As a surprise for my friend Matt’s birthday, I and a group of my pals went on a weekend break to the beautiful city of Amsterdam. I had never been before and fell completely in love with the place. The architecture, the people, the bikes, the beer, genuinely everything! We went at the beginning of February and the weather was less than pleasant, definitely pack the thermals and waterproofs if you’re planning on going at this time of year.

Because it was a birthday weekend it was basically one big party and the first thing we did on arriving was find a pub. We drank beer, ate cheese toasties and played pool for several hours before thinking it would probably be a good idea to get out and do a bit of sightseeing.

We wandered the canals and marvelled (well I did, the boys less so) at the beautiful houses. A trip to the Rijksmuseum to take photos with the Iamsterdam sign has become a right of passage for tourists visiting the city, which we happily took part in. We also loved the Heineken factory tour (that may have had something to do with the amount of beer we managed to consume!). A trip to Anne Franks house was a sober but meaningful moment in the weekend and the flower market brings colour even in the dark winter months.

The night time is obviously quite a different vibe and a walk round the Red Light District is one of the most bizzare experiences I’ve ever had.  The Netherlands are known for their EDM pedigree and we danced the night away in one of the super clubs until the early hours. A you can imagine our last day was a bit of a write off, all I managed to successfully do was eat!

We stayed at the Radisson Blu, it was a great city centre location and the rooms were fantastic.

Hotel - https://www.radissonblu.com/en/hotel-amsterdam