Amsterdam 3-day itinerary

The seventeenth-century canal ring and the working-class quarter beside it, now the city's most photographed streets — a house where a family hid for two years, a church tower you can climb, and nine little shopping lanes between the canals.

1. 08:00
   Breakfast Winkel 4330m

   The café most associated with Amsterdam's 'world-famous' apple pie, right on the corner of Noordermarkt with a sun-catching terrace that fills fast on market mornings. Breakfast and lunch run roughly 8:00 to 15:00 — croissants from 4.50 euro, a full plate of bitterballen at 15 euro — and the kitchen keeps going into the evening with Dutch classics like ossenworst alongside sandwiches. A vegan bitterballen plate (six pieces, 8 euro) and a vegetarian club sandwich are both regular menu items, useful in a neighbourhood that otherwise leans traditional. Best combined with a Monday flea-market or Saturday farmers-market visit next door.

2. 09:00
   NoordermarktMarket, 1h

   A square in front of the Noorderkerk that turns into two very different markets: a Monday-morning flea market (9:00-14:00) for vintage clothing, fabric, books and secondhand odds and ends, and a Saturday organic farmers' market (9:00-16:00) for artisan bread, Dutch cheese, olives and fresh juice, with stalls spilling into the surrounding streets. Outside those windows it's just a quiet, café-lined corner of the Jordaan, so time a visit for Monday or Saturday morning if the markets are the point.

3. 10:15
   BrouwersgrachtViewpoint, 20m

   Once the working harbour for the old brewers' warehouses, now the canal ring's quietest and most photographed stretch — houseboats moored end to end, converted warehouse gables on both banks, and a bridge every couple of hundred metres where four canals meet. Better walked slowly than treated as a single stop; the corner where Brouwersgracht meets Prinsengracht is the classic postcard angle, especially in the low light of early morning or evening.

4. 10:50
   Anne Frank HouseMuseum, 1h 15m

   The canal house where Anne Frank and seven others hid for two years during the German occupation, preserved behind the revolving bookcase largely as they left it. Tickets go on sale every Tuesday at 10:00 CEST for a visit exactly six weeks later, and none are sold at the door — book the moment a slot opens if specific dates matter, since the museum itself says this is the tightest ticket window in the city. Online payment is by bank transfer or credit card. Open daily 9:00-22:00, with a handful of closures through the year (King's Day and Yom Kippur among them) — check the calendar before locking in a date. The house has steep, narrow stairs and a high step at the entrance and is not step-free; anyone with mobility difficulties should read the museum's own accessibility page before booking.

5. 12:20
   Lunch Café 't Smalle1h

   A genuine 'brown café' — the name comes from decades of tobacco-stained walls and ceilings — on the Egelantiersgracht, running since 1780 as a jenever distillery's tasting house before settling into the neighbourhood local it is today. The small waterside terrace is the reason people queue for a table; order a beer or a bitterbal and watch the canal rather than treating it as a proper meal stop, since the kitchen keeps to sandwiches and snacks. Opens at 14:00 Monday to Thursday, 13:00 on Friday, and from noon on weekends, staying open past midnight most nights (until 23:00 on Sundays). A Jordaan institution — expect it standing-room-only by early evening.

6. 13:20
   HomomonumentLandmark, 15m

   Three connected pink-granite triangles set into the paving of Westermarkt, unveiled in 1987 as the first public monument anywhere built to remember people persecuted for their sexuality — one triangle points toward the Anne Frank House, one toward the former headquarters of the Dutch gay rights movement, and one out toward the wider city. Open all the time and free, it doubles as an everyday gathering spot and a stage for Remembrance Day and Pride events. Wheelchair access is fine on the upper level, but the lowest triangle is reached by steps rather than a ramp, and the monument sits in open traffic space, so watch for trams and cyclists passing close by.

7. 13:50
   The Nine StreetsLandmark, 1h 30m

   Nine short cross-streets — Berenstraat, Wolvenstraat, Oude Spiegelstraat, Runstraat and the rest — laid across the three main canals between Raadhuisstraat and Leidsegracht, packed with independent boutiques, vintage shops, concept stores and small cafés rather than chain retail. It rewards wandering without a fixed plan more than treating it as a single ticked-off stop; hours vary shop to shop, so treat any one boutique's opening time as worth double-checking rather than assumed. One of the few Amsterdam shopping areas that still feels local rather than built for tourists.

8. 15:35
   A'DAM LookoutViewpoint, 1h 15m

   The observation deck sits on the roof of A'DAM Tower, a three-minute free ferry ride (Buiksloterweg line) from behind Centraal Station, and gives a 360-degree view over the IJ, the station and the old city skyline. Open Monday-Thursday 11:00-19:00 (last entry 18:00) and Friday-Sunday 11:00-21:00 (last entry 20:00); the tower takes cards only, no cash. The optional Over The Edge swing, billed as Europe's highest, costs extra on top of the roughly EUR 16.50-19 entry ticket. Getting up involves a stretch of steep stairs partway through the route, which the venue itself flags as unworkable for visitors with limited mobility — plan around that if it matters for your group.

9. 17:30
   Dinner Pllek1h 15m

   A big, laid-back restaurant and bar built into a converted shipping-container hall on a man-made beach facing the IJ at NDSM-werf — the kitchen serves food daily from 09:30 with the kitchen open until 22:00 (the bar itself runs later, until 01:00-02:00 on weekends). At least three-quarters of the menu is vegetarian and a good share of that is vegan; expect locally grown vegetables and only small amounts of sustainably sourced fish and meat. It's card-only — pin, Amex, Visa and Mastercard are all accepted, no cash. Reachable by the NDSM ferry (about 15 minutes from behind Centraal) or a short walk/cycle once you're on that side of the IJ; the deck chairs on the sand fill up fast on the first sunny weekend of the year.

The medieval core and the oldest streets in the city — a royal palace facing a working square, a fourteenth-century church with a red-light district grown around it, and a hidden almshouse courtyard two minutes from the crowds.

1. 08:30
   DamLandmark, 30m

   Amsterdam's historic centre point, ringed by the Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk, and the department stores and wax museum along its northern edge. The Nationaal Monument, a 22-metre obelisk unveiled in 1956, honours the Dutch dead of the Second World War and stands at the square's eastern end. Street performers, pigeons and cyclists share the open cobbles, and the square doubles as the city's default stage for demonstrations, concerts and King's Day parties. Trams cross along the northern side, so look both ways before stepping off the pavement.

2. 09:15
   NieuwmarktLandmark, 30m

   A wide-open square built around De Waag, a turreted 1488 city gate that later served as a guild hall and public weigh house and is now a restaurant — one of the few surviving pieces of Amsterdam's medieval fortifications. An organic farmers' market sets up on Saturdays, and the square sits exactly on the seam between Chinatown to the south and the old lanes of De Wallen to the west, ringed by terraces that are busiest once the market stalls pack away.

3. 10:00
   Hortus Botanicus AmsterdamGarden, 1h 30m

   One of the world's oldest botanical gardens (founded 1638), tucked behind a modest gate on Plantage Middenlaan — open daily 10:00-17:00 (closed only 25 December and 1 January), adult entry EUR 14.75. It's card-only; the garden states plainly that cash cannot be used anywhere on site. The paths are gravel-covered but wheelchair-passable, free wheelchairs are available with an advance email, and the Climate House greenhouse has automatic doors — the older greenhouses have a manual door with a threshold, so allow a little extra time or ask staff for a hand there. The on-site cafe has an accessible toilet reached via a ramp behind the terrace.

4. 11:50
   BegijnhofHistoric site, 30m

   A walled courtyard of almshouses dating to the 14th century, built for the Begijnen — a lay religious sisterhood — and still home to a small residential community today, so voices stay low and the central lawn is looked at rather than walked on. Holds Amsterdam's oldest surviving wooden-fronted house (Het Houten Huys, number 34) and a hidden Catholic chapel facing the English Reformed Church. Free to enter, open daily 10:00-18:00, closed only on King's Day (27 April). The entrance gate off the Spui side is easy to walk past without noticing — look for a plain wooden door between the shopfronts.

5. 12:35
   Lunch In de Waag1h

   A restaurant-café built into the Sint Antoniespoort, the turreted 15th-century city gate anchoring Nieuwmarkt square, lit almost entirely by roughly 300 real candles after dark for a dinner that genuinely feels medieval. Open daily from 11:00, with the kitchen running 11:30-22:00 and an all-day menu of starters, mains and desserts; the room can also lay on a shared starter-and-main menu for groups of up to 180. Reserve ahead for a weekend dinner table — the candlelight and the setting make it a popular choice.

6. 13:35
   Royal Palace AmsterdamMuseum, 1h 15m

   Built in the 17th century as Amsterdam's city hall on 13,659 wooden piles sunk into the marsh, and still King Willem-Alexander's working reception palace today — used for state visits and royal functions, so opening days vary through the year and the palace's own calendar is worth checking before planning a visit around it. Adult admission is 13.50 euro and includes an audio tour. The entrance has a sloping ramp on the right side facing Dam Square, a lift to every floor, no interior thresholds, and a wheelchair-accessible toilet on the ground floor; a wheelchair or walking stick can be borrowed free of charge by writing ahead, and lightweight folding stools are available to rest on partway through.

7. 15:05
   Nieuwe KerkChurch, 1h

   No longer used for regular services — Dutch monarchs are inaugurated here instead, most recently Willem-Alexander in 2013 — and the nave now hosts rotating art and history exhibitions under a soaring Gothic wooden ceiling. Open daily 10:00-17:00 with last entry at 16:30; adult admission is 25 euro. It runs as a fully cashless museum, debit and credit cards only, no cash accepted at all. All galleries and facilities are wheelchair accessible, with a lift down to the toilets in 't Nieuwe Kafé on the basement level. Closed on 27 April, 3-5 May, 28 May, 8 July, 25 December and 1 January, so don't count on it landing on those dates.

8. 16:20
   Oude KerkChurch, 45m

   Amsterdam's oldest surviving building, consecrated in 1306, with a soaring wooden ceiling, carved medieval misericords, and contemporary art installations woven into the historic fabric — still a working church alongside the museum visit. Open Monday-Saturday 10:00-18:00 and Sunday 13:00-17:30; general admission is 14.50 euro, or 22 euro for a combined church-and-tower ticket when the tower is running (seasonally, roughly late April to October). It's a fully cashless venue — debit, credit and digital payment only. The square outside fills with sightseers by day and sits at the centre of the working red-light district after dark; it remains a normal, functioning part of the city rather than anything to steer around.

9. 17:30
   Dinner De Drie Fleschjes1h 15m

   Amsterdam's oldest tasting room, pouring jenever and Bols liqueurs straight from the barrel since 1650, tucked a few steps behind the Nieuwe Kerk. The house order is a kopstootje — a small glass of jenever next to a freshly poured beer — and staff will walk you through styles (jong versus oud, fruit-infused options) if you don't already have a favourite. It still runs the only working drinks organ left in Amsterdam, a 50-barrel mechanical curiosity worth asking to see in action. Vegetarian bar snacks — olives, peppadews, banderillas, nuts — sit alongside the classic Dutch bittergarnituur platter. Open Sunday 15:00-19:00 and Monday-Saturday 14:00-20:30.

Three major collections and a concert hall around one grassy square, with the city's biggest park behind them — the Dutch Golden Age in one building, Van Gogh's own hand in the next, and modern art across the plaza.

1. 07:40
   Check out of your stay
2. 08:00
   Breakfast Cobra Café30m

   A ground-floor lunch café right on Museumplein, open daily 10:30-19:00 — the easiest spot to sit down between the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum without leaving the square. Founded in 1999 alongside the CoBrA art movement, the room is furnished and decorated by CoBrA artists Karel Appel and Corneille, so even a coffee stop has something to look at. The menu runs sandwiches, bitterballen, hand-cut fries and apple pie, with a chicken-avocado and a classic cheese sandwich covering vegetarians; drinks stretch from fresh juice to local beer, jenever and cocktails. Casual and walk-in — no booking needed even with a group.

3. 08:30
   VondelparkPark, 1h

   Amsterdam's best-known park, entered here from its northeastern corner a few minutes' walk from the museums via Constantijn Huygensstraat. There are no gates and no entrance fee — it's open around the clock, every day of the year. Inside: a historic 1937 open-air theatre with free summer programming, a rose garden, ponds full of herons, and paths thick with cyclists (stay off the cycle lanes — bikes have the right of way and won't stop for a distracted pedestrian). The city's own visitor guide lists a wheelchair-accessible entrance, provisions for reduced mobility and accessible restrooms. Skip renting a bike just for the park — walking or a short tram ride in is easier than fighting rental queues for a 90-minute loop.

4. 10:00
   Stedelijk MuseumMuseum, 1h 30m

   The Netherlands' modern and contemporary art museum, open all 365 days of the year, 10:00-18:00, with last entry at 17:45. Adult admission is 22.50 euro, students and CJP cardholders pay 12.50 euro, and under-19s go free. The bathtub-shaped 2012 extension (Amsterdammers call it "the bathtub") sits behind the original 1895 building and holds a rotating collection running from Mondrian and Chagall to Warhol and current Dutch design. The museum states it has elevators, wheelchair-accessible restrooms and barrier-free passageways, and lends wheelchairs, walkers and folding chairs free at the information desk. Buying online in advance is recommended over turning up cold.

5. 13:00
   Van Gogh MuseumMuseum, 2h

   Open daily 09:00-18:00, holding the world's largest Van Gogh collection including Sunflowers and The Bedroom. Adult tickets are 25 euro and under-18s go free, but every ticket is online-only with a mandatory timed entry slot — there is no door sale at all, so this has to be booked before you leave the hotel, not decided on the day. Buy only through vangoghmuseum.nl or the museum's named resellers. The museum has lifts to every floor, an accessible main entrance and adapted toilets, and lends wheelchairs and folding seats free of charge if you email ahead.

6. 15:15
   Moco MuseumMuseum, 1h

   A private contemporary-art museum in Villa Alsberg, a 1904 mansion on Museumplein, showing Banksy, Warhol, Basquiat and Kusama in a much shorter visit than its neighbours — plan on about an hour. Open daily 09:00-20:00. Tickets start around 19.95 euro online (booking ahead is noticeably cheaper than paying at the door, and early or late time slots knock off up to 5 euro more). The museum states plainly that it is not wheelchair accessible: the historic villa has stairs throughout and no lifts, and the building's protected status means one can't be installed. Staff can offer a carry-chair with assistance if needed, but this isn't a step-free visit.

7. 17:30
   Dinner Café Loetje (Museumkwartier)1h 15m

   A branch of Amsterdam's best-known steak sandwich chain — started as a billiard café in 1977, now famous city-wide for its "biefstukje": tender steak in a rich jus with white bread, crispy fries and a small salad. This location, a few minutes south of the Concertgebouw, has a spacious terrace and keeps long hours daily, 10:00-22:30, serving both lunch and dinner. The restaurant states its entrance is wheelchair accessible, though the restrooms are not. Reservations aren't required but are worth making for a weekend evening — it fills fast and doesn't hold walk-in tables.

8. 18:45
   The ConcertgebouwEntertainment, 2h 30m

   One of the world's most acoustically celebrated concert halls, home to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, on the square of the same name a short walk from the museums. There's no single ticket price — a listing on the calendar can start from 25 euro for an orchestral or chamber programme up in the balcony, climbing well past that for premium seats or headline names — so check concertgebouw.nl for the specific date rather than assuming a figure. The hall states it has seven disabled parking spaces by the main entrance, loanable wheelchairs, lifts to the Recital Hall and to the Main Hall balconies, and reserved wheelchair seating arranged in advance through the box office; infrared and induction-loop hearing systems are available at the cloakroom. Guide dogs are welcome. This is a formal room — smart-casual dress and quiet phones are the norm, and latecomers are held until a natural pause in the programme. There are no general visiting hours — you come for a performance or a guided tour, so check the programme and book before building a day around it.