Amsterdam: A guide to Parks
Quite surprisingly, when speaking about the sightseeing in Amsterdam, people do not necessarily include the parks of Amsterdam, which, in fact, are numerous and very lovely: there are more than thirty parks in the city. Below is the list of some of them that you should not afford to miss visiting.
To most people of Amsterdam, Vondelpark is their preferred park that is located in the city. It is a place where locals as well as tourist go to visit mainly because of its closeness to the city center. It is also possible to open the window one fair weather day and see thousands of individuals lying abreast of the grass and laughing. Most of the time they are barbecuing and consuming wine or beer.
Bicyclists also flock the area, however, cycling is prohibited within the premises of Vondelpark. It appears that this does not affect the people so much. It is also a favourite park for runners with because contains several jogging pats.
The formation of the park name and the environs – Westerpark is one of the newest park in Amsterdam’s city. Formerly it was the site of the Wester Gasfabriek, a coal burning gas works and power station. Sadly, (or fortunately) this plant was closed in 1960s and for several years it remained abandoned. Subsequently, in the 1990s various artists and squatters settled down, and so did the city of Amsterdam. They are to clear all the pollutions and make a nice park in the ground and they did so successfully. New life has been breathed into the place and it really caused a complete transformation of the locality.
Today, the view of Westerpark is entirely different from the above description. There are green zone area, tracks for jogging and cycling, areas for preparing the barbeque, and fountains present in the project area. However, what truly adds charm and character to this place and therefore known as Westerpark and that is Westergasterrein. The predientiific spaces of the former gas company has transformed, and the current buildings are currently used as Restaurants, cafes, theatres, festival spaces together with office
The next park to visit would probably be the Amstelpark which was established as a number of structures for the 1972 Floriade. It is the type of park that is quite unique from all the other parks in Amsterdam. This park is endowed with flowers bearing the theme of the park. It was observed that there are various places that were planted with horticultural specimens. There is the “Dahliarama,” an area with dahlias, and the “Rhododendron Valley” with more than 8000 rhododendrons. Don’t miss the “Butterfly garden”, hosts a number of plants that are of importance to these beautiful insects. Not only plants and flowers painted here. It is quite normal to meet such animals as peacocks and llamas if you take a walk in the park one of a time. There is several pieces of art in the park and a toy train operating that was in use at the time of the Floriade.
Erasmuspark is a small park which is located in the western part of Amsterdam. It is not vast in size but it is a great relief to know that there is a natural area in this city. It is basically respite from the city’s bustle, therefore there are always persons walking their dogs or taking their children out to play. Specifically, there are diverse beauty in this park due to presence of the flowers commonly called cherry blossoms which bear pretty pink flowers in spring.
Another small, but very picturesque, ecological park is Frankendael located in the district called Oost. This is because it supports many diverse forms of plants, animals, as well as insects within such a tiny area. It would be advisable for you spend some time and go round the park to look at the niche areas and the roughest parts of the park. This could indeed be an ideal destination if one were in search of a quick vacation and relaxation.
It is situated in a neighborhood known as Amsterdam Zuid and to get there it is simply fascinating to just literally wander through the park known as Beatrixpark. For this purpose, there are a number of meandering paths that you can follow. Some of the trees that are found here are marked with their binomial and common names, and it would be interesting to discover more in the list of them. All the trees in the area were planted to exemplify the occasion of Floriade in 1972 thus the labels on the trees.
The current park of Noorderpark used to be called the Flora park, but the name was changed because the park is in the Amsterdam Noord. It is ideal for having a picnic on the grassed area within the riverside under the trees overlooking the river channels. There is even a very interesting shack there which was constructed of what was collected or ordered on the website called Zoo Marktplaats. Adjacent to this building is the Noorderparkkamer that is worthy of mention. This is a centre of the community that hosts various functions all the year round. I would like to add that their concerts are here, performances, festivals and other shows, especially in the warm season.
