Amsterdam

[Shogun]

Thinking of going this year, flights costing £100 or so return, how much spending money would you need roughly for when your there, like is the place expensive, is the weed expensive? what's the best time of year to go? what's the weather like?

Girl runner- Your the most recent person I know of whos been in the place, how was it?

[olaola]

weather is similar to UK. i went in about May time and it was very hot, but i just got lucky. Amsterdam is quite expensive in general, slightly cheaper than london i would say

[The_Grapes_of_Sloth]

Most expensive thing is getting the munchies 5 times a day and having 5 takeaways/resteraunt meals :D

[Shogun]

Price of weed?

[x .beepbeep.]

information would be sound, im interested also.

[Shogun]

I was hoping to go somewhere in Spain but it's looking to be too expensive, especially with Oxygen in July and I don't want to sell my ticket like some of my other friends are planning to do.

[x .beepbeep.]

oxygen?

ive always wanted to go to Amsterdam, for various reasons and for the past few years, not so obvious ones! :chin:

bubblefunk? yes!

[Martin_Bashir]

i love how 'Amsterdam' is listed under 'Drugs' instead of 'Travel' :D

[Shogun]

i love how 'Amsterdam' is listed under 'Drugs' instead of 'Travel' :D

:D

You'd get a better response in here from some who might not visit the travel boards...

Oxygen is a 2 day festival with many bands and acts, you go down on the friday and the acts are on the saturday and sunday.

Greenday, Neworder, Foo Fighters, Prodigy, The Frames, Audioslave, Queens of the stone age, The Streets, The Killers, Deep Dish, Keane, Beautiful South, Razorlight, Kasabian, Ian Brown, James Brown, Erik Morillo, Slam, Black Strobe, Sillicione Soul, Death in Vegas.

There' also a dance area with alot of less known names but probably stomping music being played.

[Martin_Bashir]

oh man enjoy the Prodigy they are the tits live :hyper:

[x .beepbeep.]

well thats only some of my most favourite bands, shiiit.

prodigy were the reason i started listening to music.

[Martin_Bashir]

What, Lurks, In The Hearts of men :D

[Shogun]

All their wierd noises and sounds...with pure darkness and then flashing silvery lights..with thousands and thousands of other people..it's a pity shrooms are gonna be illegal...hold on actually..they are not going to be made illegal down South, so they might be selling them at it or else somewhere down in Dublin.

Looking forward to Greenday too, they should be good.

You never been to Amsterdam martin?

[Martin_Bashir]

nah, had about 3 planned but they've all gone tits up.

[budda]

The Dam is ok, its an attractive city certainly but quite small, there really isnt a massive amount to do there.

The art galleries are fantastic, real gems and well worth a visit, but that might not be your bag.

The puff is a bit expencive, but then its very high strength, so probably about what you would pay per gram here, but for better stuff.

Go with the solid, the green is ok, but its virtually the same to whats on the market here.

Of course theres the Red Light District if you're wanting it, but I found it all a bit nasty, the women arent what you'd call 'lookers' as such.

You must be able to get Easyjet or Ryan Air for less than £100.

[badboy4life]

have a look at thomson site for your flights

[Martin_Bashir]

is it just me that thinks it could all be a bit expensive for a trip that amounts to going to a fine european city in order to smoke green SO UNBELIEVABLY strong that it just fucks you over and all you want to do is mong or sleep?

I still think we should all jack up MDMA :D <joke>

[Wyetry]

I went to Utrecht in February but popped into Amsderdam on my way home - but i've been 3 times before....

I used to really like it and wanted to live there but after visiting utrecht which was lovely i'm not so sure - but also it was cold and i mainly stayed in the red light district.

Anyway i guess it depends how much you want to spend really - you could stay in a 5* hotel, eat out all the time and go clubbing etc or you could doss it in a youth hostel.

Anyway i wasn't in AMS but i spent about €250 on 4 days away, which was just on some meals out, drinking quite a bit, taxis etc, tbh i wasn't expecting it to be so much i'd budgetted about £100 or €140 for the whole weekend and i was a bit shocked how expensive it was. But i gess no more expensive than London

In terms of the drugs i didn't really buy that much as i dont' smoke loads and was sharing with a friend who smoked even less, but most of the shops seemed to sell bags in price brackets like €10 for 0.8g or 0.7g depending on the quality etc

[bananaman]

i was in amsterdam last easter. great place. not a whole lot to do so if you're going other than to sample the drugs - i would go elsewhere.

the weed is fantastic. white widow, northern lights etc being my favourites. they cost about 10 euro per bag, which is about a gram as far as i remember - but there was just so much of it going around that no body knew who owned what etc. cause its so strong you dont need so much so it doesnt really cost that much to smoke over there.

best cafes are ROKERIJ's - all over the city and DAMPKRING & DA KUL. the guys who sell the stuff ( at seperate bars to the main bar) can tell you all you need to know about the stuff - they obviously know what they're talking about.

one thing you don't hear much of from the Damage are the baggies. find a cafe with a vapourizer and they can vapourize some of your weed into a bag plastic bag with a nozzle on it. it was mind blowing but in saying that one of the lads who doesnt smoke much had to go home after a blast off a baggie of white widow. its free aswell!

the hash was very good too - AK47 and SUPER AFGHAN were my favourites and i found that for long smoking sessions, those who smoked the hash lasted longer. pretty much the same price as the weed i think.

it real dodgy at night - tons of hairy looking bastards hanging around street corners trying to sell you pills and " coca". they are almost all rip off merchants - two of my friends got sold a tic tac instead of a pill. when they politely brought this to the dealers attention, and he had their money, they were kindly told to go away before they got stabbed. that, and other stories we heard - so its probably best to give the street guys a miss. they follow you as well if your off your tits - we were on shrooms and got followed by a few lads - there was no way we could have defended ourselves so we had to just run - ended up going around in circles then we got lost etc etc - so they are bad news all 'round.

bars can be quite good there - such as hil st blues and bourbon st for live music. as someone said they have art galleries etc, but we relaxed in cafes during the day and saw none of these.

the locals hate tourists - especially drugged up tourists so i wouldnt expect to make any friends over there.

the red light district is hilarious but overall the ladies are extremely unattractive and i believe its not worth the money ( their hand on your penis to stop full entry and extra $ for them to take their bra off!!!!!!) - but its still good fun to stall it around the red light for a while - especially after a few smokes.

accomodation is hard to find at short notice. the food is okay. weather seemed fine. during the day when your not wasted, its a lovely place - lots of canals and picturesque streets and the locals will be a bit friendlier if your not out of your mind.

a word on the shrooms - they sell all sorts - from mexicans to hawaiians, in order of strength. they said the truffels would do two of us and thats what we did but in hindsight i would have prefered to go thirds or quarters. we were freaking out and had to abandon pub to go to apartment - so dont listen to the people in the head shops - they dose for very experienced users and in honesty how many irish people take very strong shrooms and then hit the local? not many - so its hard to deal with being in avery busy bar on such strong drugs. we lasted one drink and had to do a bee line for the gaf.

overall - it was brilliant and we are penning in another trip for sometime soon. it has to be seen once anyway. spent about 700 - 800 euro in total for three nights, but we got slightly cheaper flights as we went through Belgium and got a bus up. ( seemed like a good idea at the time). aer lingus fly direct for good prices with early booking.

[bananaman]

oh one more thing - SHOGUN - you will be vey lucky to find anyone selling shrooms in Dublin - have not seen or heard or it in all my many years. even LSD, tabs, sheets etc are off sale. every now and then you hear about them but no one can ever get them -especially south side dublin, i hear north side is better for LSD and the likes but its still hard to get. When is OXYGEN on? shroom season started in September last year so if the timing is right you could pick your own but concerts are usually on earlier in summer i think. also i must warn you if you're thinking of buying your own pills etc in dublin the last batch going around were awful -

[Yerascrote]

When is OXYGEN on?

8-11th july...can't fucking wait...yeh prodigy live...last year i saw about 5 bands...spent most of the time off my head in the campsite which is worth the money alone...

was asked to go to the dam this year...just don't have the time or the money...

[Martin_Bashir]

when you see the prodigy they will play loads of stuff you've never heard from them... seeing the prodigy live is one of those rare experiences where the band is always a ton better live..

Having 50,000 people screaming against the criminal justice bill is magic

[Yerascrote]

Having 50,000 people screaming against the criminal justice bill is magic

is that their law you're talking about...do they play much from music for a jilted generation?

[Ants]

a word on the shrooms - they sell all sorts - from mexicans to hawaiians, in order of strength. they said the truffels would do two of us and thats what we did but in hindsight i would have prefered to go thirds or quarters.

SO true, If you buy mushies, half a box is ample for one person. They guy in the shop insisted on one box each. I've done shrooms on a few occasion before, but this was like no time before. Three of us spent about 5 hours spinning out big time, so much so I had to go back to the hotel room coz it was just to much outside.

This was in March, the night before we left, am going back in June though. Gonna go straight back to the shop to kick that guys ass. (and maybe buy some more shrooms, and try again. :D)

[Ants]

Oh, and Thomsonfly.com for the flights, If you book early they should only be about 50 quid return. :yes:

[x .beepbeep.]

is that their law you're talking about...do they play much from music for a jilted generation?

thats amazing that song, try and grab the prodigy experience video, from back in the day. Brilliant.

Break and Enter needs to be played more.

[Martin_Bashir]

yes yes it does...

first track @ Glastonbury 95 dont you know?

[x .beepbeep.]

i didnt know actually.

its one of their best, with liam doing the snare drum parts..or what i recall as being snares. Also that time they did moscow, maxim singing/shouting...

"oh my god that some funky shit" right in one of the venue ladies face'.

just a pity leroy wont be there to do HIS infamous dance.

[Yerascrote]

Break and Enter needs to be played more.

listened to that song in the dark while tripping out once...bad idea...especially the part where the breathing comes in...

[Martin_Bashir]

'Coma' by Guns and Roses has the same effect :crazyeyes:

[Girl_gunner]

OOO yus amsterdam. Get a map. That way you shouldn't get lost and don't need to waste any money on public transport. Go for cheap as. I went £100 flights (Luton-Amsterdam) and 3 nights b&b (the flying pig palace:D) As for coffee shops, I loved Coffeeshop Abraxas, its just off dam square and has a fantastic range of hash and weed as well as cannabis cakes/teas/milkshakes.

[Senor Miguel]

yeah i got lost everyday, all those canals look the same and when your stoned off your tits it gets a bit tricky.........all good fun tho, i would recommend the damrak hotel if ur on a budget, cheap and cheerful, 50 euros for 3 nights if i recall correctly........and you can book online, bonus...........

the weed is a bit pricey but worth it, ak-47 is the shit, and top 44 from bulldog........the solid is good but it's a bit too intense and harsh to smoke all day........hmmm walking round red light district on truffles is definitely an experience, that place is pretty crazy you see several ppl queueing for one ho, it's not really my thing but whilst tripping i was slightly tempted, you just have to think the fitter they are, the more old men have been there, done that..........eughhhh........so many good cafes but somehow can't recall most of the names.......bluebird is nice, they have a huge book of weed and these leather sofas you can't get up off........i could rave about dam all day, if your a stoner and you ain't been you really must.

no real rush to go back, its a bit of a mecca for stoners so glad i went..........only thing i didn't like is you get asked/forced to buy drinks in a lot of bars/cafes, and the dodgy dealers out at nite but if you have a few mates it's alrite, all adds to the adventure..........and watch out for tramp tax.

[Shogun]

50 euro for 3 nights,is that only accomadation or is breakfast included in it? good price

I'd say walking around the Dam on truffles would be quite an experience.

In general though, is it a nice city?

[Senor Miguel]

50 euro for 3 nights,is that only accomadation or is breakfast included in it? good price

I'd say walking around the Dam on truffles would be quite an experience.

In general though, is it a nice city?

incl. breakfast but you have to be up damn early, i only managed it once to find they were serving cheerios, no kidding lol..........but there's a nice cafe just adjacent, they do english meals as well........damrak is good tho cos its really central, and pretty close to train station........the city itself is pretty nice, surprisingly small and quaint, there are plenty of museums and the like but tbh i only really saw the place while i was lost, spent most of the time in and out of cafes..........daytime its very friendly, night time you might not feel awful safe on your own, but there is a definite police presence, they ride round on bikes and are very friendly........not worth staying much longer than 4 days, i was ready to come home my brain was mashed.......i spent about 200 quid in total (incl. flights) and most of that was on weed, so if you don't go overboard it's a nice cheap getaway.........

ETA: this (http://www.amsterdam-hotels-guide.com/amsterdam-damrak.htm) might help.........lol the rooms are decent but dont look as nice as in the photos btw.......

[Girl_gunner]

Yeh Shogun it's a nice place to walk around. Me and my mate got mashed and walked all around the dam square area. All them the canals and the flower markets trippy :razz:

[Shogun]

Dosen't sound too expensive overall, alot cheaper than somewhere in Spain.

[Yerascrote]

that place is pretty crazy you see several ppl queueing for one ho, it's not really my thing but whilst tripping i was slightly tempted, you just have to think the fitter they are, the more old men have been there, done that..........


reminds me of when shogun got a blo job off a morrocan in a back alley in barcelona for 20 euro :o

[badboy4life]

reminds me of when shogun got a blo job off a morrocan in a back alley in barcelona for 20 euro :o
did she do a runner with your wallet as well shogun? they are big horrible fuckers, you must of been jam rolled

[Shogun]

Nah she never did a runner with my wallet and yes i was messed up.

[PinkFeatherBoa]

3 nights b&b (the flying pig palace:D)

That's where I stayed when I went the 2nd time. The 1st time I stayed at the flying pig beach hostel which isnt actually in Amsterdam itself, about half an hour by train. The Palace is way better though, cos you can smoke weed inside, whereas at the beach one, theres a little balcony to smoke on, but i went in august and it was still pretty chilly out there! As far as coffeeshops go I can recommend the Dolphin cafe, it's well cool inside and sells quite a large range of cannabis (solid and weed). Don't ask me where it was though....I spent most of the time in a haze....:D
Amsterdam's fucking wicked IF you're a stoner, I dont know if I'd go back now, since I gave up smoking weed over a year ago. And no matter how stoned you get here in England, NOTHING compares to Amsterdam.....

[budda]

If you are going make sure you go into a Brown Bar, they are proper old locals and always serve tip top lovey beers.

[Tim the Enchanter]

I was there a couple of weeks ago and I thought the cafes were pretty shitty. I'd generally just bought my stuff and sat at the main square, go for a walk or else sit on a bench by a canal. There was one time when I stayed in a cafe to talk to some Ghanans about the football that'd been on, but that was it.

I tried to get a room in the flying pig palace, but it was fully booked, looked pretty good though. Can't recommend any other hostels because the ones I stayed in were pretty piss poor.

Some of the bars were pretty good, never met any non-Brits or Irish in them though and you REALLY have to like Heineken or Amstel.

Amsterdam is great for walking around, I was getting lost every day and finding my way back in the evening, it's easy enough. Watch out for the bikes btw, they come outta nowhere.

Red Light District is good if you like prostitution and it's something you're not going to see anywhere else, but it's pretty depressing generally.

I was there for a week because I was meant to go on to Berlin but couldn't afford it in the end, so after 4 days I was getting sick of it all. If I were you, I wouldn't do it longer than that.

Also, I got my flights for £60 out of Aldergrove, booked a couple of months in advance.

[budda]

Some of the bars were pretty good, never met any non-Brits or Irish in them though and you REALLY have to like Heineken or Amstel.

Thats why the Brown Bars are good, they are sort of the Dutch version of the old British local, slightly dirty and dark but they serve excellent lagers.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Thats why the Brown Bars are good, they are sort of the Dutch version of the old British local, slightly dirty and dark but they serve excellent lagers.

I'd heard about these places, but had no idea how to look for them or where they might be. I found one place about 2 canals east from the red light district where I heard no English and seemed to be the only bar in Amsterdam that didn't do Heineken. That was pretty good, no idea if it was a brown bar though.

[budda]

Basically if its slightly dirty, dark and dank with only locals in it, then its a Brown Bar, so called because the walls are normally coated from loads of smoking.

They serve the best beer and they are cheaper.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Ahh probably was, although I've no idea how cheap the beer was, what with all the euro and measures converting in my head... I reckon it was cheap enough.

[budda]

Its always best to drink where the locals do anyway, that way you not only avoid the dicks from back home, but also get the best beer at the best price.

[Tim the Enchanter]

Aye, I noticed that quite a lot when I was in Europe last summer. Particularly in Bucharest because there was hardly any tourist trade compared to everywhere else. We were paying pennies for the beers.

[budda]

It works the same way for the coffee shops too, dont go to the Bulldog or any of the chain ones, find the ones further out from the centre, the serving people will be better, know more and have better prices.