Things to do in Amsterdam
Canals, brown cafés, good food, and one day trip to Haarlem.
This is Amsterdam for someone who wants to eat and drink like a regular, spend money where it counts, and skip the tourist traps without missing the things that actually matter. The pace is easy: mornings on foot through the Jordaan and Grachtengordel, lunches that cost next to nothing, and evenings that end with jenever at a wood-panelled bar. Day three pulls you out of the city to Haarlem, which is worth the 20-minute train ride.
Day 1: Centrum canals, frites, and Incanto
A morning of old Amsterdam culture, a cone of the city's best frites at lunchtime, and the trip's one proper dinner at Incanto, finished with a nightcap at a classic brown café.
- 10:15 AM
Oudemanhuispoort
Covered 18th-century university passage where secondhand booksellers trade from wooden stalls, Mon to Sat.
Map - 11:00 AM
Lotti's
Brunch in the Hoxton's canal-house dining room on the Herengracht, an easy start to a day on foot.
Map - 11:45 AM
Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
A complete hidden Catholic church inside a 17th-century canal house, one of Amsterdam's most surprising cultural gems.
Map - 1:15 PM
Vlaams Friteshuis Vleminckx
Thick Flemish fries from a hatch on the Voetboogstraat; get them with satay sauce or oorlog.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:30 PM
Scheltema
Classic Amsterdam brown-café pub a short walk from dinner, proper local bar, no fuss, done by 23:00.
Map
Day 2: Jordaan from morning to last call
The Secret Annex, a deli lunch, a low-key afternoon, and a French dinner followed by jenever on the canalside terrace at Café 't Smalle.
- 9:30 AM
Blauwe Theehuis
Coffee in the round 1930s teahouse in the middle of Vondelpark before walking north to the Jordaan.
Map - 10:30 AM
Anne Frank House
The Secret Annex preserved as the family left it; tickets go online weeks ahead, so book first.
Map - 12:30 PM
Le Petit Deli
Highly-rated Jordaan deli, casual, affordable lunch a short walk from the Anne Frank House.
Map - 4:30 PM
De 9 Straatjes
Nine short lanes between the canals packed with independent boutiques, vintage and design shops.
Map - 7:30 PM
De Luwte
Candlelit Leliegracht dining room with French-leaning plates, a few minutes from the Jordaan bars.
Map - 9:30 PM
Café 't Smalle
Classic Jordaan brown café, jenever and beer on a canalside terrace, wood-panelled and low-lit, the proper Amsterdam nightcap.
Map
Day 3: Haarlem: coffee, organ, lunch
A short train ride delivers grand-café coffee, the Grote Kerk and its Mozart-played organ, lunch in a church turned brewery, and a Balinese dinner before the train home.
- 9:30 AM
Grand Cafe Brinkmann
Classic grand café right by the Grote Markt, ideal start with a proper coffee before hitting the landmarks.
Map - 10:15 AM
Grote of St. Bavokerk
Haarlem's Gothic Grote Kerk, home of the Müller organ a ten-year-old Mozart played in 1766.
Map - 12:30 PM
Jopenkerk Haarlem
Haarlem's church turned brewery: a Jopen beer brewed on site and lunch under the stained glass.
Map - 7:30 PM
Café Samabe
Balinese cooking in an 1899 corner building near the Grote Markt: rendang, martabak or a rice table.
Map
Where to stay
Esthéréa
Family-run hotel in canal houses on the Singel, central for every day of this plan at a fairer rate.
The Hoxton Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Hoxton puts you in the heart of the Grachtengordel with a lobby worth lingering in, and the rate usually stays reasonable.
Make Amsterdam your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Rijksmuseum: a few days ahead
- Van Gogh Museum: weeks ahead
- Anne Frank House: weeks ahead
- Eye Filmmuseum: a few days ahead
- A'DAM Lookout: a few days ahead
- STRAAT Museum: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Heineken Experience is an expensive marketing walk-through. Try Brouwerij 't IJ instead.
- Shop-front 'museums' on Damrak and in De Wallen are gift shops with a ticket desk. Spend that money at the Rijksmuseum or Van Gogh.
- Avoid trap restaurants on Damrak, Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein. Eat in De Pijp, Jordaan, Oud-West, Oost or Noord.
- Skip Zaanse Schans at midday and the big recorded commentary canal boats when a small boat costs similar.
The full Amsterdam travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around