Amsterdam, Netherlands
Canals, bikes, and world-class museums. April brings tulips at Keukenhof and King's Day in orange.
Best time to visit
Weather by month
Cost
Serves travellers at Backpacker→Premium level. Typically around $180 a day on the ground.
Ranges are typical costs, not quotes. Check the real price before you book.
What's on
King's Day April
The whole city in orange, 27 April
Pride Canal Parade August
Boats through the canals
Worth knowing
Cards, and specifically debit cards. Some shops and market stalls take neither credit cards nor cash. Tipping is rounding up.
money · editorial
Cyclists have priority and will not brake for you; the bike lane is a road, not a pavement. The big museums run on timed slots booked ahead.
know before · editorial
Tulip season and King's Day turn the canal bridges into a queue. Midwinter is dark and wet, which some people prefer.
when not to go · editorial
The canal ring is central and pretty and priced accordingly. Jordaan is quieter and residential. De Pijp has the market and the bars. Amsterdam Noord is a free ferry across the IJ and feels like another city. Oud-West is residential and well connected.
where to stay · editorial
Bicycle first, tram second, feet third. A car is useless here: the centre is a one-way maze of canals and parking is deliberately punishing.
getting around · editorial
Schiphol, with a train into Centraal in about twenty minutes running all day and most of the night.
getting there · editorial
Quests
Icon
Rijksmuseum
The Gallery of Honour and the Night Watch. The bicycle tunnel underneath is free.
The Anne Frank House
The bookcase is still there. Tickets online only, weeks in advance.
Van Gogh Museum
Two hundred canvases in chronological order. You can watch the hand change.
The Westerkerk and the Jordaan
The tallest tower in the city and the prettiest quarter, side by side.
Vondelpark
On the first sunny day of the year the entire city is lying here.
Magere Brug
The wooden drawbridge over the Amstel. Lit up, at night.
See
Stand alone for ten minutes in front of The Night Watch at the Rijksmuseum
Eat
Eat raw haring with onion, standing at a street stall
Haring with onion, held by the tail
Raw, salted, from a street stall. That is the test.
A stroopwafel made in front of you
Split open, with the caramel still soft. The packet kind is another thing entirely.
A board of old cheeses
Ask for the oldest they have, with mustard.
Moment
Cross the city by bicycle at seven on a Sunday, when nobody is about
Cross the city by bicycle at dusk
No map. Just follow anyone who looks like they live here.
An empty canal at seven in the morning
Before the bicycles. The water goes flat and the city is yours.
Water
Work the canals in a small boat
Two hours around the canal ring, under the low bridges. No microphone and no script.