The Untourist Guide to Amsterdam
The Untourist Guide to Amsterdam is a cool tourist guide but most of all, it is an initiative aiming to motivate tourists to change Amsterdam (and other busy cities) and the way they travel for the better. The movement tries to improve relations between residents and tourists by showing tourists ‘the real Amsterdam’, far from the beaten path.
Mass tourism
I have lived in Amsterdam for 29 years, until 2014. It is a wonderful town but it is losing part of its charm due to mass tourism. Amsterdam is not the only city that has experienced the downside of mass tourism. Venice, Barcelona, Split amongst others have seen soulless donut shops and other tourist traps growing fast and replacing the authentic cityscape.
Mass tourism does have quite some downsides but it’s not all negative. Tourism does generate lots of jobs for example, but we need to change the way we travel. The Untourist Guide to Amsterdam helps doing exactly that. The initiative deals with topics like sustainability and plastic waste. How can we, as tourists, help?
Fun activities in Amsterdam
As a traveller you are not merely a consumer. You are here to contribute – in ways that will make your visit all the more enjoyable. The guide contains fun and beneficial activities in Amsterdam. Don’t worry, it’s not written in a patronizing way at all. It’s nice and original.
Let’s hope more destinations will follow this little Amsterdam guide and that more tourists will become aware of new ways to travel. Travel local, experience the people, the culture, the destinations you visit. This guide is an invitation to become part of a movement of engaged travelers.
Marry an Amsterdammer for the day
Some examples of the activities you’ll find in the guide: marry an Amsterdammer for the day, join a laughter workshop, take a refugee canal tour, or go trashure hunting in the Red Light District. Eventhough I’ve lived in Amsterdam for a long time, I would still love to discover some of these activities. They are so creative and seem like so much fun. I even saw a pillow fight tour! The Untourism Guide to Amsterdam must be my favorite Amsterdam guide ever!
We travel because we love our world so it’s only logical that we would want to protect it. Get your copy of Untourist Guide to Amsterdam and save the world 🙂
Frédérique houdt van mimosa, van films, van de geur van gebakken knoflook, van de Middellandse Zee (‘haar’ zee want aan die zee is ze geboren), fotografie, musea, nachttreinen, haute couture en ze zou het liefst voor altijd in een hotel wonen.
