The Best Things to Do When You're High in Amsterdam

Although there are plenty of awesome cinemas to choose from in Amsterdam, Pathé Tuschinski definitely deserves special consideration due its tripped out design. The entire theatre looks like something ripped out of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fever dreams – complete with winding corridors, gilded furnishings and several multitiered screening rooms covered in red velvet fittings.

Yep. That’s right. There’s a glow in dark golf course in Amsterdam. This 15 hole attraction somehow mixes aesthetics lifted from TRON, Back to the Future 2 and The Little Mermaid into one glorious, fluorescent package, creating one of the most nostalgia filled experiences imaginable (if you grew up in 1980s or 1990s).

Yet another luminescent masterpiece! Electric Ladyland is the only museum in the world dedicated to fluorescent art and features several glowing exhibitions. There’s even an interactive art piece in one of the museum’s gallery that changes its dazzling appearance when exposed to different wavelengths of light.

Charting a course through Amsterdam’s canals on a pedal boat is mad fun, especially with a couple of friends on board. These human powered vessels dock at several jetties around the city centre and are available to rent by the hour. Or better yet, hop onto an all-inclusive canal cruise, lay back and let someone else worry about steering.

There are around 20 individual food stalls in de Foodhallen, meaning that diners can pick between a wide variety of cuisines and chow down on several dishes in one sitting. There’s pizza, nachos, and kebab available inside as well as booze and soft drinks.

Amsterdam’s botanical gardens date back to the 17th century and were originally planted to supply drugs to the city’s pharmacists. Today Hortus Botanics features thousands of exotic, colourful plants from around the world. There’s also a butterfly house inside as well as a massive, tropical greenhouse with overhead walkways.

There are over 200 certified coffeeshops in Amsterdam that are legally permitted to sell cannabis. There’s some real gems spread around the city and it is always worth scouting about to discover new spots. Many tourists flock to the Red Light District or Rembrandtplein but you’ll find smaller, quieter haunts tucked away in Haarlemmerdijk and near Dam Square.

The city’s zoo is just down the road from Hortus Botanicus and was established around 100 years after the botanical gardens. Besides it is the more traditional menagerie, which includes lions, giraffes and elephants. Natura Artis Magistra also contains the first museum in the world dedicated to microbiological life called Micropia which features many interactive exhibitions covering the in-and-outs of microbes.

As its name suggest, this museum in the Red Light District is dedicated to the history and culture surrounding cannabis. Besides exhibiting a massive collection of smoking paraphilia the museum also organises temporary exhibitions that delve into certain, often overlooked topics related to cannabis such as hemp production in Japan.

Besides ranking among the most laid-back parks in Europe, Vondelpark also has a long history with left-wing movements in the Netherlands. There’s even a legalised, subterranean squat in the park, called de Vondelbunker that regularly organises live shows and concerts.
Check out these tours, trips and experiences in Vondelpark, Amsterdam and beyond