I visited Amsterdam for the second time in my life during December of 2011. While I only had 18 hours to spend in the city during a long layover, I made the most of it by seeing what the city has to offer when Christmas is in the air.
While Christmas in Amsterdam was not as ornate or prevalent as it was in Prague and Vienna (or Athens for that matter), it did have some good sights to behold. It was also quite rainy.
Since it was raining outside and we didn't have much to do while killing time, I ended up taking many pictures of the city and playing around with some of the color options in my camera. I especially like the color combinations I was able to capture in the city.
My favorite photo is probably this Green tinted photo. Not only do we see that it is indeed Christmas time, we also see the beer that puts Amsterdam on the map worldwide (Heineken) and the green permeates through most of the picture as well.
Last, I love the biker in the picture who is passing by so fast that we can hardly see their silhouette as they pass by.
Amsterdam is a great city for bikers, and we had people on bikes passing us by at all times of day, even in December when it was raining outside and cold.
During our short stay we managed to walk in front of the Heineken brewery, but did not go on a tour because the lines were too long.
We also stopped at the main train station in central Amsterdam. This is where trains, cable cars and busses all meet.
Even the Red Light district was beautiful at Christmas time in Amsterdam.
In what now appears to be stereotypical fashion, we made sure to stop at some places that offered us a taste of America. The Burger Bar had excellent hamburgers and the bar we stopped at had all kinds of American beers on tap. I made sure to have something more local, though.
Last (but not least), who can forget the giant turtle statue on the road outside of our hotel?
Amsterdam in Winter is really not too bad weather-wise. It was cold and rainy, but above 40 degrees. I would especially recommend visiting Amsterdam around Christmas time to see the lights and markets that pop up during the month of December.