2 days in Amsterdam

Day by day

1. Day 1: Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum

   Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Vondelpark and Stedelijk Museum, then A'DAM Lookout in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Rijksmuseum

      Beyond the Golden Age it covers 800 years of Dutch history, from ship models and dolls' houses to Asian art, and a public cycle path runs right through the building's central passage.

   2. Late morning

      Van Gogh Museum

      His letters to his brother Theo add a moving personal thread.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Stroopwafel

      Market stalls at the Albert Cuyp and Lindengracht markets make them to order.

   4. Afternoon

      Vondelpark

      On summer weekends it fills with picnics, cyclists and skaters, and the open-air theatre stages free performances.

   5. Late afternoon

      Stedelijk Museum

      The city's museum of modern art and design, a 19th-century building with a white extension nicknamed 'the bathtub', covers Mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky, Karel Appel and the CoBrA group, Warhol and contemporary design.

   6. Evening

      A'DAM Lookout

      Take the free ferry from behind Centraal Station to Buiksloterweg, a five-minute crossing, and go up for sunset.

2. Day 2: Anne Frank House and Canal Ring walk

   Anne Frank House, Canal Ring walk, Canal cruise and The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes), then Leidseplein in the evening.

   1. Morning

      Anne Frank House

      The visit passes through the bare rooms where she wrote her diary, which is displayed at the end.

   2. Late morning

      Canal Ring walk

      The Golden Bend of the Herengracht has the grandest mansions, and from the corner of Reguliersgracht and Herengracht you can see a row of arched bridges lined up one behind another.

   3. Lunch

      Lunch: Raw herring

      Herring carts and fish stalls across the city.

   4. Afternoon

      Canal cruise

      Smaller open boats reach narrow canals that the large glass-topped boats cannot.

   5. Late afternoon

      The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes)

      With bridges and canal views at every junction, they are among the city's most photogenic shopping streets.

   6. Evening

      Leidseplein

      Bars, the live-music venues Paradiso and Melkweg, and late-night cafés around the square.

Before you go

• Rijksmuseum: Timed tickets are sold online; book a day or more ahead in high season.
• Van Gogh Museum: Tickets are sold online for timed slots and sell out in high season.
• Anne Frank House: Entry is only by online ticket for a set time slot, and tickets sell out quickly.

If it rains

• Swap in Royal Palace Amsterdam (Old Centre): Check the website before going, as the palace closes to visitors when it is in royal use.
• Swap in NEMO Science Museum (Oosterdok): Climb the outside steps to the roof terrace even if you skip the museum, and avoid Dutch school-holiday afternoons.
• Swap in Heineken Experience (De Pijp): Book online for a lower price and a time slot, and combine it with the Albert Cuyp Market a few minutes away.

Where to stay for this itinerary

Pace and daylight

The sights in this plan add up to roughly 14–18 hours of visiting over 2 days, before meals and getting between them. Daylight runs from about 7.7 hours in December to 16.8 hours in June, so in winter start early and keep museums for the afternoon.

Getting between stops: Tram. Trams are the main way around the centre, with lines from Centraal Station to Dam, Leidseplein, Museumplein and De Pijp.

More or fewer days

• One day in Amsterdam
• 3 days in Amsterdam
• 4 days in Amsterdam
• 5 days in Amsterdam
• 7 days in Amsterdam

Questions travellers ask