I’ve been to Amsterdam over 20 times already. I’ve lost the count and I couldn’t actually care less. It became kind of my old world, a place to feel comfortable and free: I love old fashioned architecture, the café culture and feeling that you won’t be judged if you’re wearing something different than the classic jeans and white tee. The laid back people and the city vibe make me come back every year for once minimum, and no: I’m not here to get stoned in a coffeeshop all day 😉 Amsterdam is way more than this.

My love story began back in 2008, when I visited Amsterdam for the first time. After that, I frequently came back, I think my record was 4 times in the same year. From 2009 on, I started to spend my birthday here every year. I totally love it, I don’t get bored or get sick of it, because this town has a lot to offer ❤

So I think I can tell for sure that I know Amsterdam better than my hometown Zurich by now. The happenings, the city centre and the districts around it. However in all this years, I almost forgot that Amsterdam has also a northern part that is worth to be discovered, and an awesome reminder for keeping the visit in my imaginary bucket list was the blogpost of the lovely Sonntagskind. I follow her daily life in Amsterdam since a while and I have to say I’m a wee bit jealous of her life over there 😉

I didn’t exactly choose the best day of the past weekend to go to the northern side, so as you might see my photos look kinda nostalgic due the grey sky. I could have done some photo editing but since it was my last day I think the Pictures how the melancholia I had because of having to leave that night, so I decided to leave them as they are, showing the thick clouds that were moving fast through the sky because of the heavy wind.

After taking the free ferry from Amsterdam Centraal, the main station, I was already on the other side of the city whitin 5 minutes. If you can I would reccommend you to take a rental bike with you, in order to discover the area much more than I did by walk. I strolled around for 30-45 minutes, passing a park overlooking the buildings of the southern side and the Eye, a film Institute and catchy building, which includes a panoramic bar.

A couple of minutes later, I found myself between a huge industrial quarter, and was a Little scared to might have stepped out in the wrong place. But this feeling was gone pretty fast, because if you look sharper in between the warehouses, you can already discover a couple of hidden cafés and secondhand furniture stores in between.

My walk ended at the very urban and hip NDSM Wharf. It’s a colorful explosion of streetart everywhere, creativity can be felt and smelled and the sea breeze is actually a delight. If you Need a stop there are two big restaurants near the water, Noorderlicht and pllek, located pretty close from each other. Noorderlicht is in a round shaped warehouse, pllek instead is made of containers and has a big beachy waterfront area, where I had a delicious Sicilian house wine despite the cold. I wasn’t the only one 😉

It was impressive to walk around in a district which is so different from the Amsterdam I know. I totally loved my visit to Amsterdam Noord and I really hope to be able to enjoy it on a sunny day.

Practical Infos

If you visit Amsterdam Noord like I did by having a long walk to the Wharf, no worries, you don’t have to go all the way back! Behind the NDSM plaza there is a bus that will bring you back straight to the central station in about 15 minutes.

If you maybe plan to visit Amsterdam Noord without having the feeling to be in a rush, then you could may consider staying at the Doubletree by Hilton or for the floating experience: Botel.

Happy discoveries ❤