Note:  This is a sponsored post from Easytobook.com. As you know, I normally do not accept sponsored articles on Pause The Moment unless I feel that the article is relevant to the site content and if it may be of interest of my readership. I chose to accept this article because I felt that it may be useful for some of my readers who may be planning on visiting Amsterdam in the near future. Feel free to leave a comment below if you find this article useful.

Amsterdam is one of the most popular European cities to visit in the world. The beautiful canals, green parks, stressed-free atmosphere and obviously the Red Light District and coffee shops- all make it a desirable location to visit over and over again. Because many visitors tend to come back to Amsterdam for a second or third round, we gathered here some of the best hidden hot-spots which are not mentioned in the standard guide books but still worth visiting:

1.  “Ctaste”- dining in the dark restaurant – Address: Amsteldijk 55 1074 HX Amsterdam
Tel: +31-(0)6 22335366:

This is a truly unique experience for everybody! Enjoy an evening where you will be using your all senses- except seeing naturally.

The food is served by blind individuals and before entering the dark eating room, you will be welcome in the restaurant’s lounge area where you will get a wide explanation about the whole experience. For those of you who are allergic for some kinds of food- no need to worry- the waiter will give you the chance to inform him about things you simply cannot or do not want to eat.

2.  “Café Vertigo”- Address: Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam, NH 1071 AA Netherlands:

This charming café could not be located in a better spot-right in the middle of the famous Vondelpark, underneath the Dutch Film Museum. Not only the location will blow you away but also the décor and the delicious food. The combination of the green surrounding, relaxed environment and the sounds of birds- will all make it an incredible after noon. The greatest advantage of this café is the option to visit the film museum after a pleasant lunch.

3.  “Dark Amsterdam” walking tour:

This 2 hours tour takes place in the Red Light District area and you can be certain it is not the typical tourist Amsterdam sightsees! The tour will start with visiting the prostitution information centre where you will get an interesting insight about the Dutch attitudes, rules and regulation -towards this field. After the introduction meeting is finish, you will start exploring the red light district area- the Wallen. Your tour guide will take you to wander around the Zeedijk, (which in the past used to be a dangerous area and now it is one of the most lively places to have a drink and dinner in Amsterdam) afterwards you will continue strolling around in the old Red Light District narrow alleys and you will most likely finish somewhere in a central area. Please note that this tour is completely safe and you will be surprise how much you will learn from it!

4.  “Dine with the Dutch”:

This is a must for those of you who like to get the full local experience! Just go on the net and register yourself in this website: www.dinewiththedutch.nl

Fill in your details and this remarkably smart system will be able to fit the most suitable family for you! The choices are tremendously broad: from a married gay couple to a large family with 5 children – everything is possible! After choosing your family you will get an invitation to a 3-course traditional Dutch meal. This will cost you 49 EUR per person including tax. Kids over the age of 12 will have to pay 25 EUR.

5.  “Amstelkring Museum Our Lord in the Attic”- Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40 1012 Ge Amsterdam:

Behind the distinguishing facade of the canal house and in the in the center of the famous Red Light District, you will find the 17th-century residence and a completely hidden church. This church was built secretly from the 1578-1795 when Catholicism in Amsterdam was illegal. Today, this amazing spot is a successful location where art and religion exhibitions are being presented.

Zurich-based EasyToBook.com can help visitors find hotels in Amsterdam . The company’s online portal makes it simple for visitors to locate hotels, compare prices and secure rooms immediately. EasyToBook.com specializes in discount rates on hotels all over the world that range from simple motels all the way up to celebrated 5-star venues.

For more information about hotels in Amsterdam, visit www.EasyToBook.com.

[Last Night Continued...]

I have to say that last night was the best night of the tour. There have been some great nights on tour but this one takes the cake.

We took a 25 minute walking tour through Amsterdam with our tour manager last night and then he took us through the Red Light District as promised so that we could experience what the real RLD was all about.

The Red Light District is a lot different that I originally thought it would be. After seeing movies, tv shows, and hearing stories from different people I still had a different perception of the whole experience. It’s honestly something you need to see for yourself to understand. Whether it’s your cup of tea or not, taking a stroll through the RLD is a must for visitors to Amsterdam. Not for the sex, not for the sleaze, but to experience a culture that openly accepts prostitution. There are not many, if any other places in the world that you’ll be able to take in and understand a government that truly listens to it’s citizens and bases their laws around what the “people” want or are willing to accept in their city. Amsterdam is simply one of a kind.

After our tour through the RLD we headed for the secret Contiki Optional: “Amsterdam Cultural Show” located in the heart of the RLD. This is where the night kicked off! I won’t go into details but I will say that it was quite an experience. The crowd interaction with our Contiki group made the whole experience even better. The surprise at the end of the show was one of the funniest thing that I’ve ever seen. We laughed for what seemed like hours after the show. After leaving the show everyone was in a great mood so a group of us headed over to the famous coffee shop called “The Grasshopper” where some of the crew sampled some of the many products that the Grasshopper is famous for.

After the Grasshopper we took one more stroll through the Red Light District because at this point it was getting late and it was prime time. We walked through all of the alleyways that make for a good maze to get lost in. You might think I’m exaggerating and have the perception that these women are disghusting, trashy, ugly, and whatever else but you have to take a stroll through the RLD before you make any judgments. The women in the windows at this time of night were literally out of this world. There were people from the ages of 15 to 75 years of age walking through the RLD just to catch a glimpse of what seems like a different planet, even a different world. As we walked through we were all asking ourselves the same thing. Why are these women standing here selling their bodies when they are far beyond beautiful. It just doesn’t make any sense.

After our late night visit to the RLD we all headed back home to catch up on some sleep for another big day in Amsterdam.

–

Today we woke up, had breakfast and headed off to Edam to take our Contiki Inculded: Bike Tour of Edam. Edam is a very small countryside town about 15 mins from where our hotel was in Monnickendam. We arrived and were greeted by the bike tour operator Claudia. She was really nice, funny and loved to share her extensive knowledge of Edam. We all grabbed our own “Granny Bike” and took off on a short bike tour through Edam. The bikes were really comfortable and easy to use. They had big comfy seats, high handle bars, and even push pedal brakes to make you reminisce of when you were young! This bike tour was made for everyone, and although it was very short I had a fun time.

After the bike tour of Edam we all headed into town for some free time! As we got into the city a group of us took off to grab lunch at the Hard Rock in Liedenspiel Square. The food was great, but it took a long time to order, and receive our food so it burnt quite a bit of time out of our few hours that we had in the city. After lunch we all went our separate ways and I ended up taking off on my own. I didn’t have any set plans or things that I really wanted to do in the city. I just wanted to take off on my own, relax and explore this amazing city a little bit more.

We all met back at the bus around 4:30PM and headed back to the hotel to get ready for our Contiki Optional Dinner at the Sea Palace in Amsterdam. After everyone got dressed and ready we headed back into the city for some chinese food at the Sea Palace. I thought the food was OK, but it was nothing like the chinese food at home. I shouldn’t have expected it to be great in the first place, but it filled me up and did the job like a lot of the meals on this trip. I’ve learned that as long as it’s edible and it fills me up, then it’s somewhat worth the money. This meal did exactly that.

After our dinner at the Sea Palace we all boarded our Contiki Optional: Amsterdam Canal Cruise. This was one of the best optionals yet. Everyone boarded the boat and we cruised the canals of Amsterdam for about an hour and a half. There was open bar, so everyone went pretty crazy and had quite a few drinks. Some of the group lit up a few joints as we cruised down the canals on our last night of the trip. There were cameras going off everywhere, drinks being spilt, dancing, yelling, screaming, and everyone was just having a great time. As we pulled back in to the docks everyone was disappointed that the cruise didn’t go all night, but the night was still young for most.

I headed back to the hotel with a few people as most others went into the city to celebrate the last night. I had a ton of packing to do and I am just absolutely drained from the last three weeks of this trip. When we got back to the hotel we headed to the hotel bar with a few people. I hung out, and had a beer before heading off to bed.

Overall my time in Amsterdam was great. It’s an amazing city that I’d love to come back to again soon. I don’t know if it’s a place that I could spend a week in, but I could definitely do with a weekend trip here and there. Amsterdam ROCKS!;

Off to Amsterdam this morning for the last two nights of our trip. Everyone is tired, yet excited. We had some breakfast this morning that was just okay. After breakfast we loaded the bags and headed off to our final destination: AMSTERDAM!

After a few hours on the coach and one service stop we finally arrived in Amsterdam. We had a couple hours for free time so Bruno, Juliana & I headed off on our own to check out the streets of the DAM. We passed many souvenir shops, coffee shops, cafe’s, canals and more. Everything that Amsterdam has to offer.

Before returning back to the bus we took a stroll through the Red Light District. What an experience that was. It was pretty interesting to walk down the street, and actually realize that you are there and it’s real. It’s somewhat weird because I’ve only seen things about the RLD in movies, on TV, etc. There are no real signs that let you know you have walked into the Red Light District, but I had a feeling we were approaching it once we started seeing more sex shops, live sex shows, and finally we were at the point where there were women in windows dancing, and smiling at us. It’s hard to explain in words what it was exactly like. It’s something you need to experience for yourself really. Not for the bad reasons, more for the experience and to see what really goes on here. We were told before arriving in Amsterdam to make sure you don’t take photos, or even have your camera in your hand. If you do, there are stories of the girls, and even the pimps themselves coming out and throwing you and your camera into the canals that you’re walking along next to the Red Light District. Pretty crazy! We were sure to keep our cameras in our pockets for that part of the walk. As much as I wanted to take some photos/videos for you all, it just simply wasn’t worth the trouble.

We hopped back on the coach to check into our hotel which is located about 35 mins from the city. I’m very disappointed with the hotel situation once again. We were booked in a hotel in the city originally but were told yesterday that the hotel had no idea that we were booked there for this weekend, and a bunch of other excuses. It’s not our tour managers fault, it’s Contiki’s fault. Now in turn, we’re located way outside of the city and there is only one bus that runs from Amsterdam out to Monnickendam where we’re staying. ARGHH!

Tonight we’re having dinner then heading off to do a walking tour of Amsterdam, (Red Light District included). After the walking tour, we’re going to a “Amsterdam Culture Show”, and then we will have free time for the rest of the night. A bunch of us will probably hang out in the city and take the bus back late. Should be an interesting night…

Tomorrow we’ll be riding the traditional amsterdam “granny bikes” and exploring the countryside in the morning. Then we’ll head off to the city for some free time!

Today was an early one. We woke up around 6:45 and headed down to breakfast by 7:00. The breakfast was just OKAY. Pretty much the same junk as yesterday but again, better than many breakfasts that have been served to us on the trip.

We loaded the coach and headed out around 8:00AM to head for St. Goar which is located in Northern Germany in the Rhine Valley. The trip is just over 600 Kilometers so it’s quite a ride. We expected about seven or eight hours driving before arriving in St. Goar.

We drove about three and a half hours before our first service stop in Germany. As usual with most places in Europe you have to pay to use the bathroom. Today it was 50 Cents. Through out this whole trip I’ve noticed that the prices of toliet visits have ranged anywhere from 20 Cents, to 1 Euro (approx. $1.55 Dollars) per visit. Pretty rediculous if you ask me. If you were to charge to use the restrooms back home in the US, people would burn the place down. It’s robbery!

We spent about 45 minutes at the rest stop and everyone grabbed some food and drinks for the road. We had another three and a half hours to go. The good thing is that we’re doing really well for time so our tour manager told us that he changed the plans around a little for tonight. We’ll be going to a shop in Germany where you can buy the official beer stein’s, and all sorts of other german souvenirs. After that we’ll be heading to a unexpected river cruise on the Rhine River before checking into our hotel and having some dinner.

The Beer Stein demonstration/shop was okay. Although the steins were outrageously priced at anywhere between 50 – 120 Euro. They also had the largest beer stein in the world inside of the shop. There was also a cuckoo clock shop, and Birkenstock shop across the street. The cuckoo clock store had the largest cuckoo clock in the world. There wasn’t too much to see in the area. We boarded our Rhine River cruise about an hour after arriving in the Rhine Valley. A few of us grabbed a beer and relaxed as we cruised down the Rhine River. The scenery was pretty cool, there were lots of castles up in the hills along the river.

After the cruise we boarded the bus to head to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, everyone thought our tour manager was messing with us. It looked like the size of a house, with a few extra rooms attached. We checked in and the rooms weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. They had everything that was necessary, a shower, a door, and 2 beds. Sweet. Only problem was that it was so hot and humid in the room all day, and all through the night.

We went down to the Contiki Included dinner at our hotel around 5:30PM and it was alright. There was Pork Schnitzel, Potatoes, Pasta, and Turkey mixed with Rice. The food was better than previous dinners on the trip so I can’t complain. I think most people enjoyed the meal.

After dinner we headed to the Contiki Optional: Wine Tasting. St. Goar (Rhine Valley) is famous for their Riesling Wine and Eiswine (Ice Wine). The wine tasting demonstration was great. If you are visitng St. Goar, you have to do this optional, whether you’re a fan of wine or not. I’m not a wine drinker myself, but I decided to attend this optional. I never drank wine before joining this Contiki tour and since the beginning of the trip we’ve been getting wine with most of our meals whether it’s white or red and I’ve enjoyed a few glasses so far. Tonight we tasted a few different wines like the famous Riesling, Eiswine (Ice Wine), a red wine, and a few others. Everyone had a great time at the tasting. Most people ended up buying a bottle or three after the tasting. Some finished the bottles tonight, and some bought them as gifts.

I cannot believe that tomorrow marks two more nights left on this trip. It has absolutely flown. We’ll all be spending our last 2 nights in Amsterdam and I’m really looking forward to it. We have quite a bit planned so far including a bike ride through the countryside, a walking tour of Amsterdam (including the Red Light District), dinner at the Sea Palace, and an Amsterdam Canal Cruise on our last night.

Sunday I fly back to Dublin where I’ll spend about 3 days before I’m off again to Southern Italy/Croatia for three and a half more weeks. I can’t wait! This trip might be over, but my travels are no where near over…

As most of you know that after I booked my plane ticket to Ireland back in September of 2007, I wasn’t exactly planning on turning this “vacation” into a full fledged trip of a lifetime. Once I realized that my dreams of traveling Europe were actually viable, I started to do some research on a few different companies that offer tours throughout Europe. Not just day tours, not through one country, but I was looking for more of an extended tour through multiple countries.

After researching for a few weeks I came across a company that really interested me. This company is called Contiki. They were the only tour company that I found to offer specialized tours designed strictly for 18-35 year olds. I found this to be great considering I will be traveling on my own and would prefer if possible to hang out with a few people my age. I had been reading some travel forums about a few other tour companies and many people said that the tours were filled with tourists from the age of 3 to 60, senior citizens, the whole lot. Not that I have anything against children or the elderly in any way, but if I’m going to drop a couple thousand dollars on a tour through Europe, I would simply rather travel with people my age. Pretty understandable, right?

Over time, after giving another look at a few other tour companies, I decided to choose Contiki. In January I went ahead and booked the Contiki: European Vista Tour. The European Vista tour is a jam packed 23 Day tour that starts in London on May 11th, and ends in Amsterdam on June 1st. In between London and Amsterdam we’ll be spending time in Paris, Lucerne, Nice, Florence, Rome, Venice, Hopfgarten, Munich, Vienna, Prague, and Rhine Valley.

In each city along the way there are what Contiki calls “Included Highlights”. These highlights are included in the tour package price of course. Some of many included highlights are:

• (Paris, France) – Tour of Illuminations, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Champs Elysees & Notre Dame Cathedral
• (Lucerne, Switzerland) – Wooden Chapel Bridge, and the Lion Monument
• (French Riviera) – Visits to Nice, Monaco, and Monte Carlo. French Perfumery, Royal Palace, Casino in Monte Carlo, and a scenic drive along the Riviera coast.
• (Pisa, Italy) – Leaning Tower of Pisa
• (Florence, Italy) – Walking tour with local guide, Florentine leather craft demonstration, the Duomo, Basilica Santa Croce, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistry & Piazza della Signoria
• (Rome, Italy) – Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Colosseum & Roman Forum
• (Vatican City) – St. Peter’s Basilica
• (Venice, Italy) – Private motorboat to the historic islands, Piazza San Marco, Bridge of Sighs, the Doges’ Palace & St. Marks Square, Murano glass-blowing & Burano lace-making demonstrations
• (Brenner Pass) – Scenic drive past vineyards, orchards and castles
• (Tyrol: Austria) – See the picturesque area famous for adventure sports
• (Munich, Germany) – the Glockenspiel & Marienplatz, and visit to a beerhall
• (Vienna, Austria) – Schonbrunn Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral & the State Opera House, Scenic drive along the historic Ring Road
• (Prague, Czech Republic) – Hradcany Castle, Cathedral of St. Vitus, Charles Bridge and Wenceslas Square
• (Rhine Valley: Germany) – Scenic River Cruise, Lorelei Rock
• (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – See the Canals, Gable Houses, and city by night, Bicycle tour through the dutch countryside, visits to a cheese farm and clog maker’s house, and a visit to a fishing & cheese village.

There are also many extra Activities that everyone can choose to take part in or not along the way. These activities are what Contiki calls “Optionals”. The optionals are NOT included in the Tour Package price, if you choose to take part in the activities you will go through your Contiki guide to do so. Some of the many optionals that are available on the European Vista are:

• (Paris, France) – Famous Parisian Cabaret Show w/ Dinner
• (Lucerne, Switzerland) – Boat Cruise on Lake Lucerne
• (French Riviera: Monaco) – Dinner at a restaurant in Monaco
• (Florence, Italy) – Tuscan Hills Feast w/ Entertainment and visit to a Florence Nightclub
• (Rome, Italy) – Guided Imperial Rome Tour
• (Hopfgarten, Austria: Tyrol) – Tandem Paragliding / Mt. Biking Tour & BBQ
• (Vienna, Austria) – Mozart Classical Concert & Dinner
• (St. Goar, Germany: Rhine Valley) – Wine Tasting
• (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – Evening Canal Cruise, I also hear that depending on your Contiki guide you might also be invited to a special so called “Amsterdam Cultural Show”, but I’ll report back on that one. I can only imagine at the moment…

So as you can see above, there will be so much to do and see along the way. Most of the main attractions and sights over the course of the trip are for the most part included, which is pretty cool!

The fact is, is that most people tend to shun these types of tours due to not being able to spend enough time in a each city. I’m not too worried about that because I didn’t really choose to take a Contiki trip to see as many places as I could in 3 weeks, I decided to take a Contiki trip so that it would provide me with an idea of where I’d like to go back to for a weekend or two here and there near the summers end.

My Contiki trip is a little over a month away at this point. I head off to London on May 11th, stay the night and meet with all of my fellow Contiki’ers at the hotel. It should be a great time, and I’m sure I’ll make a few new friends along the way. Maybe even a few that I will get the chance to meet up with later in the summer…