FAQ Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands. It’s in the province of North-Holland. Amsterdam is the largest city of North-Holland. The Netherlands is bordered in the East by Germany and in the South by Belgium. Also the North Sea covers most of the borders of the country.

The official language of the Netherlands is Dutch. Dutch is spoken in Amsterdam but due to the city being a popular tourist destination, English is also spoken, among other languages like German, Italian, Spanish, French etc.

In 2018, the population of Amsterdam was estimated around 863,202 people within the city borders, 1,336,383 in the urban area of Amsterdam, and 2,431,000 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area.

The IATA Code for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is AMS. The ICAO Code is EHAM. Schiphol is only 9 kilometres Southwest of Amsterdam. For a long time, Schiphol was one of the biggest airports in the entire world. Nowadays it’s still a small city, but it doesn’t belong in the list of biggest airports in the world anymore. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the main airport of the country.

It all started with people settling around the famous River Amstel. Like most of the city, Amsterdam grew around a river, where the natives, mostly fishermen built a dam in the Amstel. However, this is not how Amsterdam received her famous name. It actually was named after thdykeke that was built years before the dam was built.

Yes, tap water in Amsterdam and in other parts of the Netherlands is perfectly safe to drink.

It’s hard to tell the exact amount of bicycles that are in Amsterdam. According to the local authorities, there are around 881.000 bikes in Amsterdam. This means that there are more bikes in the city than people.

The housing market in Amsterdam is extremely competitive. Don’t think you’re not doing things right. It is common knowledge that finding (affordable) housing within the city borders and beyond is very difficult, even for locals. Therefore, we warn everyone to be cautious of scammers abusing this situation. Never pay money upfront, before seeing the house, paperwork and owner. Please note; that ThingstodoinAmsterdam.com can not help you in any way, we’re not into real estate, nor have connections. That said, we can recommend you to have a look at the following housing websites;

• Funda.nl; is the biggest real-estate website in the Netherlands for both rental and sale.

Yes, it is allowed to buy and smoke marijuana for adults 18 years and over. You can buy it at the so-called coffeeshops. Ask for advice at the counter, if you want to buy weed, because the weed and hashish are twice as strong compared than other countries. For more info check out the entire page of Amsterdam coffeeshops.

Amsterdam is home to 165 canals. If you combine all these canals they would have a total length of 100 kilometres. That is about 60 miles in total.

King’s Day is the replacement of Queens Day.

Since April 30, 2013, King Willem- Alexander ascended the Dutch throne after his mother Queen Beatrix abdicated. King’s Day is on April 27 and is the birthday of the King. It is a day when the entire country celebrates this with the Oranje family. It is also a national holiday. On King’s Day, locals wear orange clothing, there are also street sales/flea markets, boat parties on the canals and outdoor parties all over the country.

Since 2000, the ban on brothels was lifted. With this policy, Amsterdam became responsible for its own prostitution policy.

Prostitution is legal, but the rules are strict. Which means that it has to take place in a transparant and legal way. Things like abuse of women, money laundering and human trafficking are completely illegal.

Furthermore, the minimum age for a prostitute starts at 21. And the minimum age to visit a prostitute or sex worker is 18. For more info take a look at the page about the red light district in Amsterdam.

Tourist info can easily be gotten in the Amsterdam Central Station or in the I Amsterdam Store just outside the station, close to the Loetje Restaurant.