Best Things to Do in Amsterdam

Amsterdam rewards slow mornings on the canals and pre-booked museum hours in the middle of the day. We have ordered these ten experiences by how much they define a first visit.

1. The Rijksmuseum Gallery of Honour. Stand before Rembrandt's Night Watch and four small, luminous paintings by Johannes Vermeer, including The Milkmaid. Arrive for the first morning slot and go straight up to the second floor.
2. The Van Gogh Museum. The world's largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's paintings, drawings and letters to his brother Theo, arranged chronologically from early Dutch peasant studies to Sunflowers and Almond Blossom.
3. Walking the Jordaan and Brouwersgracht. Cross the small drawbridges along Brouwersgracht in the morning light, wander the courtyards (hofjes) of the Jordaan, and browse the independent shops of De Negen Straatjes (the Nine Streets).
4. The Anne Frank House. The preserved Secret Annex behind the movable bookcase at Prinsengracht 263, where Anne Frank and seven others hid for over two years. Moving, quiet and strictly pre-booked six weeks out.
5. A small open-boat canal trip. Skip the 100-seat glass-topped tour boats near Centraal Station and book a small electric open boat (sloep) with a local skipper who can turn into narrower side canals and pass under low stone bridges.
6. The Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp. Six days a week along Albert Cuypstraat, with fresh hot stroopwafels, herring carts, aged Gouda stalls and lively terraces behind the market booths.
7. The free ferry to Amsterdam Noord. Step onto the GVB pedestrian ferry behind Centraal Station for the short crossing to NDSM Wharf, a former shipyard turned street-art warehouse and waterfront hangout, or to the EYE Film Museum.
8. Begijnhof courtyard. A tranquil medieval courtyard hidden behind an unmarked wooden door off Spui square, surrounded by historic houses and an English Reformed Church where the Pilgrim Fathers once worshipped.
9. An evening in a traditional brown café. Order a Dutch pilsner or a tulip glass of oude jenever with a plate of hot bitterballen and mustard at a candlelit corner pub such as Café 't Smalle or Café Papeneiland.
10. A 15-minute train ride to Haarlem. When the central canals feel busy, hop a commuter train to Haarlem for the Grote Markt, the Frans Hals Museum and quiet cobbled lanes.