What to see in Amsterdam in 1 day

Is it really possible to see Amsterdam in 1 day? To see it - yes, but if you are a "museum person", even a week will not be enough for the local museums)

What to see in Amsterdam in 1 day?

To understand which sights are worth seeing, below is a walking route through the old town of Amsterdam - its heart!

Luggage storage at Schiphol Airport

Most often the route starts at the airport. On level -1 of the airport there is a luggage storage office, Baggage Locker. It is open 24 hours. You can leave luggage of any size and/or outerwear (a fur coat, an overcoat). Storing a suitcase of 50*80*40 for a day costs about 10 euros.

How to get from Schiphol Airport to the centre of Amsterdam

Bus No. 397 (platform B17-B19) runs from the airport to the Leidseplein stop, and there is also a train. Traffic by car, taxi and bus is held up by road congestion, which is quite heavy. Car traffic is not a priority in Amsterdam!!! The internet mentions a direct Intercity train from the airport to the railway station. However, in February 2024 that line was closed and we had to make transfers. You can buy a ticket online through the NS app: from Schiphol to Amsterdam Central. The route, however, is as follows: Schiphol Airport train station - Zuid train station, where we follow the signs to the Zuid metro station. The metro (No. 52; No. 51 goes there too) goes to the Amsterdam-Noord station, and we get off at the Amsterdam Central railway station. The fare is about 6 euros per person. If you buy a ticket through the app, a QR code should arrive in your email, which you need to scan on the platforms before and after the trip. But the app is, to put it mildly, "glitchy". We paid for the tickets three times!!! and only 1 arrived by email... Then, when we tried to scan it on the platform, the system would not let us through. We called the support service using the button right there, explained that it said "ticket not valid", and they simply opened the turnstile for us without any checks!!! A taxi for the same route costs about 50 euros, but the thing is that it will take not 20-30 minutes but clearly more than 1 hour... The roads are jammed to the point of stop-and-go traffic. In other words, if you only have a couple of hours in Amsterdam, count on 2+ hours for the road there / back...

Sights of Amsterdam

• Amsterdam Central railway station - a work of art!
• Damrak street - a street of tourist "ants" streaming to and from the old town.
• Dam square + the Royal Palace - architectural masterpieces
• the canal district De 9 Straatjes, with the main canal Singel - a typical view of Amsterdam and of the whole Netherlands. Sweet little streets along the water, with shops and cafés. (the route is marked with red arrows)
• the red-light street between the prostitution museum and the hash museum. However, it is not just one street: the neighbouring streets are also given over to prostitution - it is rather a red-light district - De Wallen‎. It fully opens after 9 pm, but even at 6 pm some of the girls already come out to work. Photo and video shooting is forbidden, but if you want, it is easy to take photos.
• Vondelpark (near the Leidseplein stop)  (the route is marked with yellow arrows)

The route given here, without visiting museums and cafés, takes 3-6 hours (10-15 km).  Without the park it is 3-4 hours. In addition, it is recommended to visit the Hortus Botanicus botanical garden within the old town and, outside the city, the Keukenhof park / botanical garden (open in the warm season).  (the route is marked with blue arrows)

Features of old Amsterdam

• you can smoke weed only in coffee shops. They are easy to recognise by the green cannabis leaf on the logo) They are everywhere; it seems there are even more of them than cheese shops)
• traffic in Amsterdam is chaotic and a bit nerve-racking: people, bicycles, cars - everything is mixed together! Bicycles ride at high speed, not paying much attention to pedestrians... It reminds you more of Asia than of Europe)
• All over Amsterdam there are plenty of cheese and marijuana shops, and museums too)
• It is better to visit in spring or summer, when everything is green and the chance of rain is lower. In winter Amsterdam is rather dreary, although still beautiful thanks to the superb architecture of all the houses in the old town!
• right next to the railway station, on Stromma Damrak street, there are piers with cruise boats. The canal cruise lasts 1-1.5 hours, and lunch and dinner on the boat are available.