How to Avoid the Tourist Crowd in Amsterdam

Visiting Amsterdam without other tourists is virtually impossible. Around 18 million visitors per year show that the city is popular. Leafy canals, picturesque facades of canal houses, tulips in spring and iconic museums are some of the reasons why tourists come to Amsterdam.

3 Tips How to Avoid the Crowd

Tip 1: Rent your own small boat
Ignore the popular canal cruises. Rent a small boat and explore the canals at your own pace.
These boats are fully electric, whisper-quiet and easy to navigate with a joystick as a rudder. You do not need a boating license and there is room for up to 8 people.
You rent your boat for two hours. Included in the price are instructions and a handy map with popular routes, canals with one-way traffic, canals closed for small boats and the location of public toilets.
You book your boat online and be your own skipper.

Tip 2: Lions and Tigers and a Beer

The island district of Plantage is located east of the centre of Amsterdam and is enclosed by four wide canals. Plantage is in fact an island.

The main attraction of the district is Natura Artis Magistra ‘nature is the teacher of art’ founded in 1838, the fifth oldest zoo in the world. This zoo, better known as Artis, is home to more than 900 animal species, there is also a planetarium, an aquarium and the interactive Micropia museum about microscopic life.
Plantage Kerklaan 38-40

The Hortus Botanicus, the botanical garden, also located in the Plantage district, was founded in 1638 as a place where doctors and pharmacists could study exotic plants that had been brought back from the tropics by members of the Dutch East India Company. These plants served as ingredients for medicines. Plantagemiddenlaan 2

The Plantage is also home to the Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam (Resistance Museum) . This museum tells how ordinary people survived the Second World War by means of reconstructed streets, photos and film footage. Get your tickets online.
Plantage Kerklaan 61

On the edge of the district is the H’ART Museum, which collaborates with the Smithsonian in New York, the British Museum in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris and organises unique exhibitions. The museum does not have its own collection but borrows art from these famous museums. The exhibitions therefore change regularly.
Amstel 51

Cafe Eik en Linde, an old-fashioned brown café, and one of the few cafés that still has a billiard table. The lunch dishes are traditional Dutch: a roll with ox sausage or meatball, a roll with croquette and ‘uitsmijter’ fried eggs, ham and slices of bread. Quench your thirst with a locally brewed Amstel pilsner or Brouwerij ‘t IJ IPA.
Plantage Middenlaan 22a

Tip: 3 Ferry Hopping

Amsterdam ferries are free of charge and take you to Amsterdam-Noord. This area used to be home to shipyards and industry. Now it is a hotspot with lots of activities.

Take the ferry from Amsterdam Central Station (at the back of the station) to the A’dam Tower on the other side of the IJ-river, or take the ferry to the NDSM shipyard.

Go street art spotting around the NDSM shipyard, or visit the Street Art Museum with some 150 works of art by famous and (as yet) unknown artists. Buy your ticket here.

Take the elevator to the viewing platform of the A’DAM lookout tower. Here you can have a drink or coffee while enjoying the panoramic view of Amsterdam. You will also find here the highest (and scariest) swing in the Netherlands. Tickets for the viewing platform are not cheap and you pay extra for the swing, but it is a unique experience. Buy your ticket for the A’DAM lookout here.

Ferry Hopping Suggestions

The GVB ferries are free for pedestrians and cyclists. They depart every 15 to 20 minutes between 07:00 and midnight.

Suggested route:
Line F7 from Pontsteiger to the NDSM shipyard
Line F5 from NDSM shipyard to Amsterdam Central Station
Line F3 from Amsterdam Central Station to Buiksloterweg
Line F2 from IJ-plein to Central Station.

Sleeping in the Crane Hotel Faralda

You have to dig deep into your pockets, but then you get what you pay for. A night’s sleep in the Crane Hotel Faralda is a true experience. This hotel has only six rooms and is located on top of a disused crane. You sleep about 50 meters above the ground. Each suite is a cube divided over two floors, with a sitting area, a separate bedroom and a bathroom with rain shower. Book here if you don’t want to miss this special experience.

Related articles
Artis, Amsterdam Zoo
Straat Museum: Street Art in a Former Warehouse
A’DAM Lookout Tower

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