Amsterdam
Amsterdam – Beautiful, Brilliant and Bloody Busy and a heads up, I'm biased because I lived here for a year when in my 20's
Amsterdam is one of those cities that everybody seems to love.
And I can understand why. It has canals, magnificent old buildings, superb museums, pretty little streets, excellent cafés and enough bicycles to flatten a small country.It is also ridiculously touristy, surprisingly expensive and, in places, feels as though the entire population has been employed to get in your way.
Amsterdam is a city you can enjoy enormously, provided you don't try to do everything that the guidebooks tell you to do.
The trick is to wander.
And Amsterdam is absolutely made for wandering.
Arriving
Most visitors arrive via Schiphol Airport, around 11 miles (17km) southwest of the city centre. It's one of Europe's busiest airports, everything is clearly signposted in Dutch and English.
If you've arrived from the UK, passport control can sometimes take a while, especially during busy holiday periods, so don't panic if there's a queue. Once through, you'll find supermarkets, cafés, currency exchange (which you probably won't need), luggage lockers and plenty of places to grab a bite if you've arrived hungry.
One useful tip: if you fancy stocking up on snacks, bottled water or breakfast items for your hotel, the supermarket at the airport will usually be cheaper than buying them in the city centre.
Getting into Amsterdam from the airport is easy.
Just take the train, don't overthink it. The railway station is directly underneath the airport terminal, no shuttle buses, no long walks.
Simply follow the signs marked Trains. Services to Amsterdam Centraal run every few minutes throughout the day.
The journey takes around 15–20 minutes, it's quick, comfortable and relatively inexpensive. (€16 return)
For most visitors, it's the best option by a considerable margin.
Buying a train ticket is straightforward. You can use the ticket machines or simply tap in and out with a contactless bank card or mobile wallet if your card supports the system.
The Dutch have embraced contactless travel, and it makes life wonderfully simple.
Amsterdam Centraal Station is an impressive building that looks more like a palace than a railway station. Step outside, and suddenly everything happens at once.
Getting Around
Amsterdam is compact enough that you can walk to many of the main attractions.
Do that whenever possible.The trams are excellent and the city's public transport system makes getting around relatively easy. The official Amsterdam City Card also includes public transport and access to numerous museums and attractions, although whether it actually saves you money depends entirely on how many things you intend to cram into your visit.
And don't forget the ferry across the IJ. It's free, useful and, unlike many tourist attractions, doesn't require you to hand over a ridiculous amount of money simply because you've got "tourist" written on your forehead.
The Canals
Let's start with the obvious.
The canals are what make Amsterdam Amsterdam. The historic canal ring is spectacular, particularly around the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, where the narrow canal houses lean over the water as though they have had a few too many Dutch beers.Don't just look at the canals from a bridge. Walk beside them.
The Jordaan area is particularly good for this. It is full of attractive streets, little shops, cafés and quieter corners where you can escape the worst of the crowds.
And yes, you should take a canal cruise. I know. It's touristy. But sometimes there is a reason tourists do things.
Seeing Amsterdam from the water gives you a completely different perspective, and a cruise is one of those occasions when sitting down while somebody else does the sightseeing is actually a very sensible idea.
Just don't spend a fortune on some fancy private cruise unless you have money to burn.
Standard 1-hour Amsterdam canal cruise prices range from €12.25 to €22 per adult for basic open or closed boat sightseeing tours. Specialty options like wine and cheese, pizza, or private luxury experiences cost between €35 and €70+ per person. Children's tickets usually cost about half price (roughly €8.50 to €9.50). Booking online directly often secures a discount compared to buying at the dock.
The Rijksmuseum
If you only visit one museum in Amsterdam, make it the Rijksmuseum.This is the big one and, unlike some famous museums where you spend three hours wondering where the interesting stuff is, the Rijksmuseum has rather a lot of it.Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals and a host of other Dutch masters are here, including Rembrandt's enormous Night Watch.
The building itself is impressive and the collection covers around 800 years of Dutch history and art.
Adult admission is currently €25, with under-18s admitted free, and it is open daily from 9am to 5pm.
Book ahead.
This isn't the sort of place where you wander up at lunchtime and expect to stroll straight in because you've suddenly developed an interest in Dutch art.
And allow several hours. You don't have to see everything, because if you try, you'll eventually find yourself standing in front of a 17th-
century painting wondering whether the horse's expression is historically significant.
It probably isn't.
The Van Gogh Museum
If you like Van Gogh, this is obviously essential.If you don't like Van Gogh, you may still find it fascinating simply because you get to see the development of one of the world's most recognisable artists.
And there is something rather different about seeing the real paintings rather than the endless mugs, posters, calendars and fridge magnets that have been produced from them.
It's in the Museum Quarter, close to the Rijksmuseum, so it makes sense to combine the two.
Just don't make the mistake of thinking you can do both in an hour and a half.
You can't.
Admission Adult (18+) €25.00, students €16, children free but must still book a time slot.Tickets must be booked in advance and are not available on the door.
The Anne Frank House
This is one of Amsterdam's most important attractions, but it is also one of the most emotionally difficult.
The Anne Frank House is the actual building where Anne Frank and her family hid during the Nazi occupation, and visiting the Secret Annex is a sobering experience.
This isn't entertainment and it shouldn't be treated like another item to tick off your sightseeing list. Tickets are limited and normally need to be obtained in advance.
If you want to visit, plan ahead. Turning up on the day and hoping for a spare ticket is not a particularly clever strategy.
And please don't be the person taking selfies outside.
Some places really don't need them.
Admission €16.50 for adults (ages 18+), €7.00 for children and teens aged 10 to 17, and €1.00 for children aged 0 to 9. Prices include a mandatory online booking fee. Tickets must be pre-booked strictly via their official site.
Dam Square
Eventually, you will end up in Dam Square.
You probably won't be able to avoid it.
The square is dominated by the Royal Palace and the Nieuwe Kerk, although the whole area is generally full of people, trams, bicycles, street performers and tourists who have suddenly stopped walking directly in front of you.
It's worth seeing, but I wouldn't spend half a day here.
Have a look, take your photographs and move on.
Amsterdam gets considerably more interesting once you leave the obvious tourist centre behind.
The Jordaan
Now we're getting somewhere. The Jordaan is one of the nicest parts of central Amsterdam and exactly the sort of area where you should simply wander without a particular objective.It has attractive canal streets, little courtyards, independent shops, cafés and restaurants.
And because Amsterdam is compact, you can easily walk from the central area into the Jordaan without needing to organise some complicated excursion.
This is one of my favourite things about the city.
You can spend the morning visiting a major museum and the afternoon getting gloriously lost down streets that you didn't know existed.
That's much more my idea of sightseeing.
The Begijnhof
The Begijnhof is another little escape from the madness.
Hidden away behind the busy streets, this historic courtyard provides a remarkably peaceful contrast to central Amsterdam.
You walk through an entrance and suddenly the noise seems to disappear.
There are old houses surrounding the courtyard, including one of the city's famous wooden houses.
It's free to visit, although it is a residential and historic site rather than an amusement park, so behave accordingly.
In other words, don't shout.
Vondelpark
When you've had enough of museums, canals and people, go to Vondelpark.
It's Amsterdam's best-known park and a good place to sit down, have something to eat and watch the world go by.
And after spending hours dodging bicycles, it's also somewhere you can temporarily convince yourself that Amsterdam is actually a very peaceful city.
Don't worry.
A cyclist will soon come along and restore normal service.
Bicycles – You Have Been Warned
Amsterdam is famous for bicycles.There are an awful lot of them.
And they have right of way in many situations, or at least that's what it feels like when one appears behind you at considerable speed and rings its bell.
The cycle paths are not pavements.
This seems obvious, but thousands of tourists apparently arrive in Amsterdam and immediately forget how roads work.
If you're walking, stay out of the cycle lanes.
If you rent a bicycle, remember that cycling around Amsterdam with no idea where you're going while looking at the scenery is not necessarily the safest way to spend an afternoon.
And if somebody rings a bell behind you, move.
That ringing isn't the Dutch equivalent of "Good afternoon."
The Red Light District
Amsterdam's Red Light District is famous throughout the world.It's also one of those places where expectations and reality can be rather different.
Yes, there are red-lit windows.
Yes, there are sex shops.
Yes, there are plenty of tourists wandering around looking as though they have accidentally taken the wrong turning.
But it is also an historic part of central Amsterdam and contains some interesting architecture, including the Oude Kerk.
Go and have a look if you want to.
Just remember that people work there. Don't take photographs of sex workers. It's rude, intrusive and can get you into trouble.
And don't confuse curiosity with an invitation to behave like an idiot.
Albert Cuyp Market
If you fancy seeing a more everyday side of Amsterdam, head for the Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp.
It's a good place for food, snacks, souvenirs and general people watching. De Pijp itself is worth exploring, with plenty of cafés and restaurants and a rather more relaxed atmosphere than the centre. It's also a useful reminder that Amsterdam isn't just canals and museums.
There are people who actually live here.
Amsterdam Noord
If you've got more time, cross the IJ and explore Amsterdam Noord.
The free ferry from behind Central Station makes getting there remarkably easy, and the area has developed considerably in recent years.
The EYE Filmmuseum is the obvious attraction, but Noord is also worth visiting simply to see a different side of the city.
It feels less like the Amsterdam of postcards and more like a modern European city.
Which, frankly, is no bad thing.
Eating and Drinking
Dutch food doesn't always get the international recognition it deserves.
You should try some local specialities while you're here.
Stroopwafels are almost compulsory. They're basically two thin waffles with syrup in the middle, and they are considerably better when fresh and warm.
Try Dutch pancakes too. They are much thinner than the fluffy American variety and come with an enormous range of fillings.
Bitterballen (or Croquette) - If you try one Dutch snack, make it this. Small deep-fried balls or croquettes filled with a thick meat-based ragout. My absolute "fast food" go to whenever I visit AmsterdamAnd then there is the traditional Dutch café, or brown café.
These are the places to go for a drink without feeling as though you've wandered into a nightclub designed for people who have just discovered Instagram.
Amsterdam also has an enormous range of international restaurants, so finding something decent to eat isn't difficult.
Finding something reasonably priced in the busiest tourist streets is rather more challenging.
Is Amsterdam Expensive?
Yes.
It isn't London-expensive in quite the same way, but Amsterdam certainly isn't cheap.
Accommodation can be particularly painful, and there is also a substantial tourist tax. Amsterdam currently charges 12.5% of the overnight accommodation price, excluding VAT.
So don't assume the price you see advertised for a hotel room is necessarily the final amount you will pay.
Food and drink in the central tourist areas can also be expensive.
Walk ten minutes away from the busiest streets and things generally improve.
Funny that.
How Long Do You Need?
For the main sights, I'd allow three days.
Two days will give you a good taste of Amsterdam, but you'll be rushing.
Four or five days gives you time to slow down, visit a few museums, explore the Jordaan, wander around De Pijp, take a canal cruise and spend some time doing absolutely nothing.
And doing nothing in Amsterdam is surprisingly enjoyable.
Old Moaner's Verdict
Amsterdam is a terrific city. It is beautiful, interesting, historic and very easy to explore.It is also crowded, expensive and occasionally feels as though the entire population is trying to run you over on a bicycle.
Don't let that put you off.
The mistake is trying to experience Amsterdam entirely through its famous attractions. It's not the big attractions that make the city special.
It's the little streets, crooked houses, bridges, canals and unexpected corners that you stumble across when you're not following the bloke in front of you carrying a flag.
And, despite all the tourists, all the bicycles and all the prices that make your wallet whimper, Amsterdam remains one of Europe's great city breaks.
Just watch where you're walking.
Especially on the cycle path.
Seriously.
Prices quoted correct as of June 2026
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