Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands and is filled with awesome sights. There’s amazing museums, beautiful canals, good food, and so much more. You could easily spend a few days here exploring this city. That’s what I wanted to do, but as I planned out my itinerary, I found that I would only have one day in Amsterdam. I’m a fast paced traveler, but even I can admit that one day is not enough time. There’s just too much to see.
However, I know other travelers end up in my same position. There’s a long list of things to see and just not enough vacation time. So for other travelers who are short on time, know that it’s still worth making the trip to Amsterdam, even if you can only spend one day here.
So, here’s how I recommend spending one day in Amsterdam.
Arrival into Amsterdam
If you spent the night in Amsterdam, fabulous. You’re already in good shape and can save a little time. I stayed in the city of Leiden, a 35 minute train ride away, simply for the cost savings. My hotel in Leiden was a third of the price of what I would have paid in Amsterdam, so this cost savings was completely worth it to me.
If you also have sticker shock when you look at prices for hotel rooms in Amsterdam, consider making staying outside the city. Haarlem, Utrecht, and Leiden can all make great bases. Each city is connected to Amsterdam with frequent, affordable trains.
Hello, Amsterdam!
I took at early-ish train to Amsterdam and arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station at about 8:20 am. You could arrive earlier (or even later), but I think arriving at about 8:30 am is a great time. Any earlier and you’ll find yourself with a lot of time to kill before museums start to open.
If you’re traveling with just one day in Amsterdam, you need to make it count. With my 8:30 arrival time, I had enough time to buy a tram ticket and travel to my first sight of the day (and make it there right at opening time).
Getting Around Amsterdam
When you arrive at Amsterdam Centraal Station, I recommend picking up a 24 hour tram ticket. You could buy tickets individually, but I found that I used public transportation just enough to justify the purchase. I’m typically a person who says “screw it, I’ll just walk” in an attempt to save a few dollars.
However, because today is going to be a busy day with a lot of sightseeing, it think this is a good day to splurge on public transportation. Since you only have one day in Amsterdam, use public transportation to save time.
Now, when you go to buy your tram ticket, you’d logically think that the ticket machines would be by the tram platforms. Nope! That would be way too easy. Instead, you’ll find a ticket machine inside Amsterdam Centraal Station. If you’ve already walked outside, turn around and walk back inside, right under the large “Amsterdam Centraal” sign. Turn to the left and in a corner, you’ll find the ticket machines you need. When I was here, both machines claimed to be out of order, but I was still able to get the machine to take my credit card and issue me a 24 hour public transport card.
The card costs 9 euros and is valid for 24 hours after its first use. You can also purchase tickets by individual rides, but as long as you take three tram rides, the 24 hour card will pay for itself.
With your ticket in hand, jump on the tram to Museumsplein. Tram #2 will take you there.
9:00 am – An Art Museum
The first stop of our one day in Amsterdam is an art museum and you’ll have to choose between two. You can either visit The Van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum. The museums are right next to each other so you’ll need to take Tram #2 to Museumsplein regardless of which museum you choose to visit. I chose the Van Gogh Museum because while I’m not a huge art lover, but I knew I would prefer Van Gogh’s work to many of the other Dutch Masters. You may feel differently, so I’ll leave the choice up to you.
You’ll have about two hours at whichever museum you choose to visit.
The Van Gogh Museum
Your first museum choice is the Van Gogh Museum. Here you’ll find hundreds of Van Gogh’s paintings. But it’s not just the paintings. As you move through the museum, you follow Vincent Van Gogh’s life and see how his art evolved throughout the years. It’s an incredibly well put together museum and it’s one of the few art museums in the world that I would visit again.
You will need to purchase a ticket to the museum in advance. Tickets go on sale many months in advance and they will sell out. I bought my tickets six weeks in advance, although I probably would have been ok if I had booked two weeks in advance. However, I was here in March, so during summer, you may want to book even earlier.
I chose the earliest slot of the day (I had a 9:00 am entry and the museum opened at 9:00). While I was walking into the museum, I spotted a sign that stated tickets were completely sold out for the day. If this is a museum you want to see, make sure to buy your tickets in advance.
In order to try to minimize crowds, try to get the earliest possible entry. However, accept that no matter when you visit, there will be a lot of other tourists.
Rijksmuseum
If you don’t like the idea of touring the Van Gogh Museum, consider touring the Rijksmuseum instead. The Rijksmuseum is the Netherlands’ National Museum. Here you will find some art by Van Gogh, but you’ll also find art by Remembrance, Vermeer, and many other Dutch painters. But it’s not just paintings. You’ll also find artifacts that tells Netherlands history starting from the Middle Ages.
This is another museum I’d recommend purchasing a ticket in advance for. Tickets go on sale many months in advance and can sell out. I don’t have personal experience with visiting this museum, but based on my other museum experiences in Amsterdam, I can safely say that it will be a good idea to book your ticket in advance.
Even though I haven’t visited, I feel confident in saying that my advice for the Van Gogh Museum applies here too. In order to try to minimize crowds, try to get the earliest possible entry. However, accept that no matter when you visit, there will be a lot of other tourists.
11:00 – Travel
The next stop on our whirlwind tour of Amsterdam is the Anne Frank House. To get here from either the Van Gogh Museum or the Rijksmuseum, take tram #5 to Rozengracht or tram #2 to Paleisstraat. You’ll still have a ten minute walk after you leave the tram. Without the tram, it’s a 30 minute walk.
While I’m typically all for walking and saving a little money, since you only have one day in Amsterdam, I’d strongly suggest using the trams to save the time.
11:30 – The Anne Frank House
You’ll walk through a museum telling the story of Anne Frank and the Holocaust before descending up the stairs behind the bookcase. You’ll enter the room where Anne, her parents and sister, the van Pels family, and Fritz Pfeffer lived for two years. The rooms are small and it is single file as you make your way through the house.
When you exit the living area, you’ll continue through more museum. This part tells the story of what happened next. The Nazis came and all of the residents of the Secret Annex were sent to concentration camps. But the museum continues on and concludes with the impact of Anne’s story.
Your visit to the Anne Frank House will last about an hour.
Like with many popular sights, you will need to purchase a ticket in advance. Space in the house is limited (you’ll really understand once you tour it) and tickets do sell out. I purchased a ticket for 11:30, so I could have plenty of time at the Van Gogh Museum without having to rush.
If you arrive early, stop and sit. Enjoy the views of the canals around The Anne Frank House. Think about how these were the last images of Amsterdam that Anne and her family had before the went into hiding.
12:30 – An Amsterdam Walking Tour
Now that we’ve seen our two biggest sights in Amsterdam, it’s time to explore the city beyond its museums. The museums are great but with only one day in Amsterdam, you have to see a little more of the city.
I recommend a walking tour to learn about the history of this city. You’ll find plenty of walking tours all over town. However, if you don’t want to join a group, you can use a self-guided walking tour. I used Rick Steves’ Amsterdam City Walk self-guided tour and found that it gave me a great overview and took me to places I wouldn’t have found on my own.
My self guided-walking tour started from Amsterdam Centraal Station, so I jumped on the tram to head back to the station. From there I worked my way to Leidseplein.
Walking Tour Highlights
Regardless of how you tour Amsterdam, here’s the sights that I felt were the most important to visit.
Damrak – This is the main spine of the first part of the walking tour. You’ll pass the marina, loads of touristy shops, the Damrak Sex Museum, and the Damrak Stock Exchange before you reach Dam Square. It should be noted that this street will be full of other tourists.
Dam Square – This square is historically where political demonstration began and ended. It’s also nearby the Royal Palace and the New Church.
Royal Palace – This name is misleading because it’s actually the City Hall. However, it is still one of four official residences of the King of the Netherlands.
New Church – As an American, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that the “New Church” is 600 years old.
De Papegaai Hidden Church – From the outside, it’s a blink and you’ll miss it type of a sight. But if you step inside, you’ll find a full Catholic Church. This church, and others like it in Amsterdam, were from a time when it was technically illegal to be a Catholic in Amsterdam. The history is fascinating and I think a visit to one of these churches is a must.
Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market) – Some people say this is incredibly touristy and I guess it is. But here’s where you come to buy flowers and seeds. Despite the touristy feel, I think it was still worth a quick visit. But maybe I’m biased because I found a shop nearby where I found some art I could bring home.
Lunch
As you work your way through a walking tour of Amsterdam, stop and grab some lunch. You could stop for a full meal, but I stopped a stand for fries along the way.
I’ve read that the frites stand at Damrak #41 are a favorite, but the line was crazy long. I found another stand just before I visited De Papegaai Hidden Church. It was off the main street, had cheap prices (well cheaper than those at Damrak #41), good frites, and no lines.
2:15 – Another Amsterdam Walk
Since this was my one day in Amsterdam, I decided to try to load up on walking tours to see as much as I could. I followed another Rick Steves’ self guided walk, this time following his walk of the Jordaan neighborhood. This walk takes you from Dam Square to St. Andrews’ Courtyard, so you’ll have to get back to Dam Square to start it. You’ll also find yourself back in the neighborhood of the Anne Frank House.
While this walking tour was good, I preferred the sights I saw on my other walking tour. The Jordaan neighborhood was interesting, but I found it more interesting to focus on bigger sights in Amsterdam. Another option is to visit the Red Light District. Three self-guided walking tours in one day seemed a little much more me (especially since I was stopping in Haarlem after Amsterdam), so I skipped the Red Light District. But it’s your choice which tour you choose (or how else you want to spend your day).
Jordaan Walk
For me the highlights of this second walk was seeing more of Amsterdam’s picturesque canals. Additionally, I found that this walking tour got me away from much of the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. By the end, I found that I had completely ditched the rest of the tourist crowds, which can be a welcome relief.
Here’s my highlights if you choose to completely self-explore.
Leliegracht – This is one of Amsterdam’s smallest, but prettiest canals.
Keizergracht Bridge – You’ll see some very beautiful buildings here.
Westerkerk (Western Church) – Yes, admire the church, but don’t forget to look around to find the small statue of Anne Frank that it seems like every other tourist is missing.
Jordaan Neighborhood – Just in general, I’m adding the neighborhood to the list simply because it feels so far away from Amsterdam, despite being in Amsterdam.
3:30 – Goodbye Amsterdam
By now, it’s likely close to 3:30 (or even later if you sat down for a proper lunch). You could very easily stay and continue exploring Amsterdam. If you do, consider another self-guided walk or just wander your way along the canals.
I decided to start working my way back to Leiden, but I made a stop in Haarlem on the way back.
4:00 – Haarlem
Haarlem is a city that is just a short train ride outside of Amsterdam (and it’s a stop I had to go through to get to Leiden anyway). I stopped in for just over an hour. That was enough time to walk from the train station to the city center and have a decent wander. I found that there aren’t many big sights here and you should visit just for the atmosphere.
I’ll be honest, I expected to like Haarlem a lot more than I did. I’d read other blog posts and done my research, but I just didn’t love Haarlem. Maybe I was too tired after such a busy day in Amsterdam, but it’s not my favorite city. Quite honestly, if you’re looking for a small town to visit after a day in Amsterdam, I’d recommend Leiden or Delft. I enjoyed both cities much more than Haarlem.
Later, after I had left Haarlem, I tried to put into words exactly what it was I didn’t love about Haarlem. I wasn’t able to completely narrow it down to one specific, but here’s what I determined. The city felt light on sights and I wasn’t really sure what I should do there. I wandered the streets and passed a lot of shopping streets, but so many of these were big international brands and it felt like any other city. And yes, maybe I was just tired from a very busy day in Amsterdam (and a solid week of busy exploring days in Europe).
But if it comes down to it, I recommend Leiden and Delft over Haarlem. Of course, you may feel different and I think it’s important for everyone to form their own opinions. After all, I visited Haarlem because so many other people had had such good things to say about it.
Final Thoughts
I’m so glad I made it to Amsterdam. I had a wonderful time, despite the fact that I only had one day in Amsterdam. More time would have been better, but life doesn’t always work like that.
While it’d be easy to say, I’d change my trip to skip my time in Haarlem, I don’t think I would. You never know what cities you’ll like or not until you visit them. Haarlem just didn’t jive with me, but that doesn’t mean that other people don’t like it. I think it’s something you need to go and experience for yourself.
Continue Your Adventure
More in the Netherlands: Consider visiting Delft, which has nice canals and a history of porcelain making. Leiden is a university town, but makes a cheaper alternative for a home base than Amsterdam. Rotterdam is the Netherlands’ second largest city but feels so much more modern thanks to its unique architecture. And if you’re here in spring, you have to visit the Keukenhof Gardens.
Netherlands Travel Guide: Start planning your trip with my Netherlands Travel Guide.
Itineraries: For those with limited time, try a long weekend in the Netherlands. For those with more time, try my 10 Days in Paris, Belgium, and Amsterdam itinerary.
Paris, France: For a city that pairs nicely with Amsterdam, check out Paris. Whether you have a layover or are spending five days in Paris, there’s so much to see in this wonderful city.