Used the I Amsterdam card to make a reservation for 50% off a Half Day Trip to Zaanse Schans…read moreWindmills and Walking Tour ticket. Just 19.50 euros for 2. Bus pick up is at the This is Holland stop. So easy to use the ticket for a half-day guided tour to Zaanse Schans. Loved the picturesque village that just oozes the essence of The Netherlands. Follow the paths to enjoy windmills, traditional craftsmanship, and timeless architecture. Nice to learn more about and sample Dutch cheese, watch clog making, and soak in the peaceful countryside filled with historic windmills. The blue sky and reflections of the windmills against the crystal blue water was just magical. Use the WhatsApp messaging to learn more along the self-guided tour (which we didn't follow that closely). Used the I Amsterdam Card to enter the museums and attractions during our visit. The two hours at Zaanse Schans just flew by. In the future, I would probably just take the bus to Zaanse Schans, but the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour was very good for our first visit.

Rip off. We started the "tour" with no audio. My wife and I, and most of the others, stayed on the…read morebus through stop six, and then just bailed. No explanation for the lack of audio, no apologies, no nothing.I walked into one of their tour locations and informed the guy of the issue, thinking he would offer some sort of concession. If I didn't like it, too bad, complain to corporate. Later, we needed a ride back to the Centraal station, so since we had paid for this, we decided to use if for transportation. We rode from stop seven to the beginning of the route. This time there was audio. Very nice. However, when we arrived at the port, it was 5:00 pm....closing time. Get off we were told. That was the last trip of the day. Well, I paid for 24 hours. When I paid, I looked at all the literature for hours of operation...not on their paperwork...purposefully I would suppose. We got booted. Basically paid $29 euro each for an Uber around the city. Horrible experience. Worse, our hotel concierge strongly discouraged us from taking this excursion, and we didn't heed his advice. So heed mine. Stay away.

This was a good tour that started rather inauspiciously as our small group was blocked twice from…read moreentering the Red Light District due to a heavy police presence and an on-site uniformed forensics team collecting physical evidence. It turned out that a working prostitute was stabbed to death by a customer while inside her window space just a matter of minutes before our group arrived. On a third try geographically farther down we successfully entered Amsterdam's main Red Light District. Different than Hamburg, where women are not allowed inside the city's designated Red Light District, here men and women are permitted to congregate together, and bars and restaurants abound in addition to sex shops, live shows, and working girls standing in windows along narrow alleyways off main streets. The women showing themselves to potential customers were by and large tall and quite attractive. Except for the presence of the human window displays, a passerby might think he or she was just in any other fun area of a major metropolitan city. Tour guide Kimberly provided interesting facts and historical commentary about the district as Diane, I, and the rest of our group walked several blocks as sightseers. The atmosphere on the streets was convivial, as several loud bar goers could be seen and heard imbibing beer and other alcoholic beverages just inside the front of several taverns dotting a main street. Both tourists and locals were in abundance in the early evening when our 90-minute tour unfolded. It ended with an included drink at a local bar/restaurant just outside the Red Light District. From what we were told, this type of tour inside the district may soon be legislated out of existence by local lawmakers, and strong political interests are seeking to push the prostitutes out of this special zone altogether. The recent murder of a professional prostitute here in plain daylight will likely provide additional fodder for the critics who argue that prostitution is inherently dangerous, and should not be legally protected or allowed in a special authorized geographical zone. So, if such a tour as this is of interest, it should be booked very soon.

This was a great tour. It was hilarious and informative…read more It was best way to be a tourist incognito. And the best way to see the city at night with a local as your guide. Kim (the fantastic tour guide) takes you all around the city and shows you where to find the good coffeeshops, smartshops, bars, sex shops, live sex shows, hookers and anything else you'd like to spend your money on. Kim was friendly, funny and answered ANY questions we had. The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was €12.50. We went on the 10pm tour on a Saturday night and really had a good time. So thank you Kim, I'm an Amsterdam hooker specialist now thanks to you.

Great tour with Shaun. Fun, knowledgeable and took us to places we never would have thought to go…read more Great tour, great price!

So there we were, in Amsterdam chatting with other folks from the hotel. They spoke about food tour…read moreand we've done them before as well so we decide to delve in. After a bunch of research we decide on hungry birds, and it was a good decision. Our guide for the tour was Anne, as you proved to be a little ball of positive energy that was totally appreciated. She handled controversial issues well, and introduced us to many of the tastes of the market. We tasted everything from fresh Herring to smoke deal to sought after, cookies and we seem to have a back door, no line access to everything. If you'd like to stop reading now is a good point but know that we are big fans of Angry Birds We met at the designated location, introduced ourselves to the other people on the tour and then Anne showed up. She arrived bearing cookies, and my wife and I had actively sought out these cookies just the day before as we had seen them on Instagram. We waited for 15 minutes in line to buy our Van Stapele cookies and here she was showing up with a fresh batch to share with us to get the party started. It was a great start. We then moved onto multiple quality tastes. My wife, ever the brave soul, volunteered to taste the whole fresh Herring that was offered to her, served in the traditional fashion of the seasonal run of the fresh Herring. So it arrived on a plate with onions and pickles, and Leah was taught how to hold the Herring by picking it up from its tail, adding the onions and the pickles and then taking a bite. Mind you the fish had been deboned and cleaned, but it looked every bit of a fish without the head. I volunteered to try a couple of bites as well and enjoyed it. This was at the Volendammer Vishandel, and there was no doubt about the fish being fresh as the place was very busy I don't want to go on and on and ruin your trip to the food tour and so I'll stop here but the combination of the energetic tour guide and the unique stories told made it a very quick four hour tour that I would encourage my friends to take.

I can't say enough good things about this tour. From the start Esther made a point to connect to…read moreeach person and check in throughout the tour to see how we were doing. It was a family adventure with our kids and my mom, 80yo, and everyone had a great time. The food was amazing but made better as we learned about the history and influences in the neighborhood and country.

This was an excellent tour. The best of all of my experiences in Amsterdam. The owner, Bart, saved…read moremy life! I could not find a meeting address through the site that I purchased my ticket on so I stupidly went to the tour address- which was actually his home address. I could have met with the group only 2 miles away from my hotel. Bart came to pick me up as I was now only 10 minutes away from the tour office. He brought me safely to the bus meetup spot. Completely my mistake and I am eternally grateful for the help he provided to me. Beyond that our guide, Maria, was amazing! She was friendly, warm, thoughtful. knowledgeable and professional. She thought of everything. She even got a picture of the group together. She gave the tour wearing her own pair of clogs. She knew the history and purpose of every windmill. She gave helpful suggestions. She was patient with all of us. I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone. I would go in it again if I ever return to Amsterdam.

While in Amsterdam, my family of 4 booked a Zaanse Schans Small-Group Half-Day Tour. The group met…read moreat a local coffee shop. Our guide and driver were very friendly and had such great senses of humor! The guide was knowledgeable of the history of the area and showed us many points of interest. During the tour I felt safe- she reminded us to drink plenty of water and to mind our personal belongings. The reason for only 4 stars: the driver smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke which took away from the experience a bit for me. I would highly recommend Zaan Tours.