Amsterdam 2 days itinerary — What to do in Amsterdam in 2 days & how to spend 2 days in Amsterdam?

Paris gives me a very good impression of a romantic, polite and very gentle city. However, the journey to Amsterdam is a very different experience. For me, Amsterdam is an extremely bustling city, the party atmosphere is always full of, joyful in every corner, in every person living here. So, 2 days in Amsterdam enough and what to do in Amsterdam in 2 days? Let’s check out our suggested Amsterdam 2 days itinerary through my field trip to the capital of Netherlands from how to get there, best places to visit, things to do in Amsterdam in 2 days… to find out the answer!

Traveling from Paris by FlixBus bus on the night trip, sleeping for a while and at 7am the next morning I already found myself was in Amsterdam.

On the way to Amsterdam, the scene of fog blanketing the fields makes me admiring and amazing. Everything seemed dimly covered in the morning mist. Extremely beautiful!

At 7:30 am, the bus stops at Sloterdijk Amsterdam station. This station is about 5km from the city center of Amsterdam. To getting to Amsterdam Centraal central station, you buy the NS Intercity train ticket at the ticket vending machines right at the Amsterdam Sloterdijk station for €2.30. You can buy it with cash or with a credit card.

In addition, you can buy tickets at the ticket counter as shown below.

One tip for traveling in Netherlands in general and the city of Amsterdam in particular, to check how to travel between locations or train stations you should use the website: https://9292.nl/en. This website will give more accurate and detailed results than google. This website also has an app for smartphone that you can download here (iOS, Android) to use when traveling to Amsterdam.

After about 20 minutes train ride, I arrived at Amsterdam Centraal station. Perhaps this is one of the most beautiful stations that I’ve seen during my trip to Europe.

To getting around in Amsterdam, you should buy GVB 24 hours ticket (€7.50), 48 hours ticket (€12.50) or 3 to 7 days depending on your needs of use. For example, I will travel to Amsterdam for 3 days and 2 nights, so I should buy GVB tickets for 48 hours for the first 2 days, and GVB tickets for 1 hour for the 3rd day morning.

*GVB (The Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf Amsterdam) is the municipal public transport company of Amsterdam.

These GVB tickets can be used to take tram, train or bus of GVB in the city of Amsterdam. You can buy this GVB tickets at the ticket vending machines in Amsterdam Centraal station or buy it right at the spot on any tram/train/bus.

Most of the public transport in Amsterdam is operated by GVB, so you only need to buy GVB tickets to be able to move freely in the city already.

From Amsterdam Centraal station go to locations in the center of the city, or moving in the city center mostly by tram. You should download the train and tram maps in Amsterdam before coming to this city to easily find your way when traveling around.

To take the tram to the city center from Amsterdam Centraal, you exit the station and turn left to see the tram station. There will be electronic boards display which tram lines are in zone A or B (are zones in central Amsterdam). Once you determine the tram line to go to belong zone A or B, you just need to look at the blue sign as shown below to know the area you are staying. Each stop of tram will have its own line number.

To better know on how to getting around Amsterdam, read more: How to get around Amsterdam cheap? — 7 cheapest & best way on how to travel cheap in Amsterdam.

2 days in Amsterdam: Where to stay?

The hotel that I stayed in Amsterdam in 2 days in Amsterdam (Amsterdam 2 days itinerary) is the Budget Hotel Hortus. This hotel owns prime location that is extremely convenient to travel in Amsterdam, 200m away is Artis tram station (Tram line 9 and line 14), 600m away is Waterlooplein train/tram station, and opposite the hotel is Hotus Botanicus Garden. Around the hotel there are many restaurants, cafes/beer shops open until late at night. 700m away is one of Amsterdam’s cheapest bike rental shops called Mike’s Bike.

You can check rates, reviews and book on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

And the best thing is that the room rate here is the cheapest in the center of Amsterdam with $67/night, includes breakfast as well. If you arrive early, you can send your luggage for free to go out and return to check-in later. The minus point is that the staff is not very friendly, the room does not have a bath, shampoo, shower gel… so you need to prepare in advance. The room for 2 people is quite small but acceptable, with a private bathroom and only shared toilet, so it is not a problem.

You can refer to many hotels in central Amsterdam on Agoda.com or Booking.com such as: Singel Hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com), Prinsengracht Hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com).

Amsterdam 2 days itinerary: What to do in amsterdam in 2 days for Day 1

My Amsterdam 2 days itinerary for very first day (Day 1): Bloemenmarkt Floating Flower Market, shopping and strolling along Kalverstraat Street, Royal Palace, Dam Square and the famous Red Light District in Amsterdam.

Arriving at the hotel very early, I just left luggage and then going out to see and wandering around Amsterdam in the early morning. Perhaps people in the city often started a day quite late (around 11am) so the street is still quite deserted. It was a bit cold due to the early morning mist, and sometimes I see the bikes passing by very quickly just in time to be recognized by the familiar bells.

Coming here you will see why people call Amsterdam is the city of bicycles. When you can clearly see the two main means of transportation of people are bicycles and cars. You will even see a lot of bicycles moving from early morning to late night, a lot more than cars. And you also have never see such many types of bicycles. From the bikes we have known since childhood, to the bikes with cargo trailers attached to the back and front, for carrying kids.

Again the children in Amsterdam, there are 4, 5-year-old children who have their own bicycles and their parents ride bikes together. I have caught a few small children that cycling very quickly, extremely brave though the road is quite crowded.

Bloemenmarkt Floating Flower Market

Direction: Rembrandtplein tram station (Tram line 4, 9, 14) then go straight along reguliersbreestraat about 300m to reach the flower market.

It is true that the country of Tulips flowers, in this flower market you can buy Tulips bulbs with all colors to grow. I also want to buy without knowing whether Tulips can survive in the weather in Manila or not =. =

Shopping along Kalverstraat street, Amsterdam

About 200m from Bloemenmarkt flower market is Amsterdam’s famous Kalverstraat shopping street. At the head of Kalverstraat street is the striking tower of Munttoren (“Mint Tower”) with a large clock at the top of the tower.

Along both sides of Kalverstraat street are shops from cosmetics such as MAC, The Body Shop; fashion clothes: Forever 21, Zara, H&M, Bershka, Pull & Bear, Primax; shoes shops: Foot Locker, Nike, Adidas; to restaurants … etc.

Tip: Primax is a cheap domestic fashion brand and has a lot of models with very well basic design. This store is always seen in the crowded queue for payment. You can buy bottled water here at very cheap price of €0.8/500ml.

Here, I also had my first lunch in Amsterdam at an Argentinian restaurant. Being tempted because the restaurant introduces ribs dish looks extremely attractive but not too expensive.

Also, you definitely have to try this snack – Kroket (Dutch croquettes) that is made of mashed potato filled with minced beef or chicken or ragout, at the shop called FEBO (Address: Nieuwendijk 220, 1012 MX Amsterdam, Netherlands / Hours: 12–6PM).

Oh my God, it’s so delicious, it’s a thin crust outside, inside is a rich, fatty beef with all kinds of flavor. There are many flavor from beef, chicken … for you to choose. Price €1.20/piece.

Royal Palace Amsterdam

Going until the end of Kalverstraat shopping street is also the time when you will encounter the extremely magnificent Amsterdam Royal Palace in front of you. This palace was built in 1648 as the City Hall, later transformed into the Royal Palace.

Dam Square

You definitely have to eat the most famous Dutch french-fries at Manneken Pis (Address: Damrak 41, 1012 LK Amsterdam, Netherlands / Hours: 10AM–12AM).

Red Light District Amsterdam (De Wallen)

From Dam Square walk along Damrak Street, then turn right to Oudebrugsteeg Street. Continue go straight you will come to Oudezijds Voorburgwal street. The area along this street and on both sides of the canal is an extremely bustling area with bars and restaurants of Amsterdam Red Light Street.

Along the sides are small alleys and roads that will lead you to a real red light district where you’ll see real pr0__stitutesORworking_girls (literally “flower-selling girls”), sitting behind small glass windows in sexy outfits inviting guests to play. One thing you should keep in mind is that it is forbidden to filming or photograph of these girls, and not even in this area.

For a better understanding of working girls here, you can visit the Red Light Secrets Museum (Address: Oudezijds Achterburgwal 60h, 1012 DP Amsterdam, Netherlands / Hours: 1–11PM) on Oudezijds Achterburgwal street – in parallel with Oudezijds voorburgwal Street.

Visiting this museum you will have a much clearer view of working girls in Amsterdam. For example, to be eligible to practice girls must undergo a medical examination to receive a license. Many of the working girls here come from Russia and former Soviet Union countries, and they said they are treated much more nicely here and are much safer.

The working girls here also have non-work relationships such as having a boyfriend and husband who know and accept them as working girls as a formal job. However, besides that, there are also many negative sides that they encounter such as violence or being killed. A lot of incidents occurred that the police could not find the culprit.

Red Light Secrets Museum and Hop-on Hop-off Bus Pass in Amsterdam

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