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Amsterdam by Bike

Biking through Amsterdam’s city center (and beyond)

What better way to explore Amsterdam than by bike. The streets of Amsterdam are perfectly suitable to travel by bicycle and you'll see a lot of people doing just that. The landscape is covered in bikes, some in pristine shape, some ready for the junkyard.

However there are some things to keep in mind… Even though most bikes are outfitted with perfectly audible bells, some people will not hear them or even ignore them. A good safety precaution will be to practice and memorize the phrase: Pas op! (phoneticly it will be like ‘pah-se ahp’). This will maybe encourage that one person left to step aside. Even though you are allowed to cycle basically everywhere around town, be it in special bike lanes or on the open street, there are some streets where you absolutely, positively need to step down and walk. One of these streets is the Leidsestraat (the street running through the canals to Leidseplein). The street is pretty small with a lot of pedestrians and a tramline crammed in! A fine will be 40 EUR (that’s the equivalent of a couple of nice beers and a nice lunch on the terrace of Café Morlang. Sights to see outside the city center So if you have mounted your rental bike and you can invest half an hour, head on over to Strand Blijburg and experience Ibiza the Amsterdam way. In the summertime during weekends, a lot of Amsterdamians like to hang out there on the pre-fab beach and enjoy some drinks and live music. Another nice tour is biking down the Amstel River and stopping at het Café ‘t Kalfje. Along the way you will pass a lot of boats, some ridiculously large with Rayban-wearing hipsters on it, some resembling floating coffins, with a lot of people, a dog, a barbeque, some bikes, a coolbox, a … Where do you get your bike: Blending in is important if you want the Amsterdam style, so no bright flashy red bikes, covered with advertisements. Mike’s bike on the Kerkstraat is an excellent address to get your rental low-rider bike. As an added bonus you can book a bike tour there and Mike or one of his fellow riders will take you around town! Let’s ride!!

Posted May 23, 2011 by Martin van der Velden
Self-proclaimed poster child of Amsterdam a.k.a. The Amsterdam Oracle. Can be found on his roof terrace or on the Amsterdam streets trying to run things. Also Sales Manager of Perfect Visit.