13 Must-Do Activities For Your First Trip to Amsterdam!

Are you planning your first trip to Amsterdam and trying to figure out the best things to do with just a few days?

Amsterdam may look small on a map, but once you start planning, you quickly realize it’s hard to pack everything in without overdoing it. And there are so many museums, markets, food spots, and tours, that it’s hard to know what’s actually worth it!

We only had 3 full days in Amsterdam (plus an extra day to see the tulips outside the city), so I researched a ton to make sure we were hitting all the must-dos activities.

If you’re short on time and want a mix of iconic experiences, good food, and a few spots that actually feel local, these are the 13 things I’d prioritize for your first trip to Amsterdam!

Amsterdam Overview and Map

Before you start checking off all the things to do in Amsterdam, I think it helps to quickly understand how the city is laid out.

Most of the activities mentioned in this guide are centered around a few key neighborhoods:

• Centraal Station area – This is where you’ll likely arrive, and it’s the main transportation hub. It’s also close to Dam Square and a lot of the major sights.
• Canal Belt (Grachtengordel) – This sits just south and west of Centraal and is what you probably picture when you think of Amsterdam. Canals, bridges, and narrow houses everywhere.
• Jordaan – Just west of the canal belt and one of my favorite areas. It feels a little quieter but still has a lot to do!
• De Pijp – South of the center, where you’ll find Albert Cuyp Market and the Heineken Experience.
• Museum Quarter – Just west of De Pijp, home to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Vondelpark.

To make planning easier, I put together a custom Google Map with all of these spots pinned out so you can see exactly where everything is and how close they are together!

And if you want to see how we personally fit together, you can check out my full 3 day itinerary here!

Getting around Amsterdam

We personally ended up walking a lot (more than I expected) and using the tram because a lot of the main sights are so close together in Amsterdam.

Since we were staying right next to the Canal district at the Highlander Hotel, we could easily walk to places like Jordaan, the Anne Frank House, Dam waterfront, the Red Light District, etc.

We also had a tram station right outside of our hotel, so we rode that when we didn’t feel like walking.

However, for some areas (like De Pijp and Museum Quarter) it was a lot faster to just hop on the Metro. This is where staying near Centraal station comes in handy!

🚆 For more details on navigating public transportation, check out my full guide to Getting Around Amsterdam (Coming Soon!) 🚆

1. Wander the Canal District

If it’s your first time visiting Amsterdam, this would be my first stop to prioritize, especially if you land early in the morning and need time to just wander and get adjusted to the city.

Before we arrived in Amsterdam, I thought there were only a few of those picturesque bridges over the canals. Luckily, this is not the case!

Turns out, the entire canal district in the center of Amsterdam (called Grachtengordel) is full of beautiful canals, bridges, and views. Don’t worry about visiting a certain street, just give yourself time to get lost and explore!

If you’re arriving near Centraal station, I recommend heading south down Damrak (passing by the picturesque waterfront and Dam Square) towards the Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market).

From here, you can head west and then snake back north through the Canal District and Jordaan neighborhoods, soaking in all the waterside views along the way.

While it seems silly to pencil in “wandering time”, it really is necessary while in Amsterdam! It’s so easy to jam pack your schedule, but this was truly one of our favorite parts.

2. Take a Walking Tour

Another great way to get acclimated to Amsterdam (especially on your first day) is by taking a walking tour with a local guide!

I almost always try to do some kind of walking tour when I visit a new city because it really helps you understand the layout of everything when you first arrive.

And, walking tours (especially in a place like Amsterdam) give you so much context for what you’re seeing. It’s one thing to walk past canals, churches, and historic buildings, but it’s another to actually understand the history behind them!

That said, we didn’t end up doing one in Amsterdam, and I really regret it! We were originally going to do this Anne Frank walking tour, but we ended up getting tickets to the Anne Frank House (more on that in the next section), so we cancelled the walking tour!

But looking back, I wish I would’ve booked this historic walking tour instead, and I know we missed out on a lot of the history of Amsterdam because of it!

If you can, I’d try to fit this in on your first day before/after exploring the canal district. Even just a couple of hours can make a big difference in how you experience the rest of the city!

3. Visit the Anne Frank House

Visiting the Anne Frank House was easily the most impactful thing we did in Amsterdam.

And if it’s your first time visiting, I personally think it should be the number one priority for your trip.

Unfortunately, everyone else agrees with this, which means getting tickets to the Anne Frank House can be a challenge – you can’t just show up and buy tickets.

Tickets are released on Tuesdays at 10am CET 6 weeks in advance, and they sell out fast. I actually didn’t realize this when planning our trip and missed the initial release.

However, I found out from another blogger’s post that more tickets get released one week in advance (again on Tuesday at 10am). I ended up waking up super early (5am Florida time) and refreshed the site for 45 minutes until I was able to grab tickets, which luckily worked out!!!

So, if you’re planning your trip to Amsterdam that’s more than 6 weeks away, make sure to bookmark the correct Tuesday so you can get tickets on the first go around!!!

And the only place to get tickets is on the official Anne Frank website. Do not trust tickets from any other source!

The Anne Frank House is located in the Jordaan district right on the canal. Once you’re inside, the experience is self-guided and takes you through the actual building where Anne Frank and her family hid during World War II.

You walk through the different attic rooms, including the famous hidden annex behind the bookcase (which is still there!!), and get to learn about the Frank family’s time in hiding and their tragic story after that.

There are no photos allowed inside, which I actually appreciated because it keeps the experience more respectful and immersive.

It’s definitely a somber experience, but I learned so much and I’m really glad we made it happen.

If you can’t get tickets, a walking tour focused on Anne Frank is a really good backup option so you can still learn about her life and story in Amsterdam.

4. Explore one of the Many Museums

Did you know Amsterdam has the highest museum density in the world?

Turns out, visiting a museum in Amsterdam is one of the most popular things to do, and you have plenty to choose from!

We personally visited the Rijksmuseum, which is the national museum of the Netherlands and is dedicated to Dutch arts and history!

Other popular options are the Van Gogh Museum and the MOCO museum.

These are conveniently located right across from the Rijksmuseum (in an area appropriately named the Museum Quarter). So, if you want to visit more than one museum during your time in Amsterdam, it would be easy to squeeze multiple into one day!

Tickets to the Rijksmuseum cost ~25 euros and are sold in 30 minute time slots. You have one hour from the time you choose to enter the museum! (We were a few minutes late but they still let us in haha).

Even though I wouldn’t call myself a “museum person”, we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Rijksmuseum!!

We spent about 2 hours there, which felt like the perfect amount of time!! The building itself is beautiful, and there’s a mix of art, history, and exhibits that kept things interesting.

Some of my favorite parts were:

• The massive library (even though you can’t go inside, it’s still really cool to see)
• Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (a must-see even though it’s behind a glass wall lol)
• The massive Portuguese ship model
• And the dollhouses!!

I’d recommend booking your ticket in advance and going earlier in the day if you can. It gets more crowded as the day goes on, and it’s a much better experience when it’s not packed.

5. Walk Through Vondelpark

After wandering through museums, I always crave fresh air and the outdoors. Luckily, Amsterdam’s largest park, Vondelpark, is not far from the Rijksmuseum!!

You can walk here from the Museum Quarter or hop on the tram (we opted for the tram and then walked our way back up through the park).

And lucky for us, the spot that we entered the park on the southwest end was overrun with dogs playing. It was heaven!!!

The park itself is absolutely beautiful, especially in the springtime with all the flowers blooming. My favorite part was the little river that runs through the park, which a lot of locals were kayaking down!

You can spend as much time here as your heart desires! We walked through a few different areas and eventually made our way to one of the cafes in the park, Groot Melkhuis.

I highly recommend checking this spot out – you can grab a table on the water, order some drinks, and enjoy the beautiful landscape!

📋 Unlike wandering through the park, a few of these need to be booked well before you leave home (and flights, travel insurance, and accommodation even earlier). My Passport to Confidence guide is a $7 month-by-month planning roadmap that tells you exactly what to do when. Plan your Amsterdam trip stress-free!

6. Take a Canal Cruise

A canal cruise is one of those classic Amsterdam experiences that’s 100% worth doing, even if it’s considered “touristy”!

You’ll already see the canals a ton while walking around, but getting out on the water gives you a completely different perspective of the city!

We did our cruise around golden hour (about 2 hours before sunset), so everything had that warm glow, which made the experience even more special.

I will warn you: there are a lot of canal cruise options, and I went down a bit of a 3 hour rabbit hole trying to pick one…

What I’d recommend (based on what we did) is:

• Go for a small group boat instead of the big tour boats
• Try to find one that’s open-air or partially open (if the weather is warm enough)
• And if you can (or want to), book one that includes a bar!

We booked this luxury canal cruise which was a smaller boat with less than 20 people, and it made such a difference! It felt way more relaxed than other boats we saw on the water, and they also had unlimited drinks, which definitely didn’t hurt.

One thing that surprised me a bit was that we didn’t spend the entire time in the smaller inner canals – some of it was out in the wider waterways around Amsterdam. I didn’t mind, but it’s something to be aware of depending on what kind of experience you want.

The guides shared a few fun facts along the way, but it wasn’t overly structured, which I liked. It felt more like a laid-back ride through the city than a formal tour! If you’re looking for a whole history of Amsterdam, this isn’t the tour for you.

Book your own luxury Amsterdam canal cruise for just $30 here! 🚤🥂

7. Visit the Heineken Experience

I’ll be honest.. I wanted to skip the Heineken Experience on our trip to Amsterdam!!!

I thought it might be one of those overly touristy things that wasn’t really worth it. But we ended up going anyway after a friend told us they enjoyed it, and it ended up being so fun!!

The experience is set inside the original Heineken brewery, and they’ve turned it into a mix of a guided tour, museum, and interactive experience, so you’re not just walking around reading signs!

You start with a guide who walks you through the history of the brand, then move into a self-guided area where you can explore at your own pace and see old Heineken artifacts!

Then you’re back with a guide to learn about the brewing process, which takes place in the old brew room and still has the original copper brew tanks – so cool!

There’s also a few more fun sections — like interactive exhibits, photo ops, and even a part where you “become the bottle” (a little cheesy lol).

P.S. If you want a full breakdown of what to expect during the tour and my honest thoughts on it all, check out my detailed Heineken Experience recap here!

And of course, your ticket includes 2 free beers! The last one is served in the bar area, where you can hang out as long as you want after. Make sure to check out the “Draught Challenge” for another fun interactive bit!

The whole experience takes about 1.5–2 hours, and I recommend booking a time slot earlier in the day if you can. When we left in the afternoon, the line to get in was way longer than when we arrived!

If you’re looking for something more local, I’d pair this with a smaller brewery (like the windmill one coming up next). But for a first trip, I do think this is a fun and worthwhile stop!

8. Visit Brouwerij ’t IJ Windmill Brewery

After doing something more touristy like the Heineken Experience, I love adding a more local experience to the itinerary.

Brouwerij ’t IJ is the perfect option! It’s a local brewery underneath a windmill on a canal – it doesn’t get more Dutch than that!

It’s a bit outside the main city center, but still easy to get to by tram or bus (we took the bus from Centraal station!), and I definitely think it’s worth the extra effort.

They have a beautiful outdoor beer garden here, so if the weather is nice, it’s the perfect place to relax and spend an afternoon while enjoying some local beers.

We also had a late lunch here, and I am still dreaming about the sausage and mustard we had – sooo good! They have other snack items like fries, bitterballen, cheese plates, etc!

This was one of the most underrated things we did while in Amsterdam, so definitely add it to your itinerary!

And if you have time, they also offer brewery tours on the weekend for less than 3 euros!

9. Wander Albert Cuyp Market

If you love food (especially street food), you have to add Albert Cuyp Market to your Amsterdam list!!!

Located in the trendy De Pijp neighborhood (near the Museum Quarter), this is one of the best places in Amsterdam to try a bunch of different foods all in one spot!

We came here in the morning for breakfast before the Heineken Experience, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was some of the best food we had on our trip. And the cheapest!!

There are rows and rows of stalls selling everything you can imagine, including fresh juice and produce, clothing, and full meals.

If you only get one thing from this market, it needs to be a stroopwafel!! These are a Dutch staple: two thin waffle halves with some sort of filling in between them – usually brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon – but you can get other varieties like chocolate!!

While you’ll find plenty of fancy stores throughout Amsterdam selling these with crazy toppings (like raspberries, nuts, etc.), the simple ones we had at the market were 100x better.

Besides the yummy stroopwafels, we also tried a jianbing (a Chinese-style savory pancake), and even my friend who is Chinese said it was really good, which says a lot!

On top of that, we grabbed fresh juice and coffee, and just walked around trying different things as we went. We only had around 45 minutes here, and it was not enough time!! I recommend at least 1.5 – 2 hours.

Note: Albert Cuyp Market is closed on Sundays, so plan accordingly! We wanted to go back for more, but they were closed 🙁

10. Explore Dam Square and the Waterfront

This is one of those areas you’ll probably end up walking through without even trying (I mentioned it in the first item on this list), but I still wanted to include it here in case it’s not on your radar!

Dam Square is right in the center of the city and surrounded by some of Amsterdam’s most well-known landmarks, like the Royal Palace and Nieuwe Kerk.

We ended up walking through here a few times. And if you go on a walking tour like I suggested, you will definitely visit here and learn more about its historical significance!

From Dam Square, I recommend walking over toward the Damrak waterfront, which is one of the most photographed spots in Amsterdam.

This is where you’ll find those colorful buildings right along the water — the ones you’ve probably seen all over Instagram. It’s a quick stop, but a really good one for photos!

We came through here our first morning after grabbing breakfast at the PANCAKES Amsterdam in front of Centraal station and immediately fell in love with the city.

You don’t need a ton of time here, but since it’s so central, it’s an easy place to pass through while heading between other activities!

11. Try Traditional Dutch Food

If you’re anything like me, one of the best parts about visiting a new city is trying the local food!! And Amsterdam did not disappoint in this department.

But before our trip, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and what Dutch foods we needed to try, so I figured I’d include a list here!

Of course, I already mentioned the stroopwafels! We had a few different ones from some of the speciality shops around town, but the ones we had at the market were still the best.

If you’re on social media, you’ve probably seen photos of the Dutch fries.. We tried to visit Fabel Friet, but the line was insane.

So we pivoted to another spot nearby (Heertje Friet), and they were still amazing!! The best part is all the different sauces you can try, like curry ketchup, truffle mayo, garlic sauce, and more.

Another must-try in Amsterdam is pannenkoeken (Dutch pancakes). They’re thinner than American pancakes but bigger, kind of like a crepe. I had one with apple and cheese, and my friend got lemon and sugar – both were so yummy!

You can grab these at places likePANCAKES Amsterdam, Pannenkoekenhuis Upstairs, and many other spots around town.

But the most surprising food of the trip was the Indonesian food! Because of the Netherlands’ colonial history with Indonesia, Amsterdam has a ton of Indonesian restaurants!

We personally visited the Satay Club right across from Centraal station, which was cheap, quick, and absolutely delicious! It tasted just like the food I had in Bali.

And lastly, we didn’t get to try the famous cookies at Van Stapele Koekmakerij, but I recommend adding it to your list because they are supposed to be amazing!

12. Visit the Red Light District

The Red Light District is one of the most well-known (and controversial) parts of Amsterdam, and I do think it’s worth seeing at least once, even if it’s just out of curiosity.

If you’re traveling with kids, I’d recommend going during the day when things are much more low-key. But if you want to see it at its busiest, go at night.

We visited late on a Saturday night — the night before Easter actually (lol) — and we were shocked at the crowds.

It was so packed that we had to walk several blocks down and loop back around because certain entrances were blocked off and only being used as exits. I’ve never seen anything like it!

We actually visited the Red Light Secrets Museum, which I’ll admit was a little cheesy, but also surprisingly informative. It gave a lot of insight into the legality of prostitution in Amsterdam and the history behind it, which was very interesting to learn about!

Whether you spend a lot of time here or just walk through once, it’s definitely one of those experiences that’s unique to Amsterdam!

13. Take a Day Trip Outside the City

If you have an extra day in your itinerary, I highly recommend getting out of the city and seeing a different side of the Netherlands!!

We actually spent 4 days total in Amsterdam and used our last day for a trip to see the tulip fields in Lisse. I’ll cover that below, as well as another popular option in case you are not visiting in spring!

Tulip Fields in Lisse (Spring Only)

If you’re visiting Amsterdam in the spring (ideally late March through early April), the best day trip to take is to see the beautiful tulips!!!

The closest tulip fields are located in the town of Lisse, about 45 minutes by car from Amsterdam. This is also where the famous Keukenhof Gardens are located, as well as several “tulip experiences” where you can safely walk through the tulip fields and take photos without damaging the farmers’ crops.

On our day trip to see the tulips, we conquered all three of these activities: Keukenhof Gardens, biking around the real tulip fields, and a visit to the Tulip Barn for photos!

We booked this round-trip bus + entry ticket to Keukenhof Gardens, which made the day super easy to navigate! They drop you off right at the garden entrance, and you can take any return bus whenever you’re ready to head back to Amsterdam (they leave every 30 minutes).

Keukenhof itself is a massive botanical garden filled with tulips and other spring flowers. It’s definitely a little touristy and gets super busy as the day goes on, but I still think it’s worth it!

After exploring the gardens, we rented bikes right outside and rode next to the actual tulip fields, which was definitely my favorite part of the day!

Note: Most of the real fields are not meant to be walked through, so you’ll mostly be biking past them unless you stop at designated places like the Tulip Barn. This is what we did so we could take plenty of photos with the tulips!

If you want our exact tulip itinerary with all the details and tips, make sure to check out my Ultimate DIY Tulip Day Trip Guide!! 🌷🌷🌷

Windmills and Cheese in Zaanse Schans

If you’re not visiting in the spring, another great day trip option from Amsterdam is a trip to Zaanse Schans!

This is one of the most popular day trips from Amsterdam and gives you a traditional Dutch experience.

On a guided tour like this one, you’ll get to:

• See working windmills from the 18th century
• Visit a wooden shoemaker and watch how clogs are made
• Stop at a Dutch cheese farm and try different types of Gouda
• Learn about the history of the area from a local guide

After the guided portion, you’ll usually have time to explore on your own, which I like because you can move at your own pace and check out anything that catches your eye!

Or, if you’re looking for something even more off the beaten path and adventurous, consider this biking tour where you can ride through the Dutch countryside!!

Final Thoughts

After spending a few days in Amsterdam, I can confidently say it’s one of those cities that completely lives up to the hype!!!

Between the canals, the food, the museums, and the culture, there is truly so much to do here, and it ended up being one of my favorite places I’ve ever been!

And while the activities on this list are the top things I recommend adding to your itinerary, please make sure to give yourself time to relax and wander too (see item #1!!).

A lot of people only spend 2-3 days in Amsterdam and then end up completely exhausted from trying to see it all. Don’t let this be you!

If you want to see how we organized all of these activities into a cohesive plan, you can check out my 3 Day Amsterdam itinerary here!

And if you’re visiting in the spring, I highly recommend adding one more day to your trip to see the tulips. I have a whole post breaking down our tulip day trip to help with that too!

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you have a wonderful time in Amsterdam.