Hands down, my favourite part of Amsterdam was the Noord.
Our amazing hostel, ClinkNOORD was just across the river IJ from Amsterdam Centraal, so even though it was technically in the Noord we hopped on a ferry every morning down to the centre of Amsterdam. It wasn’t until our last day in Amsterdam that we decided to explore the Noord properly and we got a ferry from Amsterdam Centraal to NDSM Werf, which was slightly longer then the ferry to ClinkNOORD and less frequent, but still free!
On your way to NDSM Werf on the ferry, you will eventually pass the mighty Botel bobbing along, anchored along the edge of the river. Botel is a boat-hotel in Amsterdam, with massive red letters on it’s top housing rooms you can actually stay in which must have the most incredible views! I do fancy a night there next time we stay in the ‘dam.
There’s an incredible atmosphere to this area of Amsterdam, bursting with street art, a cultural cafe and a fun second hand market. We wandered around some amazing shipping containers painted edge to edge with vibrant colours and bold emblems, unsuspecting bollards and old boats covered with signs of love and fun graffiti.
There was something invisible, pulling us towards Noorderlicht Cafe as the sun was shining and both locals & tourists were pouring out of the beautiful greenhouse building to sit on the grass with their beer. We settled into a spot and watched the bunting flags blow in the breeze coming off the river. It was one of the most perfect moments in my life, akin to looking out over Central Park from the Top of the Rock in New York or standing on the Golden Jubilee Bridge at night watching the neon London lights.
Wandering around the old shipping yard, we ventured towards a quieter area with an opening into an old warehouse – were we allowed inside? Sheepishly, we ventured into the building with artwork dripping from every corner. As the warehouse opened out there was an old piano, painted white, sitting there waiting to be played by a multicoloured arrow display. Huge letters spelling out NOORD sat at the far side of the container where giant billboards hung from the ceiling. Thank God we took the chance to venture in or I might have missed out on seeing the best street art in Amsterdam!
Then what was that? There’s an actual artist, way up by the roof painting the most stunning piece of artwork with what appeared to be a spray can. I was frozen in awe. We watched the guy creating something bigger and more brilliant than I ever hope to in my lifetime before wandering back down the other side of what we later found out was Art City/Kunststad.
Back outside we looped back round through the car park and down the side of the warehouse where the best street art in Amsterdam was paraded at the side of the road. Getting so up close to the work so you could see how each individual brick was coloured was incredible and I took so many pictures that both my phone and camera ran out of space!
As we queued up to get the ferry back I thought about our day in the Noord and our time in Amsterdam and it really was the most inspiring trip for me – I was absolutely full the brim. It delights me so much that Amsterdam is just an hour flight away, when usually the places I fall in love with while travelling seem so unobtainable.
Loves x xx
