The essential guide to visiting Amsterdam (2024)

Why you should visit Amsterdam

More than 60 miles of canals. Golden Age masterpieces. Warm stroopwafels. Tulips and windmills.

Best time to visit Amsterdam

Spring: Wisteria explodes into bloom and nearby tulip fields burst into colors visible from space. Don’t miss the 24-hour celebration of King’s Day. The fun begins on April 26, the night before King Willem-Alexander’s birthday, with evening street parties in every neighborhood. On the 27th, families sell trinkets and toys in a city-wide flea market before carousing in boats and bars with hundreds of thousands of visitors in orange outfits and inflatable crowns.

Summer: Embrace Amsterdam’s terrace culture. Head to an urban beach—Pllek is a hip spot for beach parties, while the 17^th-century inner harbor offers open-water swimming. On the first weekend of August, one of the world’s largest LGBTQ+ Pride events culminates in the boisterous Canal Parade.

Autumn: Amsterdam hosts many fall festivals, like the five-day electronic music bonanza ADE in October or Museum Night in November. In mid-November, there’s another canal parade—this time for the arrival of Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa, who is said to come by boat from Spain.

Winter: The Amsterdam Light Festival features dozens of glowing public art installations. Olliebollen stalls pop up all over town—these spherical doughnuts are special treats for New Year’s Eve. Museumplein is transformed into a lovely outdoor skating rink complete with its own Christmas market.

Lay of the land

The Canal Belt: This oldest section of Amsterdam is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Notable neighborhoods include the Jordaan, bustling with cafés and galleries. You’ll find many top attractions here, including the Anne Frank House, the Flower Market, and the charming but busy Nine Streets shopping district.

North (Noord): Once an industrial shipping area, Noord has transformed into Amsterdam’s ultra-hip creative hub. Explore massive open-air graffiti and street art museum STRAAT or dangle over the city on Europe’s highest swing at A’DAM Tower.

East (Oost): In Amsterdam’s multicultural mosaic, trendy boutiques nestle between Middle Eastern delis (the baba ghanoush at Tigris & Eufraat is a local favorite). Canal-side Brouwerij ‘t IJ serves their award-winning IJwit wheat beer and other site-brewed suds in the shadow of De Gooyer windmill.

South (Zuid): Amsterdam’s wealthiest borough is where you’ll find the greatest art treasures. In Oud-Zuid, the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk, and Moco all cluster on Museumplein. In De Pijp, eat your way through the Albert Cuyp Market, which has operated six days a week since 1912.

West: In Oud-West, head to De Hallen, an old tram depot now home to businesses including the Maker Store—a hub of locally made products—and Foodhallen, a huge indoor food hall. Right outside is the popular Ten Katemarkt. In the Westerpark neighborhood, head to Westergas, a former gas factory turned cultural hub for restaurants, theaters, and the TonTon Club—a retro arcade and Asian bistro.

Getting around Amsterdam

By bike: Bike is the best way to see Amsterdam, but beware of local cyclists with little patience for slow tourists in bike lanes. Check for bike lending at your hotel, or rent at MacBike or StudioBike.

By tram: GVB operates Amsterdam’s efficient tram system. The most convenient way to pay is tapping your contactless credit or debit card on the tram. Tap out when you leave or you’ll be charged the maximum fare. Or, purchase daily tickets and plan your route using the GVB app.

By boat: With a maximum speed of 6 km/h on the canals, captaining your own boat is an easy alternative to tourist canal cruises. You don’t need a license or boating experience. Mokumboot rents electric six-person boats at multiple locations.

By train: NS trains connect Amsterdam to Schiphol Airport and the rest of the Netherlands. Tap your contactless card at NS validation points to pay for your trip. At Schiphol, note that the validation point is at the top of the escalator, before you head down to the train platform.

Know before you go

Languages: Dutch is the official language. English is widely (and fluently) spoken; the Dutch consistently rank as the best non-native English speakers in the world.

LGBTQ+: The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage, and Amsterdam has one of the most vibrant LGBTQ scenes in all of Europe. Reguliersdwarsstraat has been a thriving gay district for more than 40 years.

How to visit Amsterdam sustainably

Outdoors: This is a city meant to explore by bike or on foot. H’ART Museum (formerly Hermitage Amsterdam) is a uniquely sustainable museum, exchanging excess heat and cold with the neighboring Hortus Botanicus to keep the art cool and plants warm.

Shopping: Hunt for treasure at IJ-Hallen, Europe’s largest flea market, and find fresh local foods at the weekly Noordermarkt organic farmers market.

Dining: Funky vegan Café de Ceuvel embraces sustainable technologies like aquaponics and composting toilets. For something more upscale, dine in the greenhouse at Michelin-starred Restaurant De Kas, which has served farm-to-table meals for nearly 25 years.

What to read and watch

The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. Whether you read the book or watch the film adaptation directed by Josh Boone, this heartrending story of young love and loss highlights the best of Amsterdam. A bench featured in the movie mysteriously disappeared in 2014 but was quickly replaced.

Ocean’s Twelve, directed by Steven Soderbergh. While you won’t gain any insights into Dutch culture, you’ll certainly get to ogle the city in this rollicking heist movie starring an impressive cast of celebrity A-listers.

(For more tips on what to do in Amsterdam, see our Explorer’s Guide.)