Stoke Travel’s crazy weekend in Amsterdam

The first time we went to Amsterdam was way back in 2008 during Stoke’s beginnings.  From what we remember there were lots of truffles and mushrooms – and we’re not talking of the gourmet kind, greening out after requesting the mildest hash in the coffee shop, all of our paths through the city taking us through streets lit with red lights for some reason, and lots of real good times spent cycling around, exploring and partying. It was all in all a fabulous excursion into Amsterdam, but caused us enough physical discomfort to label the city “Amsterdamage”. 

Now we go back for Kings Day at the beginning of May, but it’s been a while since we organised a proper Amsterdam Weekender. To relive that Amsterdamage spirit, but do it as the more responsible, more organised – but no less wild and fun – 2023 version of Stoke Travel. We want to channel the energy of those wild 2008 days, but to add the professionalism that you probably don’t realise goes into organising a Stoke Travel trip. 

We’ll be staying in hostels that are perfect for travellers like us, so you don’t run the risk of staying with nerds or in crack houses. Our Amsterdam-based partners are responsible for getting 1000s of travellers into the most epic situations every year, and they’ll be advising us on the experiences and events that we need to get ourselves into – boat parties and their red-light district photo shoot experience, the sex theatre, and so on – and of course, and always, the legendary Amsterdam nightlife. 

Of course this trip gets into the infamous Amsterdam nightlife

What more do we need in this life, than a wild night out in Amsterdam? Problem is, when we go to Amsterdam without the guiding advice of locals you can end up wandering the city looking for the party of your dreams, but end up getting coaxed into some dodgy pit of scammers by pimps and prostitutes and when you try to leave are hit with €100 bill for four beers… we speak from experience. 

That’s why we rely on our local partners to get us into the best situations every weekend that we’re in Amsterdam. They’ve got their own bars, know every club in town, can get us all kinds of deals – basically doing a weekender with Stoke Travel means that all the guesswork in finding the right nightlife in Amsterdam is taken away and someone makes the decisions for us – and they’re not fucked up on boogie juice and various legal and semi-legal and we-don’t-want-to-know substances and so therefore they will make the best decisions. 

Amsterdam Boat Party Weekender

They call it the Venice of the north – or maybe that’s Hamburg – but in any case Amsterdam is a city that’s built around its canal networks and therefore a really authentic way to see the city and have a little drinkie and a boogie while you’re doing so is on a party boat canal cruise. It feels like almost anything goes when we’re on the water, like the disconnect from dry land and its pesky rules inspires us to go a little wild, and that’s why we’re running boat parties all year in Barcelona, and why the boat party is an integral part of our Amsterdam weekender. Basically what happens on sea (on canal) stays on sea (on canal). 

Amsterdam Nightlife Tips

The best Amsterdam nightlife tip that we can give you is to come with us for an Amsterdam Weekender, because our