Amsterdam is a beautiful city that truly deserves more recognition. It’s one of the most charming places I’ve ever visited, and I honestly think it should be on everyone’s bucket list. Luckily, Amsterdam is small enough to experience the highlights in a short time! Here is my guide to making the most of your 96 hours in Amsterdam.

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Getting Around

If you fly into Amsterdam, you will land in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), the only one in the area. Getting through the airport is pretty straight forward. Just follow the signs to the public transit and take the appropriate method out.

If you are staying near the city center, I suggest you take the train to Amsterdam Centraal Station. This will connect you to many areas in Amsterdam. From the airport, Centraal Station is about a 20 minute transit.

Public Transportation

Amsterdam has one of the easiest public transportation systems out of all the countries I’ve traveled to! I used Apple Maps and Google Maps the entire time and used the tap feature on my phone to pay the fares. The fares depend on distant traveled, so you’ll tap when you get on and tap when you get off.

Biking

Biking is a popular way to explore the city, but make sure you’re comfortable with it. Each street has designated bike lanes for you to use, and locals rely on them for their daily commutes. You’ll find plenty of rental companies around as well.

Walking

Amsterdam is pretty small, so you can cover a lot of ground by walking. During my trip, I spent most of the time walking and used the tram only once or twice a day.

Where To Stay

Jordaan

Jordaan is the best neighborhood to stay in Amsterdam. It is very close to the city center, and in my opinion, the most beautiful neighborhood. It’s a residential neighborhood so it’s very quiet but has plenty of shops and restaurants.

• My Recommendation: Mr. Jordaan Hotel

De Pijp

De Pijp is great because it’s still near the city center, but even closer to big attractions like the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum. It has a great food scene and is filled with plenty of places to eat like the Albert Cuyp Market.

• My Recommendation: The Canalview Retreat

Read my Guide on How to Plan the Perfect Vacation!

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96 Hours in Amsterdam

Day 1: Arrival

As mentioned earlier, I recommend heading straight to Amsterdam Centraal Train Station, unless your accommodation is closer to your starting point. This will make it much easier to connect to different parts of the city.

Explore the Streets of Jordaan

Despite being a residential neighborhood, Jordaan has many activities and restaurants all throughout. I recommend strolling through the streets and admiring the architecture here on your first day.

Eat the Famous Winkel 43 Apple Pie

Different from the American apple pie you’re probably more familiar with, Dutch apple pie, or appeltaarte, is much thicker, less sweet, and served at room temperature.

Day 2: City Center

Breakfast at the Pancake Bakery

Dutch pancakes are absolutely delicious! They are huge, thin pancakes that can either be sweet or savory. The Pancake Bakery does it best! Be sure to get there early to avoid long lines, or you can make a reservation online. I got the pancake with bacon, cheese and mushrooms and it was soooo good!

Side Note: The food here was fantastic, and I’d still recommend this place. However, I was overcharged. When I asked for the bill, I tapped my card before seeing the itemized receipt. Later (when it was too late), I noticed we’d been charged triple for our drinks: six instead of the two we actually ordered, increasing the bill by $24.

Was it an honest mistake? No idea. This could happen anywhere, so just double-check your receipt before paying.

Tony’s Chocolonely

Afterwards, go to Tony’s Chocolonely to make your own chocolate bar! Choose from white, milk, or dark chocolate as your base then, pick up to three add-ins. Afterward, you can customize your wrapper with your name and whatever colors you want. There are also a variety of pre-made chocolates that are just as delicious and a fraction of the price.

My favorite part about this company is not only their delicious chocolate but also their strong commitment to ethics within their industry. They have a mission to end exploitation and the millions of cases of forced child labor on cocoa farms. Because of their dedication, I will support them every time! You can read more about it: Here

De Negen Straatjes

De Negen Straatjes, or the Nine Streets, is a neighborhood made of, you guessed it, nine streets! It is filled with tons of trendy boutiques, restaurants, and cafes. Even if you aren’t looking to spend much money, these streets are absolutely gorgeous to walk around. It’s definitely a must visit while you’re in Amsterdam.

Eat Iconic Street Food

(These were some of the best street foods I tried while in Amsterdam!)

Fabel Friet

Fabel Friet is a popular place I found while scrolling through social media. They serve hot, authentic Dutch fries with a variety of toppings. I recommend the fries with parmesan and truffle mayonnaise. These were by far the tastiest fries I’ve ever had.

There are other things on the menu aside from fries. I tried the beef croquette; it wasn’t for me, but give it a try!

Van Wonderen Stroopwafels

Having eaten pre-made, packaged stroopwafels all my life, I thought I knew how tasty they were. Eating them fresh and warm gave me a completely different perspective I never knew I needed.

You’ll see a lot of street vendors serving these, but you need to get them from Van Wonderen Stroopwafels! You can get them plain (like I did) or get them covered in chocolate with toppings.

Day 3: Day Trip to the Dutch Countryside

Keukenhof Gardens

If you visit between March and May, you will be lucky enough to experience tulip season!

Known as the “Garden of Europe”, the Keukenhof Gardens has over 7 million flowers with an unimaginable smell! This makes for a great day trip because the gardens have food trucks, food courts, a playground for kids, and lot more.

I recommend getting there as soon as they open, at 9:00. While there were a lot of people at opening, the crowds doubled, maybe tripled, in the first two hours of being there.

Booking with Get Your Guide made getting there easy. For $37 USD, we got round-trip transfer from Amsterdam and admission into the gardens. This was such a great experience, I recommend anyone visiting Amsterdam come during the spring for this reason.

Day 4: Museums, Markets, and Food

Eat Breakfast at MOAK Pancakes

MOAK Pancakes is a trendy restaurant that serves American-style pancakes as well as breakfast, brunch and lunch foods. Their entire menu is super fun and so delicious. Plus, the staff was very friendly! This place is definitely worth checking out!

Rijksmuseum

Take the day to visit one of Amsterdam’s most iconic landmarks! This museum is huge, spanning over 8,000 sq ft containing 800 years of history. You can easily spend a couple of hours here!

Visit One of the Many Markets

The markets of Amsterdam were such a fun and worthwhile experience! For this itinerary, the Albert Cuyp Market would be the ideal one to visit because it is nearby the day’s attractions.

Read my post, 5 Markets In Amsterdam You Can’t Miss

Eat Dinner at Foodhallen

For dinner, head to Foodhallen, a trendy food court that serves dozens of cuisines from Japanese, American Barbecue, Vietnamese, Greek, and more.

Departing from Amsterdam

Departing from Amsterdam is as easy as getting there. Go to Centraal Station and take the train to the airport or to your next destination!