It is exam week at the VU and that means two things: intensive studying and probably barely leaving the house. Or does it? Today, first-year history student Hannah is sharing her favourite study spots with us. Let's take a look...
Since exams are right around the corner (or have already been survived by a lucky few) I thought a blogpost about good study spots might be helpful for some of you.
For some reason I cannot concentrate too well in my room which is why I was forced to venture out and go on the hunt of finding the best places to study at in Amsterdam. So today I created a list of my favourite ones and will be sharing them with you, starting with the university itself.
University
The university library is accessible from almost every floor and is especially perfect for people who cannot concentrate if it is too loud. On the floors 2, 3, 6, 8, 12, 13, and 14 there are also individual study places which are even quieter. Because there are so many options within the library, the chance of finding a space is pretty high. This is something which can get pretty tricky when it comes to the small study areas on each floor.
A little tip for the humanities students is the library on the 9th floor. Because you can usually only get into the library with your student ID, it is not too crowded.
If you are at the university during the weekend, empty classrooms are another great study spot. In particular if you study with other people, it is an amazing alternative to the library since talking in the library is often not very appreciated. Because the majority of classrooms have black or white boards available, this also gives you the opportunity to for example write down concepts and map them out.
The O|2 Lab Building (which you can find here: Gustav Mahlerlaan 665, 1082 MK, 1082 MK Amsterdam) has great study spots and is even a secret fave of people from my degree. An Albert Heijn is also right next door which gives you the opportunity to go on a quick snack run in between studying.
City library
Regarding libraries, if you live for example closer to the centre the Centrale Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (which can be found here: Oosterdokskade 143, 1011 DL Amsterdam) is a great study spot, too. It is in walking distance from the Centraal station and is open every day from 8am until 10pm.
study break
Cafés
While the university offers great places to study at, especially for in between lectures or tutorials, sometimes a change of scenery and the possibility of an iced coffee sound like fantastic ideas, too. That is why I narrowed down two of my favourite cafés for you.
Starting with probably the most famous one: Bagels & Beans. This café can be found all over Amsterdam, the closest to university however is the one on Parnassusweg 218, 1076 AV Amsterdam. Besides having great iced coffee and a large variety of, well, different bagels, it is also a perfect study sport. On top of free wifi and amazing seating areas, in my experiences it has also been fairly quiet and the staff does not mind you staying there to study for a few hours even though you only ordered one drink.
Another great tip is the café Coffee & Coconuts. You can find it here: Ceintuurbaan 282-284, 1072 GK Amsterdam. Besides also having wifi, it has a super cool launching area upstairs which is great if you have to read a ton or go through your notes. One of my favourite things however is that it is open until 11pm. Especially if you can study better during the evening it is difficult to find good places besides your own room which are open for that long.
I hope this was helpful for some of you and good luck to everyone having exams over the next two weeks.
Tot ziens,
Hannah