24 hours in the Dutch capital Amsterdam
It came to my attention that we don’t have a specific city guide of Amsterdam on our website. With many city guides floating around the internet and all my short visits to Amsterdam in the past years, I haven’t been thinking about it before. We do have, for example, an article about the Heineken Brewery Tour, the Gay Pride Canal Parade and the Van Gogh Museum, but not something like a city guide.
For us, living in the Netherlands, it’s easy to go to Amsterdam for a day trip. That’s what I’ve done several times in the past. I went to Amsterdam for shopping, for concerts or even for soccer games. However, recently I’ve spent the night in Amsterdam and explored the city in another way (‘tourist in own country’). I think it’s time to take you with me in our night away to the Dutch capital to read about some of the highlights of beautiful Amsterdam. Enjoy!
1st Day in Amsterdam
Traveling to Amsterdam
Amsterdam can easily be reached by public transportation, so I traveled from Arnhem to Amsterdam by train. This only took 1,5 hours for me. From the Amsterdam Central Train Station, you can easily walk towards the city centre and the Dam square. However, we planned to go to the Rijksmuseum first, so we took the metro towards Museumplein.
If you have a rental car and drive to Amsterdam yourself, secure a parking spot in Amsterdam to save time and troubles. Paid parking is in force in most areas of Amsterdam, but the costs vary. For example, you will pay more in the city centre than in the outer neighborhoods.
Tip: through GetYourGuide, you can purchase a card that allows you to benefit from unlimited access to all GVB public transportation services throughout Amsterdam. They also have an Amsterdam City Pass that allows you to visit museums and attractions in Amsterdam for free in addition to unlimited access to GVB public transportation. Love it!
A visit to the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is a beautiful museum of arts. There are paintings you can admire from all centuries: from 1200 until now. Besides, there are several exhibitions organised throughout the year. If you’re into art, you should definitely pay a visit to the Rijksmuseum!
Wandering around Museumplein (Museum Square)
When you walk outside the Rijksmuseum, you’ll come at Museumplein. A square and city park where you can wander around, relax on the grass with a picknick or visit one of the many museums. The most well-known museums are the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum.
Strolling over the Albert Cuyp market
From Museumplein you can easily walk in 10 minutes towards the Albert Cuyp market. It’s a big and atmospheric market which definitely is worth a visit. You can buy here everything: from groceries to clothes and from a delicious lunch to Dutch souvenirs. Take into account that the market isn’t open on Sundays. The rest of the week it’s open from 09:30AM to 05:00PM.
Having lunch at Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square)
After our visit to the Albert Cuyp market, we walked further towards Rembrandtplein (approx. 15 minutes) and sat down on a terrace to have a nice beer and some lunch. Rembrandtplein is named after the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn. It’s a square which is surrounded by restaurants, cafés and theaters. Especially in the evening, Rembrandtplein is the place to be, but also during the day you can enjoy some food and drinks on the terrace.
Staying at Hotel the Manor
After our lunch, we decided to go to our hotel for the night to drop our stuff. We booked Hotel the Manor, which is located more in the eastern part of Amsterdam. From Rembrandtplein, you can walk to the hotel in 35 minutes. However, we took the tram as that’s also an easy way of travelling through Amsterdam. During our tram ride, we came across the zoo Artis. Hotel the Manor is located near Oosterpark. It has a good location with everything you’ll need around you.
It’s a nice hotel with friendly staff. The room was not that big, but perfect for the night. We actually had a room at the corner of the building, what means that we had windows on two sides in the room. I loved that about the room! Breakfast the next morning was good, but not special. They served just the standard. However, it’s a nice hotel which I can definitely recommend!
Dine at Five Brothers Fat Oost
After a nice bath, we went outside for our dinner. Just a couple of minutes from the hotel you can find the restaurant Five Brothers Fat Oost. Oh wauw, I enjoyed this dinner very much! It has a shared dining concept with the focus on Spanish products. It was delicious. Tip: there also is a restaurant of them in Amsterdam South and West.
2nd Day in Amsterdam
Walk through Oosterpark
We started our day by having breakfast in the hotel, where after we walked toward Oosterpark. We took a lovely stroll through the park, the weather was perfect and the park is just beautiful! Especially in summer time I think it’s even more atmospheric because it’s also a perfect place to relax a bit on the grass with your friends.
Shop in the 9 Straatjes (9 streets)
We took the tram again and planned or next stop at the 9 Straatjes. If you’d like to go for some shopping and you’re looking for unique, boutique shops, you should definitely go to the 9 Straatjes! Next to the fact you can find here unique shops and nice eateries, the streets are also very picturesque.
We went for example to Motel a Miio, a beautiful shop with all kinds of handmade ceramics: from cups to vases and from plates to egg cups. Oh, I really loved this style! Of course we bought some for ourselves.
Have a coffee at Pluk Amsterdam
Also located in the 9 Straatjes is Pluk Amsterdam: a cute and cosy coffee shop. Definitely a recommendation when you’re looking for a place to have a coffee or to grab some lunch! We’ve had a delicious cappuccino and thé best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had. I could see and taste this cinnamon roll was freshly baked. Yumyum!
And buy some coffee at Koffie Cultuur Centrum
To stick with coffee.. After our coffee stop at Pluk Amsterdam, we walked towards the Dam and Koffie Cultuur Centrum, where we bought some nice coffee to bring home with us. It’s also a nice place to have some coffee on the spot. Small and cosy.
And that’s where our small trip to Amsterdam ended. We took the train back home.
We really enjoyed our night away and have seen some of the highlights of Amsterdam. Of course there’s much more to do and discover in the city, but hopefully you’ve found some inspiration in this post.
If you have questions or additions to my experiences, please don’t hesitate and let me know in the comment section below!
Author: Tamara
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