So you want to visit Amsterdam
If you plan on visiting Amsterdam in the near future, I put together a bunch of tips I wish I’d known before I went. You may find them helpful.
I was just there after a decade, and learned a bunch of stuff. I’ll share some of them in the hopes you’ll have a better or more seamless experience. Without further ado:
Paying for public transportation
Public transportation is excellent, and they take your contactless bank card. You need to tap in and tap out when you enter / exit the vehicle. Bus, tram, metro. Trains too! Pay attention though because there are some stations where you can change from metro to a train without going through gates. They will have two yellow posts: one to tap out whichever you’re changing from, the other to tap in to whichever you’re taking next.
You do not need to buy the day tickets, you do not need to pre-book train tickets for most journeys either. If you do need to book, use the 9292 app.
Book your museum tickets in advance
Very few museums have the capacity for you to rock up and pay at the door. We couldn’t get into the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house. Both of them open availability like 6 weeks in advance, and you probably need to buy a bunch of weeks ahead. Bear in mind that the tickets are also timed, so if you buy a ticket for a 13:15 entry, then you can only enter roughly at that time.
We had luck with the Moco and the Stedelijk museums where we could buy the tickets at the door.
More museum advice
Plan to spend an entire full day at the Rijksmuseum if you want to see most of the exhibits. I only wanted to see like 3 things — a seasonal exhibit about gender and representation of gender in art and history, Rembrandt paintings, including The Night Watch, and a few Van Gogh paintings — and that took me the 3 hours I had before I needed to go to the next place with a timed ticket. I didn’t even get to see the Vermeers. Seriously, buy a ticket for 9am entry, and spend the entire day there. There’s a café if you want to have lunch.
The Moco museum is just not worth it. They also seem to be like a chain-museum, it’s by far the easiest to skip.
There’s a “cats in art”museum — KattenKabinet — which mostly has a lot of product posters from the last 150 years. It’s entertaining. Kinda small, will take you an hour, maybe two if you want to see everything.
Getting from - to the airport
Schipol Airport is smushed together with a train station. There’s a train that takes you into Amsterdam Central. You do not need to take an Uber / taxi / rent a car.
Skip the middle of the inner city
The whole area in the middle of Amsterdam, from the central train station along the Damrak (big street) and Rokin (another big street) is a giant tourist trap. Avoid at all costs, if possible.
No need to take cash
Pretty much every place takes all forms of cards. American Express might be problematic, but Visa and MasterCard should be fine.
Maybe take the train
Depending on when and how long ahead you book, going by train might be cheaper, more fun, and a lot more economically friendly than flying. Assuming you’re leaving from a place that has a train connection to Amsterdam.
Check out Efteling
It’s a theme park. It’s the best theme park I’ve been to! Go there, very worth the money! It’s a train and a bus from Amsterdam, and you can do the whole trip just using your bank card. You should pre-book the park entrances though. Link to Efteling. They also have overnight stay options in case you want to make that a destination. It’s very worth it.
Stroopwafeln
The one you get in the grocery store is good. The one I had from Melly’s StroopWafels was large, super soft, and warm. They have flavoured ones. Recommend having one from there.
That’s all. Hope this was useful!