Spring in Amsterdam
June is a great season to travel to Amsterdam. The Sakai conference will be a wonderful experience and city is busy with live during the day and night. Just to give all the Sakai friends some pointers to prepare your trip to our city I made up a small list of interesting websites:
General Information and getting around
The general website of the City of Amsterdam for its foreign visitors http://www.iamsterdam.com/
The touristoffice has a great websitehttp://www.amsterdamtourist.nl/ on which one can find good restaurants, events and things to do in the city.
The Iamsterdam card is your key to the city, it provides a huges list of benefits and discounts, more information on their website
Facts, figures and other things to know about the city: Facts & Figures
Wikitravel, the wiki for travellers has a great entry on Amsterdam, http://wikitravel.org/en/Amsterdam.
And you are invited to improve and update the information on Amsterdam
Google map with Sakai venue:
Hotel accommodation
A nice website to look for hotel accommodation is the easybook website, http://www.easytobook.com/
The website offers a fair selection of hotels with reviews and ratings.
Travel & public transport
Some info on how to get to the city of Amsterdam, Transport information
The website of the GVB offers all you need to know on using the public transport system in the city. Amsterdam has an extensive public transport network using busses, trams and metro. The website includes different maps of the transport system http://www.gvb.nl/english/travellers/touristguide/index.html
Cycling in around Amsterdam
Just a few links to help our cycling friends start going
Bike rentals
A list of bike rental shops in the city
Cycle routes
http://www.fietsen.123.nl/cycle%20routes%20netherlands.htm
Information on cycling around "de holandse waterlinie"
http://www.hollandsewaterlinie.nl/index.asp?id=134
Theatre & Music
The website of the Holland Festival, a high quality cultural festival during May and June.
Some the events will take place in the theatre ( Muziekgebouw aan het Ij) which is next door the conference venue
http://www.hollandfestival.nl/#festival/pagina/128
Also next door is one a well know jazz club, Bimhuis http://www.bimhuis.nl/info.php?lang=en
The last minute ticket shop is the place to try to a ticket for all kinds of concerts and theatre performances in the city http://www.lastminuteticketshop.nl/main.cfm?country=en
Museums near the conference venue
If you just want to escape the conference for a moment the well know stedelijk museum, modern art, is just around corner http://www.stedelijk.nl/ or a stone throw away is the Science center NEMO, the biggest science center in The Netherlands. http://www.e-nemo.nl/
