You won’t find on these in typical top 10s, especially #6
Drink in a park in the best possible way: a locally distilled Jenever ( Dutch spirit akin to quality vodka or gin) plus a German beer and/or wine… in a beautiful park:
Go for a strip tease at La Vie En Proost strip bar near the Oude Kerk.
Small but fun atmosphere at this well managed strip club: Weeknights are less busy but good after 9pm, weekends ok if you go early before 10pm [maplink]
Audience varied: many couples and females tend to make-up a significant percentage of the crowd which is still predominantly male
Entrance is 10€; A strip tease dance costs 20€ and is not for the easily embarrassed as everyone can see you. Small beer is 7.50€.
Go swimming in Zuiderbad … a public swimming pool beautifully restored to its 19th century glory.
Open until 10pm and costs around 6Euros per visit. Next to Rijks museum. [ map link ]
Go to a free petting zoo in De Pijp and see some goats / peacocks / massive rabbits and more
Maplink here
Release your inhibitions at the Deco Sauana, a beautiful 1920s spa in central Amsterdam. Costs 30Euros including towels. Swimming wear not allowed. Nudity only. But you can wear a towel around you most of the time. Make sure to take the cold plunge after a sauna for full effect
The small cable car 🚠 which flies up high over the Adige valley is well worth the 5Eurosreturn trip.
At the summit you can breath the vastness from a viewing platform and then enjoy a 10 minute walk to the peaceful village of Sardagna.
Sardagna is where I felt so serene that I sat on a bench reading a book about for 2 hours. A promising looking restaurant there ( Osteria San Rocco ) was not open until Thursday evening.
Bar Funivia at the foot of the cable car
3 Bars and restaurants I enjoyed in Trento
Al Pozzo 8 – In an unattractive modern building but a very decent experience with friendly service and fresh food, the prawn risotto was special
Pizza Bella ‘Mbriana Trento– Top pizza but I found the lighting a bit too bright, a common complaint of mine having lived in Amsterdam
Bar Uva e Menta – Slightly ‘alt’ bar playing 90s trip hop with a varied crowd and fine to be alone there.
Cheap and easy solo snowboard ⛰️ trip in central Europe.
Craving my annual dose of snow action and with the season rapidly diminishing, I last-minute-booked a cheap flight from my home of Amsterdam ✈️ to Innsbruck.
Booked with Transavia – via Skyscanner, cost 90Euros.
For a number of reasons I went alone this time.
My default snow-partner is no longer in my life.
I wanted time for self reflection, relaxation and pure escapism. Or not so pure escapism.
For the last few years my cheap snow destination of choice has been the Bulgarian🇧🇬 resort of Borovets, 1 hour from Sofia.
For reasons mentioned above, I wanted to go somewhere different this time.
Piste view in glorious weather in Axamer Lizum, Austria.
Requirement:
Snowboarding for 3 days plus a hotel with spa facilities.
With a low budget, and low tolerance for excess research, I opted to revisit a place I’d been 9 years prior, with family.
Just 15 mins bus ride from Innsbruck in Austria 🇦🇹 , is a small alpine town named Götzens.
There are at least 2 hotels I know of both featuring spa, pool and excellent inclusive breakfasts.
Hotel Eidelweiss – 287€ for 4 nights with breakfast mid March Fri-Tue.
Alp Art Hotel– Slightly more expensive but seriously nice and if I were in a couple, I would go here.
Bar at Hotel Eidelweiss
After my thrilling flight from Innsbruck, I stopped for a refreshing Austrian pilsner beer called Zipfer in the glorious city of Innsbruck, where mountain views, fresh air and classic European architecture collide.
Innsbruck to Götzens on a 15 minute bus ride super easy with GoogleMaps
In Götzens, I strolled through earily quiet side streets to Hotel Eidelweiss.
An unremarkable alpine style hotel indeed but not as obscure as I had remembered. Some new building have almost certainly emerged since last there, meaning less chance of uninterrupted views if lower down.
I asked for a higher up room, as on the ground floor there wasn’t much view. Luckily the very good receptionist made one available for me. 2nd floor it is then.
Slightly dated vibe but I like this, somehow feel more comfortable like this than a super slick modern place. The window was huge. Bathroom more than adequate.
Days 1 and 2 snowboarding 🏂 in Axamer Lizum in mid March ☀️
Free bus from Götzens near the hotel runs regularly in the morning. It takes 15 minutes to Axamer Lizum.
Hired board from Intersport, a far friendlier and cheaper option than the one at the carpark near the lift. 44Euro per day with boots.
Lift pass was 50Euros per day.Not so cheap.
The resort is not large but the pistes were well kept, and importantly I found an excellent mountain bar named Dohlennest
In this bar I enjoyed numerous beers and food, followed by an increasingly wild dance party
The music went from funky house, to discohouse, to progressive trance, to psytrance, to rave and back
Crispy air I love, sharp rocks creating a punctuation for the crystal clear sun to peak through
Gallery from Axamer Lizum March ’25
Day 3 – Kühtai snowboarding and ski resort was dead empty, lacked vibe
Almost too quiet for me, the snow resort felt past its best and a little tired. Like me when I am not in the mountains.
I did have quite a fall the day before so my shoulder was aching severely, somewhat tarnishing usual enthusiasm.
Day pass 46Euros
Board and boots hire at Intersport 44Euros.
Free bus from Gotzens – took 50 minutes. Beautiful bus ride however.
Only one real mountain restaurant and it was somewhat busy and somehow without a great view. Thumbs down.
Day 4 – Train from Innsbruck to Trento
An absolutely delightful train journey for just 30Euros, through the mountain ranges between Innsbruck and Northern Italy.
A proper train journey with a bar and restaurant, in which the bar stool faces out of the window, giving a perfect view of the passing drama in mountain ranges and attractive villages
32Euros booked 24hours in advanced from NS International
Trento itself is a town I highly recommend.
Overall this is a trip to be repeated for an affordable mountain getaway. Easy to do alone with no car.
