Rain, Wind and a Warm Room: Amsterdam Weather

Visitors who come to Amsterdam for the first time are nearly always surprised by the weather. Not because it is extreme, but because it changes so quickly. A bright morning becomes a grey lunchtime, a sudden downpour drives everyone into doorways, and the evening clears into a sky that looks as though nothing had happened. The wind off the water is a constant presence for anyone crossing a bridge on foot. None of this changes how a session works, but it does shape the evening around it.

Wet shoes and a long walk

The typical first day involves more walking than planned. Museums, canals, markets, a detour because a street looked interesting. Add a shower of rain in the afternoon and you arrive back at the hotel with wet shoes, cold hands and legs that have covered twenty thousand steps on cobbles. That is exactly the day when a session in a warm room makes sense.

The room temperature

Hotel rooms in Amsterdam are often kept on the cool side, especially in older buildings where the heating is modest. A room that feels fine while you are moving around can feel cold when you are lying still for an hour. Turn the heating up before she arrives, and if the room has a window open, close it. The difference between a pleasant session and a slightly chilly one is often just a notch on the thermostat.

Summer evenings

In summer, the opposite applies. Many older hotels have no air conditioning, and a room under the roof of a canal house can be warm at the end of a sunny day. Close the curtains during the afternoon to keep the heat out, and open the window for half an hour before she arrives if the evening is cooler than the room. Long light evenings also mean it is still bright at ten, so drawn curtains help the room feel like evening.

Winter evenings

In winter it is dark by five, and the wind can be biting. A session in the early evening, after a day of museums and before a late dinner, fits the rhythm of a winter visit well. The streets are quieter, the canals are lit, and the contrast between the cold outside and a warm room is half of the appeal.

Does weather affect arrival?

Very rarely. In central Amsterdam, a room is reached within forty to sixty minutes of a confirmed booking in any weather. A storm severe enough to shut down the transport network would count as force majeure, and in that case the deposit becomes credit for another date. Ordinary rain, wind and cold are simply part of the city.

At the airport hotels, the journey time is agreed in advance anyway, and weather is part of what goes into it.

Flights and weather

Weather does affect flights. Fog in autumn and winter can delay arrivals, and strong winds occasionally change which runway is used and how long the taxi to the gate takes. If you have a session booked for the evening you land and the flight is delayed, write in the thread as soon as you know. A delay on your side is not force majeure, but before she has set out the hour can usually be moved.

Packing for it

A light waterproof jacket, shoes that can survive a puddle, and a warm layer for the evening are enough for much of the year. For the session itself, nothing special is needed. She brings her own towels and oil; you need only a warm room, a lamp and a shower beforehand.

Autumn, the season of wet leaves

Autumn deserves a word of its own. From October the rain settles in more steadily, the canals are lined with fallen leaves that make the cobbles slippery, and the evenings draw in quickly. It is also a season of fewer crowds and easier hotel prices, and a first visit in autumn has a quieter, more local feel. The Amsterdam Dance Event falls in October, and bookings on those dates carry a deposit, as on any peak date. Outside that week, a session in the early evening after a wet afternoon is exactly what the season seems made for.

After the session

If you go out afterwards, take the jacket. The evening that was clear an hour ago may not be now. Or stay in, order something to the room, and listen to the rain on the window. On a first visit, there is something to be said for both.