Must Things to do in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is a small city in Europe where walking or biking is the best remedy. Here are some wonderful things to do in Amsterdam!
If you are going to be doing many things on this list, I would recommend purchasing the Go City Pass. I purchased the Go City Pass (Essentials Pass), which allowed me to visit 3 top attractions. I chose: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam Canal Cruise, and Bike Rental Amsterdam. It saved me some time and money.
1) Bike the streets of Amsterdam
One of the most quintessential things to do in Amsterdam is to bike around the city. Amsterdam is the only city that has more bikes than it does people. There are many places to rent bikes in the city. One of those places would be A Bike Rental, where you can rent a bike for a whole day for a low price. They have multiple locations, but there is one super close to Vondelpark (the most famous park in Amsterdam). The bike also comes with a built-in lock that you don't have to pay extra for.
Once you find your bike, you can discover so many different biking trails in Amsterdam. You can find a ton of options here. Make sure that you don't park your bike in a non-parking zone!
2) Take a canal tour
Amsterdam is well known as the city of canals. The canal system spans over 60 miles (100 km) with around 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The system was built to manage flooding, the growing population, and international trade routes. The canal tour is a great activity to do during sunset and can be a great learning opportunity to learn more about the history of the city.
There are many different boat tours where you can tour with wine and cheese. I would recommend looking at the different tour companies and seeing which one matches your vibe.
3) Take a day trip to Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans is an open-air village located about 15 to 20 minutes north of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. This village has everything from windmills, cheese & clog-making shops, to boat tours. It is a unique place to understand some of the history of the Dutch people. If you are taking public transit, it can take about 1-2 hours to get there (especially during the spring when the tulips are blooming). If you want to explore at your own pace, I would leave early if using public transportation to avoid the crowds.
Things to do at Zaanse Schans:
Go inside a windmill - One of the highlights of my trip was getting to see the insides of a windmill and how they function. The windmills have a great view of the entire village and can be quite fascinating to learn more about. I wouldn't recommend purchasing the all-inclusive windmill tour, though. It appears once you see the inside of one, you can imagine what the rest could look like.
Watch how clogs are made - Another fascinating thing to witness is how clogs are made. You can watch them demonstrate how they used to make clogs as well as see how clog-making has evolved over the years. At the end, you can even purchase your own clogs and souveniors. They are surprisingly comfy!
Eat some cheese - Visitors can sample different cheeses from Catharina Hoeve Cheese Farm. There are cool videos to see how the cheese is made.
Explore the Zaans Museum - If you are looking to learn about the region, you can experience this museum where you can learn about the original operating machinery of the biscuit and chocolate factory of the 1900s.
Visit the First Albert Heijn Grocery Store - For those who are unfamiliar, Albert Heijn is a famous grocery store in the Netherlands and has over 1200 stores across the Netherlands and Belgium. You can visit the first store in the village.
Take a Boat Tour on the Zaan River- If the weather is nice, you can go on a boat tour to experience the wonders of the village.
Stop by the Bakery Museum (In de Gecroonde Duyvekater) - For our sweet lovers, you can taste the sweet Dutch bread that is unique to the Zaan region.
4) Experience Dutch culture by visiting their museums
If you are visiting Amsterdam, one of the most rewarding experiences is to visit some of the Dutch museums. Here are some of the top museums:
Rijksmuseum - Inside a Gothic Renaissance palace, this museum contains 800 years of Dutch history and displays of the most famous artworks of Dutch painters Vermeer and Rembrandt. The museum has a free audio app where you can hear more insights about the paintings.
Anne Frank House - The museum of the hiding places of the Frank family as well as other Jewish people attempting to escape the concentration camps. I would highly recommend purchasing these tickets at least six weeks in advance. They are released every Tuesday at 10 AM Central European time. Since the museum is tiny, it is important that you book in advance, or you will miss your chance. You can see where Anne and her family lived in hiding as well as the different rotating exhibits at the museum. When I was there, they had an exhibit on teachers and on Margot's lost diary.
Rembrandt House Museum - This is the only place dedicated strictly to Rembrandt and is the place where he worked for 19 years. Visitors can experience the home that Rembrandt built.
Stedelijk Museum - If you are a contemporary art lover, you can visit the Stedelijk Museum to see minimalism, abstract, pop, and Dutch Avant-Garde.
Van Gogh Museum- is another popular museum that I would recommend purchasing in advance. One of the most famous Dutch painters is Vincent Van Gogh. You can see some of his most famous works Almond Blossoms, The Potato Eaters, and Sunflowers. The museum helps you understand his relationship with his brother as well as dives into his mental health issues that ultimately led to his early death.
STRAAT Museum- If you are a fan of street art, you can discover a unique street art experience in the STRAAT museum. As it was once a former shipyard, visitors can see pieces from over 180 artists. It is a unique art museum offering, and I would say one of a kind.
5) Visit the Red Light District
Another most visited place in Amsterdam is the Red Light District. The Red Light District is a historical neighborhood where you can find legal prostitution and sex workers advertising themselves in glass boxes. When visiting, ensure that you are being respectful of the workers, as it is prohibited to take pictures. If you are curious to learn more about the Red Light District and how it came to be, I would recommend going to Red Lights Secrets Museum, where you can hear stories from the sex workers. The museum helps shed a light on the motives behind the workers and gives insight into what happens behind those closed doors.
6) Eat a Stroopwaffel at the market
When in Amsterdam, it is important to try the street food, and what better place to try it than at one of their street markets!
Albert Cuypmarkt: One of the oldest street markets containing over 250 stalls where you can find the most famous of the street foods (Stroopwafels). This is the street market that I attended. It was great to see all different kinds of foods, clothing, jewelry, and sweets.
Dappermarkt: a multicultural market located in East Amsterdam that has household goods, spices, and produce.
Ten Katemarkt: a local favorite where you can find groceries, quick bites, and indoor food hall options.
7) Have a picnic in Vondelpark
One of my favorite memories in Amsterdam was biking and eating in Vondelpark. Vondelpark is the biggest park in Amsterdam, where everyone can enjoy biking, running, walking, and strolling. There are free concerts during the Summer that occur in the park. It is a great place to sit and unwind while you enjoy the wonderful city of Amsterdam. The park is over 150 years old and is constantly undergoing renovations to continue to serve its residents as well as ongoing tourists!
8) Visit the tulip gardens at Keukenhof Gardens
If you are going to Amsterdam in the Spring, one of the most essential things to see is the tulips in full bloom. Keukenhof Gardens is typically open from mid-March to early May, daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM, including public holidays such as Easter and King’s Day. To get there, it is about a 45-minute car ride or 1 1/2 hours on public transit (depending on where you are in Amsterdam). I would recommend purchasing these tickets in advance, as it can be crowded.
Before booking your trip, you should check the weather, as the tour guide mentioned that it has been much colder this year and the tulips have taken much longer to bloom than previous years. I went in early May and found the flowers were just in bloom. You can find more information about tulip predictions for blooming here.
If you are visiting Keukenhof Gardens, I would recommend having at least 2-3 hours to explore all the gardens, grab some food at the variety of their food halls, see the
reflective ponds, and take the iconic picture with the windmills.
You can find more information about the gardens on their official site here.
9) Eat Rijsttafel (Indonesian feast)
Because I was solo traveling, I didn't have a chance to do this, but eating an Indonesian feast called Rijsttafel is a very popular thing to do in Amsterdam. For those who are unaware, Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for almost two hundred years. When wandering in the art museums, I discovered the term Javanese, which means the largest group located in Indonesia from Java, Indonesia. Rijsttafel is usually described as white rice surrounded by various Indonesian foods (quite similar to banchan). This feast can vary from family to family and from generation to generation. From what is understood, the feast is made to keep the tradition of sharing cultures and food alive between the two cultures. I found this article on Rijsttafel quite enlightening if you'd like to learn more.
10) Discover the different meanings of cafe, coffeeshops, and koffiehuis
If you are in Amsterdam, you might discover that not all cafes are alike. Most cafes in Amsterdam serve wine, beer, and sometimes cannabis. Cafes are neighborhood meeting places where people can drink and have a good time. Coffeeshops are establishments where you find cannabis (but no alcohol). Koffiehuis is a traditional coffee shop where you can find tea and coffee. Lastly, the brown cafe is a unique place to visit. A brown cafe is a pub known for its dark wood interiors and it's relaxed atmosphere. If you are visiting a brown cafe, I would recommend trying Bitterballen, which is crispy deep-fried gravy and meat balls dipped in sharp mustard, or Oude Kaas, which are cubes of aged Dutch Gouda served with mustard.
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