Four days in Amsterdam- What to Do?!
 

Hi all,

My husband and I will be spending a total of four days in Amsterdam for our first wedding anniversary this October. It will be the first time in Amsterdam for both of us. We will be staying at the Hotel Pulitzer which is apparently conveniently located. What are some essential sights to see / things to do? Looking forward to hearing ideas!

R.

Go to a bookstore and browse through the guidebooks. There are quite a few on Amsterdam and surely one of them will fit your interests.

I'm also planning my first visit to Amsterdam for 4 days in the fall. Amsterdam has a never ending list of museums, I have not begun to plot our time yet. The only things I know we'll do at this point is a canal ride and a day trip to Antwerp. Not much help to you, I'm really commenting to follow!

Oh I can tell you this-it is wise to buy tickets to the Anne Frank House in advance if you want to visit.

There are sooo many things to see and do in Amsterdam! 4 days are not incredibly long, but sufficient to see all the main sights. Here's a mix of well-known ones and the less discovered:

- Red Light District - I mean, you have to see that
- Walk the Grachten of Jordaan
- Vintage Waterlooplein Flea Market
- Go have a look at one of Amsterdam mills, there are 8 of them!
- Have some yummy Dutch street food at de Pijp
- Apart from all the great museums Amsterdam has, there's one which is very unique: Rembrandt House Museum - you can even attend an art workshop for no extra fee (included in the ticket)
- The Heineken brewery experience

Have fun in Amsterdam!

Hi
My husband and I were in Amsterdam last year for the 1st time for 3 days and loved it. Some of things we really enjoyed were:
- Van Gogh Museum
- City Tour with That Dam Guide (Mark was awesome and we did this tour as soon as we flew in to get our bearings and try to beat the jet lag)
- Red Light District Tour with OMY Tours
- Cheese, clogs & Windmill tour with Joy Ride Bike Tours (this was a cool bike ride around the countryside but still close to the city)
- Anne Frank House - definitely pre-purchase your tix, the lines are crazy
- Walk around the Jordaan district (we stayed in this area and it's just gorgeous)
- Check out some of their markets
- Canal tour

I'm sure all of the above as the stock std type of things and it depends what you like but we enjoyed it all.

Have fun!

Still in the early planning stages, but here is what is on the list:

Rijksmuseum; there are Context Tour options available

Van Gogh museum; same with Context tours

Rembrandt House Museum

World War II and Holocaust in Amsterdam walking tour

Canal Cruise

Rijsttafel dinner

Red light walking tour

Half day trip from Amsterdam including the Zaanse Schans windmills, Volendam and Marken

Begijnhof
Rijksmuseum
Van Gogh Museum
Anne Frank House
Bloemenmarkt
Canal Rings neighborhoods
Jordaan neighborhood
Westerkerk( near Anne Frank House. Anne could hear it's bells)

There are several 16th/17th century merchant's houses which are fascinating to visit. The Netherlands was unique in that the country was run primarily by a group or uber rich merchants in international trade rather than king/queen or hereditary aristocracy - sort of very upper middle class. There are several - not sure which is best now or open when but any guide book will have details.

The Anne Frank house is a must, IMO; and tickets in advance (as mentioned above) will likely save you a long wait in line.

Willet Holthuysen Museum is always open.

Rembrandthuis: totally not essential, sorry. They try to make it relevant, but of course the relevant works are all in the Rijksmuseum.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ite-things.cfm

My two cents worth with help from many others!

http://www.amsterdam.info/museums/museumkaart/

If going to more than 3 museums the national museum card may be cheaper and gives priority engtry to some busier ones - also covers now the Anne Frank House and with one I usually go to many museums I would not have if I had to shell out several euros but ones that I went in just because I had the pass and loved - like the Dutch Resistance Museum, Botanical Gardens, The Ship Museum on the harbor, the Troppen Museum of tropical life; the Lord in the Attic church; the Reubens House; the Jewish Museum and on and on.

Buy it at any participating museum - also good all over Holland.

Many others have already given excellent options to start with. Based on my visit last year for same duration, I can say, depending on interests:

1. Art / history - Anne Frank House, Rijks, Van Gogh Museum

2. Quaint and cute - day trip to zaans schans - take a bus ride from bus stop in front of main train station, I also did some clichéd souvenirs shopping - cute clogs, miniature windmills etc. And the tulips flower market as well.

3. Gastronomy - Must sample gouda and edam cheese in one of the numerous shops and buy for family and friends on the last day

4. Romantic - canal cruise at sunset (I did it solo and still had a fab time learning interesting trivia about Amsterdam, and having excellent conversation with a mother-son duo who were visiting from Germany as a treat for the son passing some exam

5. What brought me most happiness!!!!! - rent a cycle and cycle around the whole city. Ditch those opinions that try to scare you that it is tough cycling in Amsterdam for a tourist given locals ride fast. My hand eye coordination is poor and I still had a blast. My favourite itinerary for cycling which I came up with one inspired morning there - connect the dots, that is, find the nearest park to your hotel or cycle rental agency and go from there to another park and then to another. You get my point? I started with Ooster Park, made my way to Serphati Park, and spent quite some time there while having the picnic lunch I had packed myself (cherries, half a loaf of bread, gouda cheese, small jam sampler bottle I had, orange juice). Then I cycled in front of most popular streets and in front of major attractions like museums, dam square, etc etc and then somehow landed up in Vondel Park. I LOVED Vondel Park. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening there, people-watching, ducks watching, cycling on the tracks within the park, etc. And then returned the cycle at my hotel by 9 PM I guess. I was so happy! It was a glorious day!

6. If you are into it - Heinken brewery / red light district stroll