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Things to Do in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Plan language: EnglishMost popular attractions in Amsterdam, Netherlands
The top things to do in Amsterdam, Netherlands include visiting exceptional museums such as the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, located just a short walk apart. Take a stroll through the 47 hectares of Vondelpark, an ideal urban retreat. A visit to the Anne Frank House provides a deeply moving historical encounter, all within walking distance of Dam Square.
1. Rijksmuseum
Home to Rembrandt, Vermeer and masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age, the Rijksmuseum brings centuries of art to life. Stroll through grand galleries from the Night Watch to Delftware and the sculpture garden.
Quick facts: Walking through the museum's corridors feels like attending a masterclass in Dutch art, showcasing iconic pieces that have influenced European culture. The impressive building itself combines Gothic and Renaissance architecture and holds more than a million items covering a diverse range of history and art.
Highlights: A quirky tradition at the museum features a hidden gallery inside the library where staff secretly paint whimsical scenes over the centuries-old bookshelves. Also, the collection includes precisely 8,000 objects, but only 1,200 are displayed, with each room subtly scented with different aromas to enhance the visit, such as chocolate near the Dutch Golden Age paintings.
2. Anne Frank House
A moving, personal glimpse into life in hiding during WWII. Walk through the secret annexe, view original diary pages, and experience the human story.
Quick facts: Visitors often stand quietly in the secret annex, sensing the intense mix of tension and hope that filled these hidden rooms. The museum holds original pages from Anne's diary, offering a deeply personal insight into her life and the wider human experience during wartime.
Highlights: The secret annex where eight people hid for more than two years is so compact that some rooms measure only 7 feet wide. Visitors can still see the original bookcase that cleverly concealed the entrance. Many describe the eerie silence only broken by faint creaks of wooden floors, making the experience feel like stepping back into the tense, hidden world of 1940s Amsterdam.
3. Van Gogh Museum
See the world’s largest Van Gogh collection up close. Enjoy iconic paintings like Sunflowers and The Bedroom with rich audio commentary.
Quick facts: Exploring the museum feels like entering the vibrant world of a post-impressionist genius, where swirling skies and bright sunflowers captivate the senses. The collection contains the largest number of Van Gogh paintings in the world, including some of his most famous works like The Potato Eaters and The Bedroom.
Highlights: Imagine standing just inches from the artist's original sunflower paintings, where each brushstroke swirls with vivid yellows and hints of green, capturing sunlight in a way that almost makes the petals glow. The museum houses over 200 paintings and 500 drawings, including Van Gogh's intense self-portraits, providing a raw and almost intimate look at his emotional highs and lows.
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4. Vondelpark
A large leafy park in the heart of Amsterdam, ideal for relaxing and people-watching. Discover winding paths, ponds, historic statues, busy cafés, and summer open-air performances.
Quick facts: Lush green areas and winding paths invite both locals and tourists to relax, picnic, or enjoy open-air concerts underneath the sky. Wild swans and colorful flowerbeds add to the park's appeal, creating a peaceful retreat in the middle of a busy city.
Highlights: You might spot more than 200 bird species fluttering through the greenery, creating a lively soundtrack of chirps and tweets all year long. There is also an open-air theatre that stages quirky Shakespeare plays and lively jazz concerts during the summer, adding a cultural element to your walk or picnic.
5. Dam Square
Central square of Amsterdam where history, politics, and daily city life come together. Visit the Royal Palace, National Monument, street performers, and bustling cafés.
Quick facts: Every day, thousands gather in a central square alive with street performers, market stalls, and historic architecture. The square acts as a lively crossroads where the past and present meet, surrounded by iconic landmarks and buzzing with the energy of locals and visitors alike.
Highlights: Each night, a quirky tradition transforms the square as street artists turn it into a living museum, with painted faces and costumes that bring old Dutch legends to life under the light of vintage street lamps. The square also hides a historic secret: beneath its cobblestones lies a 14th-century church crypt accessible through a glass floor in the Royal Palace, offering a rare glimpse into medieval Amsterdam.
6. Heineken Experience
Discover the story behind one of the world’s most famous beers in a restored Amsterdam brewery. Interactive exhibits, a tasting session, and souvenir photo opportunities.
Quick facts: Visitors can embark on an interactive journey to discover the secret brewing process while tasting fresh Heineken straight from the source. The experience mixes vibrant murals, historic brewing equipment, and enjoyable tastings, making it both educational and fun.
Highlights: Guests experience the original copper brewing tanks used by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in 1867, surrounded by green hops and the malt scent filling the air. There is a quirky tradition where you design your own beer label at the tour's end, personalizing and making your visit unforgettable.
7. Amsterdam Canals
The canal ring displays Amsterdam’s golden-age architecture and lively neighborhoods. Walk or cruise past gabled houses, houseboats, cafés, and arched bridges.
Quick facts: Gliding along the charming canals, visitors often see houseboats offering cozy and unique homes floating on the water. The canals' narrow, iconic bridges shimmer beautifully at night, creating a magical atmosphere like something out of a fairy tale.
Highlights: Over 100 kilometers of canals form a ring around the city, earning it the nickname 'Venice of the North' and making it the world's largest man-made urban waterway network. Each bridge is numbered and named, such as the quaint Magere Brug or Skinny Bridge, which is said to have been built by two wealthy sisters who refused to share a drawbridge.
8. The Royal Palace of Amsterdam
Grand 17th-century city hall transformed into a royal palace, featuring monumental ceilings and marble halls. Explore lavish state rooms and see royal art up close.
Quick facts: Stepping inside, you are amazed by grand marble floors and towering Corinthian columns that create a regal setting. The expansive ceiling paintings narrate dramatic stories, immersing visitors in the rich history and artistry celebrated throughout the palace.
Highlights: Inside, the massive wooden dome rests on 13,659 piles driven deep into Amsterdam's soft soil, showcasing a 17th-century engineering marvel. The grand ballroom features a ceiling painting by artist Govert Flinck spanning 62 square meters, depicting the Dutch Republic's golden age with vivid allegories of peace and commerce.
9. NEMO Science Museum
Interactive science playground with hands-on experiments and a rooftop view. Participate in live demos, build and test gadgets, and enjoy Amsterdam’s skyline.
Quick facts: A glowing green rooftop terrace offers sweeping views of the city along with numerous hands-on science experiments that make learning fun and tactile. Over 140 interactive exhibits cover subjects from physics to biology, inviting curiosity through playful exploration and immersive discovery.
Highlights: Visitors can climb onto the museum’s vast green copper roof shaped like a giant ship hull, offering stunning city views. The roof also features an oversized golden rivet sculpture called the 'Golden Bolt,' shining brightly in the sun. Inside, a quirky exhibit lets you experiment with sound using a giant interactive 'sonic playground' where you create music with water droplets and echo chambers.
10. Bloemenmarkt
Historic floating flower market on Amsterdam’s Singel, full of color and fragrance. Browse tulip bulbs, potted plants, and Dutch treats while walking along the canal.
Quick facts: Floating stalls packed with vibrant tulips and other flowers form a colorful sea that delights all who wander through. Fragrant blossoms mingle with the sound of busy shoppers, creating a sensory experience that captures the essence of Dutch horticulture.
Highlights: On wooden barges drifting down a canal, more than 15 flower stalls create a vibrant tapestry of colors and scents for visitors to explore. Legend holds that during the 1600s tulip mania, this spot was key for trading bulbs, a tradition that continues with unique varieties like the striking black tulip named 'Queen of Night.'
11. Stedelijk Museum
Discover modern art's evolution with over 90,000 pieces. Experience immersive exhibitions and a jaw-dropping giant bathtub sculpture right inside.
Quick facts: The museum houses over 90,000 objects spanning modern and contemporary art and design. Its collection includes seminal works by artists like Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, attracting art lovers worldwide.
Highlights: Visitors find the giant 10-meter-tall "Bathtub" sculpture by Michel de Broin in the lobby, a quirky contrast to the museum's sleek interior. The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions where you can see innovative multimedia installations that transform the space dramatically.
12. Visit the Jewish Historical Museum
Discover 400 years of Dutch Jewish history through rare artifacts and personal stories. Walk through historic synagogues and immersive exhibits revealing a vibrant community.
Quick facts: The museum showcases over 11,000 objects illuminating the life and history of Dutch Jews. It occupies four former synagogues along the historic Nieuwe Amstelstraat.
Highlights: One standout exhibit features a remarkably detailed scale model of the Amsterdam Jewish Quarter before World War II, showing over 2,500 buildings. Visitors can also glimpse wartime diaries and personal artifacts that bring deeply human stories to life visually and emotionally.
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Traditional Sweet Dishes
Stroopwafels
Stroopwafels began as a thrifty treat made from leftover waffle crumbs and syrup, and in Amsterdam vendors often warm them over a coffee cup so the caramel melts between the thin wafers.
Poffertjes
Poffertjes are tiny, pillowy pancakes leavened with yeast and buckwheat, and in Amsterdam they are a festive street food served piping hot with butter and powdered sugar.
Speculaas
Speculaas are thin, richly spiced biscuits molded with elaborate scenes, and in Amsterdam they are a Sinterklaas tradition that turns each cookie into edible folklore.
Traditional Savory Dishes
Bitterballen
Bitterballen are crispy, deep-fried balls of savory ragout served with mustard, they are Amsterdam bar staples that were invented to make leftovers feel luxurious.
Haring
Haring, or Hollandse Nieuwe, is young, lightly cured herring eaten raw and often enjoyed in Amsterdam by holding the fish by the tail and tipping your head back, a playful ritual that marks the new season.
Kroket
The kroket is an oblong, breadcrumbed cousin of the bitterbal, and in Amsterdam it achieved pop-culture status thanks to automats like FEBO that dispense hot krokets twenty-four seven.
Traditional Beverages
Jenever
Jenever is the juniper-flavored spirit that pre-dates London gin, Amsterdam distilleries still serve it neat in tulip-shaped glasses and locals sometimes pair a shot with a beer in a kopstoot or headbutt.
Dutch Beer
Amsterdam helped make Dutch beer famous, Heineken grew from a small 19th-century Amsterdam brewery into a global brand and its old brewery is now a museum celebrating local brewing culture.
Advocaat
Advocaat is a thick, egg-based liqueur with a custard-like texture that is spooned or sipped, and in Amsterdam it is a winter favorite, folded into desserts or served with whipped cream.
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From Schiphol, take the train directly to Amsterdam Centraal in 15-20 mins.
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Comments (9)
Not cheap, expect higher prices for eating out, but street food and local markets saved us a lot.
Beautiful city, but tourist crowds around central stations killed the vibe midday, try mornings and evenings instead.
Book Anne Frank and Van Gogh timed slots online well in advance, or be there at opening to avoid the worst queues.
Overhyped for me, restaurants near the plazas felt touristy and expensive. Expect crowds and plan for long lines.
Rained a lot on my trip, bring layers. Museums are great but pricey, I still enjoyed wandering neighborhoods.