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Capital and largest city of the Netherlands
Photo: Massimo Catarinella, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. It is known for the canals that cross the city, its impressive architecture, museums and art galleries, its notorious red light district, and more than 1,500 bridges.
The medieval centre is the most visited area of Amsterdam and is home to tourist hotspots like Dam Square and the Red Light District. The area is filled with narrow streets, shops, tourists and coffeeshops. It also contains other interesting areas like the bookstores near Spui and the cafes of Nieuwmarkt.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Canal District was dug in the 17th century to attract wealthy home owners. And is still a posh neighbourhood and home to the Dutch cultural elite. The Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein are the city's prime nightlife spots.
A traditionally working class area gone upmarket with plenty of art galleries, hip boutiques and happening restaurants. Also includes the shopping streets of Haarlemmerbuurt and the quiet islands of Westelijke Eilanden.
Intended to be an extension of the Canal District, lack of demand made this into a leafy area with lots of greenery, botanical gardens and Artis Zoo and a large university presence. Also includes the Weesperbuurt and the Oostelijke Eilanden.
One of Amsterdam's prime areas, a trip to the city is not complete without a visit to the Museum Quarter. Snooty Oud-Zuid and Apollobuurt are filled with upscale boutiques, cafes and brasseries. You can chill in the Vondelpark with a bottle of wine or go hunt for bargains at the Albert Cuyp Market in multicultural De Pijp.
West is a vast inner city area built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries in the Amsterdam School architectural style. The Vondelbuurt has beautiful stately mansions, while the Westerpark is the city's largest park with clubs, bars and plenty of cultural venues. Kinkerbuurt is an up and coming neighbourhood with the De Hallen food market and many good restaurants and independent shops.
An area that is undergoing significant development with new cultural venues like the NDSM-werf and the EYE Film Institute. The area east of the motorway A10 is a protected rural landscape. It is best explored by bicycle.
Oost is a large and diverse residential area. The Eastern Docklands and IJburg stand out as lively upper middle class neighbourhoods known for their modern architecture. Include the parks of Oosterpark and Park Frankendael.
An exclave of Amsterdam, the Bijlmer is a melting pot of cultures. Built as a neighbourhood of the future in the 1970s, it quickly made headlines with crime and robberies. Its safety record has improved remarkably the last years due to redevelopment and the ArenA Boulevard is turning into a hotspot for concertgoers and football fans.
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Personal rental of a wide variety of boats. You can rent a gondola, hand made by a girl from Amsterdam. She traveled to Venice to learn the craft, then built her own Gondola which she brought back to Amsterdam.
An evening dinner cruise. It is the only classic boat offering a private table for a romantic candlelight dinner. À la carte dining, but not cheap! The cruise starts at 19:30 and lasts just under three hours.
Boaty Rent a Boat rents small boats (max. 6 people) to make your own private boat tour on the Amsterdam canals. These rental boats are electrically driven which means they are silent and free of exhaust fumes.
Boats4rent is a boat rental where you can rent a boat without a skipper. With a three or four hour rental you can make a private trip on the Amsterdam canals and the Amstel river.
Operates every day for private luxury boat tours on a historic classic boat. 1hr starting from €250.
The Canal Hopper runs three fixed routes, stopping near major attractions (Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank's House, etc.). You can get on or off as often as you like, but it is relatively expensive with €20 per 24 hours. The first boats start between 09:15 and 10:45, depending on which stop you get on. The last boats start dropping off at around 19:00. It also has four locations for renting your own boat; two-seater canal bikes cost €8 per person per hour.
Starts opposite the Rijksmuseum, but you cannot get on or off. The cruise takes about 1 hr 30 min.
Self operated electric rental boats. A boating license is not required and the open boats can seat up to twelve passengers.
Amsterdam Boat Experience was founded in 2015 and has been steadily expanding its fleet and now offers exclusive private charters while also operating a fixed route from the Anne Frank house. Tickets for the 1 hour cruise on the luxurious electric open boats with live narrating are €15. while you relax the hostess serves drinks on the boat.
Rent a boat without the need for a licence. The Amstel river can be reached within 2 minutes from the hire place.
This eco friendly boat company organises luxurious private boat rentals. Starting locations on requests. From €195 per hour.
Celebrated with festivities in Chinatown.
Formerly Queen's Day, this national holiday, nominally in celebration of the King's birthday, is difficult to describe to anyone who's never been there. The city turns into one giant mass of orange-dressed people with flea markets, bands playing, and many on-street parties, ranging from small cafes placing a few kegs of beer outside to huge open-air stages hosting world-famous DJs. The Vondelpark is the place where children sell toys and perform. An experience you'll never forget. Normally held on April 27, but if that is a Sunday, it is celebrated one day earlier.
A modern art fair in the RAI exhibition and conference centre. If you want to know what the latest developments are in Dutch galleries, this is where to find them all in one place.
A performing arts festival that brings together events from all over the world in the fields of music, opera, theater and dance.
A culinary festival where you can explore the food of famous Amsterdam restaurants and their chefs.
Opentuinendagen
Normally you can see only the front of the canal houses, but during the Open Garden Days you get to go past the entrance and see the green world behind them, often bigger than you would have expected. You can buy one ticket that gives you entry to all participating gardens, and there is a special canal boat to take you from one location to another.
A free open-air festival with music from non-Western countries accompanied by paid film and theater performances in the surrounding theaters.
International contemporary dance festival, always showing the latest developments in modern dance.
This free festival offers many different performances every day. Go to the open air theater just by the fountain and let the entertainment do the work. From cabaret to drama to concerts to dance, there is something for everyone here and for all ages.
Twice a year, this event presents young and upcoming fashion in Europe with a focus on Dutch design.
formerly Robeco Summer Nights
Affordable classical music concerts taking place at the prestigious Concertgebouw.
Circus turns vintage, on an old-fashioned fairground with many different tents, the performers are each trying to attract their public, featuring spectacles of dance, theater, magic, art, animation and music.
Amsterdam's LGBTQIA+ pride around the first weekend in August. One of the biggest festivals in Amsterdam with parties, performances, workshops and a boat parade on the Prinsengracht on Saturday afternoon (Canal parade) which is always well worth seeing by gays and straights alike.
Third weekend of August each year. A free open-air classical music concert is held every year on a stage in the middle of the Prinsengracht. If you have a little boat, join the crowds and make sure to bring a bottle of rose wine or prosecco for full enjoyment. It takes place during the Grachtenfestival, a 10 days classical music festival with about 150 concerts throughout the city, but is organized independently from it.
Tall-ships from all over the world come to visit the Amsterdam harbour every five years, the next one is planned in 2030.
Two times a year, participating restaurants offer a full 3 course dinner for a mere €29.95 (excluding drinks), allowing you to try a different restaurant for a change or a chance to have an affordable meal at one of the famous five-star restaurants.
Usually held during the second last weekend in October, this electronic music annual festival gathers cream of the crop faces from the house and techno scenes. Buy your tickets in advance to avoid paying more at the door and having to queue for hours. Besides partying for four nights in a row, the conference offers workshops, seminars, presentations etc.
Long before the film came out, this "night at the museum" attracts new crowds at the traditional Amsterdam museums with special performances at unusual locations. Do as the locals do and hire a bike to go from one place to the other.
The biggest national art and antiques fair in the Netherlands.
The largest festival in the world for documentary films with screenings of about 200 documentary films and videos.
A two weeks celebration of drive-in, exploitation and cult films, generally of the lower budget variety. Takes up all the screening rooms of the EYE Film Institute in Noord.
Amsterdam celebrates the holy day of Sint Nicholaas on 5 December as Christmas in the Dam Square also known as "Christmas Square". However, on Christmas Day, i.e. 25 December, the people of Amsterdam are also getting used to celebrating Christmas alongside English speakers.
Outdoor light installations/artworks exposition in the canals of Binnenstad. Each year the festival has a different theme.
By train
Other important train stations in Amsterdam are Amstel, Bijlmer ArenA, Sloterdijk and Zuid. Most international trains run directly to Amsterdam Centraal.
By bus
Frequently served intercity bus stops are:
By car
The western part of the Netherlands has a dense (and congested) road network. Coming from the east (Germany), motorway directly leads to Amsterdam.
By boat
The Passenger Terminal Amsterdam is close to the city centre but is only used for cruise ships. The nearest ferry port is IJmuiden, where ferries from Newcastle upon Tyne dock.
Tickets
For many years, an OV-chipkaart provided the only way to pay transportation fees in the city.
By metro
There are five metro lines in Amsterdam, including a short underground section in the city centre, that serves the suburbs.
By tram
The tram network has 15 lines and it is considered the major carrier in the central area of the city. Amsterdam Centraal is the largest hub of the tram system with 8 tram lines terminating there.
By bus
Just like the tram and metro, local buses are operated by the GVB.
By boat
There are several ferry services across the IJ river, between the city centre and Noord, the most frequent runs every 7 minutes.
By bicycle
A pleasant way to cover a lot of ground is to rent a bicycle. There are approximately 750,000 people living in Amsterdam and they own about 800,000 bicycles.
By e-hailing
The ride-hailing services of Uber and Bolt are available in Amsterdam.
By taxi
Taxis in Amsterdam are plentiful but expensive.g. Centraal Station or Schiphol)., driving on bicycle lanes instead of the main road or ignoring red lights).
By car
Cars are anything but miserable torture only outside the historic centre; within the historic centre, public transport is by far your best bet.
By ice skates
Ice skating is a longstanding tradition in the Netherlands, and you will sometimes see locals skating down the canals when they freeze over in the winter.
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