Amsterdam Encounter Makes Good Holiday Guide

Guidebook for Vacations in Dutch city of Canals, Bikes and Rembrandt

Feb 15, 2009

The latest Amsterdam travel guide is Lonely Planet's Encounter Amsterdam book, with locals recommending restaurants, bars, and bicycle rides for Amsterdam holidays.

Anyone who has taken a holiday in Amsterdam either loves it or... loves it. It's a city with a character all its own, and never fails to work its magic on visitors. With its architecture, canals, laid-back attitude, and major attractions like the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House, there is nowhere in the world quite like it. To capture its many charms in a pocket-sized guide of just 192 pages isn't easy, but Lonely Planet's Encounter Amsterdam guide manages to do it.

The Author

Encounter Amsterdam is written by Zora O'Neill, who first visited the city when she had just left college, and got a job in a café, next to what is now the home of Boom Chicago. Though she now lives in Astoria, Queens, she visits Amsterdam every year and has friends, in-laws and even her own bike there.

Let Amsterdam Locals Be the Traveler's Guide

One of the distinctive aspects of Lonely Planet's Encounter series is that they include advice from several locals. Amsterdam is a city that's never short of quirky and interesting characters, and in this title the local advice comes from:

It's a clever and eclectic choice of people to give travelers an insider look at this always-surprising city. They're all very Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Hotels

One thing not found in any of the Encounter series is a detailed listing of hotels. It's the one thing the guides sacrifice, which is no great hardship for the many people whose Amsterdam holiday will automatically include a hotel. Those who enjoy trawling the internet and researching and booking their own hotel online won't mind either. But anyone needing a guidebook to guide them to some places to stay should look elsewhere. All that this guide includes is a short 2-page overview, and a handful of recommendations in four categories, including Top Five Canal Views and Top Five Design Hotels.

By skimping on the hotels, more room is available for coverage of restaurants, bars, shops, and the main attractions. The descriptions, like the book itself, are pocket-sized, but they're lively and focussed and definitely give a good feel for the places.

Amsterdam's Top Ten Attractions

Ten of Amsterdam's visitor attractions are given more space at the front of the book, and these include the city's real highlights including the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank's House, and the Red Light District. Other attractions are more general in nature – Dutch Design, Canals, Bicycles. No arguments there.

The Bottom Line

It's hard to come up with a guidebook series that's different, and while the Encounter guides have everything all the other guides have, they do present it in a livelier and more compact way, without skimping on any of the essentials. At this price no-one can go wrong if looking for a guidebook for that Amsterdam holiday

Practical Information

Amsterdam Encounter is published by Lonely Planet at £6.99 in the UK and $11.99 in the USA.

The copyright of the article Amsterdam Encounter Makes Good Holiday Guide in Netherlands Travel is owned by Mike Gerrard. Permission to republish Amsterdam Encounter Makes Good Holiday Guide in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.