Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, was on our itinerary for this tour. It was not our first visit, but we longed to return. Three days in the city awaited us so we could return to familiar places and discover new corners.
Indice:
Day 1 in Amsterdam!!
Every start of the tour will depend on the location of the hotel, and since ours was quite close to here we will start this first day in a place that you will have already seen upon your arrival whether you arrive by train from the airport or from another city, Amsterdam Ceentral, the central station.
Amsterdam Centraal
Built between 1881 and 1889 by the same architect who built the Rijksmuseum, it is Amsterdam’s main railway station.
If it’s your first visit to the city, starting with a free tour is always a good idea. We did it that way when we visited this city for the first time. They usually start at Dam Square, which we’ll see in a little while, and for two hours you’ll walk with a guide in your language who will give you interesting information for your visit. At the end of the tour you’ll leave a voluntary payment according to the cost of the tour. Remember to book in advance for the free free tour of Ámsterdam
From this station we will have a nice panoramic view of the Basilica of St. Nicholas and Damrak Street
If you are going to visit the towns near Amsterdam don’t miss this post!
Amsterdam Dancing Houses & Boat Ride
Many places we have seen in countless photos of Amsterdam, and one point from where you will immediately recognize the photo. We will see a group of tilted houses popularly known as the “dancing houses”. During their construction, the ground was so swampy that they had to be built on stilts. But, over time, these began to move, causing the houses to become crooked. From this photogenic dock we will make one of the essential visits in the city, embarking on its canals.
The walk is beautiful, if the day is sunny as we had this time, it is a pleasure to enjoy the views of the picturesque houses from the water. We did it with the company Canal Tours since we had the tourist pass and it was included in it, but you have many options, not all of them leave from this same pier, the price is around €22 and it is included in the Go City Amsterdam pass.
You can also already book the Amsterdam Canal Boat Tour
The walk lasts an hour and as I said it is an activity that I recommend doing, on a previous visit I remember we had a rainy day, we had done it anyway but this time we could enjoy it a lot because the sun let us see wonderful panoramic views. In this type of cities with many canals it is obvious to say that embarking is one of the main tours but I wanted to convey what I liked. You have an audio guide in English that you download on your mobile phone.
After returning to the same pier we will begin the hike to the Oudekerk
Although a stop at the famous ManekenPiss French fries house tempts us. They have more than one house, this one is located very close by and I would say that it is almost a must.
Will you also visit Brussels?, don’t miss our post on Brussels in 3 days
Oudekerk and Red Light District
The Oudekerk, or Old Church, is one of the most impressive churches in the city. Located in the city’s red light district, this church, built in 1302, is the oldest in Amsterdam.
You can visit its interior, the price to do so is €12 and is included in the I Amsterdam City Card pass
As we said it is located in the red light district, so you can take a short walk here between the shop windows, what you can’t do is photograph and even less film the women who are in them offering their services. This area is completely safe unlike what you might think, so a hike at night to see everything illuminated is a nice option.
Guided tour of the Red Light District
With this beautiful sunny day we are now heading to Dam Square.
Dam Square
In the middle of this square we will see a white monument that remembers the victims of the Second World War.
At the west end of the square is the neoclassical Royal Palace, which functioned as< city hall from 1655 until its conversion into a royal residence in 1808. It can be visited but not on all dates, we unfortunately could not. The entrance fee is €12.50. Royal Palace of Amsterdam
If we turn just a little we will see the Niuwe Kerk (the New Church). It was built in 1408 when the Oude Kerk we saw was just outgrown for the growing city. Inside you will find various exhibitions, the entrance fee is €10 and included in some of the tourist passes.
We will also find here in the square a luxurious shopping center, the exclusive Bijenkorf department store.
And the Madame Tussaud’s wax museum. We paid a visit to this one. Apart from taking a tour of the building and having fun with the resemblance of the characters, you have some very nice views of the square and the city from one of its windows.
Entrance to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum
The cost of admission is €23.50, it is included in the Go City ticket but you have to make a reservation in advance. On the same website you have a section to reserve with the pass, which after purchasing the pass you enter and make the reservation, it was very easy, you show the reservation and the pass to enter.
As always, keep in mind that things change both over time and because of the different seasons, so always remember to check the official website for all these types of details before making a reservation.
Continuing the day through Voldenpark can be an option for this first day of contact with the city.
We ended this day with a tour at night, the illuminated canals, the red light district, everything is a beautiful setting.
And now, let’s rest because tomorrow we will get up early to visit another must-see in Amsterdam.
Day 2
Today we will start with a place that you surely have in the plans.
Anne Frank’s House
This is a visit that, although difficult to make because of everything that was this sad period in the history of humanity, we repeated it, because my parents had not yet been there, and also the story of Anne Frank, her family, her hiding place and her end is something that moves us deeply.
There is something to keep in mind when you want to visit it and that is that you must get your ticket online and in advance only on the official website of the Anne Frank House. The entrance fee is €16.
I would like to point out that tickets are available in advance because they sell out, so if you want to visit, you should know that tickets are available six weeks in advance. It is common to go in and see everything on the calendar already sold out, so with six weeks to go before the visit it would be ideal to go in and reserve them, which is what we did.
In front of the Anne Frank house we find the church
Westerkerk
This time we found it with repairs and scaffolding. On our previous visit we were able to climb its tower from where you get beautiful views of the city. Although it is now closed, it is free to visit its interior, but the climb to the tower does cost money. Reservations there are guided and in a small group due to the narrow staircase. But as we said, it will be closed in 2024.
Jordaan
From here we will start a walk through the Jordaan neighborhood. The Jordaan neighborhood is a very beautiful place to walk around in Amsterdam. This former working class neighborhood retains many houses of the seventeenth century and is appreciated by both locals and tourists because of its varied offer of stores, cafes and restaurants Small streets make our way to enjoy this walk. In addition to the Anne Frank house and the Westerkerk we will find the Homomonument, a beautiful square Johnny Jordaanplein, the houseboats, the Brouwersgrach, the Noordekerk and the charming Noordekerk market.
If you want to do this tour with a guide you can hire a free tour of the Jordaan neighborhood.
Or taking the Anne Frank and Jewish Quarter tour can also be a good plan.
You have a house boat converted into a museum that you can visit. The entrance fee is €9.50 and is included in some of the tourist passes.
We continue walking and pass through a beautiful Spui square, until we reach the Beguinage of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Beguinage
Just like we had seen in the Bruges video, in Amsterdam we found a beguinage.
The Beguines were groups of religious but lay women, which were not subject to papal discipline, arising spontaneously in different parts of Europe, especially in Belgium and in the Netherlands.
Once inside, the hustle and bustle of the city disappears, and a short walk will take us to discover this place, its church and the oldest wooden house in the city. There is no cost to enter the premises, they regulate the number of people entering and ask for silence during the tour.
We are heading to another of the essential walks in Amsterdam but we will first pass by a shopping centre whose door was the access to a 17th century correctional centre, Rasphuispoort.
Rockin
The walk takes us to this very picturesque street in Amsterdam, the walk will also take us to Spui Square
And we come to the typical
Amsterdam Floating Flower Market
The Amsterdam Flower Market is the most famous flower market of its kind in the capital of the Netherlands. It was founded in 1862 and in 1883 it moved to its current location on the waters of the Singel canal.
It is true that it is a very touristy place but it has a lot of charm, you can buy souvenirs here to take home as a memento.
A nice walk around here stopping to see the tulips and other plants is something you can’t miss, the colors are magnificent.
We continue the walk, which is already a walk in itself.
We go now to Rembrandt Square but on the way we are struck by an art deco façade, we stop to see the Tuschinsky Theater
Although we find it with works, it is a second to stop at this theater built in 1921 and which is currently used mostly for film premieres.
And now if we arrive at this beautiful square
Rembrandtplein
Here we find lively movement and the statue of the painter Rembrandt. It’s a nice place to visit.
From here we have two options: end the day at the Amsterdam Museum, the city’s museum. The entrance fee is €18. And it is included in the tourist passes.
If you have already travelled far enough, are tired and are slowly making your way back to your hotels, you can stop by Amsterdam’s Chinatown if it is on your way. Everything is easily done on foot, this route will have taken about 4 kilometres in total.
The walk will take us to Nieuwmarkt. Nieuwmarkt Square, where the Nieuwmarkt Market operates daily, is built around what was once one of the gates of medieval Amsterdam.
And from there a few steps to the
Amsterdam’s Chinatown
Chinatown is close to the Nieuwmarkt that we recently visited and the Red Light District that we passed through on the first day.
It is a nice walk, this neighborhood began to be formed in 1910 and is one of the oldest Chinatowns in Europe.
Day 3 in Amsterdam
We begin this third day in the city. We said at the beginning that we were going to dedicate it exclusively to the city, which, as you can see, has a lot to see and a great offer of museums. And today we will do something essential. We would leave the visit to the nearby towns and the windmills for the next day, staying in one, although it is very common to make an excursion to them from Amsterdam, an option that could be yours.
We will start the walk along Leidsestraat, a busy street in the city until we reach
Leidseplein
This busy and lively square is a nice place to stop for a few minutes. As you can see, we are making all the journeys on foot, but you can take public transport. The tram is a good option. They get the tickets at the machines at the stops or on top of the tram. The cost of the one-hour ticket is €3.40 or €9 for the full day. Remember to validate the ticket when boarding and disembarking.
We arrive at one of the must-sees in Amsterdam
Rijkmuseum
In a prominent building, which will remind you of the Amsterdam Central Station we saw on the first day, we find the Rijksmuseum, dedicated to art, crafts and history. It has the most famous collection of paintings from Dutch Golden Age as well as a rich collection of Asian and Egyptian art.
The Rijksmuseum houses significant works by almost all the great Dutch masters from the 15th to the 17th centuries.
The ticket price is €21 and is included in the Go city. Even if you get the pass you have to make the reservation in advance. The same thing I told you at Madame Tussaud, on the same website you find the link to make the reservation, and then you present it along with the pass.
If you are an art lover, a guided tour of the Rijksmuseum may be the best option.
Behind the museum the call begins
Museum Square
Here you will find many of the most important museums in the city. Among them, the other must-see is the Van Gogh Museum. We did not go in this time because we had done so on our previous visit. The entrance fee is €22 and is included in tourist passes. If you are going to visit it, remember to make a reservation in advance because it is the most visited museum in the city.
Guided tour of the Van Gogh Museum
You will also find the Moco Museum and the Museum of Modern Art
If you visit both museums or more, you may spend the rest of the day here, but we chose to visit one and continue our tour. As I always say, I try to leave you with several options to choose from.
So we continued walking to a neighborhood
De pijp and Mercado Albert Cuyp
De Pijp is now one of the neighborhoods with the largest number of cafes, bars, restaurants and a lot of activity thanks to the Albert Cuyp Market, its main attraction as it is the largest open-air market in Europe.
This is a walk that I recommend. This market, open from Monday to Saturday, is a journey between flavors and colors, locals and tourists. With its 260 stalls it is the largest daily market in Europe.
Here you will manage the time, because if you like the markets you will be able to spend a lot of time in it.
And now we go to another of the visits that we already had booked and that we really enjoyed doing, the
Heineken Experience
We’re going to discover the brand at the Heineken brewery. In 1988, the old factory closed its doors to move and today this historic building is a place to discover the history of the company as well as to taste it. The entrance fee is €27.50 and is included with the Go City. You also have to make a reservation in advance and as in the other cases you will be directed to the site to make the reservation.
I think the experience is worth it if you are a beer lover, we really enjoyed doing this tour.
Entrance to the Heineken Experience + canal walk
Amsterdam Noord
Now we will move to Amsterdam Central Station again but to take a ferry. We will head to the northern part.
From here you can visit Amsterdam Noord, an alternative neighbourhood in the city. This used to be an industrial area and today artists and young people live there. You can cross by ferry which is completely free. This time we crossed to visit the A’dam Lookout building and we did two activities.
The first was to go up to the top of the building, to get beautiful views of the city, the climb is included with the Go city and we did not have to make a reservation. The price of the climb is €16.50 if you do not have the pass. What is not included is the swing on the terrace, but you can add it there, the price is €7.
The highest swing in Europe is located here at 100 metres high. It was an activity we were really looking forward to doing. The weather was not very nice at least at times but the experience was fun, even if short.
The other attraction we visited was This is Holland. It was really beautiful, the simulator makes you fly virtually all over the Netherlands, feeling the breeze, the raindrops, in short, it was like being there. I recommend it, it’s great fun, remember that if you have vertigo the simulator might hurt you. The entrance fee is €23.50 and is included in the Go City ticket. You have to make a reservation but we did it right away, an hour before going.
The latter of crossing on the ferry can be changed to visit more museums such as the Nemo Museum, an interactive museum of science and technology that we had already visited. The entrance fee is €17.50 and is included in the tourist passes.
Or also the Rembrandt House Museum. The ticket price is €19.50 and is included in the tourist passes.
Let’s go to the practical information to organize the visit
If you arrive at Schiphol airport you will take the train to Amsterdam Centraal right there, the cost of it is €5.90 and you will arrive in the heart of the city. How to get from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam
As always, we travel with unlimited internet using Holafly’s eSIMs. You can use our discount coupon EUROPAACOMPANADA5
As we know how to travel with travel insurance is essential, this time we made the trip with my parents and we have taken out the insurance in Iati for everyone and in their case at the same price as ours without any age limit problem. Here is the information and a discount. Travel Insurance for Europe
We looked for a hotel in the city centre, trying to be close to everything there is to see in the city. Accommodations are quite expensive in Amsterdam so looking in Amsterdam Noord may be a good option, especially considering that the ferry is free. Find a hotel in Amsterdam
As I was saying we chose it in the old town, the hotel was the Avenue, perfect location, but nothing more than that. I understand that they are remodeling it and maybe now it is ready, but the beds were not comfortable. The rest is normal.
About tourist passes. Last time we used the I Amsterdam Card (which includes transportation), but this time we chose the Go City Amsterdam Card because of the type of attractions it included. It has two options, one for days in which you can do all the attractions included during the days booked and the Explorer, which is the one we got. Here you can choose the number of attractions you want to visit, from 3 to 7 during 60 days. The ideal thing is to compare both passes and find the one that best suits your type of trip.
We had dinners in two restaurants, La Colina and Sapore Italiano. Both experiences were good.
You can add from here an excursion to the towns near Amsterdam, I think it is also a must.
Another must-see if you travel from the end of March to mid-May tulip season is to visit Keukenhoof Park, about 40 km from Amsterdam.
Amsterdam Video & Maps
NOTE: The information in this article is based on our own experience, being totally objective. This article contains affiliate links
