Travel Guide to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Region: Europe · Budget: Mid-range · Flight from UK: 1 hour · Best months: April to September

Amsterdam runs on bikes. Around 880,000 of them in a city of 880,000 people, weaving through the canal-ringed centre while pedestrians look the wrong way and almost get run over. The city is tiny by European standards — you can walk from Centraal Station to the Rijksmuseum in 25 minutes — but the pleasure is in the layers: the four concentric Golden Age canals, the 17th-century gabled merchant houses, the 165 'bruin café' brown bars where locals nurse a beer for an hour. From the UK it's a one-hour flight or 4-hour Eurostar from St Pancras direct to Centraal. Three nights is enough for the headline museums (Van Gogh, Anne Frank, Rijksmuseum) plus a slow wander through Jordaan and De Pijp. Book Anne Frank House the second tickets release (six weeks in advance) — it's the one thing that genuinely sells out. The 'coffee shop' question: yes, recreational cannabis is sold legally to over-18s, no, locals don't actually go there.

Budget breakdown (per day, GBP)

Stay £60–£110 · Food £25–£45 · Activities £15–£35 · Total £100–£190

Best time to visit

April–May (tulip season, mild weather) and September–October (golden light on the canals, lower crowds) are best. King's Day (27 April) is one of the world's great street parties but accommodation triples in price. Avoid late December if you don't like rain — short days and constant drizzle. Summer is pleasant (20–24°C) but accommodation peaks and the centre gets uncomfortably crowded.

Weather overview

Mild oceanic — wet, windy, mostly grey. Summers are warm rather than hot (20–24°C), winters are damp with the occasional snow flurry (2–6°C). Rain can come from a clear sky in 15 minutes — a small umbrella lives in your bag year-round. Bike lanes are exposed; a windproof layer is more useful than a heavy coat.

Suggested trip length

Weekend

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Amsterdam, drop bags at your accommodation and take a slow orientation walk through the centre to get your bearings before the jet lag hits. Grab an early dinner near your hotel — somewhere you can walk back from in five minutes — and have an early night to reset your body clock. If you've still got energy in the evening: Van Gogh Museum.
Day 2: Canal cruise in the morning while you're fresh and the light is good for photos, followed by a long local lunch somewhere off the main tourist drag. Afternoon: explore a neighbourhood you haven't seen yet on foot, stopping for a coffee or a drink whenever you find a spot that looks right.
Day 3: Vondelpark — book any tickets in advance online to skip the queues, which can easily eat 90 minutes in peak season. Afternoon: a slower café-and-shops loop in a different part of town, then dinner somewhere recommended by your accommodation hosts rather than a top-10 list.
Day 4: Anne Frank House. Use the second half of the day for any souvenirs or gifts to take home, and try a restaurant outside the main tourist strip — typically 30–40% cheaper for noticeably better food. End the day somewhere with a view, sunset is usually the best free attraction in any city.
Day 5: Day trip out of Amsterdam — a coastal town, mountain village, vineyard region or nearby city is usually under an hour by train, bus or ferry and gives you a completely different angle on Netherlands. Pack light, leave early, and aim to be back for a relaxed dinner.
Day 6–7: Revisit your favourite spot from earlier in the week now that you know your way around, slow down with a long lunch, and pick up anything you missed on the first pass. Use the final morning for a quiet breakfast and a final wander before heading to the airport — leave at least 3 hours' buffer for international flights.

Things to do in Amsterdam

Visit the Van Gogh Museum mid-afternoon (3–5pm) — quieter than morning slots and the light through the upper galleries is best.
Anne Frank House — book the moment 6-week tickets release; turn up without a ticket and you won't get in.
Hire a bike from MacBike or Black Bikes for a day — £10, and the only authentic way to see the city. Avoid tram tracks and stay right.
Wander Jordaan in the late morning — the prettiest neighbourhood, with antique shops, the Tulip Museum and brown cafés down every alley.
Coffee and apple tart at Winkel 43 (yes, it's a tourist favourite, but the cake is genuinely the best in the city).
Day trip to Zaanse Schans (working windmills, 20 minutes by train) or Haarlem (charming smaller version of Amsterdam, 15 minutes by train).
Boat tour the canals at sunset — choose a small electric boat (Those Dam Boat Guys, Rederij Aemstelland) over the giant glass-roofed bus boats.
Indonesian rijsttafel at Tempo Doeloe or Blauw — Amsterdam has the best Indonesian food outside Indonesia, a legacy of colonial history worth experiencing.

Best areas to stay in Amsterdam

Jordaan — the most charming central neighbourhood, narrow lanes, brown cafés, walking distance to Anne Frank and the museums.
De 9 Straatjes (Nine Little Streets) — small designer shops, brilliant cafés, dead-central. Mid-to-high budget.
De Pijp — younger, cheaper, lively market street (Albert Cuyp), 15-minute tram to the centre. Best value if you don't mind the commute.
Oost (East) — leafy and residential with great restaurants, a short tram ride to the centre. Good for second-time visitors.
Avoid the Red Light District for sleep unless you specifically want it — loud, crowded with stag parties, and not what most travellers come to Amsterdam for.

Transport tips

From Schiphol: the train to Centraal Station is €5.90 and takes 17 minutes — runs every 10 minutes 24/7. Forget taxis (€45+).
Get an OV-chipkaart or use contactless on trams, buses and metro — €1 per journey including transfers.
Most of the centre is faster walked or cycled than tram'd — distances are tiny.
If renting a bike: lock it through the frame to a bike rack (theft is rampant), don't ride drunk, and watch for trams in the bike lane.
Eurostar from London to Amsterdam is now direct, 4 hours, and lands you in the city without the airport faff.

Safety tips

Bikes are the biggest danger to pedestrians — look both ways twice before crossing any street and stay out of the bike lane.
Pickpocketing on tram lines 1, 2 and 5 (the museum routes) and around Centraal — keep zips closed.
The Red Light District is generally safe but don't take photos of the women in the windows — phones get thrown in the canal.
Coffee shop edibles can be much stronger than expected — start small and don't combine with alcohol.
Tap water is excellent — refill at the public fountains rather than buying bottled.

Visa & entry requirements (UK travellers)

Visa-free up to 90/180 days. ETIAS authorisation required from 2026.