What to see in Amsterdam

Amsterdam highlights

The places you can’t miss. In the app we sort them by day and close to each other.

1. Rijksmuseum

   The Night Watch and Vermeer’s Milkmaid; book a time slot and start with the Gallery of Honour.

2. Van Gogh Museum

   The largest Van Gogh collection; timed tickets sell out days ahead.

3. Anne Frank House

   The hiding place; tickets go on sale online six weeks ahead and disappear fast.

4. Vondelpark

   The city’s great park, for strolling or cycling among lakes and terraces.

5. Jordaan

   A neighbourhood of narrow canals, markets and “brown” cafés; perfect for getting lost on foot.

6. Begijnhof

   A courtyard of Beguine houses entered through a discreet door. Total silence a few steps from the Spui.

7. Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder

   A 17th-century canal house with a secret Catholic church set up in the attic, pews and organ included.

8. Oude Kerk

   The oldest building in the city, with a wooden roof and gravestones covering the floor, surrounded by red-light windows.

9. Albert Cuyp Market

   A street market from Monday to Saturday: herring, cheeses and freshly made stroopwafels, with De Pijp all around.

10. A'DAM Lookout

    A rooftop a hundred metres up with 360-degree views and a swing that launches you out over the edge.

11. NDSM-werf

    A former shipyard full of halls with workshops and giant murals. You get there on the free ferry from Centraal.

12. Hortus Botanicus

    A botanical garden from 1638 with three-climate glasshouses and a butterfly house. It fits into an hour.

13. Maritime Museum

    A 1656 naval storehouse with a full-size replica of the Amsterdam moored outside, which you can go aboard.

Day trips from Amsterdam

We take you straight to the best-rated tour on GetYourGuide, with its reviews and dates.

• Windmills and Zaanse Schans ★ 4.7 (16,895 reviews)
• Canal cruise ★ 4.3 (22,115 reviews)
• Keukenhof ★ 4.5 (2,484 reviews)

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Book ahead

Tickets that sell out or have long queues, and closing days.

• Sells out · 42 days ahead Anne Frank House

  Sold only on its website, every Tuesday at 10 am for six weeks later. There’s no waiting list: once they’re gone, they’re gone.

  Official ticket office
• Opening hours Rijksmuseum

  Open every day, public holidays included.

• Opening hours Van Gogh Museum

  Open every day from 9 am.

• Opening hours Anne Frank House

  Open daily, but tickets are online only.

Typical food of Amsterdam

The dish you have to try there and how to make it at home, to whet your appetite before the trip (or to go back to Amsterdam from your kitchen).

Appeltaart

The Dutch apple pie, tall and latticed, filled with apple, cinnamon and raisins. In Amsterdam you order it with a mountain of whipped cream (met slagroom).

• Serves 10
• 1 h 40 min

Ingredients

• 300 g self-raising flour
• 200 g butter
• 150 g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 kg sharp apples
• 50 g raisins
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• The juice of 1/2 lemon
• Whipped cream to serve

How to make it at home

1. Mix the flour, butter, sugar and half the egg into a dough. Chill for 30 minutes.
2. Peel the apples, dice them and mix them with the raisins, cinnamon, lemon and a little sugar.
3. Line a 24 cm springform tin with two thirds of the dough, bringing it up the sides.
4. Fill with the apple and cover with strips of dough in a lattice. Brush them with the rest of the egg.
5. Bake at 175 °C for about 1 hour. Serve it warm with whipped cream.

The trick: It has to be tall: lots of apple, little pastry.

Frequently asked questions about Amsterdam