When to visit

Discover and enjoy...

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  Unmissable Amsterdam

  If it's your first time, you want to visit these unforgettable bucket-list sites.

  • The Van Gogh Museum. No visit to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to this iconic museum dedicated to the Dutch impressionist master.
  • Cruise the canals. There are more than 100 Km of canals in central Amsterdam and 1,500 bridges. Nothing is more quintessential Dutch than getting on a boat and see the city from this perspective.
  • Visit Anne Frank's House. One of the most poignant and profound experiences in the city. A total of 107,000 Jewish citizens were deported during the Nazi occupation and just 5,000 survived.
  • The Rijksmuseum is one of the world's largest art collections with 8,000 pieces, including the masterpieces of Vermeer and Rembrandt. Lose yourself in 1.5 Km of incredible galleries on four levels. 
  • Wander in the beautiful Vondelpark. This huge 47 hectars park is Amsterdam pride and joy. Holding a special place in the city's heart, here you will find some manicured lawns, ponds, quaint cafes, charming footbridges and winding paths. 
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  Find a corner of Medieval Amsterdam

  One of the most extraordinary places in the centre of Amsterdam is to be found behind a portal on Spuiplein. It leads to the Begijnhof (Beguinage), a medieval inner courtyard where the women of the Catholic sisterhood lived. The Beguinage was established sometime in the 14th century to house the Begijnen. These women lived like nuns but were more independent and had more freedom. Whilst the Catholic faith was banned in the 16th century, the Begijnhof was the only Catholic institution that continued to exist because the houses were the private property of the women. However they had to relinquish the chapel that was here, so the women built a ‘secret church’ , hidden behind the facades of several residences.

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  A walk through LGBT+ culture

  Amsterdam is renowned for being a welcoming city for the LGBT+ community. It is a great idea to walk around the centre and find along the way the past and the present of the movement. Start at the Homomonument, which stands beside the Westerkerk and was the first monument dedicated to the struggle of the community when it was inaugurated in 1987. And to remind us of that struggle you just have to walk a few hundred metres and pass by Dam Square, where in the 17th and 18th century sodomites were routinely hanged. Enjoy a beer or two in the Reguliersdwarsstraat, one of the city's LGBT+ hubs, or the Warmoesstraat, where the 'harder' scene was once  located. And stop at 63 Zeedijk, where 't Mandje is one of the oldest LGBT+ cafes in the world, since 1927.

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  Flowers, flowers and more flowers

  The Netherlands are rightly famous for being a mecca for flowers and plants lovers. And even in a city like Amsterdam, there are plenty of opportunities to appreciate this Dutch passion. Start with the floating Flower Market, in the centre of the city: it may be a bit touristy, but you can find some amazing bulbs and seeds to take home (though beware of your country's regulation if visiting from outside the EU). A beautiful hidden garden is the Hortus Botanicus, which is near the Waterlooplein. This lovely and romantic botanic garden is one of the oldest in the world and was founded in 1638 to cultivate medicinal herbs. If you want to learn more about the country's obsession with tulips, visit the Tulip Museum, not far from Anne Frank's House, where you can learn the history of one of the Netherlands best known symbols.

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  Tasting Dutch food! (and some Asian surprises)

  We firmly believe that food is key to understand a city and its dwellers. And Amsterdam is no exception. If you're brave enough, you may want to try raw herrings, which you can buy from many street carts all around the city. The locals have been eating them for 600 years, but we agreed that they're not everyone's taste. For something a bit more classic, try the deliciuos Gouda, Geitenkaas or Maasdammer cheeses - they also come in many flavours and some varieties are also aged, smoked, etc. Another delightful snack is croket, a deep fried croquette with meat (usually veal) inside, covered in breadcrumbs. And to close, the Dutch are great at desserts: try their amazing pancakes, poffertjes, oliebollen -and the superb Dutch apple pie... you can't go wrong. 

  The strong Indonesian influence on Amsterdam’s food scene can be felt all over the city, and no culinary tour of Amsterdam would be fully complete without a visit to an Indonesian restaurant. Order a rijsttafel (rice table) for the true Indish-Dutch experience.

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  Explore the romantic Jordaan

  The Jordaan is a district in the centre of Amsterdam, famous for its beautiful 17th century houses, hip restaurants and original shops. Come on a Monday morning and you will find the charming Westerstraat market where outdoor vendors sell fabrics, clothing & various bric-a-brac. On Saturdays, the Lindenmarkt is probably the best food market in Amsterdam and the Noordermarkt offers locally grown produces. However, any day is good to walk around this lovely neighbourhood, stop for a coffee and a slice of delicious Dutch apple pie and browse in the many antique and unique fashion shops here. Believe it or not, this now fashionable and trendy area of Amsterdam was once quite unsalubrious and there was even a plan to raze it to the ground and rebuild it entirely. Thankfully that didn't eventuate and we can still enjoy this beautiful old part of the city.

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  A tiny bit of Russia in Amsterdam

  Relationship with Russia might not be at their best now, but the Netherlands have some historical ties with this country. An expression of these ties is the Hermitage Amsterdam, which is a branch of the famous museum in St. Petersburg - in fact, the biggest one at 12,846 m2 (138,270 sq ft).The museum, inaugurated in 2009, a time of somehow happier relations with Russia, is located in the former Amstelhof, a classical style building from 1681. Today and because of the current political climate, the museum operates independently from the Russian counterpart and houses some spectacular exhibitions, focusing especially on the Dutch masters and the Impressionists.

Gallery

Planes, trains and automobiles...

Useful links

• Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

• GVB - Amsterdam Public Transport

• NS - Dutch Railways

The Scene

• 52.3730701,4.8926473

  Dam Square

• 52.3621619,4.8838059

  Club Paradiso

  Venue for Rapido party

• 52.3752182,4.8839765

  Anne Frank house

Related stories

What makes a Gay Pride really memorable? There are literally thousands of events in Europe alone, in itself a great sign of visibility and increased tolerance. All of them are different and worthy of attendance. All are also extremely important for the local LGBT communities. And yet, if one had to make a list what would be the most outstanding event - and why?​

If there was such a list, I'd put Amsterdam Pride at the top.​

Let's first state something that a lot of people don't know: Amsterdam Pride has only been around for twenty years. Unlike other events dating back to the 70s, to the gay liberation movements of those years, sometimes also inspired by the Stonewall Riots, the Amsterdam event is fundamentally a carnival, first organised at a time when LGBT rights, at least in this very progressive country, were well and truly established.

That does not mean that Amsterdam Pride is somehow devoid of a political statement; the message is there loud and clear, but the Dutch have a separate festival (Roze Zaterdag) that is more politically focused and that is traditionally held on the last Saturday of June, the closest weekend to the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, in a different city every year.

A celebration of diversity & queer culture

Held on the first weekend of August, Amsterdam Pride is intended to be a celebration of LGBT culture as well as its importance and relevance to the city. And above all it's something that is designed to draw the whole of the city into the celebration mood. Unlike other events where the attending crowd is confined or separated from a city that continues to roar in the background in its daily mode, here everyone is invited to participate, mix with the crowd, interact and share the fun. It's all about dropping boundaries, about getting together and celebrate diversity, rather than anything else. And perhaps this is why this city is so incredibly accepting of diversity - of all kinds.

A unique party on Amsterdam's canals

But Amsterdam would not be Amsterdam without its canals; they remind us that the city is built on 90 islands, linked by over 1,000 bridges and that it actually lies 2 metres below the North Sea level. People here have a special connection with their canals, many own small boats and they love spending their spare time navigating the maze of canals or just relaxing by their side, cue the multitude of cafes and restaurants alongside them. So every celebration in Amsterdam must involve the canals, in fact one could not even imagine anything not happening without the canals being the key focus, such is their centrality to the whole city and its rich history. And Amsterdam Pride does not escape the logic. So while many prides around the world have 'floats' here they have real floats - i.e. proper boats, in fact more than 80 of them, parading from the Westerdok via Prinsengracht, the Amstel, Zwanenburgwal, Oudeschans and to the Oosterdok.

Along the route they encounter a flotilla of hundreds, in fact thousands of private vessels, moored to the side of the canals, all home to cheering crowds, plus hundreds of thousands of people lining the canals, the bridges or standing on balconies, rooftops and almost every available space with a view over the parade route.

Having attended this event many times, my tip here to enjoy the parade at its best is to get on a boat. If you can't be on an actual float (which I have done and it's awesome fun), make sure you can be on one of the many private boats lining the canals. How? Well, you can rent a boat, which is good if there's a group of you - there are a few private companies who can assist you here (but you need to be quick!). Otherwise I guess you need to befriend someone who has a boat. But the perspective you get from the water is well worth the effort. Watching from the canal sides is not quite the same experience, but if you decide to do that you must make sure that you turn up reasonably early (the parade starts at midday) if you want to get a decent viewing point, i.e. a bridge.

What is most incredible here is the crowd. It really feels like the whole city is here celebrating, not just the gays. You'll see young, old, families with their kids, straight couples, gay couples, old people. This is the real power of this event - it is not 'us' and 'them'. This is 'all of us' and it's something pretty unique among all the pride events where for whatever reason (and probably mostly security these days) the emphasis seems on separating, rather than uniting the crowds. Whether this will at some point change in the future, giving way to security fears in this Europe that is rattled by Islamic terrorism remains to be seen, but it would be a real shame if we were to lose this open and heartwarming celebration of city-wide diversity.

After all the floats have passed (and there are more than 80 usually!), the flotilla of private boats that have diligently remained on the side of the canals until then, is unleashed to continue the celebrations. Strangers chat from boat to boat, share wine, food, take pictures - it is amazing how everyone gets into the party mood. If the weather is good the boats keep crisscrossing the canals in the golden evening sunshine that seems never to end in Amsterdam's long summer days.

A few years ago, in 2016 the city hosted Europride (which coincided with Amsterdam Gay Pride's 20th Anniversary) with an amazing party that warmly welcomed hundreds of thousands of people from all over the Netherlands and the world. But in all fairness this year we've experienced the same fun and cheers that we witnessed all the times we previously attended, when it was an ordinary Pride.

Lots of parties to conclude an eventful day

Of course the celebrations continue well into the night - and beyond. Usually the main after party on the Saturday night is FunHouse, hosted at the Gashouder & WesterUnie by the same crowd that brings you the mythic Rapido Party which also featured with an unmissable event at the unique Paradiso Club on the Sunday. For those who can't stop partying there is also a Rapido-After event back at the Westerunie. Rapido is a stalwart of the Amsterdam gay scene and anyone who's attended one of their regular parties will understand why.

But there is also a huge number of other parties being organised - the choice is immense, from Bear Necessity to various fetish parties. Or you can join the various street parties around town.

In 2023, the Pride event will be held between 1 and 6 August, with the Canal Parade being on Saturday 5th.

In the imagination of many travellers, The Netherlands are synonymous with tulips. But it's not the usual tourism office marketing gimmick - in Holland tulips are big business and a heritage flower, incredibly dear to the Dutch people. We can see them represented in hundreds of paintings by local masters.

Although the origins of the tulip is to be found in the Ottoman Empire, it is here in the Netherlands where 'tulip mania' blossomed. Between 1634 and 1637 the enthusiasm for the new flower triggered such a speculative frenzy that tulip bulbs were treated as a form of currency. In fact at one point bulbs were exchanged like gold and became so expensive that you could have bought a house in Amsterdam for the same price of a single tulip bulb! And as all speculative frenzies, this one also ended in tears - the bubble burst and the market suddenly collapsed in 1637. The bulbs might not be as expensive today, but tulips still are big business in the Netherlands and over 12,000 hectares of land are dedicated to this flower, with over four billion tulips produced every year

Seven million bulbs

No place is more representative of the pride that Dutch people reserve for the tulip than the Keukenhof gardens, in Lisse. The history of this park goes back to the 15th century, when this area was used to gather herbs for the Countess of Hainaut's Castle (hence the name: Keukenhof means 'kitchen garden'). In the 19th century, the Baron and Baroness Van Pallandt assigned the landscape architect Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher, who had also worked on the famous Vondelpark in Amsterdam, to design the grounds around the castle, mostly in an English landscape style. In 1949 the park was transformed into a permanent exhibition of spring-flowering bulbs and today the gardens are alive with over 7 million bulbs that are carefully planted every year in the autumn and gloriously flower between late March and mid-May. It is a quintessential Dutch experience, with innumerable beds of flowers arranged in all sort of shapes and patterns, with a pretty stream and a picturesque lake to add to the romantic and peaceful atmosphere. If you want to see the park in peak form, generally mid-April is the best time to go, though it depends on the season. There is even a traditional Dutch windmill, which you can visit and from the upper part of which you can enjoy a great view over the gardens and the (private) tulip fields adjacent to the park. It can't be any more Dutch!

A great day-trip from Amsterdam 

To get to Keukenhof from Amsterdam you can head to Schiphol Airport and look for the bus to the gardens at the airport's bus station. The journey from the airport to Keukenhof takes about 30-40 minutes. Otherwise there is a bus service from the EuropaPlein, which is on the new North-South metro line. Do purchase your tickets in advance though, as it will save you time, especially at the weekend. And talking of weekends, this is of course when the park is at its busiest - so if you can, go during the week to enjoy the park with noticeably less people.

*** NOTE In 2021 Keukenhof will take place between 20 March and 9 May. To comply with Covid-19 protocols all entrances will be timed. Check all info at www.keukenhof.nl 

Starting on January 14th, a new scheme is trialling a safe space location for the LGBT+ community partying in Amsterdam.

The pilot project named Dress & Dance has transformed Who Cares, a local hair salon, to offer a space for members of the LGBT+ community who do not feel safe in the city to dress and wear makeup before going out for the night. Free taxi rides were also available so people “don’t have to walk down the street in their party outfit.”

The initiative was organised by students at the InHolland University and Maud Gussenhoven, who manages the city's central Reguliersdwarsstraat street, where many gay venues are located.

"It is sad that this is needed but there have been incidents that have made people feel unsafe," said Gussenhoven.

Amsterdam is known as an extremely tolerant and open city, which will host World Pride in 2026, however a Dutch government report showed that of the 823 reports of discrimination made to the Amsterdam police in 2021, 310 were based on sexual orientation.

April is a great time to be in Amsterdam – the days are getting longer, the weather is (usually) becoming sunnier and the tulips are out in full bloom. But there is an event that really excites the locals more than anything else – King's Day.

The first King's Day was held in 2014, the year after Willem-Alexander became monarch; before and for the previous 123 years it has always been the Queen's Day. The celebrations in honour of the ruling monarch started at the time of Queen Wilhelmina in 1885 on her birthday, the 31st of August. The following Queen's (Juliana) birthday fell on 30th April and so the date of the celebration was duly changed in 1949, the year of her ascension to the throne. However the following monarch, Queen Beatrix, did not change the date when she became queen, in honour of her mother (and possibly also because her birthday is on a mid-wintry 31st January). The current king's birthday is on 27th April and so this is the date the Dutch currently celebrate.

Far from being just a celebration for the monarchy, King's Day is an opportunity for the usually pretty reserved Dutch people to let their hair down and celebrate together with the thousands of tourists who flock in Amsterdam to party for the day. And what a grand party it is! It is estimated that 250,000 people arrive in Amsterdam by train on the day itself!

So, what to expect on King's Day?

​Everyone wears orange 

Amsterdam turns into a sea of orange in honour of the Royal Family, the House of Orange-Nassau. If you want to blend with the locals, you need to dress in the colour from head to toe and in the wackiest possible way. Don't worry if you (unsurprisingly) don't have anything in orange in your wardrobe. You'll find plenty of appropriate clothing available in the stalls that pop up around the city.

Bin a bargain 

Once you're appropriately dressed in orange you may want to browse the myriad of impromptu flea markets (vrijmarkt) that pop up around the city on the day. In fact everyone seems to trade on the day! You'll find all sort of stuff on display; clothes, antiques, old books, furniture, crockery. And you never know, you may even find some treasures. King's/Queen's Day is the only time in which you are allowed not to pay tax on these trades, hence the tradition's origin.

Party Hard 

The Dutch also are well renowned for partying hard, so the game starts early on the night before – the King's Night. And it's fair to say that most people keep partying throughout the night and into the next day. Ok, maybe with a quick nap in between… Most gay clubs have special parties on the night, but check the super-popular King's Day edition of Rapido – a must on the Amsterdam scene.

Eat Tompouce 

No King's Day is complete without sampling the Tompouce, which is a sweet custard-filled pastry similar to a mille-feuille. Whilst the sweet treat is available all year round, on King's Day the delicious creamy delight is coloured – of course – in orange! By the way, Tom Pouce means 'Tom Cat'. Meaow!

Jump on a boat 

Like at Pride time and as a sign of how much the canals are important to the locals, the celebrations extends to the city's waterways. Everyone who has a boat will be out there partying and will have invited their friends along. The canals become a massive party zone. Don't worry if you don't know anyone who owns a bot in Amsterdam. People are very friendly and often invite strangers to join them onboard.