Amsterdam Help! Leaving in a week!
 

Hello,

I will be in Amsterdam for two days at the beginning of a trip next week. Can anyone please recommend a 2-day itinerary?

Thank You!

So much is a matter of personal taste that the best advice anyone can give is to read a guidebook or try the Destinations guide on this website.

You can make your own circular tour on the regular trams, by the way, starting and finishing at Central Station, changing outside the Concertgebouw: Route 5 one way, route 24 the other:

http://www.gvb.nl/english/Pages/default.aspx

Hi J and K,

Must sees for me would be:

Anne Frank House
Rijksmuseum
Van Gogh Museum

That should fill a good part of 2 days. Then you should take a boat ride around the canals and maybe a bike tour.

Have fun!

gruezi

There is a hop on hop off boat tour that travels thruout the canals to many of the must see places.I think it is a 24 hour ticket and is a really nice way to see Amsterdam.

Bring warm and water proof clothing!
Apart from the museums already mentioned (buy your entry to Anne Frank house in advance on line to avoid queues), and a boat trip I would suggest visiting the Begijnhof, floating flower market and generally just wandering the streets. Remember it gets dark early now-the clocks have just gone back so it is dark by around 5 pm. It also doesn't get light until 7.30 ish. So do the museums in the afternoons, and see outdoor sights in the morning. If you really wanted to you could probably squeeze in a trip to Zaanse Schans for the windmills for instance, or to Haarlem, but I think that would be too much.

I used "Let's Go" guidebook series for Amsterdam. It a great resource. You can read it on the plane ride over.

IMO the Lonely Planet guide is best.

I would not waste time on a canal boat cruise. Walk, walk, walk, in that order. If there is a line waiting for a museum entry pass it by. Life is too short already.

My priority in Amsterdam is chat with the locals. Go to the pubs around Het Spui.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the canal boat cruise. It gave me a view and history of many buildings and areas I wouldn't have seen otherwise. It was also very comfortable to be able to sit back, relax and let someone else do the navigating!

Margy

It's also a chance to warm up a bit whilst still seeing the city!

One of the great things about cold and wet weather in Amsterdam is that it gives you an excuse to duck into yet another café...

Even though it is a very "touristy" thing to do, I actually second the canal boat tour. I am living here for five months and I went on an organized one at the beginning of my stay. Ordinarily it isn't something I would do, but I enjoyed it. There are many of them available and they all take around an hour, so it's not much time to devote.

The weather here is fairly cold and wet and prone to sudden changes, so you could always stick to the "walk, walk" plan as best you can, and get on a canal boat tour if/when the weather becomes too prohibitive. Most people here just plow through the rain and don't let it stop them, but for tourists it can cramp your day if you don't like being cold and wet.

I think you can come to Amsterdam and have a wonderful time just walking and seeing the lovely city and never set foot in the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh. But if you are into museums, by all means. As said earlier, this is a matter of personal taste.