Amsterdam itinerary: 3 days for a first visit

Amsterdam is small, flat and made for walking, and three days is just right. The centre is a half-moon of canals, lined with tall, narrow brick houses that lean a little forward, and you can cross it on foot in less than an hour. That makes it an easy first city in the Netherlands, with enough art, history and good food to fill a long weekend and plenty of reasons to come back.

This plan keeps each day in one part of the city. The pace is gentle, because the city is at its best when you stop on a bridge, order a coffee at a canalside table and watch the bicycles go by. Which they do, in their thousands, so the one skill to learn quickly is to look both ways before you step into any lane, painted red or not.

Before you go: the short version

• How long: three full days, plus a fourth for Haarlem, the tulip fields or the windmills.
• Where to stay: the canal ring for the classic view; the Jordaan for a quiet, pretty neighbourhood; De Pijp for restaurants and a young crowd; Oost for a local feel.
• From the airport: Schiphol is about 20 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal by train, and trains run all day and most of the night.
• Getting around: walk, then trams and the metro. Cycling is the local way, but it takes confidence. More in the Netherlands travel guide.
• Book ahead: the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, especially in spring and summer.

Day 1: the canal ring and the Jordaan

Morning. Start at Dam Square, the old heart of the city, with the Royal Palace on one side and the New Church on the other. Walk west to the Begijnhof, a courtyard of old almshouses hidden behind a quiet door in the city centre, one of the calmest places in Amsterdam. Then follow the three main canals, the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht and the Prinsengracht, which curve around the centre in the 17th-century plan. Cross the small bridges and look at the gables, each a different shape.

Afternoon. Visit the Anne Frank House, where the Jewish girl whose diary became famous hid with her family during the Second World War. It is a sobering visit, and tickets must be bought well in advance. Afterwards, walk into the Jordaan, once a working-class district and now one of the prettiest corners of the city, with small canals, galleries, brown cafés and independent shops. Look into the courtyards, and stop at the Noordermarkt, where there is a market on some days.

Evening. Eat in the Jordaan or on the canals. The classic dishes are simple: bitterballen, the crisp, meaty croquettes that go with a beer, and a plate of stamppot, mashed potatoes mixed with kale or sauerkraut and served with a sausage. Dutch cooking is not the main reason people come to Amsterdam, but Indonesian food, from the Dutch colonial history, is excellent: ask for a rijsttafel, a table of many small dishes with rice. Afterwards, walk the canals as they light up.

Day 2: the museums, Vondelpark and De Pijp

Morning. Head to the Museumplein, the big green square where the Netherlands keeps its best-known art. Start at the Rijksmuseum, the national museum, to see Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's quiet interiors and the Dutch Golden Age at its richest. Pick a few rooms and let the rest go. The building itself, with its gardens, is part of the pleasure.

Afternoon. Cross the square to the Van Gogh Museum, which follows the painter's life through his letters and paintings, from the dark early scenes to the sunflowers and the bright landscapes he made in France. Book a timed ticket. After the museums, walk through the Vondelpark, the city's big park, where people picnic, skate and listen to music on the grass. Then stroll on to De Pijp, a lively district south of the centre.

Evening. De Pijp has the best choice of restaurants in the city, with cuisines from all over the world, and the Albert Cuyp Market, a long street market that sells stroopwafels, herring and cheese by day. Try a freshly made stroopwafel, a thin waffle sandwiched with caramel syrup, still warm. In the evening, find a table at one of the many bars around the Sarphatipark or the Ceintuurbaan, and stay late.

Day 3: the old east and the other side of the IJ

Morning. Start in the Jewish Quarter and the old east of the centre. The Waterlooplein market sells vintage clothes and second-hand goods, and the Rembrandt House is where the painter lived and worked for twenty years. Walk through the Plantage district, the leafy area with the botanical garden, then to the Maritime Museum, in an old naval storehouse, if you are interested in the Dutch trading empire.

Afternoon. Walk to Centraal Station and take the ferry across the IJ to Amsterdam Noord, the district on the north side of the water, which is rapidly changing. The ferries are frequent and a good short journey in themselves, with views of the harbour. On the other side, visit the EYE Film Museum, whose white building overlooks the water, or go up the A'DAM Lookout for a panorama of the city. Walk on to NDSM, a former shipyard, now a place for street art, studios and food halls.

Evening. Take the ferry back and have a last dinner in the centre. If you haven't tried it yet, try a herring from a street stall, the Dutch way, with chopped onions and a pickle. Then finish in a traditional brown café, a dark, wooden pub with a candle on every table. The oldest streets of the centre are very busy at night, so keep your bag close and your group together.

With more time

• Haarlem: a pretty old town about 15 minutes by train, with a great market square, a church and good museums.
• Zaanse Schans and Zaandam: a row of working windmills and a village museum, about half an hour out of the city.
• Keukenhof and the bulb fields: the tulips flower in spring, and the gardens and the fields nearby are open for a short season each year.
• Delft, The Hague and Rotterdam: each within an hour by train, and an easy extension of the trip.
• Further on: trains run to Brussels, Paris and Cologne. The train travel in Europe guide explains how to book them.

Where to stay

• The canal ring: the most beautiful part of town, with high prices and steep, narrow stairs in many of the old houses. Check whether your building has a lift.
• The Jordaan: a pretty neighbourhood with small canals, restaurants and galleries, a short walk from the main sights.
• De Pijp: lively, with great food and a good base for the museums, though it can be noisy.
• Oost and Noord: quieter and more local, with good transport links into the centre.

For a group, look at an apartment or a houseboat with several bedrooms, but ask about the stairs. See where to stay with a group.

Getting around

Walk where you can. The centre is compact, and the canals are the best way to understand it. Trams, buses and the metro cover the rest, and a rechargeable transit card or a contactless payment is easier than paper tickets. Cycling is the Dutch way, but the traffic is fast and the rules are different from elsewhere; if you rent a bike, stay in the bike lanes, lock it with two locks and never leave it unlocked, even for a minute. Take care of tram tracks, which swallow wheels. For how a transport system works in a new city, see public transport in a new city.

Planning Amsterdam as a group

Amsterdam is easy for a group, if you plan a few things. The Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum are timed, so book them for everyone together. Restaurants are small, and tables for six or more should be booked a few days ahead, particularly on weekends. And the pavements are narrow, so agree on a meeting point instead of trying to walk in a pack. Keep the shared costs, like the apartment, the dinners and the bike hire, in one place, so nobody has to remember who paid for what.

What to pack

A waterproof jacket and an umbrella are the first things to put in, because it rains often and the wind off the water is cool, even in summer. Comfortable shoes for cobbles and bridges come next, then a small bag you can wear across your body. If you plan to cycle, bring a light rain jacket and trousers you don't mind getting a bit dirty. The packing list for a city break covers the rest.