My Four-Day Amsterdam Winter Travel Itinerary

I loved visiting Amsterdam. It’s just quite simply a beautiful city. Plus there are plenty of fun things to do all year round, which was especially important for me since I spent four days in Amsterdam in winter.

In this post, I provide my travel itinerary for my four-day trip to Amsterdam. If your goal is to see and do the most you possibly can, you’ll definitely be able to fit in more sightseeing than I did. But hopefully this itinerary can give you an idea of what you might be able to fit into your trip to Amsterdam if you want to have a slightly more relaxed vibe while traveling.

Before I get to the itinerary, I want to offer a couple quick recommendations for your trip to the Netherlands:

Consider getting an Amsterdam Travel Ticket. With this ticket, you’ll get unlimited access to public transportation in Amsterdam for the length of time you purchase (1 day, 2 days, or 3 days). I timed my trip to line up perfectly with the 3-day Amsterdam Travel Ticket. In other words, on my first day I purchased my ticket around 5:00PM when I arrived at the airport, and just under 72 hours later, I boarded the train back to the airport to catch my flight. So, I took advantage of just about every bit of travel I could get out of the 3-day ticket. If you’re trying to save money, that’s the way to get around in Amsterdam, for sure!
Purchase tickets for museums in advance of your trip. If there are any particular museums—like the Anne Frank House or the Van Gogh Museum—that you definitely want to visit while traveling in Amsterdam, you should be sure to buy your tickets well before your trip. Popular museums in Amsterdam often get fully booked with reservations, so you should not plan on just walking in and buying a ticket in person.
If you’re visiting Amsterdam in winter, start your days early. During winter, northern Europe gets dark pretty early each day. So to make the most of the sunlight—and the warmth it provides—you should start each day pretty early.

Okay, now let’s get to the fun stuff. Here’s my itinerary for my four-day trip to Amsterdam.

And if you’d like to read a more stream-of-consciousness description of my travels in Amsterdam, check out my virtual scrapbook blog post here.

DAY 1:

1:30PM–5:00PM - Travel to Amsterdam

I won’t bore you with the details, but I spent most of the first day traveling to Amsterdam. I don’t even know if this should count as “day 1,” but here I am counting it.

Anyways, I arrived in Amsterdam around 5:00PM.

5:00PM–6:00PM - Travel to Lodging

If you’re interested in buying that Amsterdam Travel Ticket I mentioned above, you can do so at the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. From there, you can take a train to Amsterdam Central Station by following signs for Amsterdam Centraal.

From Amsterdam Central Station, you can take a variety of other public transportation methods to get closer to the place where you’re staying. I used Google Maps to tell me which trains, trams, and ferries to take to get where I needed to go in Amsterdam.

6:00PM–6:30PM - Drop off bags

Arriving in the evening can be convenient when traveling, because it means your hostel/hotel/AirBnB will likely be ready for you to check in—which means you’ll have somewhere to drop your bags right away.

When I arrived to Amsterdam, I went straight to my hostel, ClinkNOORD, to check in and drop off by bags before heading back out to explore the city.

6:30PM–BEDTIME - Eat dinner and explore Amsterdam’s historic center at night

For the rest of the evening, I grabbed dinner in Amsterdam’s historic center and enjoyed walking around. Day and night, Amsterdam is a beautiful city. I definitely recommend strolling along the canals at night. The reflections of the buildings and city lights were beautiful.

If you happen to travel to Amsterdam in winter, like me, you’ll likely get to see the holiday lights that decorate the entire city.

DAY 2:

10:00AM–11:00AM - Breakfast at Bagels and Beans

To start the day, I grabbed breakfast at Bagels and Beans, a reasonably-priced breakfast chain with great vegetarian and vegan options. There are locations all around the city, but the location I visited had huge corner windows, so I got a nice view of the streets for people watching as I ate.

11:00AM–1:00PM - Walk around Amsterdam’s historic center, eat fries

After breakfast, I spent the next couple of hours exploring Amsterdam’s historic center. The city is so gorgeous that it was entertaining enough to just spend time walking around the canals and historic streets.

Once I worked up an appetite, I went to Manneken Pis to grab some fries (or “chips” as they call them in the Netherlands). And let me tell you, these fries were phenomenal. If you’re going to Amsterdam, you definitely should not miss the fries. The fries generally come in large orders though, so it’s a bit more than just a snack!

1:00PM–2:00PM - Canal Boat Tour

In the middle of the day, I took a tour of Amsterdam’s canals by boat. I loved getting a chance to see the city from that angle.

I booked a tour through Lovers Canal Cruises, which I really enjoyed because they provided headphones and audio guides that give information about the city. Plus, the boat was mostly closed to the outside, so it offered a great place to warm up on a cold winter day.

2:00PM–3:00PM - Pit stop at hostel

I returned to my hostel to fill up on water for the rest of the day. Bringing a reusable water bottle is a great way to save money while traveling.

3:00PM–5:00PM - Anne Frank House

Around 3:00PM, I started making my way towards the Anne Frank House. My tickets were for 4:00PM, but the museum asks visitors to arrive before their reservation time. Listening to the audio guide offered by the museum, I spent about an hour in the Anne Frank House.

If you’re traveling to Amsterdam, I think visiting the Anne Frank House is a must.

5:00PM–7:00PM - Explore Chinatown and the Red Light District

Next, I made my way to Chinatown and walked around that neighborhood as well as the Red Light District. These two areas of Amsterdam are located very close together, so it’s easy to visit both at the same time.

Quick disclaimer, I’m sure this goes without saying, but the Red Light District is not family-friendly.

7:00PM–8:30PM - Dinner in Chinatown

Amsterdam’s Chinatown neighborhood has a wide variety of Asian cuisines. I ate an amazing budget-friendly dinner at Little Saigon. They offered delicious tofu banh mis for only 5 euros! Definitely the cheapest dinner I had in Amsterdam, but also one of my favorites!

8:30PM-9:00PM - Try a stroopwafel

After dinner, I went to Crepes & Waffles and ate a freshly-baked stroopwafel. They offer a variety of toppings for their stroopwafels (and regular waffles and crepes), but I just got chocolate sauce on mine.

DAY 3:

10:00AM–11:00AM - Cheap budget breakfast at Hema

Conscious about traveling on a budget, I grabbed a cheap breakfast at Hema, a Dutch grocery store with a small, fast coffee shop and bakery. I ate at the location at Amsterdam Central Station, because I planned to take a train after breakfast. The only problem with this plan was that there was nowhere to sit to eat. Buuuut if you don’t mind standing while eating, grabbing pastries at Hema is a great way to save money with a budget-friendly breakfast in Amsterdam.

11:00AM–12:00PM - Travel to Zandaam

After breakfast, I purchased a train ticket to Zandaam and hopped on the train. The train ride only took about twenty minutes, but it took me a bit of time to find the place to buy my ticket and then a bit more time to find the correct platform. Fortunately, Amsterdam Central Station has multiple information desks to help travelers.

12:00PM–4:00PM - Explore Zandaam

Zandaam is a nice, scenic town just outside of Amsterdam. In the city center, Zandaam has some iconic green and blue buildings. I spent the day walking not only around the city center, but also farther back into the neighborhoods and to some parks around the city. I really enjoyed my time in Zandaam, and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to get out of the big city for a day while visiting Amsterdam.

4:00PM–6:00PM - Early dinner at Foody Kitchen

I grabbed an early dinner at Foody Kitchen, a pan-Asian restaurant that served small plates. I loved the food, and I loved the style of the restaurant—since the dishes are so small, you can taste multiple foods rather than just choosing to one.

6:00PM–7:00PM - Travel back to Amsterdam

After dinner, I made my way back to Zandaam Central Station and took a train back to Amsterdam.

7:00PM–8:30PM - Play board games at the hostel

Tired from walking around all day, I spend an hour an a half resting at my hostel and playing board games. ClinkNOORD has some really comfortable and fun areas to hang out with friends, so it was a nice environment to rest for a bit.

8:30PM–BEDTIME - Heinekens and Dutch apple pie

Before leaving the Netherlands, I wanted to be sure to drink a Heineken beer and eat some Dutch apple pie. So, I made my way to Café ONS, a cozy restaurant located just a few minutes walk from ClinkNOORD. The Dutch apple pie was delicious. It felt like the perfect way to end my last night in Amsterdam.

DAY 4:

8:30AM–9:00AM - Check out of hostel, get luggage locker

First thing in the morning, I checked out of the hostel and rented a locker at the hostel to store my baggage for the rest of my time in Amsterdam.

9:00AM–10:00AM - Hostel yoga class

At 9:00AM on the last morning I stayed there, ClinkNOORD offered a free yoga class. I jumped at that opportunity. And I’m so glad I did!

10:00AM–11:00AM - Brunch at Moaz

Looking for tasty but cheap places to eat vegetarian food in Amsterdam, I found a lot of people online suggesting Moaz, a vegan chain that serves build-your-own falafel salads and pita sandwiches. I had a falafel salad, and I filled my container with as much food as would possibly fit! There were so many types of salads and vegetables to choose from, and they all tasted wonderful mixed together.

11:00AM–12:00PM - Souvenir shopping and more wandering

Before leaving Amsterdam, I wanted to be sure to pick up a few souvenirs for my family. So, I wandered around Amsterdam’s historic center, where there’s tons of tourist shops.

12:00PM–1:00PM - Eat poffertjes at Dutch Pancake Masters

There was one last food I wanted to taste before leaving the Netherlands: poffertjes, Dutch mini pancakes. I went to Dutch Pancake Masters, which is conveniently located pretty close to Amsterdam Central Station. And the poffertjes were delicious, of course!

1:00PM - Retrieve bags, go to the airport

At 1:00PM, it was time to return to the hostel to retrieve my bags from the luggage locker. After that, I boarded a train to the airport to fly out of Amsterdam.

If you’re curious about my budget for this trip to Amsterdam, I’ve got another great blog post for you. Check out my budget for my four-day trip to Amsterdam.

Hopefully this Amsterdam winter travel itinerary can give you an idea of what might be possible to include in your four-day trip to Amsterdam. I loved visiting Amsterdam, and I hope you do, too!