32 hours in Amsterdam

Amsterdam was the perfect destination to throw in the middle of our 3 week European trip. We had a gap between Italy and Germany, and needed to fill about a day and a half with a place that wouldn't be too overwhelming and could still be seen in such a short amount of time. Amsterdam filled this void in every way.

I know that a lot of people travel to Amsterdam for a short stay or find that they have a long layover in the city. If this happens to you, I've compiled a list of things to do and see if you have about 24-32 hours in Amsterdam. Luckily, we were able to see pretty much the entire city and crossed off most of the things on our bucket list, so we left satisfied!

Day 1:

9:00AM:

Arrival and Brunch

We landed early on the first day and took a train to the city center where we got on a tram that took us right to our Airbnb for that night. If you need an affordable, conveniently located and quaint place for a short stay in Holland, I highly recommend checking out the Airbnb we used. It was centrally located with easy to access by tram, and our host was helpful with giving us the necessary information we needed for a day in the city.

Link to the listing of our Amsterdam Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/725923

One of the first things we asked our host was where we could get some good dutch food. His response, "We aren't known for our food. Don't bother." And I guess that was true, as there weren't a lot of restaurants in the city sporting traditional dutch dishes. He did, however, tell us that the Indonesian food in the area was amazing due to the high population of Indonesian people living there.

So first things first, we went to a cafe and grabbed an early lunch while we planned out our day.

12:00PM (noon):

Canal Cruise

A canal cruise is an obvious must when you visit the city. Even if you're a regular to the boating life and find it uninteresting, I still recommend it for the sole fact that you are guided by a Holland local who has a lot to share about the area, historically and present day, and is helpful at answering any questions you may have about the city.

1:30PM:

Lunch + Coffeeshops

Now is a great time to explore some of the food the city has to offer. As I mentioned earlier, Amsterdam has a lot of great Indonesian food due to a high Indonesia population, but there are many other great places to choose from. This is also another perfect opportunity to check out the local "Coffee shops" if you're in to that sort of thing (I'm admitting nothing). FYI, coffee shops in Amsterdam are not your normal Starbucks cafes. Do be WELL aware of this before you go and order yourself a cappuccino and find you can't function the rest of the day.

4:00PM:

Book a Tour

Take this time to engage in something that fits your interests. For example, doing the Anne Frank Huis tour at this time would be perfect if you didn't pre-book tickets. This is the one mistake we made on our entire European tour. I had a carefully planned out itinerary for our entire treck across Europe, but decided I would let Amsterdam be our more laid back destination. Poor planning meant we were not able to pre-book tickets to see the Anne Frank Huis, and if you don't pre-book, it's almost impossible to get tickets once you arrive in the city (they book out at least 2 months in advance). However, if you didn't book ahead of time, after 4:00PM they go on a first come first serve basis. If this is the route you want to take, expect to wait in a long line (for maybe 2+ hours) to get inside the Huis. Unfortunately, since we were only in Amsterdam for a limited amount of time, we opted not to waste most of it standing in line, so instead we just went to the Huis to see it from the outside and take pictures. It was surreal to even see its exterior. But I will admit this is my one regret, because I definitely wish we could have taken a tour inside. So... don't make the same mistake we did and plan ahead!

The tour we chose to book was a beer tasting tour that was guided by a local on Airbnb Experiences. Over the course of 4 hours, he walked us through the streets of Amsterdam, hopping from one brewery and dive bar to the next to indulge in some traditional Dutch beer. This was a really enjoyable experience and we had the opportunity to meet some other people from the States and other parts of Europe, and the beer was great. In my personal opinion, Dutch beer tastes very similar to Belgium and German beer, but still has a great variety.

Pictured: This bar is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most beer bottles as decor

Some other suggested tours you could partake in during this time include a food walking tour, a tour of the Van Gogh Museum, a tulip fields tour (depending on the time of year you are visiting), a "coffeeshops and redlight" tour, or the hidden gems of Holland boat or bike tour.

8:00PM:

Red Light District

After dinner, head over to the Red Light District to see what all the hype is about. You might be thinking, "I'm not that kinda person" or "that doesn't interest me", but honestly, that doesn't matter when it comes to Amsterdam. Come on, I'm not the biggest fan of prostitution either, but the Red Light District is famous WORLDWIDE, and is an extremely touristy area, so don't miss out strictly based on good morale.

The Red Light District was so much different than I expected it to be. It is a perfectly acceptable social norm in this part of the country and is not looked down on at all. Our guide from our beer tasting tour is actually the one that lead us to the district so we could walk around. People of all ages flooded the streets, from young college kids to elderly couples, just to take in the uniqueness offered here. This is something that is true to Holland, so if you want to experience culture shock, you've found your spot.

If you walk away with nothing from this blog post, at the VERY least, walk away with this very important message: DO NOT TAKE PHOTOS. I mean it y'all, those girls will BEAT YOUR ASS. As we were walking, an elderly lady in front of me stopped to take a picture of one of the half naked girls in the window, and fair warning, those windows FLY open when necessary, and this girl came running out with her stiletto in hand to chase down that old woman and yell at her for trying to take a photo. I've also heard stories where tourist's cameras have gotten thrown in the canals for taking pictures of the half naked (or fully naked) women. You may think they shouldn't be so opposed to it since they are, in fact, posing nude in windows for thousands of strangers each night. However, most of these women come from all over the world to find this work in Amsterdam, and most of their families do not know they are partaking in this type of work, so they do not want their pictures plastered all over the internet.

On another note, it's important to desensitize your perception of prostitution when you visit the Red Light District. You have to truly understand and try to accept that it is legal here, and again, completely accepted as a social norm by this society. These girls are not judged for how they seek out work, and sex/prostitution is not seen as taboo by the people of this country. So I would suggest sight-seeing in the area with an open-mind to the uniqueness of the norm, rather than purely going to judge the window girls, because then it's kind of pointless to go see the district all together.

10:00PM:

Ice Bar

Go see the world famous Ice Bar. The Ice Bar is a colorfully lit bar where everything from the walls to the glasses are made entirely of ice! It's a weird concept, and cold, but a neat experience for a night out!

Day 2:

9:00AM:

iAmsterdam

After breakfast, make your way to the iconic iAmsterdam sign for a photo op. Since this sign is seen throughout the world to represent the city, you mise well see it... right? You can venture this little area for a good hour or two and check out the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum or Rembrandt Museum to learn a little more about the history of the area.

11:00AM:

Heineken Experience

Okay, so it seems we drank a lot of beer during our time in Amsterdam... and we did. However, everyone loves a good Heinken, right? Mise well check out the birth place of it! The Heineken experience is pretty popular in Amsterdam and a fun tour to do if you have time for it.

12:00PM (noon):

Lunch and Bike

After lunch, use any remaining free time to explore any parts of the area you may be interested in. If you haven't hopped on a bike yet, now is your time to do it as this is the most bike-friendly city in the world... go on and blend in with the locals! Fit in any other tours that you couldn't squeeze in, hit the coffeeshops one more time (and polish off any remaining stash because those Amsterdam airports are STRICT with what you're carrying... again, I'm not admitting to anything here).

We ended up heading to the airport around 4:00PM this day for a 7:30PM flight to Germany, but all in all, this list was a pretty all-inclusive package to see the highlights of the city and for us to get a pretty in-depth experience of life in Amsterdam. Short, sweet and to the point, but we'll definitely have to return for a more extended stay in the future!