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! 

Final Days in Amsterdam

With only ten days left in Amsterdam, my abroad experience is coming to a close. I have spent the last month here, reveling in every experience that this city has to offer. Allow me to recap on a few of my best memories and subsequent musings.

Liberation Day

Pregaming Lib Day in the sun on the houseboat in front of my dorm!

Westerpark Lib Day Festival! Classic bike shot.

Another one of those underrated Dutch holidays, Liberation Day is celebrated every year on the 5th of May in the Netherlands, commemorating the end of the occupation by Nazi Germany during WWII. Unlike Kingsday, I hadn't heard about this holiday before coming abroad, most likely due to the fact that students take advantage of the long weekend to travel. Well, I was here, and I recommend everyone stay for this lively Dutch day. 

The city comes alive with multiple open-air festivals, both free and priced, catering to just about every musical preference you can think of. I personally attended two festivals, both free. The first part of the day, my friends and I spent at Westerpark, a huge park in the upper western corner just outside of city center. Here, there were 7-8 different little stages throughout the park playing an eclectic mix of music. We hit the park's famous food truck alley, people watched and then chilled on the grass, listening to some cool tunes in the sun.

Endless love for tourist groups that dress up in matching outfits <3

After leaving the Westerpark, we headed south to the Amstel River, where a massive concert was set to take place on the water. The Royal Family and various Netherlands officials were there, so you know it was a big deal. The musical menu took a turn for the classical, featuring mainly symphony and a cappella performances. Although not my genres of choice, it was cool to participate in the mainly Dutch audience and feel the strong sense of patriotism they share. All throughout the performance, little Dutch flags and red, blue and white balloons were passed throughout the crowd. It was tough to get a good picture from my (short) position in the crowd, but my blurry attempts give you the idea.

Crowd at the Concert on the Amstel.

Amazing floating stage and light setup for the Concert on the Amstel.

Liberation Day was a fun and lighthearted day in the Netherlands, but its deeper implications resonated with me on a different level. Living in Europe for a semester has truly opened my eyes to the scar that World War II left on the face of Europe, affecting especially those countries whose citizens were persecuted. I haven't had one class this semester that hasn't drawn on the second World War as a source of influence as to how our world is today, both in Europe and in America. Obviously, because the war physically took place in Europe, it is remembered more vividly and holds a more relevant position in every day life here. However, it's eye-opening and a bit shocking how little I, and probably most people in the U.S., think about this world-altering tragedy that occurred truly not that long ago and the implications that has for our society.

Culinary Adventures

Yummy tasting at de Kas ("The Greenhouse").

On a lighter note, I have been taking advantage of my dwindling days here to check out more of the cuisine Amsterdam has to offer! One experience, sponsored by CIEE, involved biking out to the eastern side of town to check out a restaurant called de Kas (Dutch for "the greenhouse"). I am so picking up what this place is putting down; they are the picture of sustainable eating in that they grow the majority of their produce in the nursery/garden attached to their restaurant and their farm 20 minutes away.

Brunch with Mama at the #1 Yelped place in Amsterdam, Gartine.

They firmly support the "slow food movement" that is picking up speed in Amsterdam, which is, in short, a response to the "fast food boom" that most Millennials have grown up in. Fresh produce, sustainable animal products, fair trade and the utmost care in preparing food are the cornerstones of this movement, and I am just so into it.

Beer Biking!

Hell yeah, we rented a beer bike.

The Rage Crew: "Like, We Rage"

Among other ridiculous things my friends and I have done in Amsterdam, this is certainly among the top five. Yes, people, we rented a beer bike! And it was epic. We are not the self-proclaimed "Rage Crew" for no reason; our group of 13 outdrank the group of Germans that proceeded us. GERMANS!

Basically, we rode this bad boy around town for two hours, consuming over 30 liters of beer and four bottles of champagne. The general public loved us, with strangers on the street pushing our bike up hills when necessary and clapping and cheering for us as we rode past. It may have had something to do with the spontaneous, but constant, stream of drinking justifications being shouted from our bike. For instance, "There's a huge dog in that window, DRIIIIINNNKKKK!!!!!" or when passing our favorite doner kebab place, "We love you Sefa, DRIIIINNKKKK!!!!" Pretty much everything about this city merits a celebratory drink.

For all intents and purposes, my brother and sister #family

These three experiences certainly don't encompass all of my recent shenanigans. Sometimes, what happens in Amsterdam has to stay in Amsterdam. But what they do illustrate are a few of my very favorite things about my time abroad: cultural-historic understanding, mindfulness, and my little CIEE family. These are the things that Amsterdam gave me, and for them, I will look back on this city with the biggest heart full of love.