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Three days in Amsterdam is actually a really nice amount of time for a first trip.
You have enough time to see the big things—the canals, museums and neighborhoods you’ve probably been saving on Pinterest—but you don’t have to spend three straight days running from attraction to attraction.
And honestly, Amsterdam is a city that’s better when you leave a little time to wander around.
One minute you’re heading somewhere specific, and the next you’re stopping for coffee or Stroopwafel, walking along a canal or realizing you’ve somehow wandered into a bike lane again and narrowly avoid a total wipe out. Seriously. Watch the bike lanes.
This 3-day Amsterdam itinerary gives you a plan without scheduling every minute of your vacation. You’ll hit the major sights, spend time in some of Amsterdam’s best neighborhoods and still have time to actually enjoy being there.
Wondering what this itinerary will actually cost? I broke down a realistic 3-day Amsterdam budget, including hotels, food, transportation and attractions.how much 3 days in Amsterdam costs.
And if you haven’t booked your hotel yet, start with my Best Hotels in Amsterdam guide. There are what seems like a million hotels in Amsterdam and I’ve whittled them down to a handful that you’d be totally happy booking. I’ve broken it down by budget and travel style to help you decide.
With only three days, location matters more than you might think. I’d much rather spend my vacation wandering along a canal than commuting back and forth to my hotel. Your time is precious and I want to help you avoid wasting it by commuting!
Quick Overview: How to Spend 3 Days in Amsterdam
When we visited Amsterdam, we didn’t have every hour of every day planned—and I’m glad we didn’t.
We booked the things that really needed reservations, (which I did well before we left for vacation) usually early in the day or first thing, and then gave ourselves time to diddle around.
And Amsterdam is a fantastic city for diddling around. Walk along a canal, stop somewhere for lunch, wander into a shop, have a drink. You get the idea.
If I were turning our trip into a three-day itinerary, this is how I’d do it:
Day 1: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam & a Canal Cruise
We started at the Rijksmuseum right when it opened at 9 a.m., but first we had breakfast at the restaurant inside the museum. After the museum, we spent the rest of the day exploring without much of an agenda. Later, we took a canal cruise with drinks and snacks before heading to dinner.
Day 2: Van Gogh Museum & Anne Frank House
We booked the Van Gogh Museum first thing in the morning, then spent the middle of the day wandering around and stopping for lunch. Our Anne Frank House reservation was later in the day.
Day 3: Explore Amsterdam Without an Agenda
Our actual third day was a little different because we have family there, and they took us around the city. But that’s also one of the reasons I wouldn’t pack Day 3 with reservations. Use it for neighborhoods, food, shopping and anything you didn’t get to during the first two days.
Have a fourth day? Go to Haarlem.
That’s what we did. Haarlem is an easy day trip from Amsterdam and gave us a completely different experience without spending hours getting there.
Is 3 Days in Amsterdam Enough?
Yes. Three days is enough for a first trip to Amsterdam. You can visit the major museums, see the Anne Frank House, take a canal cruise and still have time to explore the city without packing every hour of your trip.
If you have a fourth day, I’d use it for a day trip. There are several smaller towns just a short train ride from Amsterdam that you can explore. We went to Haarlem, and I’d absolutely recommend it.
Day 1 – Rijksmuseum, Wandering & a Canal Cruise
Morning: Breakfast at the Rijksmuseum
We started our first full day in Amsterdam at the Rijksmuseum, and I booked our tickets for 9 a.m., right when it opened.
But first—breakfast.
We ate at the restaurant inside the Rijksmuseum before touring the museum, which worked perfectly. We could sit down, have breakfast and coffee, and then head straight into the museum without wasting half the morning bouncing around the city.
I’m also a big fan of visiting major museums first thing in the morning. We’re already up, nobody is tired yet, and once we’re finished, the rest of the day is ours.
And the Rijksmuseum is big. You could spend hours trying to see every single thing in there.
We did not.
Instead, we used the free audio tour through the museum’s official app. You just need your own wired or Bluetooth earbuds/headphones to listen while you walk through the galleries.
There are 14 different self-guided tours and highlights to choose from at no extra cost. We all chose the “Best of the Rijksmuseum” tour, which was perfect for our first visit. It takes you to some of the museum’s biggest highlights without making you feel like you need to see every piece of art in the building.
One of those is Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, which is ginormous and absolutely worth seeing in person.
Anyway, we saw what we wanted to see and then moved on with our day. I am not interested in turning a vacation into an endurance event just because I paid admission.
Afternoon: Diddle Around Amsterdam
Yes, this is an official part of my itinerary.
After the Rijksmuseum, we didn’t have another reservation hanging over our heads. We had the rest of the afternoon to walk around, stop when we wanted to stop and just see where we ended up.
And Amsterdam is made for this.
Walk along the canals. Wander through the Nine Streets. Stop for lunch or coffee. Pop into a shop because something in the window caught your attention. Sit somewhere and have a drink.
You do not need an attraction scheduled every two hours to justify being in Amsterdam.
In fact, I’d intentionally leave this part of Day 1 open. You’ve already spent the morning in one of Amsterdam’s biggest museums, and you have a canal cruise coming later. Give yourself a few hours where nobody has to be anywhere.
Late Afternoon: Take a Canal Cruise
This was one of my favorite things we did in Amsterdam.
We booked a smaller canal cruise that included drinks and snacks, and I loved doing it later in the afternoon before dinner. By this point we’d already spent the day walking around the city, so it was pretty great to sit down, have a drink and let someone else do the sightseeing for us.
You also see Amsterdam completely differently from the water. The canal houses, bridges and tiny streets make a lot more sense once you’re actually cruising through them.
If this is your first trip to Amsterdam, I wouldn’t skip a canal cruise.
Day 2 – Van Gogh Museum & Anne Frank House
Photo by Frans Ruiter on Unsplash
Morning: Van Gogh Museum
We started Day 2 with another early museum reservation—this time the Van Gogh Museum.
Again, I really liked having our big attraction booked first thing in the morning. We weren’t watching the clock all afternoon wondering when we needed to leave for our reservation. We went, enjoyed the museum and then had the rest of the day ahead of us.
And even if you’ve seen Van Gogh’s paintings a million times in books, online or printed on everything imaginable, seeing them in person is completely different.
And I need to tell you that these tickets MUST be booked ahead of time. While standing in line to get in WITH our time reserved ticket, I witnessed several people hopping out of line and talking to the Van Gogh staff asking if they could buy tickets. They were all told that they sell out every day. So, if you know you want to visit this museum, get your tickets right away.
Check Van Gogh Museum tickets and tours →
Lunch & More Diddling Around
After the museum, we had lunch and—yes—diddled around some more.
This is why I like splitting the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum between two mornings instead of trying to knock them both out in one day. Museum fatigue is real. By the time I’m staring at the 400th painting, I’m probably thinking more about where we’re eating dinner than appreciating the art.
Give yourself a few hours for lunch and exploring before your next reservation.
Afternoon: Anne Frank House
Later that day, we visited the Anne Frank House.
This is the reservation I would take the most seriously when planning your Amsterdam itinerary. Tickets can sell out, and this isn’t something I’d leave until you arrive.
Tickets for the Anne Frank House are sold online only through the actual museum and sell out quickly. Plan ahead and reserve your time slot before your trip. Every Tuesday at 10am (Amsterdam time), all tickets become available for visits 6 weeks later. I literally set an alarm and purchased my tickets at 4am. At that point, there were time slots already full.
If this attraction is important to you, don’t take this lightly. You cannot purchase tickets in person the day of.
Day 3 – Explore Amsterdam Without an Agenda
Photo by Massimo Virgilio on Unsplash
By Day 3, we’d already checked off the things that required advance reservations, so this was our day to just enjoy Amsterdam.
We were lucky because we have family there, and they spent the day showing us around. Obviously, not everyone has relatives in Amsterdam waiting to give them a personal tour, but it reinforced something I’d already started to realize about this city:
You don’t need to schedule every minute.
By now you’ve seen the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House. You’ve cruised the canals. You’ve had two pretty full days.
Use Day 3 for the things you haven’t gotten to yet.
Go back to a neighborhood you liked. Walk along the canals without Google Maps telling you where to go. Shop. Find somewhere good for lunch. Sit outside with a drink if the weather cooperates.
And if there’s something you really wanted to do that didn’t fit into the first two days, this is where I’d put it.
A Few Ideas for Day 3
If you’d rather have a little more structure, you could use part of the day for a food tour, bike tour or another Amsterdam experience that sounds fun to you.
If I could do it over again, I would definitely do a food tour. That is something our family is just getting into and it’s an awesome way to see and taste a variety of foods.
Browse Amsterdam tours and experiences →
But I wouldn’t book three more attractions just because you have an empty day on the itinerary.
Sometimes the best part of a trip is the part where you diddle around.
Have a Fourth Day? Take a Day Trip
Photo by Dmitrii E. on Unsplash
If you have a fourth day in Amsterdam, this is when I’d consider getting out of the city for a few hours.
We went to Haarlem, and I’d absolutely do it again.
Haarlem gave us a completely different experience without requiring some huge travel day. After three days in busy Amsterdam, it was nice to spend the day somewhere smaller and a little slower.
And honestly, this is another reason I wouldn’t try to squeeze a day trip into a three-day Amsterdam itinerary.
Getting to Haarlem from Amsterdam
We took the train from Amsterdam to Haarlem, which made this an incredibly easy day trip. No rental car, no complicated transportation plan—just hop on the train and spend the day exploring.
Once we arrived, we mostly walked.
One of our stops was the Grote or St. Bavokerk, the huge church right in the center of Haarlem. It was very cool and absolutely worth going inside.
After that, we shopped, wandered around and eventually stopped for lunch at a restaurant inside an old windmill.
Which sounds very charming and Dutch.
And it was.
Until my daughter decided to feed the geese from the table and was promptly scolded for it.
Apparently, do not feed the geese was part of the Haarlem cultural experience we had failed to research ahead of time.
Honestly, though, this is exactly what I liked about our day in Haarlem. We didn’t need a complicated itinerary. We took the train over, saw the church, shopped, had lunch and wandered around.
After three days of museums, reservations and sightseeing in Amsterdam, Haarlem was a really nice change of pace.
If you have only three days in Amsterdam, I wouldn’t sacrifice one of them for a day trip. But if you have a fourth?
Go to Haarlem.
Where to Stay for 3 Days in Amsterdam
If you only have three days in Amsterdam, where you stay matters.
You don’t want to save a few dollars on a hotel only to spend part of every morning getting back into the city. With a short trip, I’d rather pay a little more for a location that lets me walk out the door and start exploring.
Amsterdam has several neighborhoods that work well for first-time visitors, but they have very different personalities. Some put you right in the middle of everything, while others are quieter and feel more residential.
I’ve broken down the different areas, who they’re best for and the pros and cons of staying in each one here:
Amsterdam 3-Day Itinerary FAQs
How many nights should I stay in Amsterdam?
For this itinerary, I’d stay three nights at minimum. Four nights is even better if you want to add a day trip to Haarlem without giving up one of your days in Amsterdam.
Do you need a car in Amsterdam?
No. I wouldn’t rent a car for a three-day trip to Amsterdam. We walked, used public transportation when needed and took the train for our day trip to Haarlem.
Is Amsterdam easy to walk around?
Yes, and walking is one of the best ways to experience the city. A lot of the places you’ll visit are relatively close together, and wandering along the canals is part of the fun.
Just remember one very important thing:
The bike lane is not a sidewalk. 😂
Pay attention when you’re crossing streets and bike lanes because those bikes are coming—and they are not interested in your vacation itinerary.
Do I need to book Amsterdam attractions in advance?
For the big attractions, yes. I would book the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and especially the Anne Frank House before your trip.
You don’t need to reserve every single thing you’re going to do, though. We booked the attractions that mattered most to us and left plenty of time in between to explore.
That’s exactly how I’d plan Amsterdam again.
Final Thoughts on Spending 3 Days in Amsterdam
Looking back at our trip, I’m really glad we didn’t try to cram more into our days.
We booked the things that mattered—the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House and our canal cruise—and left the rest of our time pretty open.
That gave us time to walk, eat, shop, stop for a drink and, apparently, diddle around Amsterdam, which has now become the unofficial theme of this itinerary.
And that’s probably my biggest piece of advice if you’re planning your first trip.
Book the things you can’t miss. Leave some room for everything else.
Amsterdam is one of those cities where simply walking around is part of the experience. You don’t need a reservation every two hours to feel like you’ve seen it.
And if you’re lucky enough to have a fourth day, hop on the train to Haarlem.
Just don’t feed the geese. 😂