Long weekend in Amsterdam

This is not an itinerary for someone who has never been to Amsterdam before, you won’t find the standard touristy advice here. Rather I want to give you an idea of what to do, where to eat and what to see during a long weekend in Amsterdam when you are just on a short city getaway.

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Friday – Arrival Day

We (me and a friend) drove down from Hameln to Amsterdam on Friday morning, took plenty of breaks, had lunch on the road and checked in to our hotel at around 3 pm.

Leonardo Hotel Amsterdam Rembrandpark

Originally we had booked a room at the Leonardo Hotel Amsterdam Royal*, which had a huge sale on. A week before we were set to arrive we were transferred to a different hotel of the same chain. We ended up staying at the Leonardo Hotel Amsterdam Rembrandpark*. Asking nicely (you would be surprised how far that will get you in any situation) got us an upgrade and we stayed on one of the top floors in a corner room, with a great view over the city. Ultimately this hotel turned out to be a much better option for a long weekend in Amsterdam since it is much closer to the city centre and you have to spend less time going places.

Breakfast at the hotel was great, they had a fresh buffet with all the hot food being served regularly so it was actually hot, a waffle station, a granola station and a wide variety of coffee specialities.

Vegan Junk Food Bar

On our first evening, we had dinner at the Vegan Junk Food Bar since we had heard good things about it and it was pretty close to the hotel. We had two bottles of Kombucha, vegan calamari rings with pink sauce, as well as an “Mc Cruelty-free”, and shared a serving of sweet potato fries with smeck mayo. Everything was extra because who wants sauce on their fries, am I right?

The burger was okay, the calamari only tasted like fat and were incredibly chewy and the sauces tasted mainly of oil and salt. Vegan food can be delicious, but sadly this was not. (I’m trying very hard not to make a junk food joke here…)

Can you tell why I don’t get direct brand sponsors? 😀

Vondelpark

We spent the rest of the evening with a cider from a local supermarket, wandering through the Vondelpark. The Vondelpark is probably Amsterdam’s most well-known park and the second biggest one in the city. The Vondelparkpaviljoen, a building in the neo-renaissance style at one of the entrances of the park is located at the lowest point of the city. It used to be the film museum of the city before it moved to a more futuristic building on the other side of the IJ, which splits the city into Amsterdam Noord and Amsterdam Zuid.

Saturday – 1st full Day

Saturday was the first full day of our long weekend in Amsterdam and we made the most of it.

eye – Film Museum Amsterdam

After breakfast first thing in the morning, we took the bus halfway across the city, took a ferry from the main train station across the IJ to Amsterdam Noord and then walked the rest of the way to the Amsterdam film museum called the eye. Inside they show the history of film and cinema, with plenty of exhibits and practical demonstrations that we could try ourselves.

blue° Café Amersterdam

After the museum, we took the ferry back to De Wallen, the city centre of Amsterdam. We walked around for a bit, then had a Latte Macchiato at the blue°, looking out over the rooftops of Amsterdam.

This modern café has a 360° viewing window at 30 meters above the ground. While you can also get food there the best seats are at the small coffee tables directly in front of the window.

You have to go through a shopping centre (the Kalverpassage) and take an elevator in the middle of it to get to it, so it’s not too easy to find, which is great, because it’s not too packed.

Café de Prins

After coffee, we had something small for lunch (as it was very hot and we weren’t particularly hungry) at Café de Prins. It has seating outside, along the “Prinsengracht” one of Amsterdams’ many canals, with umbrellas and trees providing shade.

I had Bitterballen with mustard. Now, what are Bitterballen? They are breaded meat croquettes, traditionally stuffed with a beef or veal stew, then deep-fried.

Flagship Canal Cruise

I have been to Amsterdam three times so far, but never found the time to actually do a canal cruise, or Grachten cruise, as the Dutch call their canals. Walking along the canals you see several checkpoints of several tour companies offering you a canal cruise at widely varying prices.

Eventually, we decided on taking a Flagship Canal Cruise* through the Grachten, starting from the dock in front of the Anne Frank house. They have many different tours, we opted for the cheese one.

The Madras Diaries

Apart from Bitterballen, which I am a big fan of ever since I tried them for the first time on the island of Ameland, I am not a big fan of Dutch cuisine. However, due to Amsterdam’s historical importance as a port accessing Europe (and the Netherlands’ history of colonisation), you can find great options for international cuisine in Amsterdam.

We had dinner at the South Indian Restaurant The Madras Diaries. Ordering lamb curry with sona masoori rice led to this conversation between me and the waitress:

“How spicy is it?”
“Spicy.”
“Yes, but… white people spicy or Indian spicy”
“Indian spicy.”

We spend the rest of the first full day of our long weekend in Amsterdam wandering around the city, taking in the atmosphere and hitting up every single second hand and vintage shop we found on the way.

Sunday – 2nd full Day

For Sunday we had booked a full-day tour*. At 8:30 we were picked up at Amsterdam Centraal, the main train station of the city, where got onto a bus and caught some more sleep while they drove us to the first stop of the tour:

Klompenmakerij

The Stoom Klompenmakerij Marken* is a workshop where you can watch a historically accurate representation of the traditional Dutch wooden clogs being made. It was a bit stuffed, especially because of Covid and some people (mainly American tourists) refusing to wear their masks, but the process itself was very interesting, especially because they’re still using the old steam-powered machines.

After the presentation, you enter a museum where you learn about the history and usage of clogs, like how the farmers wear them on the fields because they don’t sink into the muddy ground.

At the end of the workshop, you walk through an exhibition of strange and detailed clogs. Oversized clogs, intricately carved wedding clogs, tiled clogs, mirror clogs and even bedazzled clogs.

Once everyone was back outside we walked to the small near harbour where we took a ferry to Volendam. In Volendam we got to the next few stops of our tour:

Cheese Factory Volendam

The first thing I have to say about the cheese factory in Volendam* is that it did not reek of cheese. I expected the worst before we walked in, but it only really smells of cheese in the store room. In the production and presentation room, you can’t even tell.

They use modern machines, but the technique is still the same as it was a century ago. Most cheese is made with the same steps: The milk is heat treated (pasteurized), and then it is cooled in a big tank. Afterwards, a “starter culture” of bacteria is added which converts the lactose in the milk into lactic acid. Next, they add rennet, an enzyme which curdles the milk. The curds are separated from the liquid, salt is added, it gets heated again, they remove the heat-extracted liquid again, and then the remaining curds are formed and moved to a shelf to age. Then: Tadaaaa! Cheese.

After the Cheese factory, we grabbed lunch at one of the restaurants at Volendam, then visited the Woltjes Backerij a museum/shop in Volendam where they make the Dutch Stroopwafels. Afterwards, we got back on the bus once again, which took us to the last stop of our tour:

Zaanse Schans

The last stop of our tour was the Zaanse Schans*, a residential area where the 18th and 19th centuries are brought to life. In an old bakery, a warehouse where clogs are made, a cheese factory and a pewter foundry you can a glimpse into the past of 200 years ago. The highlight of the area is its various windmills, which are still used for production. There are 11 mills in total, paint mills, spice mills, wood-saw mills, polder mills and smock mills.

Foodhallen Amsterdam

For dinner on Sunday we went to the Foodhallen, a market-like setup where lots of small food stalls serve every cuisine you can think of, so we both ordered whatever we wanted, but still ate together. I had a taco platter with five different kinds of tacos: Pork al pastor, Jackfruit, fried chicken, spicy tuna and braised beef. They were delicious!

Monday – Drive Home

On the last day of our long weekend in Amsterdam we had to check out at 11 am, packed our bags and stored them in the car, and then took the tram to one of Amsterdam’s many city beaches. We went to the one closest to us in the Sloterpark. This morning we had the beach all to ourselves and enjoyed the warm sand and peace before starting the journey back home.

Map of our long weekend in Amsterdam

What would be on your must-see list for a long weekend in Amsterdam?

Whether it is a sight, a restaurant or something entirely different, I would love to know. Leave me a comment! 🙂