Best Things in Amsterdam for Free: Day 3

With striking architecture, serene locations and glorious sunshine, day three in Amsterdam has shaped up to be the best so far. Today I explored the less tourist-busy north-western parts along the beautiful river, which proved to be home to some real gems, unlike the Diamont Centre yesterday.

The best bits:

Why pay for an over-priced, super touristy canal boat trip when you can rub shoulders with all the locals on a FREE ferry ride from Centraal Station. They provide a frequent service across the river to the north, providing fantastic views of the banks. 

So calm and peaceful in the morning

The EYE Film Institute is a striking building, with a geometric counter-weighted modern design that appears to glide above the water. There is also a decent FREE permanent exhibit in the basement with interactive activities and pods to watch a huge collection of movies. Even if you have little interest in films, the architecture is wonderful and the in-house restaurant provides some of the best views of Amsterdam.

EYE: Beautiful architecture and a fantastic free exhibition

Continuing on the theme of FREE things to do in Amsterdam, the next place exceeded all expectations. Possibly one of the best libraries in the world, the Openbare Bibliotheek contains 5 floors of well-designed modern space for books, CDs and magazines with plenty of cushy seating, which proved heavenly after a long day of walking.

Check out this funky light installation at the library!

 The NEMO science center was another a pleasant surprise! Since this exhibit is popular with a younger audience, I was worried that it would be too childish. However it was still enjoyable as there was a multitude of hands-on activities to see the science in action. The best part was there was a FREE Dance Dance Revolution machine that I was guilty of spending half an hour hogging. There is also a FREE terrace roof-top to the building which also provides fantastic views of the city - a perfect place to sunbathe or eat your lunch.

Some views from the terrace on NEMO

The not so good bits:
The Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum) was no where near as boring as I expected since I have little interest in old ships. It was a very modern exhibit for an museum on naval history with quite a spectacular glass roof to the main building. Quite a lot of the exhibit were interactive displays instead of real artefacts - the merchant ship situated outside is a replica. I was only there for 1 hour so the not so good part of my day was that I didn't get to see part of the museum.

The replica merchant ship

Fancy glass ceiling

 

The worst bits:
I also visited ARCAM, the Amsterdam Architecture Centre which I expected to house some sort of exhibit but it was just a very small building where people work and meetings are held.

I only have one day left Amsterdam so let's see what adventures tomorrow brings. Here are some snaps from today!

Rebecca

Centraal Station

Royal Palace from the back