Smoking + Eating in Amsterdam And Saving BIG MONEY!

If you've just arrived in Amsterdam, chances are you'll walk straight into the nearest coffee shop looking for your first Amsterdam smoke, but I urge you to stay away from the touristy area's. I've lived in Amsterdam in the past and for the same weight/size, a bag of less potent weed will cost you far more on the Warmoesstraat (e.g - Shebba) than it will 15 minutes walk away.

The Red Light District is full of these little rip off's eying up the tourists as much as the girls for sale are.

Instead, to avoid giving the seller the satisfaction, jump on the #5 tram which is a 5 minute walk away from the Red Light District and go to Leidseplein. The 2 best coffee-shops are located here, The Rockery and The Dampkring, where Ocean's 12 was filmed. Trust me, when you look at the choices and dept of the menu's on offer here, you'll wonder why you've spent double on a lesser smoke in the RLD. And I'm not talking about a 10 mile hike deep into the unknown here either, the journey takes literally 10 minutes with the walk to the tram included.

In Leidseplein, not only have you come for the coffee-shops, but this square is also a nightlife hub. Unfortunately, most of the places that will tempt you in are for tourists but you can find hangouts which the locals attend such as Paradiso and The Sugar Factory. Many visitors are drawn to Escape Nightclub and why not if you're fashionable and have money to burn. I'd skip it myself as big lights and a titantron outside aren't enough to tempt me to empty my pockets in an hour.

In Leidseplein, during the day, you are basically a 5 minute walk from the Museum District if you're looking to spend time here. And while here also, check out a small restaurant called 5 Euro Pizza. For the traveler on a budget, these places are very handy. You get a large pizza which is more than enough to keep you going until evening for 5 Euro. Leidseplein comes to life at night though, it's a cool place with it's street performers, musicians and generally drunk people everywhere.

So, my advice to those going to Amsterdam is to only visit the Red Light District and to not base yourself there in a hotel/hostel whatever it may be, because the novelty wears off pretty quickly, but for what it is, it warrants a trip, just don't buy your weed there, don't eat there (because most places are dirty off the beaten track), don't purchase anything from street dealers (it's not real). The one good point it may have is a number of small student bars on the Warmoesstraat where you can find a quick cheap beer for less than 3 Euro as opposed to the 5 Euro they'll charge you in some of the more touristy places.