8 Things You Absolutely Cannot Miss in Amsterdam
Next up on everyone's favorite series, 8 Things You Absolutely Cannot Miss, Amsterdam! If you have plans to spend 3 days in Amsterdam but are having trouble narrowing down what to do, you have come to the right spot.
After five visits to this beautiful city, here are the top eight things I recommend seeing, doing, eating, and drinking!
QUICK NOTE: below I have recommended many tours and activities, all via GetYourGuide. If you aren’t familiar, they are a trusted site and have lots of unique things to do, along with all of the standard touristy activities. Booking everything individually on different sites can be a bit of nightmare to keep track of. With GetYourGuide you can create an account to book and manage all of your tickets in one central location, even things like skip the line tickets to the Van Gough Museum. When I travel I personally book everything I do via GetYourGuide, which is why I am recommending it to you.
Most importantly, when you book through GetYourGuide you can cancel any booking up to 24 hours in advance and receive a full refund. No additional fees, no questions asked. There’s no risk if you need to cancel, so I highly recommend booking everything now to be on the safe side. Especially because Amsterdam is very popular, as are many of the tours I recommend below, so they will absolutely sell out!
8 Things You Absolutely Cannot Miss in Amsterdam
How to Get to Amsterdam
To get to Amsterdam, you’ll want to fly into Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. From there you will take the train to Amsterdam Central Station in order to get to the city center. It takes just 15 minutes. Click here to get your train ticket.
If you arrive later in the evening, don’t worry — the train runs 24/7. Overnight it’s less frequent (every hour instead of every 15 minutes) but it still runs!
I recommend buying your ticket in advance so you can avoid complications and get on your train ASAP. Click here to get your train ticket.
How to Get Around in Amsterdam
To get around while in Amsterdam you’ll need this public transport card. Amsterdam’s public transit is extremely efficient — it’s all I use when I’m in town. With that card you get unlimited travel on all GVB trams, buses, metros, and ferries.
Otherwise you’ll have to purchase individual tickets every time you board something which can be incredibly overwhelming. One time in Amsterdam specifically the ticket person on board screamed at me so now I just save myself the hassle and buy the cards in advance! Click here to get yours.
Get Brunch at Cafe Georgette on P.C. Hoofstraat
P.C. Hooftstraat is a popular shopping street lined with every designer store you could imagine. Even if I am not planning to buy something, I love to head here to explore the shops because they have such beautiful, unique displays. Even the Chanel exterior is to die for! And on glam P.C. Hooftstraat lives Cafe Georgette, my favorite place in all of Amsterdam. I love it so much that if I find myself with more than 3 days in Amsterdam I will visit numerous times!
Cafe Georgette has only been around for about a year which is probably why I had never heard of it prior to my trip in October. Luckily I was sent to P.C. Hooftstraat on a photography gig for AFAR and stumbled upon it while searching for a warm coffee. It is a Parisian-themed cafe, serving breakfast, lunch, and delicious coffee and pastries. I now go here every time I visit Amsterdam without fail!
Once done, head to the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gough Museum, and Vondelpark, all a short walk from Cafe Georgette and thing you absolutely cannot miss in Amsterdam! They’re also very popular exhibits that will sell out and/or have long lines so I recommend purchasing tickets in advance.
To get your Rijksmuseum tickets, click here.
To get your Van Gough Museum tickets, click here.
If for some reason Cafe Georgette doesn’t work out, try Ted’s All Day Brunch or Greenwood’s. Both great breakfast options!
Go on a Canal Boat Cruise
You absolutely can’t go to Amsterdam without seeing it from the canals! Did you know Amsterdam has over 60 miles of canals? It also has 90 islands and 1,500 bridges.
Before I went I had seen a million photos of the canals, of course, but I didn’t realize that the entire city is canals. It’s unbelievable. The Amsterdam Canal District was designed at the end of the 16th century and built in the 17th century. The original idea was for water management and defense, eventually also becoming a great means of local transport.
Seeing Amsterdam from a boat will provide you with the most quintessential picture perfect views of AMS possible. The cruise I recommend taking comes with a cheese and wine option. It has thousands of five star reviews because who doesn’t love sitting on a boat in the one of the most beautiful places in the world while drinking wine and eating cheese?
Click here to reserve your spot!
That boat cruise runs all day, too — from 10:30am to 10:30pm. Depending on your mood and your other plans, you go in the morning, afternoon, for sunset, or after dusk! Totally flexible and up to you.
If you don’t care about wine and cheese, click here for another great option.
Rent a bike and see the sights
Biking is almost always my favorite way to get around when visiting somewhere new. Via bike you are able to see so many things in a shorter period of time than if you were to walk, but you still get to exercise and breathe in fresh air unlike being in a car/bus or some kind. I recommended the same in my popular post about 8 Things You Cannot Miss in London and everyone has loved it!
As the Amsterdam tourism site says, some would say that the only way to truly experience Amsterdam is by bike. Amsterdam is a biking city if I’ve ever seen one. They are literally everywhere. Cyclists are well respected — because everyone in AMS is a cyclist — so in general I felt pretty safe biking around here. It’s also a mostly flat city which makes it an easy ride, of course.
I recommend renting a bike via a guided tour so that you get a good overview of the city from someone who really knows Amsterdam. Then you can later go back to the spots you want to see more of, either via bike or not. Click here for the bike tour I recommend. It has thousands of glowing reviews.
Re: timing, if the availability is there, I recommend doing this bike tour when you first arrive. Because like I said above, it gives you a good overview of the city and you’ll likely discover things you want to go back to see in more detail. If you do it too late in your trip, you might not have time to go back to things!
Learn About Anne Frank
One of the most famous stories from Amsterdam is, of course, that of Anne Frank. Anne is one of the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and her former place of hiding one of the most popular landmarks in Amsterdam.
Anne and her family hid in a secret annex above her father’s business on Westermarkt from 1942 until 1944 when they were (very sadly) discovered. The Anne Frank House, as they now call it, has been turned into a museum which you are able to tour while in Amsterdam. Click here for more information.
If you want to learn about Anne Frank in a different, less touristy way — either in addition to visiting the museum or instead of — I recommend this Anne Frank and World War II Walking Tour.
In the tour you’ll pass by important landmarks such as the Jewish Historical Museum, the Portuguese Synagogue, the Auschwitz Monument, and the Anne Frank House (entrance is not included in the walking tour). You’ll learn all about Anne’s life, the Frank’s family dynamics, move from Germany, and time in hiding. Plus a bit about her father's life after the war.
Don’t miss it. Click here to reserve your spot.
Walk around Albert Cuyp Market
Albert Cuyp Market is an outdoor market selling everything under the sun — from fish and waffles to clothes and souvenirs. You name it, Albert Cuyp Market’s got it! It has been around since 1905 and is an iconic Amsterdam stop.
Grab a coffee and snack at one of the stands and spend an hour or two perusing all of the goods. It's fun to roam around in and great if you need to pick up something for someone back home (or yourself, even).
To get the full Albert Cuyp Market + Dutch food experience, I recommend booking this street food tour. After hundreds of reviews it has a 4.97 out of 5 rating (wow) and just so happens to take place at my favorite market!
The street food tour description says it’s as if you’re visiting a local friend who is showing you all of the best places to eat, ones you’d otherwise have no idea about. And the reviews? Pretty much unanimously call it a phenomenal experience. This tour is something I just discovered and it’s at the top of my own list for next trip. Click here to reserve your spot.
When you’re done here, walk over to the Heineken Experience. It’s a quick ~3 minute walk away and one of the most popular things to do in Amsterdam. Click here to get your tickets.
Again, I highly recommend buying them in advance! It will save you tons of time.
Stay in a canal view room
Regardless of where you stay, you absolutely must stay in a canal view room. Waking up in the morning to the most stereotypical, unique-to-Amsterdam views is such a joy and the best way to start your day.
You can watch as dozens of people — business men, women in heels, friends, etc. — whisk by your window on their bikes en route to work, school, or wherever the day is taking them. There are trucks unloading food and other things to restaurants and stores and parents walking their children to school. It’s such a truly lovely experience!
Where to Stay in Amsterdam:
Visit the Red Light District
De Wallen, most famously known as the Red Light District, is the oldest part of the city. The name “Red Light District” comes from the red lights that illuminate the windows where the (legal) prostitutes work.
You are able to visit it on your own by simply walking the streets, but I recommend arranging a tour so that you can learn about the history of sex work and the Red Light District with a professional, knowledgable guide. The Red Light District is an important part of Amsterdam’s history and development and is incredibly interesting to learn about.
Take a Day Trip From Amsterdam
If you have the time, there are plenty of great places to visit outside of Amsterdam via day trip! So many, in fact, that I could (and probably should) have a separate post entirely dedicated to day trips from Amsterdam. I will add it to my list but in the meantime, here’s where to go!
Before Amsterdam became the go-to spot in the Netherlands, Utrecht was the most important. It is a medieval town and, like Amsterdam, full of canals, ancient buildings, and historic houses. From the city, Utretch is a quick 24 minute train ride, making it the perfect destination for a day trip!
Head over first thing in the morning to grab breakfast at Ted’s All Day Brunch - reason enough to make the journey. It is delicious and makes you feel like you have died and gone to Instagram heaven!
Some places I did not have time to check out but hope to make it to next time: SLA Voorstraat (for healthy salads, bowls, snacks, and juices), Broei (a beautiful vegetarian spot), and Instock (a spot tackling food waste one day at a time).
You don’t need to book a tour for a day trip to Utrecht, as it is incredibly easy to get to on your own via train. Click here to get your train ticket.
Nearby there is also Amersfoort, which has the most charming historic city center. It’s just 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam. Click here for your train ticket.
A 20 minute train ride in the opposite direction will land you at the picturesque city of Haarlem. It’s a hub for art, culture, historic architecture, and great shopping. Click here to buy your train ticket!
Another extremely popular day trip from Amsterdam option is to the Dutch countryside. Think windmills, clogs, and cheese. My recommendation if you want to visit the Dutch countryside is via a tour that includes Zaanse Schans, Edam, Volendam, and Marken. Click here for more information and to reserve your spot.
It is available in both English and Spanish.
Another popular option if you want to just visit Zaanse Schans is this day trip tour. Can’t go wrong either way.
Heard of the “Dutch Venice”? That’s Giethoorn and it is as picturesque as can be, full of restored farmhouses, beautiful canals and picturesque wooden bridges. Discover the incredibly photogenic and charming Dutch village, only accessible by boat, on this day trip: click here for more information and to book your ticket!
There’s also UNESCO World Heritage Kinderdijk and The Hague. Click here for the day trip I recommend.
Want to see the tulips? Visit the Keukenhof Tulip Garden in nearby Lisse. The tour I recommend is a full day and also includes Giethoorn (Dutch Venice). Click here to get your ticket.
Another highly rated option if you want to skip Giethoorn is here. Instead of Giethoorn it includes a windmill cruise!
See the UNESCO World Heritage sight of Bruges, Belgium, the Venice of the North! Click here for more info.
Brussels, Belgium is also another popular day trip option from Amsterdam. Click here for the day trip I recommend.
Other Recommended Things to do in Amsterdam
Here are some other highly recommended things to check out in Amsterdam, all of which are very highly rated and best selling:
ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo — click here to get your entry ticket
Moco Museum with Banksy & More — click here for tickets
Madame Tussauds — tickets are here
Amsterdam Icebar — tickets here
The Upside Down Museum (basically an Instagram museum) — click here for tickets
The Museum of Prostitution (located in a former brothel in the Red Light District) — get tickets here
Rembrandt House Museum — tickets here
The Royal Palace of Amsterdam — click here for tickets
Amsterdam Dungeon (spooky!) — get tickets here
AMAZE Immersive Audiovisual Experience — tickets here
5D Flight Experience — tickets here
I also recommend doing some shopping while in Amsterdam. Some of my favorite stores:
Noor - a boutique full of affordable and fashionable items. My favorite place to shop for clothes in Amsterdam!
& Other Stories - a one-stop destination featuring items designed in Paris, Los Angeles, and Stockholm. I first discovered it while stumbling upon it in Amsterdam but they do have many locations all over the world and also online. Still, it’s worth the in person visit!
It’s a Present! - super cute gift shop. It looks a bit tacky online (no offense) but don’t let that fool you. In person it is lovely and full of adorable presents for you or anyone you need to pick something up for!
Wilderness - plants, books, accessories, and gifts. The store is absolutely beautiful and covered in greenery, which you know I LOVE!
All the Luck in the World - another adorable store featuring things like “home accessories, jewelry, vintage treasures and exquisite rarities, stationery, must-have gadgets, furniture and things for the little ones”. I especially love the jewelry.
Where to Eat and Drink in Amsterdam
Lion Noir
Nooch
Pluk
tHuis aan de Amstel
Stach Cafe
Koffiespot
Bar Oldenhof
Envy
Need help capturing photos? I recommend this private photoshoot!
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