Another popular camping option in Amsterdam is Camping Zeeburg, which is actually the living anti-thesis of Gaasper-Camping. It is located in the eastern area of Amsterdam on a lake island bordered by a lake and a canal on either side. Getting near the site is possible by tram/bus from two directions – Main station and Amstel station. However the routes differ from each other in terms of walking distances and way-side surroundings. If you exit the tram/bus at the terminus “Flevoweg”, you are facing a stiff 10 minutes walk over a motorway bridge and along the motorway. Get down at the end of the bridge and you are there. Coming from the Main station one has to get off at “Zuiderzeeweg”. There are two options now to get to the camping site. One follows the dreaded motorway, so I recommend the other one, even if it takes a little bit longer. Get out of the tram (from Main station) cross the traffic light on your right and walk straight past a parking lot. Keep walking straight on a lane of cobble stones, surrounded by trees. At the end of the lane turn right and again walk straight till you finally come to the canal. Here you turn right, walk straight and pass the bridge under it. A few meters later you are there. Duration with this route: 15 – 20 minutes.
You enter the site (during opening hours) through an...Another popular camping option in Amsterdam is Camping Zeeburg, which is actually the living anti-thesis of Gaasper-Camping. It is located in the eastern area of Amsterdam on a lake island bordered by a lake and a canal on either side. Getting near the site is possible by tram/bus from two directions – Main station and Amstel station. However the routes differ from each other in terms of walking distances and way-side surroundings. If you exit the tram/bus at the terminus “Flevoweg”, you are facing a stiff 10 minutes walk over a motorway bridge and along the motorway. Get down at the end of the bridge and you are there. Coming from the Main station one has to get off at “Zuiderzeeweg”. There are two options now to get to the camping site. One follows the dreaded motorway, so I recommend the other one, even if it takes a little bit longer. Get out of the tram (from Main station) cross the traffic light on your right and walk straight past a parking lot. Keep walking straight on a lane of cobble stones, surrounded by trees. At the end of the lane turn right and again walk straight till you finally come to the canal. Here you turn right, walk straight and pass the bridge under it. A few meters later you are there. Duration with this route: 15 – 20 minutes.
You enter the site (during opening hours) through an open gate and find the reception on your left. Linked with the reception area are a supermarket, a restaurant and a nice outdoor sitting area, where there is often live music in summer. There is also an info-board. It becomes immediately clear that this camping site has a philosophy of living and let live – as long as nobody is overly disturbed or even damaged. Check-in is pretty easy. Register, obtain a small plastic sign for fixing outside at your tent, receive last instructions on where to look for a suitable pitch, and off you go. Having said this one has to add that in summer it is wise to turn up in the morning. At this time many campers leave and you have a greater chance of finding a nice place. Later in the day it becomes obviously much more difficult to find a place at all. The site is not really big. It is divided by trees and bushes into several tent and caravan areas, some of them facing a lake. During high season the tents actually touch each other because of the limited space factor plus the popularity factor of Zeeburg Camping, among youngsters and still-youngsters from all over the world. A great place if you are out to have a relaxed couple of days, meet other free – minded people and enjoy a little bit of a festival-like character, at times. If you can’t bear physical closeness and sometimes a little messiness by quite some fellow campers, don’t come here. If you can’t bear the sight in the morning of your tent neighbour being sunk down in the middle of his food accessories from the previous evening, and still holding a hookah in his arms, don’t come here. In this case “Gaasper Camping” (see description) could be an option for you.
Back on Zeeburg Camping we find sufficient sanitary premises. They are dotted over the site; a really big one close to the reception, and some smaller ones within the actual camping areas. A crew of workers is busy to clean them thoroughly three times a day. That means sometimes waiting a little bit, but at the end it is the campers themselves who make increased cleaning – activities necessary. Meanwhile one could use the waiting time to do the dishes – with free hot water (for this purpose)!
The crew consists mainly of young people, some of them volunteers who enjoy living in Amsterdam for half a year or so. Occasionally one comes across crew members who are heavily tattooed and one wonders what they probably do the rest of their life, but have a problem and you find a lot of sympathy and readiness to help – mostly with a smile. Not everything may be perfect from the viewpoint of an average mid-age and bourgeois middle-European family – but the few short-comings are more than equalled by personal enthusiasm of many of the staff members. Speaking of sympathy one has to mention the little animal petting farm and a playground, both meant to entertain kids. With comparatively little effort the campsite-owners show their sympathy for children. Many grown-up visitors feel well in the public open air sitting area. There one can bring his own snacks (or order some at the restaurant), get a can of soft drink or beer (at very reasonable prices) at the supermarket and watch the world go by while munching. Occasionally a slightly freaked out guy or a girl appears on the scene to give a small guitar or bongo performance – applauded by the audience. At other times there may be some background music from the restaurant. All in all it is a very relaxed atmosphere.
So at the end my conclusion is that this camping site is my personal first choice place in Amsterdam. I’d rate the pros and cons like this:
Pros:
- The setting
- The people
- The staff
- The vibe
Cons:
- The rather long and partly un-inspiring approach to the camping ground.
- The ratio between capacity and actual fill-up of the site.
- The missing “reservation” option which leaves one in a state of doubt (in season), unless one has successfully checked-in.More
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