– What to do –

Because there are so many things to do in Amsterdam it is hard to put it all in one article without writing a complete novel. It will be equally hard to put all must-see’s in one weekend’s visit. So to make the best of your stay you are going to make choices. You want to leave town with the feeling you’ve seen the most famous landmarks but also visited some spots that only the locals know of. The focus of this article is going to be exactly that. A great mix of highlights and local experiences that can fit in a weekend without stretching your agenda. Let’s go at it!

Free Walking tour vs. Bicycle tour

The first thing you should always do when you visit a new city is a guided tour. Of course, these tours make you feel like the most touristy tourist in the world and most often they aren’t that authentic. BUT they are the best way to get a quick grasp of the city. In addition to that, they provide you with an opportunity to ask your guide questions. Not only regarding the history or the highlights of the tour but also where else to go. Tour guides are almost always locals so they will be happy to tell you all the best spots to go.

Why you should not go on a bicycle tour

Normally I would go straight on with recommending taking a bicycle tour but for Amsterdam, you are better off taking a walking tour. What?! Not cycling in the city of bicycles? No. Why not? Two reasons. The first is that Amsterdam’s city centre is small enough to discover by foot.

The second is that Amsterdam’s city centre is always crowded and really not that suited for cycling. The locals, I included, rarely visit the city centre anyways and if we do we park our bikes at the edge and walk around for the rest of it. The tiny cobblestone canal streets are always filled with masses of tourists trying out a bicycle for the first time and everybody else almost crashing into them. Not only unpleasant but actually quite dangerous. Especially considering the trams push through busy roads quite aggressively. 

Before you think ‘but I want to have this local experience of cycling in Amsterdam’, you won’t. Not by cycling in the city centre at least. When you are staying in Amsterdam for a longer period of time it pays to rent a bike. This allows you to discover all the different neighbourhoods and areas. That is the local way, cycling in the centre is not. So really for your first visit, you better not. Another perk of a walking tour? THEY ARE FREE. Read: tip only. Freedamtours does a mean tour but there are many other operators providing the exact same.

What you see on a Walking Tour

A walking tour through the city centre of Amsterdam takes about 2 – 3 hours and shows you all the highlights in town. Central Station, Dam Square, Rembrandt Square, de Nieuwe Kerk, Jordaan, you name it. You’ll see the Red Light District by day, walk along the canals (Prinsengracht, Herengracht, Keizersgracht) and have plenty of opportunities to take pictures of the cobblestone streets and the 17th-century merchant houses. If you want to explore the centre independently, the above gives a good indication of what to go see.

Anne Frank House

Costs: EUR 10.50
The Anne Frank House is the world famous house where Anne Frank and her family, who were Jewish, took shelter during the German occupation in WW2. She wrote a diary about that time which became one of the most printed books in history. 

You can buy your own (English) copy here. 

Visiting the house is not an easy task. It is a small place and it gets crazily busy. This means you have to reserve your tickets WAY in advance. You can book 2 months ahead and tickets sell out quickly. To help unsuspecting tourists they keep back 20% of the tickets which only become available on the day itself.  Great if you forgot to reserve but you will not have the first pick in timeslots.

Tickets can be booked on the website of the museum right here.

The Westerkerk

Right next to the Anne Frank House is the Westerkerk so combining the two is perfect. The Westerkerk (‘Western Church’) is one of the many beautiful churches in Amsterdam. Entrance is free from 10 AM to 3 PM from Monday to Saturday. 

Rijksmuseum & Van Gogh Museum

I must admit that I am not a culture lover. While some like to stroll from museum to museum I get bored quite quickly looking at paintings or modern arts. The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are the two top museums in Amsterdam and they are located right next to each other. Both the buildings and collections are top-notch so ticking these two off will even delight the most fierce culture hater. 

The Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is one of the most iconic buildings in the city and is an architectural highlight from both the outside and the inside. The museum itself revolves around Dutch history, more specifically the Dutch Golden Age. There are paintings and statues but also old artefacts, clothing, weaponry and stuffed animals. Great to wander around for a couple of hours and to get a better grip of the Dutch glory days. 

Right in front of the museum, you can get your picture with one of the iconic ‘I AMsterdam’ signs. Right behind it, a great grassy stretch called the ‘(Museum Square) where you can picknick or chill out with a couple of beers. There is a supermarket right at the South edge of the field where you can buy cold beers and prepped lunches. The roof of the supermarket itself is built as a slope and also covered in grass. Perfect spot to enjoy a long sunny summer evening.

Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh museum hosts the biggest collection of Van Gogh in the world. You know, the famous Dutch painter. The Van Gogh Museum prides itself that it actually receives more visitors than next door Rijksmuseum, about 2.5 million people a year. To be honest I don’t really know why this is as I view the Rijksmuseum as the more interesting one of the two. Especially as a tourist trying to learn more about the city and the Netherlands and not necessarily about Van Gogh. Along with Van Gogh the collection covers all great Dutch masters. 

Pro-tip:  if you happen to be on the last Friday of the month in Amsterdam, go to ‘Vincent op Vrijdag’ (Vincent on Friday). In an attempt to make the arts more attractive to young people they organise monthly events where chilled music is played and drinks can be had.  You can hang out, have a couple of beers and wander around the museum and look at the works. As a student you only pay EUR 10 entrance, if you arrive after 18:00. 

Canal cruise

Very touristy but hey, this is your first visit, what did you expect? One of the unskippable things to do in Amsterdam is seeing the city from the water. Canal cruises are the best way to do so if you don’t own a boat. They depart at the Prins Hendrikkade, only a few minutes walk from the Central Station. Head South into town from CS, you really can’t miss it. 

A good option is to take a pizza cruise, where you combine the canal cruise with (pizza) dinner. Tickets are EUR 39, but pizza AND unlimited drinks during the cruise, wine and beers are included. You can book a pizza cruise here. 

Vondelpark

The Vondelpark is the most well-known park in Amsterdam and loved by both locals and tourists. People use the park to go jogging, chill out in the grass or just go for a stroll. Two years ago the Amsterdam municipality made it illegal to barbeque in this park, but taking your own prepped food and drinks is still allowed. The location is perfect. The park is sandwiched between ‘Oud-Zuid’, the traditional rich and upper-class part of town, and ‘Oud-West’, which nowadays is one of the trendiest areas in town. From the Museumplein, you can simply walk to the East-end of the park. Take into account that the park is quite big. Circling it fully will take you at least an hour. 

Red Light District & Coffee Shops

Of course, you want to go visit the Red Light District on your first visit to Amsterdam. Its one of those things to do in Amsterdam all your friends will ask you about and be honest, you are kind of curious yourself as well. If you take a walking tour you will see the Red Light District by day but it is way more interesting to go there when night falls. Don’t worry too much about safety here. The Red Light District these days is as much a tourist attraction as it is a place to fulfil the needs of lonely men. Beware of pickpockets though. They are as common as drunk English guys going on a ‘lads weekend’ to Amsterdam. 

Many people think of Amsterdam as the city of weed, the red light district, clogs and cheese. Even though coffee shops is not really an Amsterdam thing, but more a Dutch thing, there are plenty around. A lot of them are located in the Red Light District. So if you are looking for some place to smoke, this is a good place to start.

The Red Light District is called ‘de Wallen’ which got its name from the 1800’s when this part of Amsterdam was surrounded by dirt walls. Finding the de Wallen is easy, every street that ends with ‘wall’ is part of the Red Light District. The Oudezijds Achterburgwal and the Oudezijds Voorburgwal are the two big streets where all the action is.

Heineken Experience

Cost: EUR 18 (online)

Last on the list because I found it a bit underwhelming but as a famous tourist attraction I couldn’t leave it out. The Heineken Experience is more a museum with a bar than a real ‘experience’ located in the oldest brewery of Heineken between the old city centre and the Pijp. The brewery is not in use anymore and to be honest, the beer isn’t that special. There are way better breweries in Amsterdam (De Prael, ‘t Ij, Oedipus) but considering their location, they are not perfect for your first Amsterdam trip.

– Eating, Drinking and sleeping recommendations –

One of the big perks of living in Amsterdam is that news hip eateries and bars are popping up literally on a daily basis. Most tourists stick to the centre and eat and drink at the Rembrandtplein, Leidscheplein or the Regulierdwarsstraat. People that plan on a night of heavy drinking stroll around the Red Light District and end up in clubs like De Melkweg.

All conveniently close but generally not that great. Food is bland, overpriced and bars are outdated with staff treating you like shit. This is such a pity as there are so many great places to go. Let me point out a few. 

Eating

Omelegg

In search of a great place for breakfast or lunch? Go to Omelegg. Their main establishment is located on the Ferdinand Bolstraat 143 in the Pijp, but they opened up a place in the city centre as well on the Nieuwebrugsteeg 24.  You can’t reserve a spot so you just have to cue up along with all the locals. The place serves all egg-dishes you can dream off and you are seated at a long table with both friends and strangers. 

Vondeltuin

The Vondeltuin is a big sunny terrace at the most Southern point of the Vondelpark. Go there for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just drinks. The food is great and the setting is green and leafy. Obviously great to combine with a visit to the park. The Vondeltuin is one of those local spots that you have to know to find it. And now you do. 

Pesca

Fan of seafood and fish? Great. Pesca is more than a restaurant. It is a simulated marketplace where your first go ‘shopping for produce’ after which you get seated and have the best seafood dinner you’ve ever had. Like a real marketplace, prices go up and down according to demand. Pesca is called the Theatre of Fish and for good reason. Go there. You won’t be disappointed. 

Drinking

De Pijp

De Pijp is the neighbourhood located directly south of the city centre. It has got the most bars per square meter anywhere in the Netherlands and is probably the most popular place locals go to have drinks. Rain or shine. De Pijp is great to improvise your own pub crawl. Always busy after 23:00 are De Groene Vlinder and De Pilsvogel. 

Reguliersdwarsstraat & Lange Leidschedwarsstraat

The bars in the Pijp close at 2 AM (3 AM on weekends) so if you want to party on you should head over to the Reguliersdwarsstraat or the Lange Leidschedwarsstraat. Prepare for lots of drunk people, top 40 chart music and pricey drinks. Cooldown Cafe or Bloemenbar are always busy. 

Sleeping

Ecomama Hotel

Ecomama Hotel is an awesome boutique hostel in the East of the city centre. Great dorms, comfy beds and communal rooms (with indoor swings!) that are perfect to connect to other travellers. The staff does their best to make sure to keep a social atmosphere going and there is always something on the agenda to connect to other travellers being either a pub crawl, a dinner night or something else.