FlowerBlossom

Greetings all---

I need to find a place for two people....and two bikes....in Amsterdam.

I have extinguished all the options in "Bicycle Touring Holland" (by Katherine Widing); all of the places in this book are booked for the weekend we will be in Amsterdam.

Heeding all warnings about not parking the bikes outside, ever, in Amsterdam, I need to find a place that will allow us to store bikes in a safe place. If you have information to share about a bike-friendly location in Amsterdam, I'd appreciate it. You can post here or send me a PM.

A possible alternative: I have found lovely accomodations that don't take bicycles; they must be locked up outside. Instead, is it permitted to store our bikes at, let's say, a 24 hour secure location such as Amsterdam Locker on Rokin 111? Or, do we have to "fetch" our bikes every day?

Thanks in advance!

sivat

Amsterdam is FILLED with bikes. I would be surprised if leaving it outside would be a problem. Then again, i've never biked there so i could be wrong. You might try the boatel, or maybe botel, i can't remember how its spelled. Its about a block away from the central train station, and I would imagine you could find a bike locker or indoor parking there.

bobbotron

I've heard Amsterdan has a really high rate of bike theft, take care! (But I've also never been there, so I could be wrong.)

avatarworf

Can't you just take bikes into your room?

I've heard it has a high rate of theft as well.

FlowerBlossom

That's the funny thing....NO...the places I contacted explicitly said that I could not bring the bikes inside.

Also remember that most street bikes in Amsterdam are 3 speeds and old, heavy things, not 21 speeds..my bike isn't going to 'blend in' well at all. I'm NOT locking my bike outside.

spinnaker

I have a friend that lives in a nearby city. When I mentioned that I may come to visit (with my bike). The first thing he said was "watch your bike, Amsterdam is filled with bike thieves". So I agree with you, I would not leave the bike outside. I am very surprised to hear you are having so much trouble. Have they given you a reason?

The only two I can think of are:

Dirty tires. Easily cleaned by wiping them down before bringing them into the room.

They get in the way during room cleaning. If you are staying just one night then this should not be an issue since the bikes will be gone when they go to clean it. If you stay multiple nights then you could promise to remove the bikes during cleaning.

It seems that between the airlines and hotels there is a lot of prejudice directed toward bicycles. I just wonder if things would be different if CEOs rode bicycles instead of golfed?

spinnaker

Have you considered hostels? Certainly bike friendly but sometimes not couple friendly.

FlowerBlossom

From descriptions, most houses/flats in Amsterdam seem to have steep stairs, and carrying bikes up to an apt or room would be difficult. If they are narrow with turns, the bikes might scratch or dent.

It's perhaps a misnomer to think "not bike friendly". How about, "not-bike-storage-friendly"?

sivat

This is the place you might try. I've stayed there and its a nice place. Large entryway and big staircase. If you stayed on the first floor, i'm sure getting the bike into the room wouldn't be a problem.
https://www.amstelbotel.com/?doc_uid=...e&language=uk&

deerhoof

I visited amsterdam last year and stayed in what i think is one of the nicest hostle's in europe. Its located in the middle of vondel park ( a huge city park ) in a restored bording school. The rooms are massive and fully kitted out in Ikea style stuff. I think i paid 16 euro a night, but now it looks like its up to 22. For amsterdam, its professional and pretty much green free and has a nice pub. You also get a all you can eat breakfast in the morning of good carbs. They have a large locked bike shed which i stored my bike in for a week without any trouble, im sure your bikes would be fine in if you removed your panniers.

check it out
https://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostel040001.en.htm

IronMac

I can really empathize! When I was in Amsterdam over a decade ago, I stayed in a hostel/B&B(?) and dragged my bike up the narrow stairs to lock to the landing itself. I didn't know beforehand if I could do it or not but simply showed up. The lady in charge had no problems with it. My bike definitely stood out among all of the older fixed-speeds outside!

Travelinguyrt

If you go the TI outside the main RR station and ask about bike friendly places they will tell you and prob will call also. They did for me 2 years ago. DON"T ride your bike in the city, no need to its small, and trams are easy to use, the theft rate is very hi, junkies steal and sell for a few euros to buy drugs

jibi

How about staying with other cyclists

www.couchsurfing.com

they have groups and this includes cyclists

I am a member in the UK

george

Visionquest

Don't want to jack the thread, but this couchsurfing thing looks really awesome jibi. Almost too good for this sceptical New Yorker. is it all it's cracked up to be?

FlowerBlossom

There's another group, based in Netherlands, "Vrienden op de Fiets" or "Friends of the Bicycle", www.vriendenopdefiets.nl. The site has a page of information in English, and, I sent off for information about joining. I hope I can get signed up in time for my trip.

BTW, I took deerhoof's idea and we're staying at the hostel he recommended. It will be convenient, as, I think we'll be in Amsterdam before we can get into a room...at the hostel, we can stash the bikes and our gear in order to do some site-seeing.

Keep the recommendations coming, because, once the search engine is up and running other people will be able to search and benefit from your experiences/information.

Doggus

We did the amsterdam thing. Took our bikes in without asking. Had to haul them up three flights of very very narrow winding staircases but that's what we had to do. I loved Amsterdam. Try not to get yourself killed outside of the train station. That's basically initiation by fire. Do what the locals do until you get the hang of the way it 'operates'. My wife never could get the hang of it and finally just stayed at the room.