The Heineken Experience in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the city of dreams, buzzing with life, bicycles and travellers. For someone like myself, who is a solo traveler, it's rarely the cliche touristy “to do’s” that govern my traveling days. Mostly, I kick off my travel itinerary by not only choosing the country and cities but also what could potentially be the most unique of the experiences to the particular city being visited besides, of course, exploring the common and “must-do” facets in its entirety.

The Heineken Experience is one such experience in Amsterdam, seemingly gaining popularity amongst visitors. Still, it has been a bit underplayed and underrated as compared to the more obvious things to do like the canal tour, Ripleys, red light district, Red Bull etc.
It takes almost half a day to conclude and hence people often skip this. However, it will be quite a miss, if you happen to skip the unforgettable Heineken Experience. To state the obvious - you will be quite literally buzzed at the end of this one of a kind experience.

After arriving at this big Heineken Brewery, which is mega from the outside, I already knew something mind-blowing was waiting inside and that was indeed the case. From detailing the history of the Heineken family to the inception of this ace beer brand and inception of it all (over a century ago), educating the audience with fun trivia of beer making by the quick ‘Do you know?’ sessions on different tastes, textures of wheat & dark beer, and finally, ending the tour with two beers (that was a no brainer I guess) and fun games, pictures, momentos etc. to actually letting you brew live is a whole different level of experiential satisfaction.
It cannot be comprehended in words, for some things have to be lived and imbibed. That is not all; at the end, there are fun and games and how real pint bottles have been put to use. To the likes of a fine Vineyard Tour (Ontario) & Fly Over Canada (Vancouver), the Heineken Experience is one of the finest experiences of traveling to Europe, let alone Amsterdam. Fun trivia - I ended up being color coded with what is supposed to be the official uniform for the Heineken staff.

The Heineken Experience is a feeling close to none and would be highly recommended for not just the beer lovers but even teetotalers. After concluding this memorable experience (slightly buzzed), I decided to take a walking tour of the city by myself.

With a map in my hand and music in my ears, I started to walk around towards the direction of Dam Square, every single minute spent was memorable in this city so full of life!