Things to do · Amsterdam · Netherlands
20 best things to do in Amsterdam
20 sights and experiences ranked for a first visit, with honest notes on time, cost and crowds.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Quick answer
The essential sights in Amsterdam are Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House. Of the 20 picks below, 7 are free, 10 work on a rainy day and 5 suit children. Allow about 4 days to see the highlights without rushing.
Key facts
- Top sight
- Rijksmuseum
- Free sights
- 7
- Good on a rainy day
- Rijksmuseum
- Time to see the highlights
- 4 days
At a glance
| Sight | Area | Time needed | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rijksmuseum | Museum Quarter | 3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Van Gogh Museum | Museum Quarter | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Anne Frank House | Canal Ring | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| Canal Ring walk | Canal Ring | 2 hours | Free |
| Canal cruise | Canal Ring | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
| The Jordaan | Jordaan | Half a day | Free |
| Vondelpark | Museum Quarter | 1–2 hours | Free |
| The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes) | Canal Ring | 1–2 hours | Free |
| Albert Cuyp Market | De Pijp | 1 hour | Free |
| A'DAM Lookout | Amsterdam-Noord | 1–1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| Stedelijk Museum | Museum Quarter | 2 hours | Mid-priced |
| Begijnhof | Old Centre | 30 minutes | Free |
| Royal Palace Amsterdam | Old Centre | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Artis Zoo | Plantage | Half a day | Mid-priced |
| NEMO Science Museum | Oosterdok | 2–3 hours | Mid-priced |
| Heineken Experience | De Pijp | 1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| Our Lord in the Attic | Old Centre | 1 hour | Low cost |
| Rembrandt House Museum | Old Centre | 1–1.5 hours | Mid-priced |
| NDSM Wharf | Amsterdam-Noord | 2–3 hours | Free |
| Hortus Botanicus | Plantage | 1–1.5 hours | Low cost |
The 20 best things to do
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Museum · Museum Quarter
1.Rijksmuseum
The Dutch national museum's Gallery of Honour leads to Rembrandt's The Night Watch, with Vermeer's The Milkmaid, Frans Hals portraits and Delftware nearby. 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.
Head straight to the Gallery of Honour at opening, then explore the quieter medieval and 20th-century floors.
- Time needed
- 3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Timed tickets are sold online; book a day or more ahead in high season.
- Iconic
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
Museum · Museum Quarter
2.Van Gogh Museum
The largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's work — around 200 paintings and 500 drawings — traces his development from the dark Potato Eaters to Sunflowers, The Bedroom and the Almond Blossom he painted for his newborn nephew. His letters to his brother Theo add a moving personal thread.
Book the earliest or latest slot of the day, when the galleries are quietest.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Tickets are sold online for timed slots and sell out in high season.
- Iconic
- Art
- Rainy day
Museum · Canal Ring
3.Anne Frank House
In the canal house at Prinsengracht 263, Anne Frank, her family and four others hid from the Nazis for two years in the Secret Annex behind a movable bookcase. The visit passes through the bare rooms where she wrote her diary, which is displayed at the end.
Check the museum's website for when tickets are released and book as soon as they appear; there are no tickets at the door.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Book ahead
- Entry is only by online ticket for a set time slot, and tickets sell out quickly.
- History
- Iconic
- Rainy day
Waterfront · Canal Ring
4.Canal Ring walk
The Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, dug in the 17th century, are lined with tall gabled merchants' houses, many with hoisting beams for lifting goods to the upper floors. 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.
Walk at dusk, when lights come on in the canal houses and reflect in the water.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Iconic
- Architecture
- Photo spot
- Couples
Experience · Canal Ring
5.Canal cruise
An hour on a canal boat passes the Golden Bend, the Skinny Bridge (Magere Brug) over the Amstel and the harbour front, with commentary on the history of the canal houses. Smaller open boats reach narrow canals that the large glass-topped boats cannot.
Choose a small open boat on a fine evening or a covered boat in winter, and compare operators rather than booking from touts at Centraal Station.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Couples
- Views
- Iconic
Neighbourhood · Jordaan
6.The Jordaan
The Jordaan's narrow canals, flower-filled lanes and hidden almshouse courtyards (hofjes) such as the Karthuizerhof reward slow wandering. Its brown cafés, some open since the 18th century, are classic places for a beer, and the Noordermarkt holds an organic farmers' market on Saturdays.
Visit on a Saturday morning for the Noordermarkt and the Lindengracht market, then sit outside a brown café.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Food
- Couples
- Shopping
- Photo spot
Park · Museum Quarter
7.Vondelpark
Amsterdam's best-known park stretches about 1.5 km west from near Leidseplein, with ponds, a rose garden, playgrounds and cafés. On summer weekends it fills with picnics, cyclists and skaters, and the open-air theatre stages free performances.
Pick up picnic supplies in Oud-West and head for the lawns by the central ponds.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Kids
- Outdoors
- Couples
Street · Canal Ring
8.The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes)
Nine short streets cross the canal ring between Raadhuisstraat and Leidsegracht, packed with independent boutiques, vintage shops, cheese shops and cafés. With bridges and canal views at every junction, they are among the city's most photogenic shopping streets.
Combine with the Anne Frank House at the northern end, and stop for apple pie or coffee along the way.
- Time needed
- 1–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Shopping
- Free
- Food
Market · De Pijp
1.Albert Cuyp Market
Running along Albert Cuypstraat most days of the week, the city's biggest street market sells cheese, fish, flowers, clothes and fabric. Stalls make fresh stroopwafels and sell raw herring and kibbeling (fried cod bites).
Buy a hot stroopwafel made to order, then explore the cafés around Sarphatipark.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Free
- Food
- Free
- Shopping
Viewpoint · Amsterdam-Noord
2.A'DAM Lookout
The observation deck on top of the A'DAM Tower, a former Shell office beside the IJ, gives a 360-degree view over the canal ring, the harbour and the flat polders beyond. Its rooftop swing, Over the Edge, rocks riders out over the edge of the roof about 100 metres up.
Take the free ferry from behind Centraal Station to Buiksloterweg, a five-minute crossing, and go up for sunset.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Views
- Couples
- Kids
- After dark
Gallery · Museum Quarter
3.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.
Pair it with the Van Gogh Museum next door; the Stedelijk is usually much quieter.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- Rainy day
- Architecture
Historic site · Old Centre
4.Begijnhof
Through a doorway off the busy Spui square, the Begijnhof is a quiet courtyard of almshouses built for the Beguines, a lay Catholic sisterhood, in the Middle Ages. It holds Het Houten Huis, one of only two wooden houses left in the centre, dating from around 1528, and a Catholic chapel hidden behind ordinary house fronts.
Keep voices down — people still live here — and visit in the morning before groups arrive.
- Time needed
- 30 minutes
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- History
- Off the beaten path
- Architecture
Palace · Old Centre
5.Royal Palace Amsterdam
Built in the 17th century as the city hall, the Royal Palace on Dam Square is still used by the Dutch royal family for state occasions. Its marble Citizens' Hall has maps of the world and the heavens inlaid in the floor, surrounded by some of the finest Golden Age sculpture in the country.
Check the website before going, as the palace closes to visitors when it is in royal use.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Architecture
- Rainy day
Zoo · Plantage
6.Artis Zoo
Founded in 1838, Artis is one of the oldest zoos in Europe, set among 19th-century buildings and mature gardens in the Plantage. Beyond the animals it includes an aquarium, a planetarium and Micropia, a museum of microbes beside the entrance.
Buy tickets online and combine with the Hortus Botanicus a few minutes' walk away.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Museum · Oosterdok
7.NEMO Science Museum
Renzo Piano's green copper building rises like a ship's bow over the IJ tunnel, with five floors of hands-on science exhibits for children of all ages. Its sloping roof is a public terrace with views across the harbour and the old city.
Climb the outside steps to the roof terrace even if you skip the museum, and avoid Dutch school-holiday afternoons.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- Views
- Architecture
Experience · De Pijp
8.Heineken Experience
The former Heineken brewery, built in 1867 and used for brewing until 1988, now houses an interactive tour of the brand's history, the brewing process and the old stables, ending with beers at a bar overlooking the city.
Book online for a lower price and a time slot, and combine it with the Albert Cuyp Market a few minutes away.
- Time needed
- 1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Rainy day
- Food
Museum · Old Centre
9.Our Lord in the Attic
Behind a 17th-century canal-house façade in the Red Light District hides a complete Catholic church built across the attics of three houses, at a time when Catholics could not worship openly. Steep stairs lead through the merchant's rooms to the galleried church under the roof.
Visit in the morning, when the Red Light District's canals are at their calmest on the way.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
Museum · Old Centre
10.Rembrandt House Museum
Rembrandt lived and worked in this house on Jodenbreestraat from 1639 until bankruptcy forced him out in 1658. The rooms are furnished from the inventory taken at the time, with his studio, his cabinet of curiosities and a large collection of his etchings; etching and paint-making demonstrations are often held.
Pair it with the Waterlooplein flea market outside and the nearby Jewish Cultural Quarter.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Art
- History
- Rainy day
Neighbourhood · Amsterdam-Noord
11.NDSM Wharf
A former shipyard in Amsterdam-Noord, NDSM is now a creative district of street art, studios, waterfront restaurants and festivals. Its vast shipbuilding hangar hosts the IJ-Hallen, a huge flea market held on scheduled weekends.
Take the free NDSM ferry from behind Centraal Station for a 15-minute harbour ride each way.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Art
- Off the beaten path
- Shopping
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Garden · Plantage
12.Hortus Botanicus
Founded in 1638 as a herb garden for doctors and apothecaries, the Hortus Botanicus is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. Its glasshouses range from a palm house to a three-climate greenhouse, and its history is linked to the coffee plants that spread from Amsterdam to Dutch colonies in South America.
Have coffee on the Orangery terrace, then walk across to Artis.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Nature
- Off the beaten path
- Rainy day
- Outdoors
Pick by interest
| Interest | Best picks |
|---|---|
| Art and museums | Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House and Stedelijk Museum |
| History | Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, Begijnhof and Royal Palace Amsterdam |
| Views | Canal cruise, A'DAM Lookout and NEMO Science Museum |
| Outdoors and nature | Vondelpark, Artis Zoo and Hortus Botanicus |
| Food and markets | The Jordaan, The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes), Albert Cuyp Market and Heineken Experience |
| After dark | A'DAM Lookout |
| With children | Canal cruise, Vondelpark, A'DAM Lookout and Artis Zoo |
| On a rainy day | Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House and Stedelijk Museum |
What to book ahead
- 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.
Plan the rest of your trip
Questions travellers ask
+What is the number one thing to do in Amsterdam?
Rijksmuseum. The Dutch national museum's Gallery of Honour leads to Rembrandt's The Night Watch, with Vermeer's The Milkmaid, Frans Hals portraits and Delftware nearby.
+What can you do for free in Amsterdam?
Canal Ring walk, The Jordaan, Vondelpark, The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes) and Albert Cuyp Market. More free things to do.
+What is there to do in Amsterdam when it rains?
Head indoors to Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House and Stedelijk Museum.
+What is there to do in Amsterdam at night?
A'DAM Lookout are best after dark.