Amsterdam bokbier festival

My tip would be to get rid of the travel guides and see what you can find on your own, especially if you have been there before. It will very likely be better than what someone else found when wondering around. Stay somewhere else besides the Bulldog. I have stayed at,

Kap Hotel Where I stay most times. Cheap and clean. Hotel Toren A little pricey but very nice. Hemp Hotel low price but clean. no longer open. Aterik Hotel Cheap and clean with lots of rules. Least favorite. ETOS Cheap and clean like motel 6/red roof inn in usa. I would stay at any of them again but the Asterik. Nothing wrong with the Asterik, just too many rules for me.

Try going to some of the open markets such as on Albert Cuypstraat. Travel outside of the main Canal area beyond Prnsengracht. Catch a train to Haarlem, 20 minute ride, or the Hogue Valuwie (sp) park, 1 hour ride and go to the Kroller Muller museum or grab one of the free bikes at the entrance of the park and ride around the park.

Lots of ideas can be found at

and other similar websites.

Here's what I've posted on OUTintheUK (a few of whose members will be joining us):

Amsterdam Bokbier Festival

The Annual Bokbier Festival run by PINT (the Dutch equivalent of CAMRA) is being held in Amsterdam on 27th, 28th and 29th October 2006.

It is held right in the centre of Amsterdam in the Amsterdamse Beurs van Berlage which is a few hundred yards from Amsterdam Central Station in the direction of Dam Square.

In addition to all the Dutch Bokbiers, they will have a selection of Bokbiers from other countries and there's usually entertainment (of sorts) although a quiet bar area is normally available.

I've always found that it's very LGBT friendly (as is most of Amsterdam) and is well worth the trip across the water!

Anyway, me and the bf are already booked up for this year for the three days and it would be nice to meet up with some OUTers.

Getting there:

There are lots of pretty cheap flights to Amsterdam from the UK - carriers include KLM

, easyJet , BMI and BMIBaby - other carriers can be found on the Schiphol Airport website - the airport is 15 minutes by train from Amsterdam Central Station.

If you don't like flying, there are some good deals on Eurostar

Where to stay:

If you're in Economy Mode, there are lots of hostels (like the Bulldog

which is minutes away from the Beurs van Berlage) or if you feel like splashing out, the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky (see ) is slightly closer and is where we'll be staying - Stu is treating us. Medium priced is Hotel Winston which has individually decorated rooms and is quite an experience: But any search engine should throw up somewhere suitable to stay.

Where else to go:

Whilst there are obviously plenty of touristy and/or poofy/dikey things to do, here are a few suggestions for a slightly different experience:

Tempo Doeloe is reputedly the best Indonesian Restaurant and serves the hottest dish I have ever had: Daging Rendang - the waiter will probably try and warn you off it. Booking advised.

In De Wildeman is a cracking little pub in the centre of town. Hundreds of bottled beers and 17 or so draught beers. Their smoked raw sausage is not to everyone's taste. Non smoking room.

The Arendsnest is within easy staggering distance of In De Wildeman - a bar that serves only Dutch beer.

The Brewery Tap of the Brouwerij 't IJ shuts early but is always worth a visit.

Wijnand Fockink in Pijlsteeg (a tiny lane off Dam Square) is the Distillery tap for Amsterdam's only distillery. They also sell beer. One of their products is called (in Dutch) "The Shirt Lifts Up" and contains small quantities of casscara. Try their "Half and Half". I am under strict instructions to bring several bottles home with me. It's cheaper from the shop than from the boozer.

or

Much cheaper than the boat tours - they're free - are the ferries that leave from behind Central Station. Just take one at random and see where it goes. With the expansion of the Metro system, who knows how long they'll last. If you take the shortest trip over to Buikslotterweg there's a nice little pub (Ot en Sien) at the end of the road on the right which does a really good bowl of pea and ham soup.

If you're doing a pub crawl, Ron Pattison's online guide is invaluable

From PINT's website at

PINT Bokbierfestival 2006

Op 27, 28 en 29 oktober vindt in de Amsterdamse Beurs van Berlage het

29e Bokbierfestival plaats. De organisatie berust bij de Stichting PINT Bokbierfestival. Er zijn ook dit jaar naar verwachting circa 50 verschillende bokbieren verkrijgbaar. De organisatie streeft er naar om alle Nederlandse bokbieren te presenteren en daarnaast een enkel Belgisch en Duits bokbier.

Gedurende totaal 24 uur kan men op het festival genieten van veel bokbier en muziek: vrijdag van 17 tot 23 uur, zaterdag van 12 tot 23 uur, zondag van 12 tot 19 uur.

I'd recommend In De Wildeman - great brown cafe !

'Cos it's convenient for the red light district? ;-)

No more so than - say - 't Loosje or De Bekeerde Suster by Nieuwmarkt or the delightfully (to anglophone ears) named Wynand Focking. But yeah, the Wildeman's dead good (it even has a no smoking room so visitors from Scotland can feel at home - visiting London earlier this year, I was in the HoS for almost twenty minutes before realising those wee dishes on the table were for cigarette ash).