Amsterdam in a Day

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Can you do Amsterdam in a day? Well, no. This spring we hopped around the Netherlands exploring all sorts of things, and we ended up doing Amsterdam in a day. Obviously we could never cover everything, or even more than one museum, but it was a good first taste. We are city wanderers and history lovers, and so planned our day accordingly. There were a couple things we would not have bothered with had I known a bit more, so I’ll share what we learned.

I could stand on canal bridges and photograph houses forever.
I could stand on canal bridges and photograph houses forever.

I could have spent an entire day just photographing boats, houses, and bicycles! Definitely make time to just walk and wander, this city is full of little side streets, and side canals, that are worth exploring and experiencing. I really recommend not limiting your visit to museums and sights –– take time to for an unscheduled wander and see where you end up. 

Even when the trees are bare, Amsterdam is fun to photograph.
Even when the trees are bare, Amsterdam is fun to photograph.

Hop-on hop-off… on a boat

We always like to do a city tour when we arrive somewhere new, and because so much of Amsterdam is canals, we decided to go for the City Sightseeing Amsterdam boat and bus hop-on, hop-off tour, which worked out really well. We like these particularly with kids as it allows you to grab a place to sit and still see things while kids chill out and maybe even nap. The Amsterdam City Sightseeing folks have an app, which I highly recommend downloading ahead of time (Google Play or Apple), which shows you where the buses and boats are. It cuts down on waiting times tremendously. Tip: don’t bother with their free tour of the diamond-cutting museum, it is very boring and you are herded around in huge groups, you hardly see anything at all. The boat tour itself was quite lovely, and we enjoyed sliding through the quiet Jordaan neighbourhood the most. Do check what time they finish running and make sure you’re in the neighbourhood you want to be in –– the last boat was doing its rounds about 5pm. We just hopped on a regular tram to get back to the station, but if you want to avoid paying for more transit, keep an eye on the time. 

The National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. And yes, you get to go on that ship.
The National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. And yes, you get to go on that ship.
The beautiful Amsterdam, a replica 18th-century Dutch trading ship built by young people in the 1980s
The beautiful Amsterdam, a replica 18th-century Dutch trading ship built by young people in the 1980s
Climbing all over the Amsterdam at the National Maritime Museum.
Climbing all over the Amsterdam at the National Maritime Museum.
There's an amazing climbing area in the cargo hold of the Amsterdam.
There’s an amazing climbing area in the cargo hold of the Amsterdam.
The crew quarters on the replica 18th-century Dutch trading ship Amsterdam.
The crew quarters on the replica 18th-century Dutch trading ship Amsterdam.

The National Maritime Museum

You can get the full description of our visit to the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam soon, but tl;dr version: it is so cool definitely go, even if you don’t have kids. If the big restored ship in the harbour doesn’t grab your attention, know the galleries are designed well with lots of interactive pieces to explore, and story narratives to take you through the history of this sea trading nation. It doesn’t shy away from the Dutch history with slave-trading and colonialism, which I found lacking in lots of other tourist narratives around the city. You can clamber all over the Amsterdam, the incredible replica 18th-century Dutch trading ship moored outside as well, which was definitely a highlight. It’s worth noting you have to put large bags and coats in lockers downstairs before visiting the main galleries, and the ship – though you can grab your coat before you head outside to the ship. What we skipped: the NEMO Science Museum. I hear lots of cool things about it, but we had an excellent hands-on science centre in Vancouver, and incredible huge technology museum near us in Germany, so we didn’t feel compelled to go. 

The gates of the co-op playground in Amsterdam.
The gates of the co-op playground in Amsterdam.
Co-op playground in the centre of Amsterdam
Co-op playground in the centre of Amsterdam

Wandering with a goal… sort of

We walked around a section of the city and found little sidewalk playgrounds, and a wonderful co-op playground in the middle of some houses. We played in one of these in Haarlem as well, and they look like such a wonderful resource for parents with small children. It reminded me a lot of our housing co-operative in Vancouver. They are open to anyone, so definitely drop in to let your kids blow off some steam. Peering into living room windows, canal boats, and just about holding my bike envy in check, we wandered with a general direction in mind. No garden space means Amsterdammers take their container gardening to the next level, lots of front steps were surrounded by 10-15 pots of herbs, flowers, and shrubs. 

Beautiful and classic canalside scenes in Amsterdam.
Beautiful and classic canalside scenes in Amsterdam.
Super cute bottles in an Amsterdam window.
Super cute bottles in an Amsterdam window.

Floating flower market: should have skipped it

One of my goals was to visit the floating flower market. I imagined open boats with flowers spilling out everywhere… I should have checked Google Images first! It’s a row of greenhouse-shaped shops that are indeed floating, but you can barely tell if you walk along the canalside. Also, in mid-spring there isn’t much to see except bags of bulbs, and lots of tourist tat. So, if you happen to be nearby it’s worth a little look, but definitely don’t walk for ten minutes to get there! Though if we hadn’t we might not have seen the best sandwich shop sign ever.

Best sandwich shop name ever? I think so.
Best sandwich shop name ever? I think so.

Where we ate

By complete accident we ended up in Betty Blue for lunch, a quirky cafe and restaurant with a sort of Mexicanish slant. We had nachos, burritos, and a sandwich, and some excellent coffee –– fairly reasonably priced for Amsterdam. They had a great selection of cakes as well, it would have been a perfect coffee and cake pitstop as well. It’s definitely not a tourist spot. By dinner time, we slide into the back garden of Herengracht, a bit of a low-key hipster restaurant with lots of seating out front by the canal and in the back in their garden, plus a few seating areas scattered inside an old house or two. This was a bit pricier but excellent, with local craft beer and decent house wine, and great nachos (they don’t serve them much where we live in Germany, so we were taking advantage of the great cheese and going a bit nacho crazy!). My son and I split steak frites, and my husband had a burger, everything was excellent. Not geared for families in particular, but we had no trouble finding things for our eight year old. Interestingly, this seemed to be a locals place, because we heard nothing but Dutch all around us. 

Love this neon in Betty Blue.
Love this neon in Betty Blue.

A friend of ours was visiting her family in Haarlem, and canvassed her relatives for restaurant recommendations – they suggested Moeders for some classic Dutch cuisine. They were booked up unfortunately, but the menu looks amazing: rijsttafel, stamppot, and spareribs. 

Tip: if you want to eat somewhere in particular, you need to book as much in advance as you can! Several places we wanted to try were fully booked up. 

A very skinny hotel in Amsterdam.
A very skinny hotel in Amsterdam.

Hotels in Amsterdam

It’s a pricey place to stay, and there’s no way around that, but some digging on booking.com will throw up some deals.



Booking.com

However, we took the popular choice of staying in Haarlem, a short train ride away, and saved quite a bit. The Ibis Styles is a short walk from the Bloemendaal train station (one beyond Haarlem Central) and super easy with kids or without. Their breakfast is often bundled with the room rate. 

We felt like we got a good taste of this famous city, and are looking forward to coming back for a few days to really dig in. What do we need to see next time?

Fifi and HopTwo Traveling Texans

10 thoughts on “Amsterdam in a Day”

  1. I have not been to Amsterdam yet. I was planning a day trip to Amsterdam with a friend a few years ago, but somehow it did not work out. Your post has rekindled the desire to visit Amsterdam also the fact now I could take a train to Amsterdam. Enjoyed reading your post. #theweeklypostcard

  2. This looks fabulous! Saving for next year. I wanted to go to Amsterdam this month after I saw outrageous cheap tickets back in January, but I dithered too long before committing and the cheap tix were gone. Lame! Anyway, looks like a fun place to be with kids so next time I won’t hesitate =-)

  3. Amsterdam sure is a pretty city. I love your pictures. Too bad to hear about the floating flower market. I would have been tempted to go to it too. Thanks for sharing on #TheWeeklyPostcard.

  4. I’ve been to Amsterdam twice and on both visits, we were short on time. I would love to do a more thorough visit and do one of those hop-on, hop-off boats! I like the idea of using the city app! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!

  5. Although my husband has been on work-related trips, the kids and I have yet to see The Netherlands. I generally hear all great things of course. The Maritime Museum does sound like a cool experience, my youngest son would love the hands-on stuff for sure. I too would be content meandering around with my camera. And yes, boat tours with kids is almost guaranteed to be a win! Thanks for the great tips, pinning for the eventual visit. 🙂 #FarawayFiles

  6. Clare Thomson

    It sounds as though you did a lot in a day, Erin. The Maritime Museum looks really interesting. Will have to add that to our itinerary for our next trip. Thanks for sharing on #farawayfiles

  7. I completely agree that the simple act of walking around is the best way to explore Amsterdam. It’s such a charming and romantic city that wandering around is essential. Love the idea of the hop on hop off boat – noting that for the future! Thanks for sharing with #farawayfiles

  8. Beautiful urban landscapes Erin. We enjoyed the City of Amsterdam Museum, similar to the one in London. Another neat city/town is Alkmaar. From there you can bicycle to the sea on dedicated bikeways. Hortus Bulborum is a fabulous place that preserve heritage tulip bulbs. There are acres of beautiful bloom.
    K & B

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