Ah Amsterdam. This beautiful city really did steal my heart a little bit. From the canals to the fairy lights, the city really does feel a little magical.
As students, holidays come with a tight budget, something my friend and I experienced for the first time in Sweden a couple of years ago (you can read about that here). On that trip, we discovered two things: £250 is a great budget, and 3 days is the perfect length of time to explore a city. Having flitted between many places in Europe we finally settled on Amsterdam. With the challenge of replicating our successful holiday-on-budget blueprint, we travelled to The Netherlands for 3 days in the second week of January 2019, to escape our responsibilities before our final term of university started.
The best bit?
In this 3-part blog series I hope to give you an insight into what we got up to, so you too can travel to Amsterdam whilst on a budget, covering everything from travel and accommodation, to food and activities. In this, the second part of the series, I'm talking about cheap eats, not-so-cheap-but-worth-it dining experiences.The best bit?
We only spent £200!
Food
Day 1
Amsterdam appealed because it catered so well to our dietary requirements – believe me, trying to find dairy-free, veggie food is no easy feat. On the first night we splurged a bit and tried Indonesian food, something The Netherlands are known for. We went to Indrapura which sold Rice Plates, a selection of small courses to share which seems to be something that originated in The Netherlands, rather than being an Indonesian import. For £20 each it was a bit pricy, but hey, it was great food. Whilst 20 plates may sound like a lot, because we had the vegetarian option the food was lighter, and believe me when I say the plates were smaaaaalllllll! Believe it or not, I considered desert XD The best part though? My discovery of deep fried bananas. They taste like Churros and are the most beautiful thing I have ever eaten (no exaggeration). Turns out you can get them in Chinese restaurants in the UK, so you can guess what I’ll be ordering next time I get take-out hehe. One question I do have though: why all the peanut butter? Like I can stand peanut butter, but on nearly every dish?! Let’s just say, if you have a peanut allergy, I’d avoid Indonesian food…
Day 2
For lunch we had Indian at 29 Spices where you can 'build your own curry.' The food was so good, if a little too spicy for me and my can't-even-take-lemon-and-herb-at-Nando's palette.
For our second dinner, we discovered The Vegan Junk Food Bar. Oh my gosh this was, again, so so good! I keep dreaming about it every time I remember it's existence 🙈 They serve a limited range of food, mostly different types of vegan burgers, but it tasted so good! And for those of you who hate finger food, like myself, despite serving fast food, they do give you cutlery (I panicked so you don't have to 😉 ) .
Day 3
On the final day, despite staying up until 1am looking for somewhere affordable to eat in the Museum district that suited our needs, we ended up eating at the Van Gogh museum café. Whilst it was very fancy (they had wine dispensers), there were some more affordable options, such as soup, and the food was good.
The best food we had that day, however, was a huge Stroopwafel from a stand at a market called The Original Stroopwafel. The man makes them as you order (they only take a few seconds) and will dip them in chocolate should you wish. The best bit? They only cost between €1.50-€2 (£1.31-£1.75). And for those of you thinking 'But I thought you were on a dairy free diet?!': dairy pills were made for moments like this 😉
For our evening meal, we simply grabbed food at Starbucks at the fancy, if disappointing-on-food-options, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol before flying home.
Day 3
On the final day, despite staying up until 1am looking for somewhere affordable to eat in the Museum district that suited our needs, we ended up eating at the Van Gogh museum café. Whilst it was very fancy (they had wine dispensers), there were some more affordable options, such as soup, and the food was good.
The best food we had that day, however, was a huge Stroopwafel from a stand at a market called The Original Stroopwafel. The man makes them as you order (they only take a few seconds) and will dip them in chocolate should you wish. The best bit? They only cost between €1.50-€2 (£1.31-£1.75). And for those of you thinking 'But I thought you were on a dairy free diet?!': dairy pills were made for moments like this 😉
For our evening meal, we simply grabbed food at Starbucks at the fancy, if disappointing-on-food-options, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol before flying home.
Cost Breakdown:
Flying out airport Starbucks: £4.75 / €5.42Indrapura: £17.53/€20
29 Spices: £7.45/€8.50
Vegan Junk Food Bar: £12.44/€14.20
Van Gogh Café: ≈ £7.01/€8
Original Stroopwafel: £1.75/€2
Leaving airport Starbucks: £7.76/€8.85
Total spent on food: €66.97/£58.65
Stay tuned for the final part of my Amsterdam-on-a-budget series. Once all three have been uploaded, I will post links to the other two parts below:
Travel and Accommodation
Activities
Have you been to Amsterdam? What were your favourite food spots?
June xx
Planning a budget holiday in the future? Save me on your travel inspo Pinterest Board for later!
Planning a budget holiday in the future? Save me on your travel inspo Pinterest Board for later!
