2 Days in Amsterdam: What to Do (and What to Cut)

Two days in Amsterdam is enough — as long as you accept, on day one, that you are not going to see all of it. The people who leave disappointed are the ones who tried to compress a week into a weekend and spent both days exhausted.

This is the two-day version of our 3 day Amsterdam itinerary, after eight years of living here and a lot of visiting friends, it’s my recommendation for a quick stop tour of Amsterdam. The difference between them is not just one fewer day — it is which things get cut, and that is the part most itineraries will not tell you.

2 Days in Amsterdam at a Glance

Amsterdam canal houses over a bridge at night, lit by yellow street lights — Two days is enough for the canals, two museums and one neighbourhood done properly.

	Morning	Afternoon	Evening
Day 1 Centre & Museumplein	Walking tour to get your bearings	Van Gogh Museum, then Museumplein	Dinner near your hotel — it is a long day
Day 2 Canals & the Jordaan	On the water while the city is quiet	Apple pie at Winkel 43, wander the Jordaan, Anne Frank House	Italian at La Maschera, or a beer at Brouwerij ‘t IJ

Two museums, one boat, one neighbourhood. That is the realistic shape of two days.

The One Ticket to Buy: Van Gogh + Canal Cruise

If you only book one thing before you arrive, make it this. The Van Gogh Museum and canal cruise combination ticket covers the two things this entire itinerary is built around — the museum on day one, the boat on day two — and saves around €15 against booking them separately.

It is the single recommendation on this page I would make without hesitation. Van Gogh sells out days ahead in season and you do not want to arrive hoping, and a canal cruise is the one properly touristy thing in Amsterdam that is genuinely worth doing.

Book These Two Before You Arrive

Nothing else on this list needs advance booking. These two absolutely do, and on a two-day trip there is no slack to absorb a mistake:

Van Gogh Museum — sells out days ahead in season. Covered by the combination ticket above.
Anne Frank House — tickets go on sale at 10am for a visit six weeks later. Six weeks ahead is the only window that you will be able to get tickets.

If you would rather not queue for the Rijksmuseum either, it is worth booking ahead — though on a two-day trip, see the section below on what to cut first.

Day 1 — The Centre and Museumplein

Start with a walking tour. It sounds like the obvious tourist move, and it is, but on a short trip it earns its place — you get the history, the layout and a sense of which canal is which, which makes everything you do afterwards make more sense. If you would rather cover more ground, a three-hour guided bike tour does the same job and reaches the parts of the city you would not walk to — it is the single most booked thing on this site, for what that is worth.

Van Gogh in the afternoon. If you only have the stamina for one art museum, make it this one — the collection follows the evolution of his work across his life, and the letters between Vincent and his brother Theo are woven through it. Take the time to listen to a few. The gift shop is genuinely excellent if you want a souvenir.

Then walk Museumplein. The Rijksmuseum building is worth seeing from the outside even if you do not go in — same architect as Centraal Station, finished in 1885. Going inside is an afternoon in itself, which on a two-day trip means giving up something else.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with tulips in circular planters across Museumplein — The Rijksmuseum from Museumplein. Worth seeing from outside even if the interior does not fit into two days.

Eat near wherever you are staying, check our neighborhood guides for the best restaurants by neighborhood, Centre, De Pijp, Noord, Bos en Lommer, and Oud-West.

Day 2 — The Canals and the Jordaan

Amsterdam canal houses reflected perfectly in still canal water — Get on the water early. This is what the canals look like before the boats start queuing.

Get on the water in the morning, before the canals get busy. If you bought the combination ticket, your cruise is already covered. Otherwise you can take a standard cruise with unlimited drinks, or rent a small open boat and drive it yourself on a normal driving licence — the usual loop takes about three hours and you go slowly through the whole city. Pack a picnic, and plan drinks around the fact that you will need to stop somewhere for a bathroom.

If your second evening is free rather than your morning, a sunset cruise is the better version of the same thing — the light on the canal houses at golden hour is the photo everyone comes for.

There are seventeen different kinds of canal tour and they vary enormously in price and crowding — we have ranked all of them if you want to pick deliberately rather than book the first boat you see.

Then apple pie at Winkel 43. It lives up to the hype. Note that there is a market in the square on Saturday mornings, so expect it to be busier then. Wander the Jordaan afterwards — it is the prettiest neighbourhood in the city and the wandering is the point.

Morning sun on bright yellow autumn leaves beside an Amsterdam canal — The Jordaan in autumn. Wandering without a plan is genuinely the best thing to do here.

Anne Frank House in the late afternoon if you managed to get tickets. It is crowded, always, and the story is told very well. Finish with Italian at La Maschera, which is our favourite in the Jordaan and conveniently right there.

What to Cut (and What to Cut It For)

Going from three days to two means losing an entire day in Amsterdam Oost — the Resistance Museum, Brouwerij ‘t IJ under its windmill, the zoo. That is the honest trade. Here is how to make it deliberately rather than by accident:

If you skip	You free up	Spend it on
The Rijksmuseum interior	A full afternoon	The Jordaan on foot, or a second neighbourhood entirely
Anne Frank House (or you missed tickets)	Two hours plus queueing	Our Lord in the Attic — a hidden 1661 church inside an ordinary canal house, minutes from Centraal, and never crowded
A sit-down lunch	An hour, twice	Actually seeing the Jordaan instead of a restaurant interior
Nothing — you want it all	Nothing	Stay a third day. Seriously. The 3 day version exists for a reason

Is a City Card Worth It for Two Days?

iAmsterdam City Card details showing access to 70+ museums, public transport and a canal cruise — What the iAmsterdam City Card covers. Excellent value on three days, rarely on two.

Usually not. The iAmsterdam City Card covers 70-plus museums, public transport, a canal cruise and bike rental, and it is excellent value if you are the sort of visitor who packs three museums into a day. Note that Van Gogh and the Anne Frank House are not included — both need separate advance booking regardless.

On a two-day trip following this itinerary, you will visit two museums, which are not included in the iAmsterdam Card. The card will not pay for itself.

What is worth it is the Van Gogh and canal cruise combination ticket, which saves around €15 and covers the two things this itinerary is actually built around.

Where to Eat in Two Days

Winkel 43 — the apple pie, in the Jordaan. Busier on Saturdays because of the market.
La Maschera — our favourite Italian, same neighbourhood as Anne Frank.
Hannekes Boom — one of the few places near Centraal where you will find actual locals. Indoor and outdoor, right on the water, excellent on a sunny day.
Brouwerij ‘t IJ — beer under a windmill, with bitterballen. Worth the tram ride out if you can fit it.
Farine — French croissants and very good coffee in West.

If you would rather have someone else do the choosing, a food and culture walking tour with ten tastings covers lunch and an afternoon in one, which is efficient on a tight schedule. For something shorter, the stroopwafel making workshop takes about an hour and is the rare souvenir you eat.

Amsterdam does breakfast and brunch exceptionally well, and it is one of the genuine pleasures of the city — here are 25 spots sorted by neighbourhood so you can pick one near wherever each day starts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 2 days enough for Amsterdam?

Yes, for the essentials. Two days covers the major museums, the canals and one neighbourhood properly. What you lose is depth — you see the city rather than get to know it. If you can add a third day, spend it in a single neighbourhood rather than adding more museums.

What should you not miss in 2 days?

The Van Gogh Museum and a canal cruise. Everything else is negotiable. Both are genuinely worth the tourist label they carry, and the combination ticket covers the pair for around €15 less than booking separately.

Can you see Anne Frank House on a short trip?

Only if you booked roughly six weeks ahead. Tickets are released at 10am for visits six weeks out and go quickly. If you missed them, Our Lord in the Attic is a genuinely good substitute — a hidden Catholic church built into a canal house in 1661, when public Catholic worship was banned. It is near Centraal and rarely busy.

When is the best time to visit?

April to October. Winter here is grey with near-daily drizzle — think Seattle. It is more crowded in summer, but seeing the canals in sunlight is worth it. April and May are the busiest because of tulip season. Watch out for King’s Day on 27 April, Pride in early August and Amsterdam Dance Event in October: all three are excellent, and all three fill the city completely.

How do you get around in two days?

Walk, mostly — the centre is small. Tap a contactless card on the tram for anything further; it costs €1.16 to board plus €0.217 per kilometre, capped at €10.50 a day. A day pass only pays off from about the third ride, so on a compact itinerary like this one it usually will not. If you would rather have it sorted before you land, you can book a GVB public transport ticket in advance. There is more detail in our guide to getting around Amsterdam, including when an Uber or Bolt actually beats the tram.

If You Have Longer

Our 3 day Amsterdam itinerary adds Amsterdam Oost and breaks everything down by interest — art, history, kids, eating and drinking — so you can swap stops in and out. And if you have a full day to give one neighbourhood, start with De Pijp.