Amsterdam: The Most Common Mistakes Tourists Make in Amsterdam

Find your hotel/hostel/airbnb BEFORE you visit the coffeeshop (it's significantly more challenging afterward).

Mistake 1: only go to Amsterdam, When you go to the Netherlands

My big "mistakes tourits make" is, not asking locals about stuff. We are more than happy to help and explain stuff. (well, most of us.) Personally I love telling tourists about my city (in my case the Hague) and country. Don't buy expensive travel guides written by non-dutch people.

Mark, tell people that there are two cards that they should get when visiting Netherlands: the ov-chipkaart for transport and the museum kaart for museums. Unlike systems in larger countries, these cards can be used *ALL OVER NETHERLANDS*! We visited museums and used the transport all over the place, and got tremendous value out of these cards.

Going to visit "De Bollenvelden" and trying to take selfies/pictures in the middle of the fields... Those fields aren't there for the tourists, the owners are farmers who have to earn their complete salary for the year of those fields (by selling the flowers and the bulbs). Walking into these fields for that "one nice picture" is literally destroying their income for the rest of the year. And you are not the only one who tries, thousands of visitors are trying to get in each field ever year... And placing signs doesn't work so there are farmers now-a-days who are fencing the fields...

Sorry, did you say... #1 Mistaking a coffeeshop for a Café #2 Only coming for the Red Light District #3 Only staying in Amsterdam #4 Thinking there are weekend deals to be had #5 Having too much luggage for the stairs #6 Not pre-booking tickets to the Anne Frank House #7 Expecting to have only Dutch culture #8 Trying to eat only Dutch food #9 Taking Ubers & taxis instead of public transport #10 Walking in the Bike lanes #11 Not knowing the Bike riding rules #12 Riding your bike on the Tram tracks #13 Trying to take pictures of women in the Red Light District #14 Thinking it is easy to get that I AMSTERDAM picture #15 Not knowing the Tram door etiquette #16 Not waiting for seafood to cool down ? Oh okay, noted. Thanks.

If you ever find yourself as pedestrian on a bicycle lane by accident, do not try to evade cyclists. They are practiced in those situations and will evade you. Making a sudden movement is a guaranteed collision. Just move to the nearest curb when there are no cyclists directly heading towards you.

Don't litter! I hate seeing tourists just dropping their crap on the ground where they walk. Be civil and put it in the many bins you see along the way.

First mistake about this video is that i hear the man say that drugs are legal. Very wrong as DRUGS ARE ILLEGAL!! Soft drugs are tolarated however

First- I just want to say thank you for your comment on our Franklin Video. Greatly appreciated and glad you enjoyed it, We saved you a beef rib. 😂. Glad you and Dutchified shared some cool tips We're looking into adding Amsterdam to our full-time travel schedule. Those buildings and the museums look incredible and LOVE the architecture. Great video and thank you and Dutch for taking us along and giving us some great tips.

Ik heb er nog een, I have another one: English. One of the most common mistakes is that we don't appreciate it if you try to speak some Dutch. We do! And, to put it even stronger: a lot of people are getting very annoyed with the fact that Amsterdam (especially the city centre) is being taken over by the use of English. Now, everyone understands that it is the first (and initial) language of the internet, of tourism, and of communication between tourists, expats, and locals. But just like with other countries that you visit, try to be a bit more open to the fact that we do have our own language. Learn a few words, sentences, etc.. Don't take it for granted that everything is in English or that everyone speaks English. (Thanks!!!😘) And to show you that Dutch really isn't that difficult, here are a few fun facts: -English, Dutch and Frisian (spoken in the north of the country) are very closely related so we have a lot of words in common, even if they look a bit different. -General sound rules: English: th, ol/al, gh, y Dutch: d, k, ou, ch, g That = dat This/these = deze Think = denk (denken = the verb/infinitive) Old = oud Cold = koud Salt = zout Eight = acht Light = licht Night = nacht Way = weg Say = zeg (zeggen = the verb) May = mag (mogen = the verb) General rules about word order: -A sentence with 1 verb has that verb in the 2nd position of the sentence. -A sentence with 2 or more verbs has these extra verbs at the end of the sentence. -Time Before Place *ik ga altijd naar Amsterdam I go always to Amsterdam (instead of: I always go to Amsterdam) *ik kan in de zomer naar Amsterdam gaan I can in the summer to Amsterdam go (instead of: I can go to Amsterdam in the summer) General rules about time: -present = continuous = future! -past tense: basically 1 (= present perfect) *ik eet morgen een appel = I eat an apple tomorrow = I am eating an apple tomorrow =I will eat an apple tomorrow = I will be eating an apple tomorrow... *ik heb een appel gegeten I have an apple eaten (instead of: I have eaten an apple) *Ik heb in 2007 een appel gegeten I have in 2007 an apple eaten (instead of : I ate an apple in 2007) (who says Dutch is difficult and English easy!??? 😉)

Absolutely love Amsterdam! Thank u, Mark Wolters, for all of your informational videos! Wouldn’t have seen half the things we did if it wasn’t for your videos. Love seeing a guy traveling the world and taking care of his family. Much respect and love, keep doing your thing!!

""Utrecht has less tourists & more local fun." I hope you guys do understand the correlation.

I went to a restaurant in Amsterdam last month called a Ctaste where you are served your full course meal in pitch black room by blind servers ....it was a transformational experience and I will never forget it!

I was in Netherlands in 2019. First few days I was only in Amsterdam, enjoying its rapid touristic life and variety of entertainment. I like this city, Amsterdam connected with my sweet and warm memories. Then I went to Hague. My god, I was mesmerized by its still and quite life. I was walking for all day in this city, went to Scheveningen beach, walked among simple life districts without any political buildings. Hope one day I will be here again.

Coffeeshops sell Cannabis not Drugs. By saying drugs you imply a variety of substances.

Big mistake tourists make: Looking and acting like a tourist. Amsterdam has a huge pickpocketing and purse stealing problem. And the thieves are very good at picking out the tourists, which is what they prey on. Be alert at all times and don't fall for any tricks. Best thing, dress normally and act normally to decrease your chances of getting pickpocketed.

11:55 dutch people make this mistake still every time we eat bitterballen. Lol.

An interesting mistake I made was that when I arrived at the Amsterdam airport Schiphol in September 2019, instead of finding the train to get to Amsterdam Centraal which was close to my hostel, I ended up taking a taxi to the hostel. It costed about $74. While I really was trying to get to the hostel ASAP, I will make sure to take the train next time.

Love your positive attitude wolter. Been a fan of the channel and will be for long!