My suggested 3-5 day Amsterdam itinerary for visiting

In this blog, we'll unveil a carefully crafted 3-5 day itinerary for visiting Amsterdam, designed to help you make the most of your time in this captivating city. Whether you're a first-time visitor or returning to explore even more of Amsterdam's magic, this itinerary will guide you through a curated selection of must-see attractions, hidden gems, and cultural delights.

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 1

Free walking tour for your Amsterdam itinerary

A great way to orient yourself to the city is with a walking tour. You can learn some history, find out where the major sights are, and explore all those winding canals. I think free walking tours are a wonderful first activity in any city. Amsterdam has two really good walking tours:

Both tours give you a general historical overview of the city and its landmarks. Be sure to tip your guide at the end though!

If you’re not on a tight budget and want an in-depth alternative tour, check out Black Heritage Tours. Their tours aren’t free; however, they are incredibly informative. They focus on the impact of slavery during the growth of the Dutch empire and highlight Black contributions to the country and culture. It’s super educational.

And for more general tours (walking tours, museum tours, food tours), check out Get Your Guide. They have a ton of different tours so there’s something for everybody!

Do a canal tour

Amsterdam is a city tied to the water; it grew around its canals and the taming of the Amstel River. The canals of Amsterdam are incredibly beautiful, and there’s nothing like seeing the city from a boat. Skip the big canal boat tours you see around the city — they’re overpriced. You can instead hire a private boat for about 50 EUR an hour. The boats are small, the tours more intimate, and your captain can give you a personalized tour. If you can split the cost with some other travelers, you’ll get a cheaper and more hands-on experience. If you don’t want to do a private tour, expect to pay around 20-25 EUR for a small-boat canal tour with Flagship Amsterdam.

This may be one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, but don’t let the crowds deter you. The museum features many of Van Gogh’s best works of art alongside an excellent biography of his life. I can spend hours just staring at the paintings as Van Gogh is one of my favorite painters. The museum also has paintings by other famous artists of the period, like Monet, Manet, and Matisse. Try to come late in the late afternoon when the crowds subside.

Visit the Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is located right next to the Van Gogh Museum, and after years of renovation, it’s now beautifully remodeled. The museum still features an extensive Rembrandt collection, and you can see the famous “The Night Watch” painting. Besides Rembrandt, there’s also an incredible and robust collection of other classic Dutch painters, like Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. Over 1 million works of art, craftworks, and historical objects are kept in the collection, and around 8,000 objects are on display in the museum so be sure to budget a few hours!

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 2

Tour Anne Frank House

In all honesty, I don’t like this place. I found it to be anticlimactic. You basically do a rushed walk through the house as the crowds pack the place. You don’t get to let everything soak in as you’re being pushed from behind by the endless crowds. It’s maddening!

Personally, I think the Jewish History Museum does a more thorough job of relating the events in Anne Frank’s life to the Holocaust. However, if you don’t mind waiting in line and are curious about Anne it might be worth the. Just be sure to book your tickets online in advance or you’ll be stuck waiting in line.

Plan Amsterdam plan to wander Jordaan

This heavily residential area is an old working-class neighborhood turned hip. It’s probably the most overlooked part of Amsterdam. Although it’s right near the city center, hardly any tourists enter this maze of restaurants, cafes, and shops. It’s peaceful and a great place to wander while avoiding the mass of tourists crowding the main streets just a few blocks away. While in the area, be sure to eat at Moeders (traditional Dutch food) and Winkel 43 (get the apple pie).

Visit the Tulip Museum

Located in a room inside a tulip shop, this little basement museum does a wonderful job of telling the history of tulips in Holland and the infamous tulip craze that rocked the Dutch economy. It’s one of the best off-the-beaten-path attractions in Amsterdam. It’s never crowded, and it’s only 5 EUR!

Have Lunch at Foodhallen

Located in the western part of Amsterdam, this place is what the name implies — a food hall! This indoor food market has various vendors serving a variety of delicious food. Personal favorites include Viet View, Le Big Fish, and Friska.

See the Amsterdam History Museum

This museum features a very thorough history of Amsterdam. It’s big, so you’ll need 3–4 hours to really go through it in detail. There are a lot of relics, maps, paintings, and audiovisual displays throughout the museum. My favorite is the computer graphic at the entrance showing the growth and construction of the city over time. I can’t recommend this museum enough. It’s one of the best history museums I’ve ever visited.

Have fun in the Red Light District

Though much tamer than in previous years, the Red Light District manages to balance sex and seediness with being a major international tourist attraction. During the day, it’s a quiet place. If it wasn’t for the red lights and sex signs everywhere, it would almost look like any other part of the city. But, at night, the area becomes awash with drunk, gawking tourists moving slowly down the street as they stare at the girls in the window while hopping from bar to bar and coffee shop to coffee shop. It’s a place to see and experience for a very brief time. 

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 3

Consider taking a bike tour in Amsterdam itinerary

Bikes are to Amsterdam like wine is to Bordeaux. The city loves bikes: its inhabitants bike over 2 million kilometers every day, and there are supposedly more bikes than people in Amsterdam! In fact, forget about keeping a lookout for cars — it’s the bikes that will run you over. Seeing Amsterdam and its surroundings from a bike is something I definitely encourage you to do. Mike’s Bike Tours is the best company to use, whether for a tour or to rent a bike on your own. A 2.5-hour city tour costs 33 EUR.

This photography museum houses wonderful pictures and sees few crowds despite being in the main part of the city. It’s a must for any photography lover. The four exhibitions are constantly changing so you never know what you might see (check online for details)! They have a beautiful outdoor garden too. It’s a small museum and doesn’t take long to see.

Tour the Jewish Historical Museum

Often overlooked in favor of The Anne Frank House, the Jewish Historical Museum tells the history of the Jews’ prominent and influential position in Amsterdam. The exhibit on World War II does a great job of highlighting Dutch complacency, resistance, and guilt over the Holocaust. With 11,000 items, artifacts, and works of art, it’s the only Jewish history museum in the country. Personally, I think the museum does a better job when it comes to highlighting the history and struggles of Jews in the Netherlands than the Anne Frank House does.

Relax in Oosterpark

Everyone goes to Vondelpark to lounge around, bike, or get high, but east of the main city center is a beautiful park with fewer people that is just as relaxing. Oosterpark is about a 30-minute walk from the city center, but the walk takes you through residential areas of the city not often seen and way off the tourist map. I enjoy coming here because it’s far quieter and more peaceful than Vondelpark. There are sculptures (such as the National Slavery Monument that commemorates the abolition of slavery in 1863), playgrounds, ponds, and plenty of space to picnic or lounge. If you want a quiet park experience, this is it!

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 4

Amsterdam itinerary should have Museum Amstelkring seeing

Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (“Our Lord in the Attic”) is one of the most interesting churches in the city. Hidden inside a 17th-century canal house, the clandestine Catholic church was built during Protestant rule. It was never really a secret but it was out of sight and out of mind for the authorities. The drawing room here is quite beautiful and the furnishings make it one of the most impressive 17th-century rooms left intact.

Visit the Rembrandt House Museum

Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is generally considered to be one of the most prolific, most talented artists in history. He lived and worked in this house between 1639 and 1658 during the Dutch Golden Age. Visitors can explore the home to get a sense of how he worked and lived (they’ve recreated how it was decorated during Rembrandt’s time). I wasn’t too impressed (I’d rather spend time admiring his paintings), but Rembrandt enthusiasts shouldn’t overlook it.

Visiting Amsterdam itinerary must include exploring the Museum Van Loon

The Museum Van Loon is a double-sized canal house built in 1672 that is located on the Keizersgracht canal. The house was owned by the wealthy Van Loon merchant family who curated up a beautiful art collection in their home. Today, their historic house a museum showcasing period furniture, art, and family portraits. There’s a beautiful garden here too. This is definitely a place not to miss.

Hang out in Vondelpark

Vondelpark was created in 1865 and spans over 120 acres. It’s Amsterdam’s largest and most popular park is a great place to walk, bike, people-watch, enjoy a picnic or just relax, especially after a visit to a local coffee shop. There’s a playground as well as places to play sports, and numerous areas for kicking back. During the summer, Vondelpark is filled with people, especially locals who hang out at the café Blauwe Theehuis for drinks in the center.

Try the Heineken Experience

This museum used to be a lot better when it was cheaper and they offered more beer. It’s not a working brewery and, in comparison to the Guinness Museum in Dublin, it’s not great. But the price of admission buys you two beers and the interactive self-guided tour tells you all about how the beer was made and how the company evolved over the centuries (the beer dates back to the 1870s). It’s not a must-see, but if you like Heineken then it is worth checking out.

Other Sights and Attractions in Amsterdam Worth Visiting

Looking for more things to see and do? Below are some of my other favorite activities to do in Amsterdam. Mix and match to create your own personal itinerary!

Browse the Waterlooplein Flea Market

This open-air market is the oldest and biggest market in Amsterdam. It’s like a giant flea market — everything and everyone can be found here. People sell secondhand clothes, hats, antiques, gadgets, and much more. You can also find new and unused items. If there’s something you want, you’ll probably find it here. Even if you don’t, it’s a fun place to explore and people watch while browsing. Open Monday to Saturday from 9:30am-6pm.

Day trip to Haarlem

Just a quick 35 kilometer (22-mile) train (or bike) ride from Amsterdam, Haarlem is a quiet walled city that dates back to the Middle Ages. It has a beautiful central church, great outdoor market, and all the beauty of historic Amsterdam with fewer crowds.

Visit Noord – Leave the city center, take the ferry across the IJ, and visit the up-and-coming area of Noord Amsterdam. In the last few years, a lot of people have moved here (it’s cheap), cool markets and restaurants and bars have opened, and a lot of old industrial land has been reclaimed for public use. It’s the new hip place to be but has much fewer crowds than the central part of the city! Be sure to visit the famous EYE, Amsterdam’s film institute, and consider renting a bike to explore the area.

Wander the Amsterdam library 

The city’s library is a beautiful modern building built in 2007. It’s gigantic, overlooks the IJ, and has a wonderful top floor cafe for impressive views of the city. Also it’s one of my favorite places to relax in the city. It’s quiet, peaceful, and there’s nothing like reading a good book with a great view! Oosterdokskade 143, Centrum, +31 20 523 0900, oba.nl. Open Monday-Friday from 8am–10pm and Saturday/Sunday from 10am-8pm.

Visit the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam – If you like modern art, this is the place in the city to see it! The museum is home to over 90,000 items including works by Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. The exhibitions cover paintings, drawings, graphic design, sculptures, sound, and installations. Museumplein 10, +31 20 573 2911, stedelijk.nl. Open daily from 10am–6pm. Admission is 20 EUR.

See the Houseboat Museum 

This museum shows what it’s like to live in a houseboat! It’s cramped but interesting, doesn’t take long to see and only costs a few euros. Prinsengracht 296K, Jordaan, Centrum, +31 20 427 0750, houseboatmuseum.nl. Hours vary per season.

Take an alternative art tour – I was really blown away by this unique tour that I took last time I was in Amsterdam. You get to see the city’s street art in alleyways, squats, and independent galleries while you learn about Amsterdam’s alternative side and underground and immigrant culture. All the people I took on it loved it. Tours are private and require at least four people (20 EUR per person). Visit Alltournative Amsterdam for more!

Visit the Erotic Museum 

This museum is in the middle of Amsterdam’s Red Light District and highlights eroticism in all its forms through the ages. It has sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, and other artwork from all around the world. It’s similar to Sex Museum Amsterdam but focuses more on the “art” side of nudity and sex. Oudezijds Achterburgwal 54, +31 20 627 8954, erotisch-museum.nl. Open daily from 11am-1am. Admission is 7 EUR.

Check out the Hash, Marihuana & Hemp Museum — This museum presents information about the historical and modern use of cannabis for medicinal, religious, and cultural purposes. The exhibits focus heavily on how hemp can be used for agricultural, consumer, and industrial purposes as well as covering all the medicinal, religious, and cultural uses of the plant. Oudezijds Achterburgwal 148, +31 20 624 8926, hashmuseum.com. Open daily from 10am-10pm. Admission is 9 EUR.

ONE LAST AMSTERDAM TRAVEL TIP:

When embarking on your Amsterdam adventure, consider the convenience and cost-effectiveness of European coach hire to enhance your travel experience. Amsterdam, renowned for its picturesque canals, historic architecture, and vibrant cultural scene, is best explored with a well-planned itinerary.

As we wrap up this suggested 3-5 day itinerary for visiting Amsterdam, we hope your excitement for this enchanting city has been stoked, and your travel plans have been enriched with insights and recommendations. Amsterdam, with its unique blend of history, culture, and picturesque landscapes, offers an experience like no other.

>>See more: The Stockholm travel guide blog for first-timers

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