dutch Transport Inspectorate.
Last week, the Dutch Transport Inspectorate raided the Uber office in Amsterdam, in order to find out how big the UberPop service. [....]
Saturday, March 28 2015, 10:08PM
Today, Daylight Saving Time ('Zomertijd') 2015 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 [....]
Thursday, March 26 2015, 5:26PM
The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate raided the Uber head office in Amsterdam today.
The raid was specifically directed against UberPOP, the part of Uber that is controversial.
Uber is a world-wide service through which you can order a taxi. UberPOP is [....]
Thursday, March 19 2015, 3:17PM
Tomorrow, the world-famous flower show the Keukenhof will open again.
The Keukenhof attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. It is a large exhibition area, where all kinds of bulb flowers are planted.
The Keukenhof gardens are located in the area with [....]
Friday, March 06 2015, 2:12PM
A new initiative in the 'sharing economy' has started up in Amsterdam. On the Cycleswap website you can rent a bike, or rent out your own.
The new service has been set up by two Amsterdammers, David Schogt and Joran Iedema. The idea is that bicycles that are not used [....]
Thursday, March 05 2015, 11:25AM
The Oosterdok Parking garage has introduced a new cheap parking deal: the Night Time Tarief.
The offer means that if you:
- enter after 6pm
- park at least 3 hours
- leave before 6am
you pay only E 5,- for the entire parking time (max. 12 hours) - that is just [....]
Saturday, February 28 2015, 11:44AM
White heroin is back in Amsterdam. In the past few days 3 Danish tourists have been taken to hospital after using the dangerous drug.
In the last months of 2014, three British tourists died after using white heroin, thinking they were using cocaine. 17 Persons became [....]
Tuesday, February 10 2015, 7:05PM
The exhibition 'Late Rembrandt' will open on February 12 (until May 17, 2015). The exhibition shows works by Rembrandt from the last period of his life.
This year, the Rijksmuseum will be presenting the first major retrospective of the later work of Rembrandt van [....]
Tuesday, February 03 2015, 11:38AM
ADE has publicized the dates for ADE 2015.
The dates for this year are October 14-18.
The Amsterdam Dance Event is the world's largest electronic dance event. In 2015 the ADE expects to attract some 350,000 visitors.
This year, the ADE will celebrate its 20th [....]
Monday, January 26 2015, 10:08AM
Last Friday, a dead passenger was found in tram line 5 from Amsterdam to Amstelveen. The tram driver refused to stop immediately.
Several passengers had warned the tram driver that a passenger had died in the tram. However, only after 20 minutes, at the end of the [....]
Saturday, January 10 2015, 1:22PM
A British tourist (61), who was hit by a moped last Thursday near the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, died in the hospital Friday evening.
The accident between the pedestrian and the moped happened on Thursday January 8, close to the passageway in the Rijksmuseum [....]
Friday, January 09 2015, 12:00AM
About 18,000 people were present on Dam Square in Amsterdam to support the victims of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris.
The Dutch Prime Minister, Mr Mark Rutte spoke, as well as the Mayor of Amsterdam (Mr Eberhard van der Laan) and Mr Aalbersberg of the [....]
Wednesday, January 07 2015, 10:09PM
The City of Amsterdam calls upon everyone in Amsterdam to take part in a demonstration it organizes Thursday evening at 6pm.
The demonstration is meant to support the victims of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, earlier today.
The City says it is [....]
Monday, January 05 2015, 10:16AM
The Mayor of Amsterdam has said that the ever increasing stream of tourists is becoming a real problem.
In his New Year's speech he noted that a new balance has to be found between business, tourism and residential functions of the city. Spreading of tourism is one of [....]
