GO AMSTERDAM
BY METTE LOMHOLDT
Amsterdam is laid-back and hectic, hippie-ish and refined, designer trendy and totally grungy. In other words, Amsterdam is super cool.OH - NO GO!
Forget about the ”red light district”. It’s vulgar and misogynist.
GO AREAS
Amsterdam is a perfect city for wandering aimlessly around. The canals (grachten) are the city’s indisputable trademarks, and it is no exaggeration to call Amsterdam the Venice of Northern Europe. Along the canals in the older part of town, you’ll find many traditional Dutch bars (bruine kroegen), nice cafés, terraces and small restaurants.
Amsterdam is also famous for its many bicycles. You will see bikes all over the place. Bikes attached to bridges, schoolgirls on bikes, hippies with milk cases on the bike, young guys with their girlfriends on the back of the bike and businessmen wearing suits and biking helmets.
De Pijp
Amsterdam’s answer to Notting Hill. The area has evolved around the city’s well-attended market on Albert Cuypstraat. Multicultural, young and a very cozy atmosphere with lots of nice ethnic restaurants.
”De 9 Straatjes”
In the center of Amsterdam, squeezed in between the city’s three principal canals Prinsengracht, Keizergracht and Herengracht, you will find “de 9 Straatjes” (the nine streets), which is a pure haven for shopping.
Jordaan
Amsterdam’s former working class habitations are today overtaken by the thirty-somethings: Artists and shop owners who loathe chain shops in particular and Americanization in general. A little village within Amsterdam. Many locals and not too many tourists yet.
Havens Oost
A new neighborhood, which is cropping up in the old port area east of the center. On a sunny day, there is no place better than the KNSM island, which regroups all the best things Amsterdam has to offer: Houseboats, new architecture, plants, funky cafés and designer stores. An area that unsurprisingly attracts many young families.
Oud Zuid
A bright and green area in the center of Amsterdam with broad boulevards from the 19th century that give you the impression of grandeur, light and air.
Northern Harbor Area
The Northern Harbor Area is completely renovated and definitely worth visiting if you’re interested in modern architecture and city planning.
GO SEE & DO
Sail on the Canals
Sure it’s touristy, but it’s also a pretty cool and comfortable way to form a general impression of the city. You should go on at least one trip on the canals.
The sightseeing boats leave regularly from the Central Station, Damrak and the Rijks Museum. The guided tours last about 45 minutes.
A great alternative is the canal bus with its 14 stops close to museums and shopping areas. To go on the bus you need to buy a hop-on-and-off ticket.
You can also try one of the museum boats that sail between the city’s museums. Buy a day pass, which also grants you a discount to a series of restaurants, shops, museums and other monuments.
The Bag Museum
Spend some of your time in Amsterdam visiting the handbag heaven!
You will get a different kind of museum experience if you pay a visit to the new and beautiful handbag museum in the middle of town. A museum that probably primarily appeals to women.
Are you crazy about bags? And do you have the energy to have a close look at 3.500 of them? Then the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje is an incredible place. A must-see for designers and all of us who are in love with that kind of stuff. Aside from bags, the museum also exhibits purses and suitcases from the Middle Ages and up until today. Needless to say, Gucci, Fendi and Chanel are firmly represented. The only big problem is that you can’t bring the bags home with you.
But in the museum’s shop you can buy bags made by young Dutch designers. The museum also has a good café with a wonderful blooming courtyard.
Tassenmuseum Hendrikje
Herengracht 573
Van Gogh Museum
The city’s great museums are located side by side on the Museumplein. Here you will find the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum and the Van Gogh Museum among others.
The location itself is worth visiting. A huge green area with lots of benches, biking lanes and even a skating slope. On a sunny day the lawns get crowded.
If you are in Amsterdam, you must visit the Van Gogh Museum. The building is an experience in itself – particularly the huge gray metal addition from 1999, designed by the Japanese architect, Kisho Kurokawa.
The museum has changing exhibitions. Until the end of January 2008 there is a great exhibit focusing on the time Van Gogh spent in Barcelona. You have to see the permanent collection as well. It contains 200 paintings, 500 sketches and 700 letters by Van Gogh, as well as paintings by his post-impressionist French colleagues, like Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet.
The Van Gogh Museum has a great museum shop with a huge selection. Posters are wrapped carefully, so you can bring them back on you flight without worries.
Van Gogh Museum, Paulus Potterstraat 7-11
Albert Cuyp – Markt de Pijp
Amsterdam has lots of wonderful markets. If you only visit one of them, we recommend the popular Albert Cuyp Market.
It consists of one long street with stalls as far as you can see. You can find anything your heart desires of fresh provisions, spices, fruit, meat and fish that are delicately presented on dripping ice. You will also find stacks of socks, cheap make-up, bed linen, furniture, flowers, underwear, pets as well as one stall with more than a hundred different kinds of pickles!
The atmosphere is particularly great on Saturdays, but the Albert Cuyp Market is so crowded on that day of the week that you shouldn’t count on making a great vintage bargain.
The Alber Cuyp is located in the latin quarter ”De Pijp”, and is open from 9.30 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday. Trams number 4, 16, 24 and 25 that leave from the Central Station stop there.
The Albert Cuyp Market is just one among several interesting markets in Amsterdam. (See ”Go Shop”)
Vodelpark
Vodelpark is Amsterdam’s equivalent to New York’s Central Park. It is lovely to stroll around the park on a sunny day and enjoy a drink in “Het Blauwe Theehuis”, which is situated in the middle of the park.
Coffee shops
Whether you smoke pot or not, you should experience a coffee shop when you’re in Amsterdam.
Rules first: Marijuana is not fully legal in the Netherlands, but it is tolerated in small amounts. Coffee shops, which is what Marijuana cafés are called, are allowed to sell up to four grams per client. But you have to be over 18 years old to enjoy the goods.
There are lots of different kinds of coffee shops – fancy designer spots as well as grungy and dingy hideaways.
Dampkring
You can walk in the footsteps of Brad Pitt and pay a visit to classical Dampkring, which was used as a location in the movie “Ocean's Twelve”. Dampkring is located close to the University of Amsterdam. A hallucinating place – even if you haven’t smoked anything.
Handboogstraat 29
Siberië
From the outside, Siberië looks like an ordinary beautiful café in Amsterdam. If you show up on the right night, DJ’s mix and you can have your horoscope made while smoking a joint.
Brouwersgracht 11
Grey Area
If you’re a feinsmecker, you should go to Grey Area, which has won “The Cannabis Cup” several times.
Oude Leliestraat
Tunfun
While mom and dad are getting high in a coffee shop, the kids can entertain themselves in TunFun, which is a huge indoors playground of 30 000 square feet.
Open 10am – 6pm.
Tunfun, Mr. Visserplein 7
GO EAT
If you plan to stay for a while in Amsterdam, count on gaining a pants size or two! You eat well in Amsterdam – very well indeed! The multi ethnic history of the Netherlands has left its wonderful mark on the culinary scene in Amsterdam. So you can enjoy Dutch pancakes for breakfast, Peruvian potato dishes for lunch and Spanish tapas for dinner.
Rijsttafel, inspired by the Dutch colonialism in Indonesia, is still a classic in the Dutch kitchen. Rijsttafel consists of a multitude of small dishes of seasoned meat, vegetables prepared in different ways, noodles and of course lots of “rijst” (rice).
Dinner is the most important meal for the Dutch. For lunch, they grab a soup, a sandwich or a salad – often with a glass of milk. The Dutch have a big affection for French fries and waffles, which are sold from stalls all over town.
There are lots of wonderful places to eat in Amsterdam. Here are some that won’t disappoint:
Supperclub
A hallucinating place that has existed in Amsterdam for many years and has since expanded to Rome, San Francisco and lately Istanbul. After taking your shoes off, you are seated in huge couches in psychedelic surroundings; everything is white and only white. You will sit with the hostess of the evening, while your waiters are leading you through a very unusual restaurant experience.
A female DJ pumps up the atmosphere as the evening moves on and food is served on the low fiberglass tables in the all white furnishing.
Between the courses, a masseur offers a low-cost massage and a drag with too much make-up “forces” the male guests to feed him whipped cream from a dog plate!
The food at Supperclub is not extraordinary – so only go here for an unusual dining experience and a supreme start to a festive night.
The fixed menu is 65 euros.
Reservation is a must.
Supperclub
Jonge Roelensteeg 21, Center city
De Kas
De Kas is literally situated in the middle of a vegetable garden inside a huge hothouse in a park on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Under the high glass ceiling, you will sit and enjoy the view over the greens and the chefs working in the open kitchen. There is only one fixed menu and there is a good reason for that: De Kas uses organic products from its own garden and from its regular meat supplier. This limits the selection, but not the taste; because … what a menu!
A four-course menu costs 47,50 euros and consists of a selection of small appetizers, a main course and a dessert. We had corncobs with vanilla butter, filet of veal and a lovely salad.
If you really want to observe the work of the chef, reserve “the exclusive chef's table” in the kitchen. You will sit right next to the action and get special courses served. That experience costs 125 Euros including wine.
At lunch, De Kas serves a four-course menu, which costs 35 Euros. If you don’t have an appetite for all that, you can order à la carte.
Tram number 9 goes straight to De Kas (stop at Hogeweg). Or take a local bus, 59 and 69, or a regional bus, 169.
De Kas
Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3
Tempo Doeloe
Tempo Doeloe means “the old days” – and the restaurant serves classical Indonesian food. Including rijsttafel, which is a selection of small delicious seasoned dishes, such as gado gado salad (fresh vegetables in peanut sauce); sateh-skewers (chicken, pork or goat), beef with coconut and coriander and lobster in black bean sauce.
If you don’t care for spicy food, there is no reason to avoid Tempo Doeloe. All dishes on the menu are categorized from mild to extra hot.
Tempo Doeloe
Utrechtsestraat 75, Southern Canal Belt
Fifteen
Fifteen is created from the Jamie Oliver recipe: Giving the young and disenfranchised a chance to create and manage a restaurant. At Fifteen, they have succeeded perfectly. Some of the toughest kids have been trained into becoming great chefs.
Fifteen resides in Pakhuis Amsterdam. The restaurant holds over 200 people, who are seated on benches at long light wooden tables. Aside from the food, the patrons can admire the graffiti paintings on the walls.
Even though there is room for a lot of people, it is important to reserve a table well in advance at Fifteen.
Fifteen's “Trattoria” is also worth visiting. After a long day of sightseeing, you can rest your feet here while enjoying a drink and some anti-pasti.
Fifteen
Jollemanhof 9
Envy
This Italian inspired eating-place is a mix between a restaurant and a deli. Envy describes itself as a delicatessen bar.
It is a very cozy and minimalist spot with small Italian dishes that change daily and really good wines. For 50 Euros you can also try the chef’s five-course menu.
One half of the tables at Envy can be booked in advance, the other half is for drop-in only.
As a novelty, Envy is open for lunch from Wednesday through Sunday.
You can buy several of the deli’s specialties to take home.
Envy
Prinsengrache 381
Vlaamse Friteshuis
You haven’t really been to Amsterdam before you’ve eaten at a Belgian French fries-stall. There are lots of stalls selling French fries of varying quality. You should try Vlaamse Fritehuis, which has been selling fries in greasy newspaper cones since the 1880s.
Vlaamse Friteshuis
Voetboogstraat 33
Yamazato
Yamazato is quite simply the best sushi place in Amsterdam! This year again, the restaurant was rewarded with a Michelin star.
The restaurant is located at the bottom of the Okura Hotel – the favorite hotel of Japanese tourists and businessmen and -women. And it’s a perfect spot for savoring authentic Japanese cuisine.
The simple light wooden furniture, the big windows with rice paper blinds and the Japanese garden give you the impression of being in Japan from the moment you enter the restaurant.
In the kitchen, the chef Akira Oshima and his 25 cooks will prepare the most delicious Japanese specialties for you. The best thing to do is to try one of the restaurant’s set menus that cost from 65 Euros and up.
Yamazato, Okura Hotel, Ferdinand Bolstraat 333
GO SHOP
There are plenty of shopping possibilities in Amsterdam, where you can get anything from grungy second hand and vintage clothes to expensive designer labels.
The shops’ opening hours are between 9am and 6pm Mondays through Saturdays. Certain Thursdays and Fridays until 8pm. Large chain stores and shops in the touristy areas are open on Sundays as well, from 12am to 5pm.
Some possibilities in the different areas:
De 9 Straatjes
Amazing shopping area full of small and appealing shops. Make sure you don’t miss:
Laura Dolls
A dream of a store for anyone with just a tiny bit of a hidden princess inside. Top quality vintage dresses, hats, gloves and shoes.
Across the street, Laura Dolls has a branch that sells 70s vintage stuff, like wonderful large-flowered bed linen and pretty little dresses.
Laura Dolls, Wolvenstraat 6
Mendo
Mendo is a bookstore and an art gallery at the same time. A shop that’s absolutely worth visiting if you’re interested in design.
Mendo, Berenstraat 11
De Kaskamer
Perhaps the best cheese vendor in the city, which says a lot in Amsterdam. You can wallow in the most delicious vintage cheeses.
De Kaskamer, Runstraat 7
Pompadour patisserie
If you have a sweet tooth, make sure you swing by Pompadour Patisserie, where you can get wonderful green tea chocolates and Dutch butter cookies.
Pompadour Patisserie, Huidenstraat 12
Refill
Café Winkel
If you’re into cream and bombastic apple pies, try out Winkel’s apple pie, which is a brick of a cake. Your wait for a table will be rewarded.
Cafe Winkel is at the corner of Noorder Markt and Westerstraat.
Centrum
Rika Boutique
Little exclusive Swedish shop with a large selection of wonderful designs. The shop is closed on Mondays.
Rika Boutique, Oude Spiegelstraat 9
Frozen Fountain
The latest Dutch design presented in a huge store. Big pieces of furniture made from recycled materials, lamps and ceramics in all shapes and sizes and funky carpets. Frozen Fountain is a fabulous showcase for Dutch design at its best.
Frozen Fountain is open Mondays 1pm to 6pm, Tuesday to Friday 10am to 6pm and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm.
Frozen Fountain, Prinsengracht 645
Refill
Cafe de Jaren
Great café in two levels with a big terrace towards the river Amstel. A fabulous place to breathe freely and one of Amsterdam’s biggest cafés where you can sit and work and use the wireless Internet.
Cafe de Jaren, Nieuwe Doelenstraat 20-22
Oud Zuid
If you’re looking for posh stores, go to P.C. Hooftstraat, which is not far from Museumplein.
DKNY, Armani and Hugo Boss have their stores in this temple of the posh, and it can be a fun place to go if you’ve got the money.
Expensive brand stores can also be found on Baerlestraat and Beethovenstraat.
Shoebaloo
Don’t miss Shoebaloo, which sells fabulous shoes and bags. There are five Shoebaloo stores in Amsterdam.
Shoebaloo, PC Hooftstraat 80
Jordaan
In this neighborhood there’s a long series of small shops worth checking out.
Olivaria
Olivaria is one of a kind, with a unique concept: They only sell items that are in some way connected to olives. There are more than you can imagine!
Olivaria, Hazenstraat 2a
Nukuhiva
Organic and fair-trade, but in the same time very trendy clothes, so you can spend all your money with a good conscience.
Nukuhiva, Haarlemmerstraat 36
Funframes
Specialized in picture frames.
Funframes, Egelantiersdwarsstraat 14
In Joordan you can also find the amazing Nordenmarkt Market.
Refill
Café Papeneiland
Have a wonderful cup of coffee in one of the city’s oldest and most poetic places, which has served coffee since 1641.
Café Papeneiland, Prinsengracht 2
Local
A lovely little place with only six tables and a few seats at the bar.
The food is a mix of dishes from all four corners of the world and their service is laid-back.
Open Wednesday through Saturday 6pm – 1am.
Local, Westerstraat 136
De Bakkerswinkel
An old fashioned patisserie and a lovely place to have lunch. Order the spinach quiche from the handwritten and hand illustrated menu or try one of the freshly baked cakes.
De Bakkerswinkel, Warmoesstraat 69
De Pijp
The neighborhood where the wonderful Albert Cuypmarkt market is located also houses lots of good shops.
Duikelman
An absolutely amazing store if you’re into cooking or you just want to look like a pro while you’re trying to conjure up dainties in your kitchen. A true land of milk and honey for those who like to spend time in the kitchen.
Duikelman, Ferdinand Bolstraat 68
Blond
The shop has a large selection of ceramics. Pretty and very feminine.
Blond, Gerard Doustraat 69
Refill
De tart van m´n tante
A hallucinating place where you can give satisfaction to every need your sweet tooth might have.
I have never seen a place that looks anything like this. Just like the ingenious cakes, the decoration is so sweet it sets your teeth on edge. Artificial flowers and huge centerpieces with fake cakes.
Kitschy, but wonderful nonetheless, since it’s so perfectly done with big nylon butterflies as lampshades and a wall covered with tulip wallpaper.
The owner is easily stressed out. A party of ten made him close the doors for new patrons and gesticulate in despair.
De tart van m´n tante, Ferdinand Bolstraat 10
City of Markets
If you’re turned on by second hand bargains, you’ve come to the right place. There are countless markets in Amsterdam with abounding ragbags.
In the Joordan neighborhood, you can visit the Noordenmarkt market and experience a true Amsterdam atmosphere. This is where the city’s hippies along with the chic ladies go to buy flowers, charcuterie, fruits and knick-knacks. The market is open on Mondays and Saturdays. Mondays it is primarily clothes that are being sold, and on Saturdays the stalls fill up with organic food products.
The Waterlooplein market is barely as authentic, but nevertheless offers good chances of making a bargain: Burberry coats, Ralph Lauren shirts and cowboy boots. The good bargains are hiding in between a million t-shirts with prints, rubbish sunglasses and multicolored scarves blowing in the wind and attracting visitors from all over the world.
If you prefer design and literature to second hand clothes, definitely don’t miss out on Droog, where design and art get together. You can buy benches made of revolving glass globes, tables ornamented with carved frogs and freaky rubber pets, which are actually tomato plants in disguise!
Bookworms should go to Athenaeum. Don’t enter unless you are prepared to spend a lot of money on books and magazines.
Athenaeum, Spui 14-16
In the street Leliegracht, you will find many other well renowned bookstores.
Other recommendable markets are:
Spui art market
Torvet Spui, a five-minute walk from Dam.
Open on Sundays.
Tram 1 and 2 from the Central Station.
Not a huge market, but with a diversified supply of paintings, lithographs, sculptures, ceramics and jewelry.
Thorbeckeplein art market
Thorbeckeplein close to Rembrandtplein
Open on Sundays.
Tram 4 from the Central Station.
Large supply of art works.
Flower market
Along Singel between Munttoren and Koningsplein
Is it touristy? Sure. But a great place if you’re interested in plants and flowers. You can get anything your green heart desires – bulbs, seeds and garden tools.
Open every day except Sunday.
Tram number 4, 9, 16 and 25 from the Central Station.
Alternative farmers market
Noordermarkt
No tram goes there, but it’s a good 15 minutes walk from the Central Station. A cozy market in De Jordaan. You will find every organic food product that exists.
Stamp market
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, between the squares Dam and Spui.
Open Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Trams number 1 and 2 from the Central Station.
A Mecca for stamp collectors. But if you’re not among those, you will probably not find it too interesting.
Flea market
At Waterlooplein, close to the city hall and the musical theater.
Open every day from 12am to 5pm.
Tram number 9 and metro from the Central Station.
Lots of clothes, antiques and semi-antique bric-a-brac and everything that belongs to a good flea market.
GO NIGHT
The Brown Cafees
It is great fun to let your hair down in Amsterdam’s “brown cafés” (bruin café) and über-trendy nightclubs. The brown cafés are named after the color of their nicotine-marked walls. A lot of cigarettes have been smoked in these places over the years, and you are still allowed to smoke here.
Jimmy Woo
There is room for 600 people at Jimmy Woo’s, but nonetheless there is always a long line. Just be patient – or send an email to: info@pink-platinum.com for table service and tickets.
The top floor of the club is decorated like an opium cave with beds and antique Chinese lamps. The dance floor is in the basement, and the sound ought to be great, since it has been elected best sound in Holland in 2005. Each night Jimmy Woo presents a new DJ event.
Jimmy Woo, Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 18
Suzy Wong
At the opposite side of the street is the cocktail bar, Suzy Wong, which is definitely worth visiting as well.
Suzy Wong, Korte Leidsedwarsstrat 45
Bar Ca
If you enjoy Cava and an intense black and red interior design, you have to swing by Bar Ca.
Bar Ca, Marie Heinekenplein 30/31
11
The restaurant transforms into a nightclub at 11pm, when the walls pull open and reveal huge panoramic windows. You can dance until dawn. 11 is one of the best places to watch the sun rise over Amsterdam.
The music is accompanied by all sorts of visual arts presented on 12 big video screens.
11, Oosterdokskade 3/5
Café Dante
A huge art deco café, where Amsterdam’s jet set comes to grab a beer or two after work. A stairway leads up to an art gallery with works by the Amsterdam artist Herman Brood. The evenings can get pretty loud at the long bar, when the stockbrokers let their hair down.
Café Dante, Spuistraat 320
Studio 80
The most crazy events and club nights. There is no knowing what’s going to happen, so check out the club’s web site.
Studio 80, Rembrandtplein 17
GO SLEEP
The hotels in Amsterdam have an occupancy rate of 96%. So you are really encouraged to book your room in advance.
The College Hotel
A few minutes walk from Vodelpark you will find this lovely hotel with 40 luxury rooms, tastefully decorated and kept in a golden color range. The perfect spot for a romantic weekend. Students are in charge of the service in the hotel, but despite that fact, it’s really a hotel that can be warmly recommended.
When the hotel has been overbooked, several guests have had the experience of being upgraded to The Dylan, which is one of the finest and most expensive hotels in Amsterdam.
Around 235 €
The College Hotel, Roelof Hartstraat 1
Cake Under Pillow
In the middle of the De Pijp area, you can find the wonderfully kitschy café and patisserie De Taart van m'n Tante (My Auntie's Cake). The two owners also are behind a great B&B.
Some of the rooms have their own toilet and bathroom, and others don’t. In return, all rooms have orthopedic beds, wireless Internet and heavy windows that keep the noise out.
Between 110 and 160 €
Cake Under My Pillow, Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 66
Sunhead of 1617
A one-of-a-kind B&B with only two rooms and a fabulous breakfast. Sufficiently fabulous to have earned the place a Michelin star!
Sunhead is perfectly located right on the canal in an atmospheric neighborhood. Book well ahead – the two rooms are in great demand.
If you’re staying for a while in Amsterdam, Sunhead also offers various apartments for rent at reasonable prices.
Between 89 and 129 €
Sunhead of 1617, Carlos Cecilio, Herengracht 152
Sleep on the water
With all the city’s canals and the many charming and enviable houseboats, it is an obvious occasion to seek shelter on the water. And there are several possibilities.
If you’re traveling as a group, Vita Nova is a great suggestion. The old ship has good cabins with showers, nice common spaces, free Internet and a lady in the kitchen who cooks lovely food. The flat sun deck is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy the view and life by the canal.
Vita Nova, Oosterdok T/O 4
Or you can try:
Amstel Boat, Oosterdokskade 2-4,
Ideaal Hotelboot, Amsteldijk 729,
TRANSPORT
To and from the airport
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is close to the city. A taxi to the center costs around 50 €.
The cheapest and most efficient way to get to town, is by train to the Amsterdam Centraal Station (CS). It takes only 15 minutes, and from the station you can easily get on a tram, jump in a cab or walk to your final destination.
Getting around in Amsterdam
Two vehicles have priority in Amsterdam: Bicycles and trams.
The cheapest, most fun and most healthy way to get around Amsterdam, is on a bike. Driving a car is a true nightmare. Not because of the hundreds of one-way streets, which always seem to be going in the wrong direction – but because of the bike riders. They are innumerable, they are everywhere and they are anarchists! But if you exchange your car for a bicycle, your view of the world will change. On a bike, you will feel at home in the big city and you will reach your destinations fast.
You can rent a bike at several places in the city. Check the closest spot with your hotel – or try one of these:
Bike City, Bloemgracht 68-70
MacBike, Stationsplein 5 – Mr. Visserplein 2 – Weteringsschans 2
If you lack the courage, trams and buses are a good alternative to the bike. The public transportation system has a high priority in Amsterdam, so it’s fast and easy to go on a tram.
Amsterdam also has a Metro, but there’s only one line in the city center.
Taxis are expensive.