Can anyone recommend good tour companies for a bus tour of the area surrounding Amsterdam and an evening canal cruise?

We're going to be in the city for 2 days. What other "shouldn't miss" attractions should we plan on taking in? Recommended restaurants - medium priced?

Thanks!

Just show up at the dock of the various companies operating evening canal cruises -with or without wine and cheese or meals. there are many and as far as i can see pretty much peas in pods - some are right in front of the Central Train Station and others around the city on canals.

So for the cruise just show up IMO

If you really are only in the city for two days I would stick with the city, not go off on a bus tour. There is more than enough to see and do in the city for two days.

When are you going? that effects the evening canal cruise question.

Or even affects the canal cruise question .

We will be in Amsterdam next week.

hetismij what is the easiest and best way to do day trip out of AM without using a tour company?

Few years ago I was in AM with my Grandaughter, we visited few villages including Marken?but we took a tour bus.

I may return to AM next year with my daughter but we want to do day trip on our own.

I would appreciated any type of suggestions.

AnnaMaria

To the original poster: If walking is not a problem for you, I suggest you do just that for about 80 percent of your stay.

Mix it up with a canal tour or two, short ones, an hour or so at a time, and if you need to get from A to B in a hurry, hop on a tram, they run on the major routes.

Stay within the horsehoe formed by the canals from the Centraal station down to Leidsplein, the only exception being the museums that lie just beyond Leidseplein.

In just two days you will just barely get a good feel for the city, learn from the announcements on the canal boats, see a museum or two - time will fly.

Rather than eating on a canal boat where you are a captive and food is probably not the best value, I suggest eating in any nice restaurant you come across. There are a bazillion in the vicinity of Leidseplein - head east and southeast and you'll see. That's just one location where there are lots of choices, as you wander around you'll see plenty more.

Take from home a little compass, it helps on overcast days and after dark - the canals curve around gradually and you can lose your sense of direction easily when you can't see the sun.

Walk walk walk and watch and observe, at that pace you see the details that you'll remember later on because they don't go past too quickly.

Walk along the canals with narrow roadways alongside, marvel at the tight spaces and how people make use of it, parking little cars with two wheels almost over the water - the way they heave furniture up the outside of buildings and in through the windows (I hope you'll see a piano go up that way, that's quite a sight!), look at the boats with people living in them, the little shopfronts, the old church Oude Kerk in the center, and so on.

Lots of treasures are awaiting you right in the middle of the middle!

I suggest walking against the one-way narrow brick lanes along the canal - so you can see speeding taxis, etc coming towards you and not speeding up from behind - ditto for barreling bicyclists.

One way streets don't apply to cyclists

But then again nor do red traffic lights, or most rules of the road. But really cyclists can go the wrong way up a one-way street, quite legally.

Dank - it's more the speeding taxis that are a threat IME - you can hear their wheels squealing on the bricks ahead of time but still...

Restaurant De Belhamel faces two canals, Brouwersgracht and Prinsengracht. Location is nice for lunch. For good food at a reasonable price go to Solo, across from the Concertgebouw on Van Baerlestraat and close to the Van Gogh museum: http://www.soloetenendrinken.nl/en/index.php
You must make an advance reservation. The majority of restaurant guests will leave around 8 pm to attend a concert across the street. So, if you don't mind eating a little later 8 pm is a good time. There is also a great choice of very good Indonesian restaurants. There is a historic link between the Netherlands and Indonesia.
Museums: Rijksmuseum of course (it is closed for renovation but the collection can be viewed) Museum Hermitage, van Gogh Museum. Do enjoy your trip

Rijksmuseum of course (it is closed for renovation but the collection can be viewed) Museum Hermitage, van Gogh Museum.

and if going to these three then the combined entry fees would be about the same as a one-year unlimited entry into zillions of Dutch museums, churches, etc National Museum Card cost - and you will go to so many more attractions that you may find great but otherwise would not have paid the entry fee for IME - Like Our Lord in the Attic; the Troppenmuseum; the Jewish Museum; the Rembrandt House; a couple of historic churches and major museums in other towns

"bird" was some of the best thai food i've ever had.
there is "fifteen", jaime oliver's restaraunt. (extrememly difficult to find, but worth it!)

For a canal tour check out St. Nicolaas Boating Club (there are reviews on tripAdvisor). Very nice authentic experience and only 10 euros. You need to sign up in advance at Boom Chicago and I think the latest cruise is 5ish. It was fantastic!!

The easiest way to do a day trip outside of Amsterdam is just to decide where you want to go and hope on a train. We went to Delft, which was an easy day trip.