Valentine’s Day in Amsterdam. What are your plans ? Do you even have plans ? You don’t have plans ??? As sure as night follows day, the burning question on everyone’s lips on the 15th February is : ‘So, what did you do last night?’. Of course, there is no obligation to do anything and if your are single, much less so. But, everyone loves a bit of romance and it is always nice to take the initiative and surprise your partner. Amsterdam is a beautiful and romantic city. The perfect place to celebrate Valentine’s Day. So, I thought I would do a quick overview of ideas for Valentine’s Day surprises and treats for those that have left it to the last minute and are starting to panic.
Love is in the air.
We have had a good long and hard think about the places we love in Amsterdam and are suitable for a special Valentine’s Day surprise. We hope you find something suite and that for you too, that love is in the air on 14th February.
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Hotel Dinner.
Not just a dinner, but a hotel dinner. Amsterdam now has a wide range of beautiful hotels, where you can go and have dinner, even if you are not a guest. If you are feeling really fancy, get a room !
We love the design oriented charm of the Andaz on Prinsengracht. The blue spoon restaurant inside the Andaz is a personal favourite. In fact, this is a go-to hotel for food and drinks on any evening. We also love Mr Porter, upstairs at the W Hotel right in the centre of Amsterdam. The food is amazing, especially for meat lovers. Still on the quite fancy scale of things, we love a drink and dinner at the Dylan Hotel on Keizersgracht. Endlessly classy, it has real charm.
There are two other hotel restaurants where we love to go that are not quite as fancy as the above choices. They are both charming, more affordable and still impressive. Lotti’s bar and restaurant on the ground floor of the Hoxton hotel is a firm favourite. Great food and an unpretentious setting, but you feel like you are in a designer hotel. Our last selection is a place we have enjoyed for years and always look forward to eating there. Right in the centre, near Dam Square is The Lobby of the Hotel V on Nes. Discovered by chanced and then reserved on purpose many times over the years. Really great food in a fun setting with really good service. Always a good idea. Of course Amsterdam has a huge selection of romantic restaurants too, but here we wanted to highlight our favourite ones in hotels.
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Boat Trip
On Valentine’s Day in Amsterdam, nothing beats being out on the water. A canal boat trip is always a great time and made better if dinner and drinks is served. We have tried pretty much every canal boat tour there is, but only had dinner on two. We really enjoyed both and there were very different. The first was the Burger and Dogs canal cruise with Blue Boat Tours. A 90 minute tour around the canals and you get waiter service food at your table. There are delicious burgers and hotdogs that you ‘compose’ according to your tastes. The tour includes soft drinks, wines or beers. On Valentine’s night (only) Prosecco is also included and you will get a Polaroid photo of your trip. Yes it costs more than the standard trip, but once you factor in the drinks and the cost of eating out, it makes superb value for the memorable experience.
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The second dinner trip was also very memorable. Last year we went on the Amsterdam Jewel Boat Cruise. A smaller, saloon style boat with only 8 or so tables for diners. It was very romantic as you have a three hour cruise around the canals and are served a really high end meal at your table. Sadly, dear reader, the Valentine’s evening boat is all booked up already. I include it here for future reference as people are always on the look out for romantic ideas in Amsterdam.
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Cultural event
What about adding in a classical concert to the evening. That would be romantic. Or an opera. Or a ballet. Valentine’s Day doesn’t just have to means flowers and going out. There is a huge number of cultural events to attend in Amsterdam.
The Concertgebouw has a program so vast, that you are sure to find a classical concert to attend. That could be a prelude to a romantic dinner. Or if you are more of an opera fan, then the National Opera is the place for you. They have a lot of ballet performances there too. If that is all a bit too high brow for you, what about a great night of stand up comedy. Drinking and dining while seeing comedians is my idea of a great night out at any time. Amsterdam has a growing selection of great venues for comedy nights. To make it easier to find a comedy event, we list as many as we can find here. Boom Chicago even have a super special Valentine’s dinner and show event.
Or it could be a night at the theatre. Maybe a live music gig. Or even a pub quiz. Yes, we think a pub quiz could be romantic too. Whatever it is you can find over 100 events to attend in Amsterdam in our handy listings here.
Spa & Massage
What about a swerve ball angle that does not involve trying to find a free table on the busiest restaurant night of the year ? What about a couples massage or beauty session. Many spas, massage and beauty parlours cater for couples. Enjoy a couples massage while being able to talk to each other. Or a skin care session. Or a relaxing spa and sauna. You could go full Dutch and have the naked sauna. It’s perfectly normal here and in other countries. Nothing to be ashamed of ! Other saunas have a covered up policy. Ask them before booking. Here are some Spa and massage salons we think are great.
We hope you have a lovely Valentine’s Day in Amsterdam
Failing all the above, it’s flowers, chocolates or a gift….doing nothing is not an option!
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