What we did our first time visiting Amsterdam

As we were walking through Schiphol Airport at the end of our trip, I said to Beth “We did a lot but I don’t feel like we did everything.” She laughed and said, “Amsterdam is a city you keep coming back to.” And I agree with this! Although this was our first trip to Amsterdam, it will not be our last.

Our total travel time for the trip was 9 days, so we had 7 full days to explore the city and its surroundings. We had a list of places and activities we wanted to see, but only a few were set in stone. This gave us ample wandering time as well as some rest time to sit in the “brown” cafes and soak up the vibe.

All the places we visited and mentioned below are on this Google map.

Best time to visit Amsterdam

We visited Amsterdam in November (11th-19th) which is supposed to be the rainy season. Fortunately for us, it hardly rained at all. We were prepared with umbrellas and raincoats but mostly just used our puffy jackets since the temperature was around 9-13 degrees Celsius (48-55 F).

We asked the locals when the busy season was since we were not seeing many tourists and places were not crowded at all. One said that March-June was very crowded. Many like to come for the tulip blooms because the weather is usually sunnier. July and August had mixed reviews. One person thought it was a good time to come since all of Europe was on vacation in August. Another said it was not the best time to come since all of Europe was on vacation. Since we have been living in Europe, I can concur that most of Europe is on vacation.

Getting Around

Amsterdam is one of the best cities we have visited for public transportation. The trams were very easy to use and you can use your bank card for both the trams and the trains (for day trips out of the city). Google Maps was very easy to use to navigate the city.

Biking is also a great way to get around. Amsterdam has more bicycles than people and cars and their bike lanes are clearly marked. But be careful when crossing them. Look for cars and bikes!

If the weather is nice, walking in Amsterdam is very easy. It is mostly flat and very walkable. Our hotel host told us you could walk the entire city in 3 hours. We did not attempt to do that but got around easily by walking.

For the few restaurants and days that we just couldn’t take one more step, we used Uber. There are plenty available, but the city isn’t made for cars so you might have to wait a few minutes for a ride.

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What we recommend you do in Amsterdam

Take a canal tour

There are so many options for canal tours in Amsterdam that sometimes it is hard to choose. There are night tours and tours for the light show in December too. We’ve heard the light show is really cool. But Amsterdam is dark at night (to me) so I think you may see less at night unless you are specifically doing the light show.

We went with Those Dam Boat Guys and highly recommend them (not sponsored). We booked it for noon so we had time to eat and get there. The boat could hold around 8 people but we only had four and our guide was a native Amsterdamer who had great knowledge of the city and gave great recommendations for restaurants and other fun places.

You can also buy or order beverages and snacks for your cruise. It is about an hour and a half and is quite lovely. It is also very quiet because the motors are electric. The hour and a half went really quickly. We do recommend you book in advance since it gets very busy during the spring and summer.

Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum was one of our favorites. We bought tickets in advance and had a timed entry, which they will stick with–no arriving early. You can arrive up to 30 minutes later if you find yourself running late.

The museum takes you through his life and work and also displays paintings from Bernard and contemporaries such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Monet. Since I did not know much about him and only knew some of his pieces, I enjoyed reading excerpts from letters and seeing sketches. It is a very comprehensive museum.

Anne Frank Museum

When planning for Amsterdam, there are a few things that you MUST get tickets in advance. The Anne Frank museum sells out quickly and the only place to get them is online.

Take the 30-minute introductory tour–it is worth it! It gives a great introduction to what was happening in Germany and the Netherlands during this time and if you are like me and haven’t read the book since the 8th grade (or Beth who hasn’t read it at all) it sets the stage for the museum and the house. Plus you get an audio tour.

Pictures are not allowed in the museum but you can take a few in the room where the introduction is held.

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is the Netherlands National Museum and features Dutch artists like Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Gogh. It houses the famous “Nightwatch” from Rembrandt which is incredible! It is currently under restoration but you can watch it in the special glass chamber.

There is also Delft pottery, dioramas of life in the Dutch colonies in Indonesia, and a whole collection of glass and crystal.

We spent four hours in this museum and still did not see it all. I think we missed 1 1/2 floors. There is also an underwear display that we missed.

Food and Drink in Amsterdam

When in Amsterdam, you MUST try the local food! Try the bitterballen or Kroketten which are fried croquettes usually with a stew inside. Our boat captain said to just eat one and don’t worry about what is inside. We did. The taste was good but I didn’t like the texture. Beth loved them.

You must try the poffertjes. These are little pancakes, kind of like fried dough with butter and powdered sugar on top. They are divine!

We also noticed that there are many vegan restaurants and foreign food as well. Amsterdam has many Indonesian restaurants that are top-notch! We went to Ron Gastrobar Indonesia for dinner one night. It was on the more expensive side of dining, but well worth it.

Genever is a Dutch drink that is sort of like gin but is not. It is often served in a tulip-shaped glass as a side for the beer or an after-dinner drink. We did a tasting and enjoyed the “old” genever more than the “new.”

One thing we loved in Amsterdam was the “brown” cafes. These are bars that you were allowed to smoke in at one time and it made the ceiling brown with smoke. Most are small and cozy with very little seating but have beer on tap and make you feel all snug. Snacks such as Bitterballen are available in most places.

The Netherlands is known for its cheese and the best place to get it is De Kaaskamer. We stopped in to try some and get a few for a snack. The best part is they make a grilled cheese! Make sure you get one.

Licorice is also popular in the Netherlands so we had to find a candy shop and try some. Our boat captain recommended Het Oud-Hollandsch Snoepwinkeltje. Here it is called drop and ours were in the shape of little rats. I ate from the bag for several days.

Restaurants we recommend in Amsterdam

• Ron Gastrobar Indonesia by Ron Blaauw, a Michelin star chef. This restaurant is outside of Amsterdam central, high-end, pricey, but still worth it. We had the rice bowl and 3 other dishes including the foie gras, beer tataki, and the dorade (there were four of us, no judging!). The food was amazing and we would definitely go back.
• A van Wees Tasting Locality has great traditional dishes and a fantastic beer list. This is also where we did a genever tasting. We had the beef stew over fries twice. We liked it very much. There is also bitterballen which should be tried at least once.
• Cafe de Oude Wester—We had brunch here, and the omelet was pretty good. They also have pancakes, but we preferred the Pancake Bakery instead.
• The Pancake Bakery has the best omelets, in my opinion, and the pancakes are amazing as well.
• Restaurant Kinnaree has great Thai food. We had the curries. Great taste with some spice!
• Brasserie Van Dam is hip and cool and has amazing food! Some Dutch friends recommended this restaurant, and they said they go there every time they go back to Amsterdam. It did not disappoint.
• Volt Restaurant was also lovely, great atmosphere and the food was good. Beth recommends the duck.
• Bistro Amsterdam is one of our favorites. They serve traditional Dutch food and we ate what the bartender (Gills) recommended. The stampot proeverij is great to try and we also had the mam’s suddervlees which is stewed beef with red cabbage. They had a great atmosphere and the service was amazing. Go and tell them Beth and Shelley sent you!

Coffee shops

If you know anything about Amsterdam, you know it is a live-and-let-live city. The use of cannabis is not necessarily legal in Amsterdam, but the use of small amounts of cannabis and hashish is allowed in licensed coffee shops, and there is a fair amount of them. Smoking on the street is not legal, but not enforced. When we stepped outside the airport, there was a strong smell of weed.

But of course, when in Rome… so we visited quite a few. Some are better than others. All of the ones we visited are on the Google Maps link. I will say that the Space Brownie from Tweede Kamer was good and had the best effects.

Itineraries and tips for Amsterdam!

Here is our Itinerary for 7 full days in Amsterdam.

• Arrival day: We arrived after 5 pm so we made our way to Hotel de Hallen, which we absolutely loved! Great hotel and located next to Foodhallen. We went out to dinner at A. van Wees Tasting.
• Day one: Brunch at Cafe de Oude Wester for omelets and pancakes. Canal tour with Those Dam Boat Guys around noon. A stroll around the Jordaan neighborhood. Cafe de Prins, a brown cafe recommended by our tour boat captain, was perfect for afternoon snacks and beers. The poffertjes are good! More wandering through the shopping district. Dinner at Ron Gastrobar Indonesia. Try the rice table.
• Day two: Day trip to Utrecht. Picked up a coffee and pastry at a local cafe on the way to Centraal Station. The trip is about half an hour to 45 min depending on the train (ours was delayed). Tour the Dom Tower and do the Dom Underground. Lunch at a restaurant close by. We sat and had drinks at Badabing. Good beer, ok snacks. We saw a show at the Tivoli Theater.
• Day three: Wandering day! We started at a market by our hotel (Hotel de Hallen) and perused the shops at Foodhallen, a food hall close by. We walked through Vondelpark (Amsterdam’s largest park) and went to the Kashmir Coffee shop. We then went to the Van Gogh Museum. Have a stroopwafle at the truck outside the museum! We strolled toward the restaurant and stopped at Cafe Welling which is a local brown cafe for drinks. This place was packed and charming as hell. We then went to Brasserie Van Dam for dinner. This whole area has many restaurants and shops and was lit up for Christmas.
• Day four: Wandering day 2! We grabbed a coffee and pastry to go as we headed to the best cheese shop in Amsterdam (according to a friend) De Kaaskamer. We sampled cheese and bought some of course. Right next door is a famous fries place, Fabel Friet Runstraat but we were told they weren’t that good. You decide. As we wandered around, we found a place that gave us foot massages for a half hour. We then visited Tweede Kamer Coffee Shop to pick up some goodies and then meandered to Hans Egstorf for overpriced stroopwafles–but they were DELICIOUS. This was the first time we had been inside the canal belt so we wandered down the street. Things get a little fuzzy after that. I know we stopped at a bar for drinks but not sure where it was. We had dinner that night at Volt–we took the tram.
• Day five: Morning sleep-in. We emerged about noon and stopped in for lunch at the Pancake Bakery which we highly recommend! Great omelets and waffles. Then to the Anne Frank house. We wanted to make sure we didn’t plan too much for this day in case the museum affected us. It did, so we stopped at the Bistro Amsterdam for drinks and it turned into dinner. We loved this place! The bartender and staff were amazing, we sat at the bar (because the place was full and we did not have reservations) and had great food and beer. Loved it so much, that we made reservations for the next night.
• Day six: Rijks Museum. We were there for four hours! There is so much to see here so make sure you have enough time. This was our only plan for the day and we ended up back at Bistro Amsterdam early, which was great!
• Day seven: Day trip to Haarlem. It was a Monday in November, so not much was going on but the city was beautiful. We walked around and took pictures. They have many great clothing stores there. We stopped in to Jopenkirk Brewery of course to have a pint or two. Then we took a look around the St. Bavo Church which has an organ that both Handel and Mozart have played. We were exhausted that day so not much was planned. We did manage to eat at Kinnaree and had some great Thai food.

Tips: Make sure you schedule tours and museums in advance. Anne Frank always sells out months before, so keep tabs on the day your tickets are released. Most places only take cards so make sure you check with your bank before leaving.

Day Trips outside of Amsterdam

The train system is so easy to use– once you figure it out! You don’t need to buy tickets in advance, although we did. You can use your bank card to go through the gate and board the train you want. Then you swipe your card again when you reach your destination and it charges you for the price of the ticket. Simple!

We did have to ask which platform to use because the signs were confusing at first. You have to know the final destination of your train, but the cities are often listed below. Trains run often and from some cities throughout the night. So convenient.

We spent our two days in Utrecht and Haarlem. Details about the trips are in the above itinerary.

Want to Know More?

We also have a podcast episode where we talk about all these cool places and what we liked best. You can find us on Spotify, Apple, Google, Prime, and other places you listen to podcasts–including YouTube!!

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