Things to do in Amsterdam

Amsterdam packs a lot into a compact centre. Here are all 56 sights in our planner, starting with the must-sees and then grouped by theme, each with opening hours, price and the time you need.

Last updated: 6 November 2026

Don't miss
Sightseeing
Museums and galleries
Architecture
Food and markets
Beer
Chocolate
Shopping
With kids
Free things to do

Don't miss

Centre

Dam Square

The historic heart of the city, with the Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk and the National Monument.

🕗 Hours: Always open
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~0.5 h

Museum Quarter

Rijksmuseum

The national museum, home to Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Vermeer’s Milkmaid.

🕗 Hours: Daily 09:00–17:00; timed tickets online
🎟️ Price: €25 (18 and under free)
⏱️ Visit: ~2.5 h

Museum Quarter

Van Gogh Museum

The world’s largest collection of Van Gogh paintings, drawings and letters.

🕗 Hours: Daily 09:00–17:00; online only, start time required
🎟️ Price: €25 (17 and under free)
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Anne Frank House

The canal-side hiding place where Anne Frank wrote her diary; book a timed ticket weeks ahead.

🕗 Hours: Daily 09:00–22:00; online tickets only
🎟️ Price: €16.50 (ages 10–17 €7, 0–9 €1)
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Sightseeing: squares, landmarks and viewpoints

Centre

Royal Palace Amsterdam

A 17th-century city hall turned royal palace, with marble state rooms and an audio guide.

🕗 Hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00; closed on royal-event days
🎟️ Price: €13.50
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Centre

De Nieuwe Kerk

A 15th-century church on the Dam that now hosts large exhibitions; royal inaugurations are held here.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: €25
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Centre

De Oude Kerk

Amsterdam’s oldest building (1306) in the middle of De Wallen, now a venue for contemporary art.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun 13:00–17:30
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Centre

Begijnhof

A hidden courtyard of 14th-century almshouses, with the oldest wooden house in the city.

🕗 Hours: Daily 09:00–17:00 (quiet courtyard)
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~0.5 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Westerkerk

The 17th-century church with the tallest church tower in the city, near the Anne Frank House; Rembrandt is buried here.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–15:00; tower closed for restoration
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~0.5 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Jordaan

Former working-class quarter with narrow streets, hidden courtyards, brown cafés and small galleries.

🕗 Hours: Always open
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Museum Quarter

Vondelpark

The city’s biggest park, with ponds, lawns, a rose garden and open-air terraces.

🕗 Hours: Always open
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Plantage & East

Hortus Botanicus

One of the world’s oldest botanical gardens (1638), with greenhouses, a butterfly house and a palm house.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: €14.75
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Noord

A'DAM Lookout

A 20-storey tower viewing deck across the IJ, with a swing over the edge and a revolving panorama.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–22:00 (last entry 21:00)
🎟️ Price: €16.50 (€14.50 online)
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Noord

NDSM Wharf

Former shipyard turned creative hub, with giant cranes, street art, studios and waterside terraces; free ferry from Centraal.

🕗 Hours: Always open (outdoor area)
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Museums and galleries

Museum Quarter

Stedelijk Museum

Modern and contemporary art and design, from Mondrian to Kusama, in a building with a striking extension.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–18:00
🎟️ Price: €22.50
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Rembrandt House Museum

The house where Rembrandt lived and worked for nearly 20 years, with his studio and etching room.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–18:00 (10:00–17:00 from 2 Nov to 18 Dec)
🎟️ Price: €23.50
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Het Scheepvaartmuseum (Maritime Museum)

Dutch seafaring history in a former naval warehouse, with a full-size replica of an East Indiaman ship.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: €20
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

NEMO Science Museum

Hands-on science museum for all ages in a green ship-shaped building, with a free rooftop square.

🕗 Hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–17:30; also Mondays in school holidays
🎟️ Price: €21.50
⏱️ Visit: ~2 h

Noord

Eye Filmmuseum

Film museum in a white angular building on the IJ, with exhibitions, cinemas and a waterfront terrace.

🕗 Hours: Exhibition Tue–Sun 10:00–19:00; cinemas daily (Mon 18:00–22:00)
🎟️ Price: €16.50 (exhibition), €13.50 (film)
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Micropia

The world's only museum of microbes: see bacteria and viruses live under the microscope.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00; timed ticket required
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Wereldmuseum Amsterdam

Former Tropenmuseum: world cultures, objects and a lively children's section in a grand building.

🕗 Hours: Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00 (also Mon in school holidays)
🎟️ Price: €18 online (€20 at the desk); ages 6–17 €7.50
⏱️ Visit: ~2 h

Plantage & East

H'ART Museum

Big exhibitions of art and culture in the former Hermitage on the Amstel, with the Amsterdam Museum on its ground floor.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
🎟️ Price: €29.50; under 18 free
⏱️ Visit: ~2 h

Centre

Our Lord in the Attic

A 17th-century canal house hiding a secret Catholic church in its attic, in the Red Light District.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00, Sun 13:00–18:00
🎟️ Price: €18; ages 5–17 €7.50
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Jewish Museum

Four centuries of Jewish life in the Netherlands, in four linked former synagogues near Waterlooplein.

🕗 Hours: Daily 11:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: €20 combined ticket with the Portuguese Synagogue
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum)

The Dutch resistance in the Second World War, with a children's section about a boy named Wim.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: €16; ages 1–16 €8.50
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Centre

Museum Van Loon

A lived-in 17th-century canal house with its family portraits, furniture and garden, on the Keizersgracht.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: €17.50
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Noord

STRAAT Museum

The world's largest street-art and graffiti museum, inside a giant NDSM warehouse.

🕗 Hours: Mon 12:00–17:00, Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Fabrique des Lumières

Immersive digital art shows projected over walls and floor in the old Westergasfabriek gasworks.

🕗 Hours: Daily 09:30–17:00
🎟️ Price: €18; ages 5–17 €14
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Huis Marseille

Photography museum in 17th-century canal houses with contemporary exhibitions.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Wed & Fri–Sun 10:00–18:00, Thu 10:00–21:00
🎟️ Price: €12.50 (€6.50 students/seniors 65+, free under 18)
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Museum Quarter

MOCO Museum

Modern contemporary art museum in a 1904 mansion with Basquiat, Kusama, Hirst works.

🕗 Hours: Sun–Thu 09:00–18:00, Fri–Sat 09:00–20:00
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Architecture

Plantage & East

Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge)

The photogenic white double drawbridge over the Amstel, lit up at night.

🕗 Hours: Always open
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~0.5 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Museum Het Schip

Amsterdam School housing estate with a museum, the post office and a guided tour of the brick 'ship'.

🕗 Hours: Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00; guided tour every hour 11:00–16:00 included
🎟️ Price: €17.50; ages 5–12 €5
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

OBA Central Library

Huge modern library by Oosterdok; take the escalators to the 7th-floor café and its terrace with city views.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Fri 08:00–22:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–20:00
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Food and markets

De Pijp

Albert Cuyp Market

The city’s biggest street market: stroopwafels, cheese, fish, flowers and clothes along Albert Cuypstraat.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Sat 09:00–17:00
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Museum Quarter

Foodhallen

Indoor food hall in the former tram depot De Hallen, with 20 counters and craft beer.

🕗 Hours: Daily 12:00–23:00 (food counters until about 22:00)
🎟️ Price: Free entry; dishes from about €6
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Canal Belt & Jordaan

Amsterdam Cheese Museum

Small cheese shop with a free museum in the cellar and free tastings of Dutch cheeses, opposite the Anne Frank House.

🕗 Hours: Mon–Sat 09:00–22:00, Sun 09:00–21:00
🎟️ Price: Free
⏱️ Visit: ~0.5 h

Museum Quarter

House of Bols

Interactive tour of the history of genever and cocktails, ending in a bar with a drink included.

🕗 Hours: Sun–Thu 13:00–18:30, Fri–Sat 13:00–21:00; adults only (18+)
🎟️ Price: €19.50 (incl. one cocktail)
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Beer

De Pijp

Heineken Experience

Interactive tour of Heineken’s old brewery, ending with tastings in the bar.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:30–19:30 (last entry 17:15)
🎟️ Price: €24.95
⏱️ Visit: ~1.5 h

Plantage & East

Brouwerij 't IJ

Craft brewery and tasting room in a former bathhouse under the De Gooyer windmill.

🕗 Hours: Daily 10:00–22:00
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Centre

Brouwerij De Prael

Brewery with a tasting room in the Red Light District, run with and for people with a disability.

🕗 Hours: Mon 14:00–24:00, Tue–Sun 12:00–24:00
🎟️ Price: Free entry; beers from about €4
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h

Noord

Oedipus Brewing Taproom

Playful craft brewery with a big taproom and food in Amsterdam-Noord.

🕗 Hours: Wed–Thu 16:00–22:30, Fri 16:00–00:30, Sat 14:00–00:30, Sun 14:00–21:30 (closed Mon–Tue)
🎟️ Price: Free entry; beers from about €5
⏱️ Visit: ~1 h