The magic of Armsterdam

#En route Netherlands

~~~Magic via Amsterdam

Let's take a tour throughout Amsterdam

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 1

Take a Free walking tour
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. 

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.

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 2

Tour Anne Frank House
This is where Anne Frank and her family hid during World War II. It showcases her childhood, life in the attic, as well as other information about the Holocaust. There’s also a display of her real handwritten diary.

While it’s a sad and moving place, in all honesty though, I didn’t like it. 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’s worth the wait. Be sure to book your tickets online in advance or you’ll be stuck waiting in line.

For a more intimate and guided look at Anne Frank’s world in context, this expert-led guided walking tour through the Jewish Quarter covers the life of Anne Frank and the Dutch Resistance during World War II. It’s a really good tour to take!

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).

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 3

Take a bike tour

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 on 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 34 EUR.

Visit FOAM

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

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.

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, 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.

See Museum Amstelkring
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.

Explore 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 a beautiful art collection in their home (Willem van Loon co-founded the Dutch East-India Company in 1602, a massive trading firm and often considered the first multinational corporation in the world). Today, their historic house is a museum showcasing period furniture, paintings, porcelain, 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.

Amsterdam Itinerary: Day 5

If you have five days (or more) in Amsterdam, here are some of my other favorite activities to do in Amsterdam. Mix and match to create your own personal itinerary!

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, van Gogh, and Andy Warhol. Founded in 1874, the exhibitions cover paintings, drawings, photography, graphic design, sculptures, sound, and installations. They also have a collection online with over 1.5 million digitized pieces of art.

See the Houseboat Museum
This decorated houseboat provides an interesting glimpse into what living on the canals is like. The museum is located in a former cargo ship (built in 1914) that was later converted into a living museum as the owner was bombarded by questions so often that he thought it would just be easier to open up the boat to the public and let them see it for themselves. I walked away with one impression of life on the canals: super neat, but super cramped. With admission at 5 EUR, it’s one of the cheapest museums in town and is worth a quick visit.

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. Visit Alltournative Amsterdam for more! (Tickets are 22.50 EUR per person.)