I don't think there are any 'rough' areas, so to speak. I wouldn't bother with visiting Amsterdam Noord, but that's only because it's quite industrial and there's not much to see there, not because it's dangerous. The Jordaan's a pretty nice area, which might interest you- it's quite near the Anne Frank museum and was a traditionally working-class district that's now very bohemian and trendy with lots of nice shops. There's really a lot to see, depending on what kind of things you like doing- loads of museums. The Artis zoo is pretty good as well.
No need to learn any Dutch before you go. Really. I'm a native speaker of English who studies Dutch, so I try to speak it all the time in Amsterdam, but it never works even when I get it right- they always switch to English. I haven't met anyone who doesn't speak fluent English. You don't even need to check whether people speak English before you ask them something- they always will.
I don't think Amsterdam's too pricey- there are a few tourist traps (Madame Tussards, the Amsterdam Dungeon, etc), and taxis from the airport can be very expensive, it's best to take the train. Other than that, it's cheaper than your average capital city. And greener, smaller and safer too.
If you've got any more questions, feel free to ask! I'm not an expert at all, but I might be some help!
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Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism. Noam Chomsky
Wenn aber man kann nicht meinem Rede Verstehen, so werde ich ihm später dasselbe übersetz, wenn er solche Dienst verlangen wollen haben werden sollen sein hätte.-Mark Twain Waiting for the German verb is surely the ultimate thrill-Flann O'Brian
The Hermitage just opened a division there, I hear it's fantastic.
Avoid the Bijlmer. Shouldn't be too hard, no major tourist traps there.
The Vondelpark is nice when the weather's hot - a bit like New York's Central Park.
Oud Zuid is a nice but pricey neighborhood. It's pretty, with lots of modernist architecture.
The Anne Frank House was kind of a disappointment to me, but I guess it's a must-see.
Don't trust the taxi drivers. Amsterdam has good public transportation and everyone speaks English.
Don't trust the food either. Spend enough money on it, foreign tourists are often horrified at the quality apparently. Major chains like McDonalds, Subway etc. are also safe.
The tacky, touristy touring boats are awfully cliche, but they're a good way to explore the center of town.
Artis, the zoo, is nice.
Get a hotel around Central Station or around Dam Square, but make sure it's a three-star hotel at least.
Amsterdam is quite expensive, but not as expensive as - for example - London.
Buy your mushrooms at Albert Heijn, not in dodgy shops, unless you want to go crazy.
Other than that, I'll tell you what I tell everyone else planning a trip to Ze Nezzerlandz: don't stick to Amsterdam. Take trips down to Utrecht, Rotterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Hague (especially the Hague), Haarlem, and if you can spare the time, Maastricht and Groningen. Maastricht is my favorite city ever; it's just stunning, very medieval.
Have fun!
__________________ God expects spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
First time I have read the Bible
It had stroke me as unwitty
I think it may started rumour
that the Lord ain't got no humour
-- Gogol Bordello
**Catholic - with Pastafarian Tendencies**
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Other than that, I'll tell you what I tell everyone else planning a trip to Ze Nezzerlandz: don't stick to Amsterdam. Take trips down to Utrecht, Rotterdam, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Hague (especially the Hague), Haarlem, and if you can spare the time, Maastricht and Groningen. Maastricht is my favorite city ever; it's just stunning, very medieval.
Have fun!
I agree with Antigone that there are other cities worth visiting, and yes, Maastricht is very beautiful as well as the other cities she mentioned (well, I'm not too fond of Rotterdam as it is so modern, but if you like modern architecture it is alright).
I love the city centre with the canals (grachten - Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht and the others) and also the Jordaan. And the neighbourhood around the zoo, Artis, is nice too.
Originally Posted by Pogue
No need to learn any Dutch before you go. Really. I'm a native speaker of English who studies Dutch, so I try to speak it all the time in Amsterdam, but it never works even when I get it right- they always switch to English. I haven't met anyone who doesn't speak fluent English. You don't even need to check whether people speak English before you ask them something- they always will.
I disagree with this. I think it is very rude to not even attempt to speak a few words in Dutch - it's a Germanic language for goodness sake, how hard can it be for a native speaker of English?! It's not as if you're from Japan or something. You still have time to learn a bit of Dutch. I appreciate it so much more if tourists at least try to speak Dutch. And if that's too much trouble, then always ask before you start speaking whether the other person speaks English. This is politer than asking whatever it is you want to know in English - you're a guest, and starting in English is rude.
Also, for me personally, I have a hearing damage, and the first words anyone (including my husband) speaks to me are always lost on me anyway, even in Dutch. So if you were to speak English to me without warning I would not understand you and you'd have to repeat the first sentence anyway.
And elderly people don't always speak English.
It's true, sadly, that for some stupid reason the Dutch always switch to English as soon as they notice that someone is foreign even if that person is trying to speak Dutch, which makes it difficult for foreigners to learn Dutch. But don't let that discourage you. Please try a few words in Dutch or if you can't, ask "Do you speak English" or better "Spreekt u Engels", it is politer and IMO charming, and I think you will get friendlier reactions from people.
Can I get by only speaking English or should I learn some Dutch before I go?
You really DON'T have to learn Dutch if you visit the Netherlands for short breaks only. People don't take any offense if they're approached by native english speakers. The reasons as to why most will switch to English is because 1) they know at least some English themselves and 2) they are simply being kind (and polite!) in making it easier for you.
I disagree with this. I think it is very rude to not even attempt to speak a few words in Dutch - it's a Germanic language for goodness sake, how hard can it be for a native speaker of English?! It's not as if you're from Japan or something. You still have time to learn a bit of Dutch. I appreciate it so much more if tourists at least try to speak Dutch. And if that's too much trouble, then always ask before you start speaking whether the other person speaks English. This is politer than asking whatever it is you want to know in English - you're a guest, and starting in English is rude.
Also, for me personally, I have a hearing damage, and the first words anyone (including my husband) speaks to me are always lost on me anyway, even in Dutch. So if you were to speak English to me without warning I would not understand you and you'd have to repeat the first sentence anyway.
And elderly people don't always speak English.
It's true, sadly, that for some stupid reason the Dutch always switch to English as soon as they notice that someone is foreign even if that person is trying to speak Dutch, which makes it difficult for foreigners to learn Dutch. But don't let that discourage you. Please try a few words in Dutch or if you can't, ask "Do you speak English" or better "Spreekt u Engels", it is politer and IMO charming, and I think you will get friendlier reactions from people.
Have fun! We don't bite.
I dunno, I'm probably speaking from my bad experiences in Amsterdam, but most of the time when I tried speaking what I thought was perfectly fine Dutch, people would look at me like I was a total idiot and switch automatically to English, or if they'd started saying something in Dutch and I'd understood, but answered in Dutch with my British accent, they'd switch to English then, even though they knew I could understand them. It seems like the expectation (in Amsterdam at least- when I travelled to slightly smaller places they sometimes spoke Dutch to me) was that if you're a tourist, you speak English. This is why I got odd looks even when I asked if they spoke English, because the answer was always "Yes, of course I do". I agree that it's polite to ask whether they understand English, and that it probably doesn't hurt to learn a couple of Dutch phrases, but trying to speak Dutch in Amsterdam as a foreigner, I've learned, is an uphill battle. You can certainly get by as a tourist speaking English only.
Just don't ever, ever speak German
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Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism. Noam Chomsky
Wenn aber man kann nicht meinem Rede Verstehen, so werde ich ihm später dasselbe übersetz, wenn er solche Dienst verlangen wollen haben werden sollen sein hätte.-Mark Twain Waiting for the German verb is surely the ultimate thrill-Flann O'Brian
Oh, you can get by, it's just politer to ask "Do you speak English" first, and to know a few words, that's all. And it's a very, very bad Dutch habit to not respect Dutch-speaking foreigners by switching to English as soon as we hear their English accent. That must be so frustrating to you Pogue.
I don't mind German at all. But sometimes Germans can be rude and automatically start speaking German to Dutch people, and that's not something we appreciate. For some odd reason this rule is never applied to English speaking tourists, and I hate the double standard. If it's rude for Germans, it's rude for other non-Dutch speakers too - but sadly there are still anti-German feelings here. (But thankfully much less so in the regions close to the German border, where I used to live.)
People don't take any offense if they're approached by native english speakers.
I do, and I'm a person too.
I don't mind speaking English at all, but I don't want people to assume that I speak it. They're guests in my country, and my speaking English is a service that I provide on request. Speaking English to me without warning or excuse ("Sorry, I only speak English" is something I really appreciate from a tourist) feels like them taking something from me (my ability to speak English) whereas I prefer to give it to them.
And also, again, my ears expect Dutch, and will not understand the first words (or sentence) if spoken in another language, because of my hearing damage. That's why whenever you approach a stranger you have to use filler words first, so that the other person can adjust to being spoken to (also in their own language - e.g. "Can I ask you a question?").
Rebekka, I studied English, and when someone suddenly starts speaking it to me I get a little befuddled too. It's only human.
As for the double standard for English - that isn't really a double standard. English is used as a lingua franca, a means of communication between two (or more) people who don't share their native language. German isn't a lingua franca, not anymore. To assume that Dutch people speak German isn't as haughty as assuming they speak English, because that is simply the first language people go for when they don't speak the local lingo.
It's different when you would want to live in the Netherlands permanently, but I don't have a problem with tourists not learning Dutch if they're only here for a few days.
__________________ God expects spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
First time I have read the Bible
It had stroke me as unwitty
I think it may started rumour
that the Lord ain't got no humour
-- Gogol Bordello
**Catholic - with Pastafarian Tendencies**
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Oh, you can get by, it's just politer to ask "Do you speak English" first, and to know a few words, that's all. And it's a very, very bad Dutch habit to not respect Dutch-speaking foreigners by switching to English as soon as we hear their English accent. That must be so frustrating to you Pogue.
I don't mind German at all. But sometimes Germans can be rude and automatically start speaking German to Dutch people, and that's not something we appreciate. For some odd reason this rule is never applied to English speaking tourists, and I hate the double standard. If it's rude for Germans, it's rude for other non-Dutch speakers too - but sadly there are still anti-German feelings here. (But thankfully much less so in the regions close to the German border, where I used to live.)
You're right about how frustrating it is! I honestly thought about getting a t-shirt made which said "SPEAK DUTCH TO ME" on it.
I know some people at my university who study German, but not Dutch, and when they went to Amsterdam they decided to speak German to everyone "because it's nearly the same". *groan* That was a very bad plan.
Originally Posted by Antigone
It's different when you would want to live in the Netherlands permanently, but I don't have a problem with tourists not learning Dutch if they're only here for a few days.
I agree with this. Most people I know who've attempted Dutch have been laughed at (in a friendly way) for their attempts at speaking the language in Amsterdam. It's nice if you go to the extra effort of learning the odd Dutch phrase here and there, but a lot of the time, people will look at you, chuckle, then answer back in English! I'm normally very much in favour of people learning languages, but I would still maintain it's not necessary in Amsterdam due to the Dutch and their amazing language-learning superpowers! (what's the secret? Something in the stroopwafels?)
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Wanton killing of innocent civilians is terrorism, not a war against terrorism. Noam Chomsky
Wenn aber man kann nicht meinem Rede Verstehen, so werde ich ihm später dasselbe übersetz, wenn er solche Dienst verlangen wollen haben werden sollen sein hätte.-Mark Twain Waiting for the German verb is surely the ultimate thrill-Flann O'Brian
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