My Experience with Tomorrowland Discover Europe – Amsterdam

The Tomorrowland Hotel and Welcome Package

Amsterdam was the first of city that I picked for the Tomorrowland Discover Europe tour.

Discover Europe provides the option of 4 different packages with a choice of 4 or 5 cities. Brussels (near where Tomorrowland is held) and Paris are mandatory options. The other options are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, and Rome.

I had already been to London and Rome so I picked the other 3 cities.

I arrived in Amsterdam a few days prior to the start of the tour because I wanted more time to see the city and to adjust jetlag before the start of what promised to be a crazy adventure.

I had been staying at a rather dank hostel in the Red-Light District and was eager to move to a hotel.

I took the train from the city center a slight ways out and emerged to a clean, open, spacious neighborhood. I arrived at our hotel, called Casa 400, to find Tomorrowland travelers from all over the world in the lobby (this photo was taken later on when I wasn’t weighed down by luggage).

A Tomorrowland-designated guide wearing a bright pink dress and a flower shawl greeted us.

“I lived in America for three years,” she said, “I learned this pose.”

She then gave us welcome gifts in the form of the most beautifully designed festival gear I have ever seen. Included was a Tomorrowland backpack, a leather-bound diary, a guide book for all of the cities on the Discover Europe tour, a game set, sunglasses, and vouchers for nightclubs, the Heineken Experience, and an invite to a Tomorrowland-organized canal cruise.

I met up with my travel companion Jenni later in the day and we both excitedly staged our gifts for photos.

Due to price, I booked the 3-star hotel option for the Discover Europe package. I was not expecting something as modern and cute as this hotel.

There was even a DIY mint-tea station.

 

The Tomorrowland Canal Cruise

We arrived at the meeting point for the canal cruise to find two boats lined with Tomorrowland pillows and a group of people chattering excitedly. They had come from all over the globe and were ecstatic to be there. Some had been in transit for over 30 hours!

Lara, our guide who had greeted us at the hotel, was there with a pen, clipboard, a guy in green robe and an ornate top hat.

If you don’t already know, Tomorrowland is themed like a magical kingdom. Disneyland for adults, if you will. Their staff is all dressed in bright colors and decked out with flowers. We therefore affectionately named the women “The Tomorrowland Fairies” and the men “The Tomorrowland Gnomes.”

And so our Tomorrowland Fairy and Gnome handed us drink tickets and ushered us onto the cruise on a bright and sunny day.

Jenni and I couldn’t believe we were less than halfway through Day 1 of the Discover Europe tour.

Our hotel was amazing, our gifts were beautiful, and here we were, drifting through the canals of lovely Amsterdam surrounded by party people from all corners of the planet gathered together in anticipation of what promised to be the best weekend of our lives.

And it honestly was.

But more on the actual festival later.

Oh, we also saw saw this guy hobbling around the canals, inflated balls flopping around his ankles.

 

A Night Out In Amsterdam

After the canal cruise, we rushed to the Heineken Experience, where visitors are shown how Heineken is made and given the opportunity to step into a generator where they can experience what it’s like to be a bottle of Heineken going through the bottling process…as if anyone has ever wondered such a thing.

However, we arrived as they were closing their doors 🙁

And so we left in search of dinner.

After a long walk, we ended up at De Nachtwacht in Rembrandt Square, where many of the nightclubs in the city are located. I am by no means a food writer but I will say that this meal was among the top 5 that I ever had in my life, despite the long wait for food. The flavors were complex, the meat was cooked to perfection, and the beer, of course, was fantastic.

I once heard a lady say, “If it ain’t Dutch, it ain’t much.” This is entirely true when it comes to electronic music.

A large group ended up at Escape in the center of Rembrandt Square. Entry was 16 Euros and the venue looked like a Vegas nightclub. We danced into the early hours of the morning.

 

Dutch Dim Sum, The Public Library, and the Sex Museum

On our last day in Amsterdam, Jenni and I decided to give Dutch dim sum a try. We had seen a huge Chinese teahouse located on the canals near Amsterdam Centraal and, both coming from Chinese backgrounds and cities with large Asian populations (Vancouver for me and Toronto for Jenni) were curious to see how the Netherlands handled dim sum.

Like everything else we experienced in Amsterdam, the dim sum was amazing. Perhaps it’s because food generally tastes better in Europe, possibly due to a lesser amount of GMOs.

And interestingly enough, I found an entire chicken wing in my steamed lotus rice.

Across from the Chinese restaurant was the Amsterdam Bibliotheek, or the public library. It was more of a swanky bookstore or a museum than a public library.

Jenni and I agreed that, despite the prevalence and legality of soft drugs and prostitution, Amsterdam seems like a well-run, family-friendly city. The amount of investment the Dutch put into their library, especially compared to the small and dingy libraries found back home in North America, helped affirm our positive views of the city.

Before I left, I needed to take a trip to the Sex Museum.

It was smaller than I expected and filled with giggling people of all ages.

There were photos and drawings depicting various sexual acts and fetishes on the walls, figurines in glass displays, and large statues that visitors took photos with – namely these phallic statues.

When in Amsterdam!

 

Final Thoughts About Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a great choice of city to start a Euro trip. It is clean, organized, safe, and beautiful. Every Dutch person you meet speaks English quite fluently. All of this contributes to less of a culture shock than if you were to say, fly from North America directly to Eastern Europe or Asia.

It’s easier to venture to other parts of Europe that may seem more foreign to a westerner once you gain some bearings in Holland.

Jenni and I decided that the word for Amsterdam was “cute” and that “living in Amsterdam would be adorable” due to the quaint buildings along the canals and the well-run state of the city. We agreed that we could consider raising a family there.

At least very least, we will definitely be back to visit.

And with that, our time in Holland was over and it was off to Barcelona!

 

Discover Europe Welcome Gift

• Tomorrowland backpack
• Leather-bound diary with space for new friends to write their notes
• Guide book for all of the cities in the Discover Europe tour
• Game set with Tomorrowland-themed playing cards and Connect Four
• Sunglasses with Tomorrowland glasses case

Discover Europe Vouchers for Amsterdam

• Canal Cruise at Friendship Amsterdam with the Discover Europe group
• 2x passes to AIR Nightclub
• Discount voucher for the Heineken Experience
• Something (…didn’t have time to go figure out what) at The Cooldown Cafe

Random things I learned about Amsterdam

• The Austin Powers Goldmember Dutch accent is a true occurrence. Those that have it hate it.
• Dutch Rabbits and Netherland Dwarf Rabbits do not hop around the streets 🙁
• No one wants to provide change and no one happily accepts bills over 20 Euro. Ticket machines for public transportation only accepts coin or card, yet it is very difficult to acquire coins. Banks charge 1.50 Euro to break bills.
• So long as you’re not hurting or deliberately bothering anyone, no one cares what you do.
• Amsterdam is very laid back about everything. I witnessed a guy walking around in an inflatable penis costume (see photo above), people sitting around crowded squares drinking in broad daylight, tourists smoking cannabis on the streets, families walking around the Red-Light District at night, etc. Yet I felt as safe in the city as I do back home in Vancouver.
• Despite the prevalence and blatant displays of sex and soft drugs, Amsterdam comes across as a family-friendly city.
• Everyone speaks English well. Signs all have an English translation.
• If you are considering a Euro trip but are afraid of putting yourself in a completely foreign situation, I would recommend starting in Amsterdam. It provides the beautiful sights of Europe with the comfort of Canadian manners and English proficiency.

Read More About Tomorrowland

• Full review of Tomorrowland Discover Europe, Barcelona
• How much does Tomorrowland Discover Europe cost?