Our Guides
SANDEMANs NEW Europe supports local small business by helping independent free-lance tour guides find a voice for their passion. By providing marketing services for local entrepreneurs, we take away some of the stress of developing a marketing strategy and allow fantastic independent tour guides the freedom to focus on what they do best.
Meet some of them and find out why they are so passionate about sharing the best of Amsterdam with you!
Angel
Angel is a beach boy from Southern California that loves the water, so it is only natural he would choose a place to live that is under sea level and surrounded by water. He has two college degrees he has never used. If you want them, you can have them. He has spent his time looking for the meaning of life and a life of meaning. He came to Amsterdam to live in a climate of personal freedom and openness. This feeling of individual freedom that is the backbone of Amsterdam is what he loves to share and turn people onto about this great city.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Essential Bike Tour
Amsterdam’s Famous Coffeeshops Tour
Carman
Carman splits his time between hosting travellers in Amsterdam and running his own backpackers hostel in the Canadian woods. After receiving a Kinesiology degree, he found himself hitch hiking, cycling and diving around the world and is excited to check out more of Europe while based out of this beautiful city! He is looking forward to being your guide and will see you soon!
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
David
Bouncing between Europe and California, David finally found his “Mokum’ in Amsterdam. Inspired by the Dutch laid back of living and fascination of the Amsterdam tolerance, he will share his favorite stories (about the horse) by walking up and down the streets of this great city. When not working, you’ll find him drinking his coffee and minding his own business in Vondelpark.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Essential Bike Tour
Amsterdam’s Famous Coffeeshops Tour
Ged
Ged fell in love with Amsterdam way back in 1982 and after years of taking vacations in the city he finally moved here when he left the BBC in 2009. “I used to make documentaries for TV and radio but what I do now isn’t that different. I love telling stories and this city has some great stories. And great places to tell them in. I have so many favourite bars and cafes in Amsterdam that I feel like I’m on a mission to save visitors from wasting their Euros in the bad ones.”
Ged describes himself as a semi-professional bon vivant and says that Amsterdam is the best city in the world to dedicate oneself to pleasure. He credits this to Amsterdam’s narrow old streets which are not very car friendly. “Cars ruin cities. When people walk and cycle everywhere it civilises them. It gives you more time to stop and stare. And in here in Amsterdam there’s plenty to stare at. You can hardly believe your eyes sometimes.”
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Geert
Geert loves to travel. Born in Portugal to Dutch parents, a sense of homelessness sparked off a wanderlust that he has yet to overcome. Three continents, 20 countries and a history degree later, he returned to Amsterdam to do what comes naturally to him: talk loudly about old buildings. Why Amsterdam? Geert loves Amsterdam because it is one of the most open, friendly, safe and fascinating cities has ever been to. There’s so much more to the city than sex and drugs and too many people miss out on the best parts. No longer!
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Julian
is an Australian guy who followed his heart and moved to the other side of the world for love! Since his arrival in Amsterdam, he has grown to love the city and its amazing history. He is a young, enthusiastic bloke who enjoys playing his guitar, watching football (both Ajax and Sydney FC!) and eating Vegemite toast! Julian thinks he’ll never be able to live without a bicycle ever again and cannot wait to show you everything that Amsterdam has to offer!
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Essential Bike Tour
Amsterdam’s Famous Coffeeshops Tour
Kendra
Born into a Reagan-era hunter-gatherer society in Alaska, Kendra had a fairly typical upbringing filled with hunting, fishing, hiking and the knowledge of how to survive if lost in the woods. She began to play the saxophone at the age of ten, inspired by the musical styling of Lisa Simpson. After finishing a Bachelor’s degree, in music she left the States to attend the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands earning a degree in music engineering in the spring of 2007. On top of her musical aspirations she enjoys learning about and sharing her insider knowledge of Amsterdam.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Essential Bike Tour
Amsterdam’s Famous Coffeeshops Tour
Kate
Kate is a German native, though many people guess her to be Irish because of her freckles. Cycling has always been one of Kate’s favourite activities. After having been ridiculed one too many times by her fellow German countrymen for cycling everywhere, she decided to search for the Valhalla of cyclists. She finally found it in Amsterdam! Bridges over canals are now her rolling hills, red paths are her yellow brick road and she has a
bike for every occasion. She has completely assimilated with the Dutchies in Amsterdam, except for the fact that she WILL stop for tourists at a zebra crossing. Kate will guide you safely through her favourite city in the
world.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Lee
Lee has been dazzling tourists with her wild tourguiding antics since 2009 and can’t imagine doing anything else in any place but Amsterdam, where crazy is the norm! With a degree in post-punk ballet from Toronto Canada, there was really no choice but to travel the world in search of something better to do and somewhere warmer to live. After spending time on a socialist commune in Israel, refugee camps in Palestine, a hut in the Siberian wilderness, a jungle tree-house in India, gangland China, among 35 other countries, it finally occurred to her that everything she had been searching for – freedom, tolerance, and stroopwafels- was back in the DAM. Her favourite tour is the Red Light District Exposed, and hopes to soon complete a Masters in the the subject and publish a book called Sex Drugs & Stamppot. When not touring or traveling, Lee can be found partying hard, playing a gezellig game of Drag Queen Bingo on the Zeedijk, or sitting by a picturesque canal folding love letters to Ziggy Stardust into spacecrafts and sending them into outerspace…still hoping for a response.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Essential Bike Tour
Amsterdam’s Famous Coffeeshops Tour
Mark
Mark is from South Africa, but when his early 20s took him to Amsterdam he completely fell for the place. He tried settling down in England, studying business management and picking up a law degree along the way, yet studiously avoided joining the rat race. The call of The Dam, however, was too strong to resist so he came and settled into his favourite city and never looked back. Now he’s living the dream, telling stories about the place he loves the most… home!
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Tim
Having enjoyed a sheltered upbringing in a small, protestant town in Holland’s conservative east, Tim had always marveled at the great, wide world glimpsed only in movies. Later, while studying journalism, he would learn to question those sources. And so he ventured out into the world to see if Hollywood had been lying to him.
Tim traveled extensively through South-East Asia and Latin America. Only to return to a small town he had now thoroughly outgrown. He relocated and chose the most cosmopolitan place he could think of for his new home:… (wait for it)… Amsterdam! Here he has found that unique balance of order and chaos – of madness and pragmatism – that he thrives in.
Tim adores Amsterdam and would love to explain why you should too.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Tom
Tom comes from the UK, where the rolling hills are shrouded in mist. He’d grown up in a place where the weather changes quickly and where it’s often difficult to see the end of the road through the stubborn sea fog. Amsterdam was therefore the next logical step. After spells in Germany and Russia, he packed his case and set off for the low countries. Initially startled by the flatness of it all, Tom has now confessed a certain attachment to the plain Dutch, or the Dutch plain, or both. When not entertaining crowds with his BBC documentary voice, Tom spends much of his time cycling through the city and gazing in awe at the leaning houses and narrowly avoiding falling into one of the many canals. Yep – When it comes to water, bikes and dikes, Amsterdam has it all.
Tours mastered:
Free Tour
Red Light District Tour
Amsterdam’s Famous Coffeeshops Tour
