Our flight out of Chicago was canceled.
That’s how our our tour of Europe started: not with a smooth departure and a glass of wine waiting for us at our seats, but with the lovely chaos of rebooking, rerouting, and recalculating a few days of our itinerary on the fly. We lost a full day in Amsterdam before we even left the ground, but we still made the very best use of our time. Here’s how we spent our day and a half in Amsterdam before we jumped on a Viking Rhine River Cruise.
The Anne Frank House: A Sobering Beginning
I was lucky to get Anne Frank House tickets because they sell out the second they are published six weeks ahead of time. I checked the day before I thought they’d be up and they had already been released, but there were some evening times available and I got two tickets.
You know the Anne Frank story and perhaps you’ve read her journal, so prepare to sob your way through this exhibit, but be very, very glad you came anyway. Walking through the actual rooms where Anne Frank and the other seven people in hiding spent 761 days is one of the most sobering experiences I’ve ever had as a traveler. It’s on par with visiting the Holocaust Museum in DC. Are you glad you went? Yes! Are you happy when you walk out. Hell. No. But you still tell everyone you know to go see it.
Photographs are not allowed in the space. It’s small, but not as small as I pictured it when I was a kid. It’s not a crawl space in the wall, it’s several rooms concealed by a bookcase. As you walk through the entrance, the rooms beyond are quiet and empty. Anne’s pencil marks on the wall where her parents tracked her height are still visible. Her room decorations are still there, and they look just like any other teenagers’.
I’m glad we went first. It reminded me of how lucky we really are. If you can get tickets go. You get to see not only the hiding spaces, but several of Anne’s actual diaries. You’ll be glad you went.
A Small-Group Sunset Canal Cruise
From the weight of the Anne Frank House, we stepped into something much lighter: a small-boat sunset cruise on the canals, with a guide named Stephen who turned out to be one of the best parts of the entire trip.
The boats are all small: just twelve people and our guide and it is stocked with traditional Dutch snacks and drinks: stroopwafels, Dutch cheese, bitterballen, wine, beer, and Jenever, traditional Dutch gin.
Stephen was an engaging storyteller. He talked for the entire cruise about Dutch culture and history. We learned about the Dutch approach to healthcare. His mother had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and had breast-saving surgery the same week. Let me repeat that. Doctors found the cancer and performed surgery that same week. He describes this matter-of-factly, as simply how the system works, and the contrast with the American experience of healthcare is stark. My eyes teared up.
He talked about Dutch frugality, an important cultural value, and how it shows up in everyday life. About the architecture of the canal houses and why they’re so narrow (taxed by facade width, historically). About the city’s relationship with water and the engineering that keeps the whole thing from sinking. He spoke about the Dutch reputation for directness, which he demonstrated cheerfully throughout.
By the time we glided back to the dock at dusk, I felt like I understood Amsterdam in a way that three days of independent wandering might not have produced. If you do one organized activity in Amsterdam, make it a small-boat canal cruise with a good guide. This really made our trip.
The Stroopwafel Workshop: Delicious, Extremely Touristy, No Regrets
Want to know what I was inexplicably most excited about doing in Amsterdam? The stroopwafel-making workshop! Was it a manufactured tourist trap? Yes! And I had a wonderful time.
Stroopwafels are thin waffle cookies sandwiched around a layer of caramel syrup. Making them yourself involves a waffle iron, a generous amount of caramel, and the immediate consumption of your work product while it’s still warm.
These warm, finished stroopwaffels blew the box of stroopwaffels we get at Costco out of the water. I guess sometimes doing the touristy things really pay off. If you don’t want to attend a workshop, find a market (there is one in a different neighborhood every day of the week). They also have fresh stroopwaffels to try.
Wandering Jordaan: The Cutest Little Neighborhood
The Jordaan neighborhood is where we stayed (at the Mr. Jordaan hotel, which I cannot recommend highly enough) and it’s where I’d choose to spend every free hour if I went back tomorrow.
The Jordaan is the kind of neighborhood that makes you want to slow down. It has narrow streets, independent shops, flower baskets spilling onto sidewalks, brown cafes with steamy windows and the smell of coffee and beer. People actually live there. You walk past houses where someone has left their shoes on the step and their bicycle locked to the railing, and it feels like a small town rather than a big city. People all over Amsterdam get together in the evenings and drink beer on their stoops, together for hours which makes the whole town seem like the set of Cheers.
Wandering without a plan, is entirely the right way to experience the Jordaan neighborhood. We looked in shop windows and into cafes (no, we did not end up trying a “coffee shop”, though maybe that’s on my list for next time). My husband bought himself a dashing hat. It is always nice to wander!
The Bikes. Dear God, The Bikes.
Now I have to admit that nothing, no article, guidebook, or amount of prior travel to European cities, prepared me for the bikes of Amsterdam.
There are approximately 900,000 bicycles in Amsterdam for a population of around 900,000 people. The ratio is essentially one bike per person, and that stat seems like an underestimate. Bikes have right of way. Pedestrians who wander into bike lanes are in real danger.
The bikes come silently, from all directions, at speeds that surprise you. They are ridden by people of all ages, in regular clothes, often carrying children or groceries or both. And I didn’t see one person wearing a helmet.
Alongside those bikes are scores of electric cars: quiet and fast, gliding through streets clearly not designed for cars of any kind. The Netherlands is banning gas-powered vehicles in 2030, and Amsterdam already feels like a city that is meeting its future head-on and with a smile. The air is cleaner than you expect for a major European city. The streets are quieter. The whole thing works better than expected and I’m so damn jealous that they get to live that future while the rest of us are arguing over gas prices.
What We Missed and Why It Didn’t Matter
With our lost day, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum didn’t happen. The Red Light District didn’t happen. There are entire neighborhoods and experiences that a day and a half simply can’t contain.
And yet. We walked through the Jordaan and sat in a canal boat at sunset with Stephen. We stood in Anne Frank’s room, ate a stroopwafel we made ourselves, and got nearly run over by bicycles so many times. Ok, we were actually quite careful because we didn’t want the Dutch to hate us, but those bikes are EVERYWHERE.
Despite what we missed, I feel like I understand something real about Dutch culture (the frugality, the directness, the pragmatism) that I wouldn’t trade for an extra museum. The Rijksmuseum will be there when I go back. And I will go back. I’m already trying to get my daughter to go to college there.
Practical Notes for a Short Amsterdam Stay
If you’re working with limited time, here’s what I’d prioritize:
Book ahead: The Anne Frank House sells out weeks in advance. Don’t try to walk up. It will not work.
Stay in the Jordaan: It’s the right neighborhood. Mr. Jordaan is a great hotel.
Do a small-boat canal cruise: Find a small operator with a good guide. We absolutely loved our cruise – the stories and the food/drinks.
Watch for bikes: Seriously. Watch for bikes. They will not stop for you.
Eat a fresh stroopwafel: From a market or a workshop, not a package. The difference is significant.
Leave room: Amsterdam rewards wandering. The best moments weren’t the planned ones. I really wished we hadn’t lost a day here.
Have you been to Amsterdam? What did I miss that I absolutely need to do next time? I’m already building the return-trip list so drop your recommendations in the comments.
