One-Day Itinerary of Amsterdam

Picturesque Amsterdam

Only need a one-day Itinerary of Amsterdam? I always like hearing what tourists enjoy when coming to Amsterdam. I’m surprised how many visitors stop in Amsterdam for just one-day! Some spend a whole day and others are there just on a long layover. Over the next 4-weeks I will be releasing a 1-day itinerary of Amsterdam, with a specific focus. Many people come to Amsterdam in the Spring and Summer to see its picturesque canals, architecture and flowers. 

Long-Layover in Amsterdam

A long-layover is exactly how I was exposed to Amsterdam and it has been drawing me back ever since. In my early 20’s I met a group in Cairo, Egypt for a trip. I had a solo layover in Amsterdam for almost 12 hours. I’m not going to miss an opportunity to see a cool European city. I can walk 20,000+ steps in a day and can easily get a freebie destination before even starting my trip!

As soon as I landed, I passed through passport control and purchased my museum ticket for the first slot of the day. I ditched my suitcase and backpack in an airport locker and took the train to Central Station. I will never forget the feeling I had when I walked out of this palatial train station to the main square. Seeing the most amazing buildings, canals with glass topped boats and bicycles everywhere! It was morning, when the city was quiet and just coming to life. I stopped in a cafe for breakfast and coffee, then continued on to the Anne Frank House on the most famous canal in Amsterdam, the Prinsengracht. 

Anne Frank House

I knew nothing about Amsterdam other than it has tulips and great cheese. The hardest ticket in town to get is the Anne Frank House Museum. It is even harder to get today, only sold 6 weeks ahead. As a young teacher, I had taught the Diary of Anne Frank with my students for the past few years and couldn’t wait to see the attic myself. I took that first trip So long ago that pre-ordered tickets weren’t a thing yet, but the Anne Frank House was so popular there was a ticket machine at the airport and train station. 

I spent hours seeing the museum, studying the texts and spending way too much money on very heavy books from the bookstore. Most people only take about 60-90 minutes in the small museum, plus some time in the cafe. The cafe is glass and overlooks an amazing spot of canal houses. After the Anne Frank House, I had the rest of the afternoon free to explore Amsterdam. 

I walked around the canals in the Jordaan, had lunch at a cafe near Dam Square and decided to take the most touristy canal boat ride possible. It did its job, but I suggest much better options later in the blog. Then I walked through the Red Light District and smoked a joint in a coffeeshop (just to say I did it). Before grabbing some dinner to take on the plane with me and head back to Schipol Airport for my final flight to Egypt.

Flights to Amsterdam

Most flights into Amsterdam from the States are arriving early in the morning, after a red-eye flight. I implore you to push past the exhaustion, have a coffee (or three) and get out to see Amsterdam. There is storage in the airport, the train station and numerous other locations that can be found on apps like stasher. The minimal cost is worth not hauling even a big backpack around on the cobblestone streets. If you are checking into a hotel for a night, drop your bag off at the front desk, that’s always an option as long as it’s a proper hotel.

Once you stash the bags and grab a coffee to go from the train station, start taking in the beauty of Amsterdam and its architecture just Central Station. Now’s the time to choose your own adventure. Set an appropriate time to return to Central Station to get the train back to Schipol for your evening flight. If you are staying the night, you have all the time in the world!  

One-Day Itinerary of Amsterdam

If you are limited on time, but want to get all the best photos of canals, canal houses, alleyways with flowers, head west. Take a boat ride in the canal or pictures of you and your love eating stroopwafels on a bench. The Jordaan is the place to start! This neighborhood is located just west of Central Station. It is a typical Dutch neighborhood and not as touristy, especially in the Northern part. When leaving the train station, head west and walk down Haarlemmerstraat. It is probably early in the morning and you are ready for some breakfast. 

Amsterdam does breakfast, brunch and pancakes really well! Miss. B’s by la Grotte is fantastic. When the weather is nice, the front doors are open for patio seating. On rainy days, go inside to find a cozy table up on the second floor or with a street view. This is a great spot to enjoy breakfast all morning, or afternoon for that matter. If you are looking to eat on the go, head down Haarlemmerstraat a few more streets until you see the Petit Gateau pastry shop. This is a great place for pastries and baked goods like croissants, baguettes and fruit tarts. You can eat at a table upstairs or take your treats to enjoy on one of the benches next to the canal. 

If you travel the whole street, Haarlemmerstraat turns into Haarlemmerdijk and eventually empties into Haarlemmerplein (square). There’s a great spot open all-day for brunch called The Breakfast Club. Their sister property is across the street, called The Lunch Club. This is close to Westerpark, where many enjoy the warm months napping, reading or snacking on the lawn. 

The Jordaan Neighborhood

After a delicious breakfast, start to check out the canals in the Jordaan area on your one-day itinerary of Amsterdam. On Brouwersgracht, walk the short distance of the four main canals from Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht to Prinsengracht. These canals are narrow and full of beautiful flowers and many bridges have themed, colorful bikes covered in flowers. This area is particularly popular for photos with canals in the background. Once you’ve gotten your footage, wander down the Prinsengracht, following signs toward the Anne Frank House. This is a popular spot in Amsterdam to visit, with over a million visits a year!

The Jordaan neighborhood is on the west side of Amsterdam Centrum. There are four main canals to the west: Singel, Herengracht, Keizergracht and the Prinsengracht. The Anne Frank House is on the Prinsengracht and the famous 9 Streets shopping area is between all 4 canals. The smaller streets west of the Prinsengracht are full of small shops, cheese stores and great restaurants to have dinner. South of the Jordaan is Museumplain, to the west is trendy Oud West and to the east will return you to Amsterdam Centrum. 

Amsterdam Canal Cruise

No one-day itinerary of Amsterdam is complete without a canal cruise. In front of the Anne Frank House you will see some orange boats with Flagship. They are traditional boats, captained by Dutch natives who tell you all about their city in 60-90 minute tours. You will get to see amazing canal houses, a few canals and go out to the Amstel River. This is where the water opens up and the best pictures of architecture can be gotten from the water. After returning to the Jordaan area, get off the boat and head south one more block on Prinsengracht. 

You don’t need a reservation for all tours, especially Flagship. If you want a reservation for a specific time, you can book ahead of time on an app like Get Your Guide or Viator. When in Amsterdam a canal cruise is a must, during any time of year or weather. A family friendly boat, informational canal cruise, wine & cheese cruise tours, romantic sunset cruises and even a smoke & cruise boat tour are all options. In the winter, there is a special Light Festival canal cruise, closed roofs and blankets to keep warm. I often suggest two cruises on a trip, one during the day and one in the evening. You get two totally different perspectives and can cruise different parts of the city.  These are some of my favorites companies to book canal cruises: 

• Blue Boats (best for kids)
• Flagship
• Pure Boats (wine & cheese)
• Captain Jack
• Those Dam Boat Guys (16+ for humor)
• Smoke Boat (marijuana friendly 18+) 
• Buddha Boat (marijuana friendly 18+) 

Whatever your style, a canal cruise in Amsterdam is a must do! It should be scheduled early in your trip to help gain your bearings and efficiently see the sites of Amsterdam.   

The 9 Streets

Heading south of the Anne Frank House into the Jordaan is the big shopping area. These blocks of 9 streets make up the area known as “The 9 Streets”. The 4 canal streets and 5 streets north and south have a huge selection of boutique shops and independently owned restaurants. Many are great for brunch or lunch, with street tables to people watch. After lunch, indulge in sweet treats from the streets lined with bakeries, ice cream shops and stroopwafels. 

Stroopwafels are delicious cookies, made by putting warm caramel between two waffle cookies. You can get great souvenir sets of stroopwafels in the grocery store or market for inexpensive gifts to bring home. However, nothing beats trying a fresh stroopwafel on the street in Amsterdam. Van Wonderen Stroopwafels has been made popular on social media and is the perfect spot. With an amazing front window to watch the magic process, a line across the street and toppings of your choice. If you walk by and the line is short, jump in it immediately! For the more authentic, and less expensive option, the Dutch choose to go to a street market for the perfect stroopwafel. Depending on the day of the week, walking through a market is a perfect addition to you one-day itinerary of Amsterdam.    

Dam Square

When you are done shopping, leave the 9 Streets and follow the canal southeast to the floating flower market, where you will find flower shops. Stop at Cafe Jarden for a coffee or mint tea and a little rest after all the walking and shopping. Follow the Amstel River and find the skinny Bridge (Magere Brug) between the Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht canals. Follow the Amstel back up Rokin street, which turns into Damrak. Damrak is the main street that travels back to Central Station, with touristy shops, souvenirs, candy, ice cream and lots of European clothing shops. 

Stop at Dam Square for pictures of the square, Koninklijk Paleis and the New Church. The Royal palace can be visited when the royals are not hosting any visitors. Video tourists interacting with the pigeons, in the center of the square, it’s a thing. I suggest getting fries at Manneken Pis Nieuwendijk, it is found down the small street on the left of H&M. This spot is less crowded than the original shop on Damrak, even though it is only a few blocks away.

This is the most touristy area, but the Majestic is a good spot for a meal or drink any time of day. There is tons of seating both inside and outside of the cafe with a bar as well. We ended up eating here to hide from a downpour and were surprised their apple pie was so good. We’ve used this trick both day and night and have had snacks, meals and dessert during different trips. Walk east across the square and take Damstraat into de Wallen, also known as the Red Light District. This might seem like a walk on the wilder side of Amsterdam, but it is safe with lots of security.

Red Light District

De Wallen, or the Red Light District, is a typical Dutch neighborhood during the day. Its most distinguished building is the Old Church and it even has a nursery school at its busiest intersection. The Red Light District (RLD) transforms in the evening, to the epicenter of tourism and large groups of young, drunk guys. There is a strip of streets along the two canals of Oudezijds Voorburgwal and Oudezijds Achterburgwal. There are a lot of sex shops, burlesque theaters, bars, coffeeshops and the Red Light Secrets Museum. The infamous red lights are strips of windows down alleyways throughout the neighborhood that are lit red. The girls are waiting for their next customer in the windows, or are ‘entertaining’ a customer if the curtain is drawn. 

Wander around to have a look, but remember DO NOT take any pictures! There are signs all over, it is prohibited and will get you in trouble with security, the police and the girls. If you see blue lights in windows, these are trans-ladies who are available for fun and fantasy. The RLD is just one street west of Chinatown and the restaurants in the area reflect the culture. Try Chinese, Dim Sum, Thai, sushi, raman, Indian and other Asian cuisines in this area of the city. There is the smokeboat canal cruise tour in the RLD and a great way to see the sights, without walking the crowded streets. Both a canal cruise and a walk around the Red Light District are imperative on your one-day itinerary of Amsterdam.

Touristy Mistakes to Avoid

When you finish eating and “window shopping” in the RLD, head back out to the main street, Damrak. Do any last minute souvenir shopping before heading back to Central Station. I suggest tasting the cheeses at the three main shops, Old Amsterdam Cheese (my favorite), Amsterdam Cheese Company and Henri Willig (I like the truffle cheese). The Old Amsterdam Cheese Store offers a wonderful wine and cheese pairing. My son and I enjoyed this activity, since we are the only cheese lovers in our household.  If you miss out on cheese shopping, you can pick up all of these in both the train station and the airport. These are the touristy cheese shops, but for a one-day trip they will get the job done in the city center.

I made some typical mistakes on my first one-day Itinerary of Amsterdam, but have now been there at least a dozen times and have narrowed down the perfect one-day Itinerary in the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam. I think the biggest difference would be taking a smaller, captained boat for a canal cruise and not just hop on the first boats outside of Central Station. Skip the hop on/hop off boat and especially the bus and boat combo option. In Amsterdam, the bus drives around the city to get from one side to the other and you only see the highway.  

I’m also passionate about avoiding touristy restaurants. Amsterdam has so many amazing restaurants, from Dutch traditional places, French cafes, Italian restaurants, steakhouses and ethnic eateries. There are fry shops, FEBO (Dutch fast food vending machines) and bakeries all over town, but try to step off the main tourist paths. Most menus are in English & Dutch regardless of their tourist roots, but if the menu has pictures, skip it.   

One-Day Itinerary of Amsterdam

I have curated 5 different one-day itineraries of Amsterdam to maximize trips based on the visitor’s interests. If you only have 1-day in Amsterdam, because of a layover, a cruise ship departure or tight European itinerary, make sure to decide on one of these itineraries including:

• Picturesque Amsterdam
• Amsterdam Museum Focus
• Amsterdam with Kids
• Tulip Time 
• Cannabis Culture 

Amsterdam is a beautiful European city and could not be a more picturesque location. The canals and the architecture make it beautiful and romantic during any season. The flowers of Spring take Europe and Holland to a whole new level. You’ll never see all over Amsterdam in a day, you can’t even see it all in a week! But it’s the perfect location to wander around the canals and bridges too.

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