I absolutely love Amsterdam. It is the site of my first experience in a European city (1994) and is a place we’ve returned to again and again. Amsterdam has the charm of a historic European village with cobbled streets, delightful gabled brick facades line the canals that weave through the city, with the sophistication of a progressive city that dabbles a bit in debauchery. What's not to love??!
Twenty-six years ago, these newlyweds with their Rick Steve’s backpacks got off the train from Schiphol Airport at Centraal Station, ready for a 3-month adventure. Running on no sleep but plenty of stink (Royal Jordanian airlines allowed smoking and although we were in the “no smoking” section, the seat behind us was “smoking”), we marched off to find our little hotel, which was next to Leidensplatt, the theatre, and entertainment district. See our first travel adventure here.
This excerpt from my journal is a much kinder version of the events than what I remember:
"The city is like a maze and we are the small, unknowing mice not about to find the cheese (our hotel, Hotel Bim). The canals organize the city into concentric rings with radial streets. There are narrow 1-way streets where buildings are only about 15’ apart. Being the budget travelers we are, we did not want to buy a map. Unfortunately, our innate senses to be able to find things have not kicked in yet, and we spent a whole lotta time walking- sometimes in circles!”
What I distinctly remember about this experience is that my body wasn’t ready for the heavy backpack, the extensive walking, and the frustration of being lost. I remember being close to tears and wondering what I had gotten myself into! I had signed up for three months of …..what? Okay, so I was being overly dramatic, but this was not the best start to the trip/honeymoon. I remember being mad that maps of the city weren’t just free and why couldn’t we just buy one anyway? Why didn’t we ask for directions? We really were walking in circles and I’m not sure what we did to break the cycle, but somehow, we got to our hotel. (Kevin would like to interject that we did actually have a map from a kiosk at the airport, just not a very detailed one, and we started off in the wrong direction before realizing the error of our ways) After unloading our bags and taking a few things out, we came across the Amsterdam map we had purchased in the US to be prepared. Damn! We had totally forgotten about that.
The benefit of starting a trip on a low note is that everything improves from there! The next few days were lovely once we caught up on some sleep, and we continued to explore the museums, the canals, the pubs, the Red Light district, and a day trip to Haarlem.
Founded as a fishing village around the thirteen century, Amsterdam had a “golden age” of growth and development from 1585 to 1672. The typical canal house architecture was developed during this time and still is the defining characteristic of the city today. The iconic canal system was created to drain and reclaim land for new development. Amsterdam Map.
Despite our first day experience, Amsterdam is extremely walkable. We did take the tram a few times, but on other trips, we walked everywhere. You will also notice the incredible amount of bicycles everywhere and bike tours are also a good option, although one we have not done. You do have to be aware of your surroundings as you walk around the city, as there are trams, bicycles, vehicles, and even horses (for police). A number of streets are pedestrian-only (especially in the Red Light District), so it’s easy to get complacent and not pay attention to others on the streets.
Why go to Amsterdam?
If you are heading to Europe from the Twin Cities, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is one of the hubs you will find the cheapest flights to. We’ve consistently found that flying to London or Amsterdam is the most affordable location. One trip, we were able to swing an “open jaws” flight, which meant we flew into London’s Heathrow and then back from Amsterdam and it was even less expensive than flying in and out of either city. Because it’s such an affordable hub, it’s easy to plan a couple of days, or even a day at the beginning or end of your trip in Amsterdam.
When is the best time to visit Amsterdam?
Since our first trip in 1994, Amsterdam has become flooded with tourists. For a city with a population of 800,000 people, they typically get 19 million visitors! If you love crowds, the busiest times are June, July, and August. We have been there in September, November, December, the end of March/April, and August. Our visit for spring break in 2016 was pretty great as far as weather and with tulips a-blooming, it was really an ideal time.
There is so much to do and explore in Amsterdam, it’s hard to know where to start. You really can’t go wrong with just wandering the streets and enjoying the street cafes. We’ve put together our recommended list of things to do, although we did not rank them because they are all so fantastic.
Anne Frank House
Learn more about the famous story of this Jewish girl and her diaries in the house where they hid from the Nazis from 1942-1944. Anne received a diary for her 13th birthday, just before going into hiding and wrote about the events in their hiding place, the Secret Annex. The museum has a relatively new entry addition and includes the house and Secret Annex, where Anne and her family hid.
The Anne Frank House is a hot ticket and you need to plan ahead. On our last trip, Kevin and Mazzy awoke early and got in line four hours before they opened.
Rijksmuseum
As the national museum of the Netherlands, the Rijksmuseum is an iconic landmark in Amsterdam. After a $500 million dollar renovation, the museum reopened in 2013. Even if you don’t visit this museum you will want to visit the Museumplein park and experience the sites around the Rijksmuseum. Don’t expect to find the IHEARTAMSTERDAM large letters here anymore. These were removed in 2018 to reduce the number of tourists in the plaza.
Van Gogh Museum
Also in Museumplein Park is the Van Gogh Museum. If you are a huge Van Gogh fan, you will know that many of his famous pieces are in the Met or MOMA in NYC, the National Gallery in London or Musee d’Orsay in Paris. But the Van Gogh Museum does have a diverse collection of his work and it’s curated to tell the story of his life. I remember our youngest, a 9-year old Cormac, with the headphones on, listening intently and exploring the works of art, learning about this famous artist. If you are interested, definitely read a biography of Van Gogh (Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White-SMith is the best). He was an incurable romantic who loved his siblings dearly, had challenging relationships with his parents, deeply felt and experienced nature, wrote a great many letters, and was generally a pretty cool dude who made incredible sacrifices for his art.
Keukenhof Gardens
This is a MUST SEE if you are in Amsterdam in the spring. Keukenhof Gardens is an amazing display of over 7 million bulbs in 79 acres that has a different theme each year from mid-March to mid-May. You will need to take a bus from Amsterdam to get to the gardens (or you could bike here). See Keukenhof blog post here.
Heineken Experience
Come for the interactive exhibits, stay for the tasting room finale. We remember visiting Heineken at the very end of our 3-month honeymoon trip. We met a couple that on an around-the-world-trip and their luggage hadn’t kept up with their flights. I remember being thankful for our Rick Steve’s backpacks and his philosophy of being able to carry everything on your back and never check luggage. Heineken put on a pretty good spread of food with the beer samples at the end of the tasting tour and we made the most of both the free food and the free beer. We remember being a little wobbly walking to the train station and down the jetway to our plane ride home. That was 26 years ago, so your mileage may vary.
Try some Belgian Beers
There are numerous wonderful little cafes and bars in which to partake in Belgian beers. Try a sidewalk café along a canal or take a seat at the bar and get to know your neighbors. We tried some wonderful Trappist beers. We also had some great regular run-of-the-mill Dutch beers. The moral of the story is just to get yourself to a small cafe or bar and try a few beers.
Flower Markets
Whether you are here to buy cut fresh flowers, bulbs or just take in the fragrances and colorful sights, the flower markets in Amsterdam are must-see destinations.
Indonesian Rijsttafel
Amsterdam has wonderful Indonesian restaurants and you should plan on trying a “Rijsttafel” (rice table) meal, which features many small sharable dishes served with rice or just go for the entrees.
Red Light District
In the Red Light District, prostitution is legal, just behind windows or doors, not out on the street. There are no age restrictions to walk through the area, but our kids at times wanted to cover their eyes. The scantily clad and incredibly bored women behind windows were making them embarrassed and displays in some of the shops made them go, “what??”.
Frites!
Golden brown, thick-cut, crisp French fries that come in a cone with a choice of over a dozen sauces, is one the most beautiful things about Amsterdam! These Frites are seriously AMAZING. On our last trip, our family headed to a favorite Frites shop every day for our cones. I believe part of the secret is they fry them three times, but don’t quote me. It could be the oil, I don’t know and I really don’t care how unhealthy they might be. They are AMAZING! The sauce choices can be mind-boggling. Several different types of mayo, curry sauce, cheese sauce, sambal, mustard, and a number of mystery sauces that I can’t decipher.
Canal Cruise
It wasn’t until our last trip to the city that we indulged in a canal cruise. It wasn’t very expensive and was a great way to see a large portion of the city from a different perspective. It was a beautiful day and it was fun to watch Amsterdammers hanging out along the canals enjoying the lovely spring day.
Watch a Movie
One of Kevin and my favorite things to do is to find movies in English in a foreign country and go to the movie theatre. It’s a thing that people who live there do and the movie theatre experience can feel quite different from the US. At the end of our 3-month honeymoon, we had several days in Amsterdam and went to the movie Pulp Fiction. We were able to bring in glasses of beer into the movie theatre, which we found quite interesting. It was memorable to be IN Amsterdam when Travolta’s Vincent Vega’s character talking about the little differences in Europe, “you can walk into Amsterdam and buy a beer, not a paper cup, but a glass of beer” He also mentions the mayo on French fries.
Vincent Vega is right, it is the little things that are memorable and make this city so magical and Amsterdam has so many of those little things.
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