What To Do In Amsterdam: 3 Day Itinerary

Having spent four months living and studying in Amsterdam back in 2014, I'm often asked the best way to spend a few days in the city. Below is exactly how I would spend three days showing someone around. It's a tried and tested route that everyone enjoys.

Note: Just so I'm not sending you to places that closed four years ago, this list was updated in 2018 to make sure recommended restaurants and nightlife are still around. Are they still poppin'? That is to be determined by you. 

Day 1: City Center

• Start with a free walking tour
• Check out Dam Square
  • The Royal Palace is here, along with other famous monuments
• Shop the Negen Straatjes (9 Streets) 
• Visit Waterlooplein Open Air Market & haggle for some souvenirs 
• Visit the Red Light District at night
• What to eat around the city center: 
  • Breakfast: Pancakes Upstairs (the Dutch make incredible pancakes)
  • Lunch: Café het Schuim for a drink/snack
  • Dinner: Sampurna for traditional Indonesian food (the Dutch at one point colonized Indonesia)

Day 2: Museumplein 

• Either rent bikes or walk here, depending on where you are starting 
• Get a photo with the iAmAmsterdam sign
• Visit the Van Gogh Museum even if you arent an art fan
• Maybe visit the Stedelijk Museum if you like modern art
• Maybe visit the Rijksmuseum if you like history and classical art
• Party through the Heineken Experience and drink free beer at the end
• Bike or walk through Vondelpark (it's huge!)
• What to eat near Museumplein:
  • Albert Cuyp Market: Get ten poffrijes for 2 euro, a stroopwafel chocolate truffle, free cheese samples, and a fresh waffle from Wally! 

Day 3: Jordaan Area 

• Note: I would try to get a hotel in this area!
• Explore the Anne Frank Museum (reserve tickets way ahead of time)
• Eat endless samples at the Cheese Museum
• Look across from the Cheese Museum, that's my old dorm building! 
• Take a peaceful canal boat tour
• Shop and dine on the trendy Haarlemmerstraat 
• What to eat in the Jordaan:
  • Brunch: G’s Really Nice Place
  • Lunch: De Bolhoed (best vegetarian spot)
  • Lunch: Singel 404 (best sandwiches of my life)
  • Lunch: Broodje Bert (another amazing sandwich spot)
  • Dinner: Pancake Bakery (trust me)

Nightlife: Leidseplein

• Paradiso: Renovated Catholic church with a clubby atmosphere and fun dancing
• Lux: Upscale cocktail lounge to start your night
• Café de Gieter: Where locals hang out and start their night. Go for the good looking Dutch people. 
• Bubbles: A pretty Americanized bar, but Dutch locals go here too.

Outside The City

• Amsterdam Noord: Take the ferry across the IJ to visit the restaurants, markets, and EYE Film Institute - this is a must! 
• Keukenhof: World-famous Tulip gardens (open March – May)
• Marken & Volendam: Old-fashioned fishing villages worth a visit 
• Westerpark: If you’re feeling adventurous and wanna do legal truffles, this is the spot to do them. Just try to stay away from the families. 

City Center

Albert Cuypmarkt

Jordaan

Noord

For more resources on what to do in Amsterdam, check out my Amsterdam City Guide, featuring a complete list of my favorite bars, restaurants, and things to do! 

Winter in Barcelona, Spain: 3-Day Itinerary

So our time in Barcelona was a little goofy. We had three nights on the front end of the trip and one on the back end. The first three nights, we stayed at a lovely hotel right on Las Ramblas. The silly part was that my grandparents and I had to share one room with one bed and me sleeping on a pull-out chair. Not pull-out couch...but chair. So along with the jet lag forcing us to nap every day at about 4 pm, we were crammed into a pretty tiny living space. 

Silliness aside, though, Barcelona retained much of the magic that I remembered from when I visited back in 2014. The kind of magic that makes you think, "I kinda want to live here someday." And you really feel like you could, because the city is so modern and cosmopolitan. Not to mention beautiful, with it's little oceanfront walkway and wrought iron terraces and blue skies and the like. 

I wanted to put this post together so that others could not only know what exactly to do in Barcelona, but have the most blissful, stress-free, magical experience in one of my favorite cities in Europe. Read on for what to pack, where to stay, what to eat & drink, and the perfect Barcelona, Spain 3-day itinerary. Enjoy!

Walking the edgy streets of El Ravel. Overall solid winter weather outfit for Barcelona. 

What to pack:

I did a full packing list for two weeks in Spain & Portugal during the winter! Check it out here. And learn from my mistakes :)

How to get there:

From San Francisco, I took a round-trip Lufthansa flight for just $500 and laid over in Frankfurt both ways.

On the way home, my layover was about 18 hours, so I stayed in a hostel in Frankfurt overnight. I highly recommend taking advantage of long layovers, like I did in Shanghai last year. 

One of the many glorious churches in Barcelona.

Where to stay:

• Hotel// La Meridien
  • Location: right on Las Ramblas
  • Perks: free tickets to Palau Guell, Golin + Moetz amenities 
• Hotel// Barcelona Airport Hotel
  • Location: near the airpot
  • Perks: free airport shuttle, really lux for low price

Make sure a walk through La Barceloneta is part of your 3 day itinerary. 

What to eat: 

• Breakfast// Brunch & Cake (Order: the matcha pancakes)
• Breakfast// Federal Cafe
• Lunch// Bo de B
• Lunch// La Boqueria 
• Lunch// La Bombeta (Tip: Cash only, no wifi, very little English except on menu)
• Dinner// Cerveceria Catalan (Tip: Get a seat at the bar if it's busy. Waiter might not be friendly.)
• Dinner// Sensi Gourmet Tapas (Order: croquettes, chorizo, and truffel ravioli)
• Dinner// Arume (Order: the duck paella)
• Drinks// Bar Dow Jones
• Note: Yelp was actually a helpful tool in Barcelona, so I used that to collect food ideas and TripAdvisor for activity ideas!

Brunch & Cake had the most innovative dishes & presentation.

Starting off dinner at La Bombeta with the famous bombas y sangria.

Selection of house tapas at Cerveceria Catalan, including croquettes, shrimp, crispy smelt, poblano peppers, and the best clams we had.

Huge fan of the vegan zucchini ravioli at Sensi Gourmet Tapas.

Even bigger fan of their truffle pasta ravioli *drooling emoji*

What to do:

• Go on a Free Walking Tour
• Walk through the Christmas markets (Note: Fira de Santa Lucia is the biggest one)
• Shop on Passeig de Gracia
• Explore the following neighborhoods:
  • La Barceloneta: gorgeous waterfront area with dining and shops
  • El Gotic: oldest and most architecturally awesome 
  • El Raval: edgier part of the city 
  • Eixample: modern, up and coming 
  • Gracia: bohemian, boutique shops
• Catch a free show at the Magic Fountain of Montjuic
  • Tip: Get there 20m early and bring your own tapas & cava!
• Tour Palau Guell and Park Guell
• Feast your eyes on the Sagrada Familia
  • Tip: Tickets to go inside are about 15 euros, but order ahead online because they are for certain time slots.

Sunset in La Barceloneta. 

Barcelona, Spain 3-day itinerary

Day 1

• 9 am Breakfast at Brunch & Cake
• 11 am Free Walking Tours Barcelona
• 2:30 pm Lunch at La Boqueria
• Walk to Barceloneta, wander & shop here
• 5:30 pm Dinner at La Bombeta
• Ride the teleferico from La Barceloneta to Montjuice at sunset
• 8 pm Magic Fountain of Montjuic
• Drinks at Bar Dow Jones

Day 2

• 9:30 am Breakfast at Federal Cafe (El Raval)
• 11 am Tour Palau Guell
• 1:30 pm Walk through Fira de Santa Lucia (Xmas Market)
• 3 pm Lunch at Bo de B
• 4 pm Taxi to La Sagrada Familia & Parc Guell 
• 8 pm Dinner at Cerveceria Catalan
• 9:30 pm Churros con chocolate

Day 3

• Breakfast at Ugot
• Explore Placa Catalunya & Las Ramblas, shop around
• Walk through Arc De Triumph Ciutadella Park
• Lunch at Arume 
• [Built in time for you to check anything off your list! I always get more recommendations locals.]
• Dinner at Sensi Gourmet Tapas - MUST!

The Magic Fountains of Montjuic. The photo never does it justice. 

Why you'll love it:

• Do I even need to list reasons? It's inevitable. Barcelona is the 3rd most visited place in all of Europe. Everybody loves it!
• There's a great energy here. People seem to be happy, like they're really thriving. This might have something to do with bullet point #1 and Spain's booming economy. 
• Very cosmopolitan and modern, but with a ton of beautiful architecture and history. 

Incredible architecture inside Palau Guell, designed by Antoni Gaudi for the richest industrialist of his time. 

La Sagrada Familia was even more breath-taking the second time I visited. 

I hope this guide helps the next Barcelona-bound traveler have an incredible, stress-free adventure. If you're traveling around Spain, check out my Madrid 3-day itinerary here! For more travel guides like this, subscribe to the site here or at the bottom of the page.