I love exploring London but one perk (of many) about being here is access to travel around the continent. Before coming to London everyone told me that traveling around Europe would be cheap and easy. I was thrilled because who wouldn’t want to be able to travel around the continent at an affordable cost? I am here to tell you that that their emphatic claims are only partially accurate. Yes, Europe has an extensive transportation system that allows you to get to travel between cities and from one country to the next, but it is not always necessarily cheap. If it is, more often than not you are paying the price of what economists like to call, an opportunity cost.
Take me, for example. I am a University student studying abroad in a relatively expensive city. That said, I am on a budget like so many of my other peers. We are trying to explore as much as possible at rates we can afford. This is a difficult task because you have to consider, not only the cost of transportation, but also the costs of accommodations, food, events and activities, and any other purchases in the country. With all that said, I will tell you about my semi-affordable trip to Amsterdam.
Everyone I had spoken to who had previously studied abroad in London suggested I utilize the bus as a resource to get from one country to the next, so that is exactly what I did. I rode and 11-hour bus from London to Amsterdam and let me tell you; it was not a simple task. After 11 hours of sitting on the bus, going through customs twice, riding the ferry and then hopping on the bus again, I reached the beautiful city of Amsterdam at dawn. I was immediately greeted with frigid air but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the sunrise after my gruesome overnight trip to get here.
The first thing I noticed, besides the freezing cold February whether, were the bikes. Literally, there were bikes everywhere! I found it fascinating to watch cars and bike-riders effortlessly navigate sharing the road, more so than any other city I’ve been in. I was eager to join in on the chaotic order of the roads and ride a bike around the city. I am happy to report I only disrupted the order by crashing into another bike once. In my defense, the direction of the road was unclear. Anyway, it really is easiest to get around using a bike, especially for central Amsterdam.
One thing that did come as a shock to me were the restroom fees. I’ve never had to pay to use the restroom before in public areas like a train station, so tip of the day: make sure you have coins at all times in the city. It was amazing exploring as much of the city as possible in a few days. The coffee shops were great places to socialize, the Dutch chocolate is definitely worth the hype, and the stroopwafels are quite addicting.
Amsterdam is magnificent architecturally. The canals along the city create a picturesque scene, making bike journey worthwhile. My hotel was right outside of the city which surprisingly gets rural pretty quickly. It was nice to see the contrast, but if you do decide to stay or explore outside the city, make sure google maps knows you don’t want to ride your bike through a dark forest at night to get to your hotel!
ZJ Abroad 