We decided to visit Amsterdam this spring for the first time after living in Europe for almost nine years, and we couldn’t believe it took us so long to visit the capital city of the Netherlands. Amsterdam is known for its beautiful canals, narrow canal houses with unique gabled façades, cycling culture, rich art and history, and its friendly, open-minded people. In this blog post, we’ll share what we did in Amsterdam over three days as first-time visitors, without feeling rushed – as well as some practical tips about places and things to do
Some helpful Amsterdam travel tips
✈️ Getting to Amsterdam (by plane): If you are flying in, you will most likely arrive at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), one of the best-connected airports in the world, located only about 15 km from the city centre. The bus 397 takes you from the airport to the city centre and back. It is very convenient.
🚋 Getting to Amsterdam (by train): Amsterdam’s main station (Amsterdam Centraal Station) is a major European rail hub, accessible from cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Brussels, Zürich, and more. We didn’t travel by train, but we found this useful website: https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Amsterdam.htm
🚶🏻♀️ Getting around Amsterdam: The best way to explore the city is on foot, with occasional use of public transport. You can easily pay for transport using contactless payment when tapping in and out. We did not rent bicycles, as it was quite cold during our visit.
🏨 Where to stay in Amsterdam: We stayed at a charming boutique hotel (Hotel JL No76), located in the old Oud-Zuid district, just a 2-3 minute walk from the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum.
💰 Payment options: Except for one pancake restaurant, we were able to pay by card everywhere.
🛒 Grocery and other essentials: We bought snacks, drinks, and water at Albert Heijn grocery store. For toiletries and medicine, Etos is similar to Boots (UK), dm/Rossmann (Germany), or CVS and Walgreens (USA).
🌿 Day 1 – Museums, Canals & Dutch comfort food
Anne Frank Museum
We started our first day with a visit to one of the most emotional experiences of our trip, the Anne Frank House. Even though I had read the Diary of a Young Girl, visiting the house was still a deeply moving and somber experience. The museum preserves much of the original space, including displays of her original diary as well as stories about her sister and other family members. The admission process was smooth and they provide you with an audio guide that is already included in the price of your entrance ticket. Something to keep in mind is that you can’t really roam freely in the house. You are basically walking slowly in a queue almost the entire time, but it didn’t feel crowded or slow; it felt just right and we could see and read almost everything.
💡 Tip: Book tickets in advance on their official website. Tickets are released every Tuesday at 10:00 AM CEST for visits six weeks ahead, and they sell out quickly. However, a week before our trip, I randomly decided to check again, and luckily there were some available spots. The visit takes around 1 to 1.5 hours and follows a quiet, structured flow through the house.
Walking & lunch
Walking is one of the things you absolutely have to do in Amsterdam, as the city is very walkable with very few cars on the streets. The only thing you would have to pay attention to is the bicycles; otherwise, it is a perfect way to take in the city and its many beautiful streets and corners. We passed by so many canals, bridges, and charming streets.
After visiting the Anne Frank House, we walked through the canals and streets toward a pancake restaurant featured on Somebody Feed Phil we wanted to try. Not surprisingly, we didn’t manage to get a table, but we were suggested to come a few minutes before opening time the next day. There was this cute little café a few steps away from the Pancake house called De Laatste Kruimel. We decided to eat there because everything in their window looked delicious.
💡Tip: In my opinion, portions are quite large – consider sharing if you want room for dessert. I ordered a quiche while my husband had a tuna melt sandwich, and unfortunately, I couldn’t finish my plate and was too full to order something sweet, which is what I really wanted to get.
Van Gogh Museum
A visit to the Van Gogh Museum means immersing yourself in the history and soul of Van Gogh, the man who became an artist at the end of his 20s and who was always striving to improve his art.
The entry process in this museum was also straightforward and smooth. We arrived 10 minutes before our entry slot and there were no queues, but this may be because we visited Amsterdam during low season (March 2026). At the time of our visit, there was a temporary exhibition called Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Colour, which was very interesting to see how fundamental this color was to the artist. We spent about three hours exploring the museum.
💡 Tip 1: The audio guide is highly recommended for an extra €3.75 – it adds a lot of context to everything you see together with interesting information.
💡 Tip 2: It is not mandatory to put your stuff away in a locker, but they are free and useful for coats and bags.
Dinner at De Blaue Hollander
For our first dinner in Amsterdam, we tried the food at De Blauwe Hollander, one of the restaurants on the list of places to eat recommended by our hotel. The restaurant is quite compact with a charming atmosphere. We ordered their traditional dish called Stamppot, consisting of a protein of your choice (sausage, meatball, stewed beef..) with mashed potatoes combined with vegetables and gravy. It is a simple and hearty dish that’s perfect for cold weather. Because we are both light eaters, we didn’t order their famous bitterballen (meat croquettes) or their apple pie and mini pancakes. The tables on each side of us ordered all those dishes and they looked delicious.
💡 Tip: Reservations are recommended. Another Dutch restaurant that was recommended to us and we really wanted to try was The Pantry, but there were no tables available for the two days we tried to reserve.
📋Day 1 – Summary and highlights
- Anne Frank House
- Canal walks
- Van Gogh Museum
- Traditional Dutch dinner
Vibe: cultural, reflective, slow-paced
🌿 Day 2 – Dutch pancakes, Jordaan, Canal Cruise, and Indonesian dinner
Pancake House Upstairs
We arrived 10 minutes before their opening time and got a table at the tiny, cozy restaurant featured on the Netflix series Somebody Feed Phil. We ordered their savory bacon, brie, and honey pancake and a sweet one with strawberries and cream. The pancakes are big, but they are also thin, so we thought one pancake was exactly right for one person. I loved how the brie melted so nicely into the pancake. The pancakes are simple, but incredibly well-made and delicious.
💡 Good to know:
- You have to take a short flight of steep stairs to reach the restaurant.
- You have to take a short flight of steep stairs to reach the restaurant.
- No credit cards accepted, only debit cards and cash.
Exploring Jordaan
After our more than satisfying brunch, we spent hours walking through Jordaan before our canal cruise experience. Jordaan is an iconic and charming area, known for its picturesque canals, narrow streets filled with lovely boutique shops and cafés. It feels very peaceful yet vibrant. Walking around is a great way to see and explore the bridges, the crooked houses, the houseboats, and the local charm. If you’re short on time, we recommend seeing and passing by the Prinsengracht, Herengracht, and the Keizergracht canals.
Café Sonneveld
After hours walking around Jordaan, we stopped by at Café Sonneveld and had some drinks with a warm and welcoming interior. The Café Sonneveld is a traditional Dutch restaurant and café close to a canal. It is famous for being the former residence of Wim Sonneveld, a Dutch singer, comedian, and actor of the 20th century. We didn’t order food, but everything on the menu looked great. They are especially known for the stamppot, ribs, bitterballen, and apple pie. This is definitely a place we want to try next time we’re back in Amsterdam. The service was very friendly.
Canal cruise with cheese and wine
Taking a cruise is a relaxing and convenient way to see Amsterdam while you listen to stories about the city’s past. It was perfect to be able to sit after walking for hours. We learned about Amsterdam’s history as a trading city and how its canals were designed. Moreover, we learned why many houses have cranes on the top and why their houses are so narrow. We booked our canal cruise through Get Your Guide and we chose the option that included cheese & wine. The only picture I took on our cruise was a picture of many bridges lined up together and a of the cheese and wine. Sadly, we didn’t have the best weather, so we sat on the part of the boat that was covered and the pictures that I took through the glass didn’t look so great so I’m not posting them here.
Indonesian dinner at Kartika
Indonesian food is an integral part of Dutch culture and this is a direct result of its history of colonization, which lasted for about 350 years. After Indonesia’s independence, many Indonesians migrated to the Netherlands, bringing with them their spices, flavors, and recipes.
We had dinner at Kartika, a great place to have Indonesian food in Amsterdam. We ordered their rijstafel (rice table in Dutch), which is an elaborate Indonesian meal that was popularized and adapted by Dutch colonizers. It consists of steamed white rice, served as a primary source of carbohydrate like in many East and Southeast Asian countries. It is accompanied by a wide variety of Indonesian side dishes. We ordered the Ramayana rijstafel and we were very happy with our choise. The service was attentive and the ambience was warm and nice.
📋Day 2 – Summary and highlights
- Pancake House Upstairs
- Jordaan neighborhood
- Cafe Sonneveld
- Canal cruise with cheese & wine
- Indonesian dinner
Vibe: easygoing and indulgent, with scenic walks and memorable meals
🌿 Day 3 – Lunch at Chinatown, the Red Light District, walking tour, and happy hour with drinks and snacks
Chinatown and the Red Light District
From our hotel, we took tram number 24 and got off close to Amsterdam’s Centraal Station to see the station itself. Amsterdam Central Station is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, a beautiful building, very well-maintained. It is located near the canals in a lovely area. We didn’t go in, but we stayed there for a few minutes appreciating its architecture and soaking in the sun (the long-awaited sunny day). Just across the main train station, before you enter Chinatown and the Red Light District area, you’ll see the picturesque houses with gabled facades reflected in the water.
Amsterdam’s Chinatown is small but quite lively and very pleasant to stroll around. There are many shops and a variety of restaurants with many types of asian cuisine, such as Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, and Korean. Even the street signs are in Chinese as well as Dutch. Chinatown is located next to the lively market square of Nieumarktplein and is also adjacent to the Red Light District. You have to be quite careful and considerate though. I was filming a video on my phone while walking in Chinatown to show my family and didn’t know I was already in the Red Light District. Luckily, I stopped filming before we entered this narrow street and started to walk past half-naked sex workers in display cases. I actually consider myself pretty open-minded, but I have to admit it was a bit uncomfortable to look at the girls and be confronted with a reality that is very different from my own. But for me, that is also what traveling is often about: feeling uncomfortable, questioning our moral center, and stepping outside of our comfort zone. Just don’t forget to be respectful and don’t take photos of the girls.
Chinese noodles for lunch
We had lunch at the Xi’an Delicious Foods Zeedijk restaurant. I ordered a simple beef noodle soup and Rey ordered the braised beef noodle soup. Both dishes were very tasty. The service was friendly, but I think they also liked that we spoke in Mandarin with them (Rey and I are both of Taiwanese descent).
Walking tour
Usually, we take a walking tour on the first day of the trip and the reason why we didn’t this time was that, according to the weather forecast, it would be rainy on the first two days of our trip. We got a bit of rain on those days, but not anything like the forecast.
💡 Here are the reasons why we think it is best to take a walking tour as one of the first things to do on a trip:
1. It helps us manage our time and select what we want to explore further: after uncovering many areas during a walking tour, we get a better idea about the location and distance of and between many places, so we can also later decide which areas we want to go back to explore more in-depth and when.
2. We understand better what is what: rather than just looking at statues and buildings – by taking part in a walking tour with a knowledgeable guide, we can learn the stories, facts, and /or architecture behind what we’re looking at.
3. Recommendations and hidden gems: In all of our walking tours, our guides always gave recommendations on bars and restaurants, hidden alleyways and corners, authentic local shops, and even unsafe areas where we should avoid passing. Even the ones that don’t offer recommendations actively, you can always ask at the end of the tour. If you’re interested, this is the free walking tour we took and that we highly recommend:
If you have never taken a free walking tour, “free” walking tours are not free; they just don’t have a fixed price and are tip-based. At the end of the tour, each person should pay the guide the amount they think is fair based on how happy they were with the tour.
Waterkant bar & Sojubar
On our last night in Amsterdam, we went with my former Shanghai roommate, who lives now in Den Haag, to Waterkant in Jordaan, a colorful and lively bar with a big terrace right on the canal. We had drinks and a big plate of nachos that came with three different dips. It was a perfect place to wind down the day, with drinks and snacks.
For our final dinner, we went to a Korean street food restaurant close to where our hotel is. We ordered their house cocktails, the Gimbap, and their crispy fried chicken. The food was great, the vibe was very chill, and the service was friendly. If you’re into Korean street food, we definitely recommend this restaurant. There are two Sojubar locations in Amsterdam, one in De Pijp and one in Leidseplein.
📋 Day 3 – Summary and highlights
- Chinatown
- Free walking tour
- Waterkant bar & restaurant
Vibe: Thoughtful and varied, blending everyday moments with new perspectives
Things we wished we could see and do, but we decided to leave for the next visit
Because we usually avoid packed travel itineraries, we decided to leave some places and things to do for our next trip. Of course, for us it is easy to get to Amsterdam because we live in Berlin, but if you’re coming from farther away, have more time, or wish to see more of Amsterdam, here are the remaining things on our to-do list in Amsterdam:
De Pijp neighborhood and the Albert Cuypt Markt
De Pijp is an area located just a few minutes from Museumplein (close to where we were staying), and it’s a more local neighborhood where you can escape the tourist crowds. It hosts one of the most famous open-air street markets, the Albert Cuyp Markt. In Somebody Feed Phil’s episode that took place in Amsterdam, Phil ate at Rudi’s Original Stroopwafels at this market.
Rijksmuseum
This is definitely one of the places that we would love to visit when we go back to Amsterdam. However, we knew we would have to spend a lot of time in the museum, so we opted to visit two other museums instead, the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum.
Try Surinamese food
I’m from Brazil, a country that borders Suriname, but I have never tried Surinamese food before and didn’t try it this time in Amsterdam. We hope to update you about this experience soon.
Leaving Amsterdam
Coming from a country with continental dimensions, I love that here in Europe, you can easily reach another country any given day by land. We hope to fly back to the Netherlands soon to visit Amsterdam again, but also to visit other cities, such as Den Haag, Gouda, and Utrecht. These places are just under an hour by train from Amsterdam.