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

We had dinner at a restaurant near Dam Square.

The two of us continued walking around Dam Square until nearly 12pm must return to the hotel. However, because the atmosphere was always bustling for eating and drinking parties, the two of us decided to go to the pub near the hotel to try Dutch beer. Even after midnight, the street still has lots of bicycles running back and forth combine with the sound of tram.

Amsterdam 2 days itinerary (2 days in Amsterdam): What to do in Amsterdam in 2 days & things to do in Amsterdam in 2 days

Hello everyone!!! Continuing my 2 days in Amsterdam (Amsterdam 2 days itinerary) to explore Amsterdam. On my second day I will going to Zaanse Schans Village – Windmill Village about 18km from Amsterdam. In the afternoon, visit Heineken Beer Museum, going to Rijksmuseum, strolling around Voldelpark and return to Dam Square to hang out around.

The windmill village of Zaanse Schans

Coming to the Netherlands, you definitely must want to visit the windmill field – one of the most famous symbols of the Netherlands. Zaanse Schans Village is one of the most beautiful, peaceful and extremely famous windmill villages attracting many tourists and is recognized as a World Heritage site. Zaanse Schans is only 18km from Amsterdam, 10 minutes by train.

How to travel from Amsterdam to the village of Zaanse Schans?

• Bus: You can take The Rnet-bus 391 from Amsterdam Central station to Zaanse Schans. Every 15 minutes with a trip with ticket price: €5/way, buying tickets right in the car. Or buy unlimited travel tickets for €10/day. Traveling time: 40 minutes. Website: http://www.bus391.nl/
• Train: At Amsterdam Central station, you go to the domestic ticketing area (Binnenlandse) to buy train tickets to Zaandijk station – Zaanse Schans. There is a trip every 15 minutes. Ticket price: €6.20 /round-trip. Traveling time: 17 minutes. Check at: http://www.9292.nl/

Get out of Zaandijk station – Zaanse Schans, you just need follow the instructions or follow the crowds (haha) to get to the Zaanse Schans windmill village.

Right at the entrance of the Zaanse Schans windmill village is an extremely poetic lake with long row of willows trees, water lilies floating on the lake, sometimes you will see lazy mallards swimming around.

If you want to rent a bicycle to cylcing around the village of Zaanse Schans, watching the windmills, you can rent it right at the village gate. Because I chose to walk, so I did not remember how much the bike would rental cost.

Volendam, Edam & Zaanse Schans Windmill Village Day Tour from Amsterdam

One of the interesting things for me when traveling around the village is the sweet cocoa smell. In Zaanse Schans there are a few shops selling Chocolate, I wonder if they make Chocolate on the spot but the fragrant always spreads throughout the village.

Luckily I am not a Chocolate fan, so how can I resist !!!

Besides the beautiful wooden houses, the small bridges spanning the canals along the village are also the attractions that make the windmill village Zaanse Schans extremely poetic.

Heineken Beer Museum – Heineken Experience

Around 1pm, I take the train back to Amsterdam Centraal, and from there, catch the Tram No. 24 to the Weteringcircuit station. From this station, looking straight you can see Heineken beer museum.

I did not book a ticket to the Heineken museum before coming here, but bought it at the ticket counter when arrival. Although quite crowded but queuing up to buy tickets very quickly, do not have to wait long.

If you want to buy tickets online, you can buy in advance on the website of Heineken Experience for €16/person.

Tip: You can get the flyer with attachment discounted coupon for Heineken Experience at the ticket counters/travel agents. For example, on the first day in Amsterdam, we visited a travel agency at Bloemenmarkt Flower Market, and found that the brochure about Heineken Museum with coupon of €3 discount. So we took the flyer with the coupon, so we bought the ticket to the museum only for 15 euros/person. Cheaper to buy tickets online for €1.

When visiting the Heineken beer museum, you will be introduced to 4 main ingredients to create the special taste of Heineken including: Water, Barley, Hops and most importantly, Heineken’s “A Yeast” yeast.

In addition to being know of the rigorous brewing process of Heineken, you can also become those brewing ingredients, and experience how it feels to be shaken and brewed in the brewing barrels. This is also a very interesting experience when visiting the Heineken beer museum.

Besides the challenging beer pouring game, Heineken also prepares a lot of unique Heineken games and experiences for visitors to participate in, for example: cycling while sing Karaoke, playing football,…

Around 4pm, I finish visiting Heineken museum. I’m so hungry now so I walk to a famous restaurant nearby Bakers & Roasters for dinner. However, this restaurant is only opened at 5pm so we went to a Vietnamese restaurant FRNZY Amsterdam to eat.

Address: Stadhouderskade 78, 1072 AE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hours: 12: 30–7: 30PM

Rijksmuseum National Museum

From Heineken Museum, you only need to walk about 700m to Rijksmuseum. This is the Dutch national museum dedicated to art and history in Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum Museum was established in The Hague in 1800 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808.

Address: Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Admission: 17.50 €/person (Book online here)
Opening hours: 9AM–5PM daily.

The Rijksmuseum Skip-the-Line Ticket and Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Pass in Amsterdam

At around 8pm, I catch the train and return to Dam Square to exchange money, have dinner and buy the necessary items because the next day I will fly to Vienna, Austria.

Money exchange shop in Amsterdam

Oh my God ! Probably occupational disease! Wherever I go, I always look at the money exchange shops to see where the exchange rates are most beneficial. If you want to find a place to exchange money in Amsterdam with the best and most convenient exchange rate, you should exchange at Pott Change located right in Dam Square.

Although the currency exchange at Pott Change is slightly lower than that at Merson Paris, but compared to the money exchange shops in the surrounding area, Pott Change is the best rate.

Address: Damrak 95 BG, 1012 LP Amsterdam, Netherlands
Hours: 9:30AM–8:15PM
Url: https://www.pottchange.com/en/

At around 11pm, I returned to the hotel to pack the luggage for the next day to fly to Vienna, Austria. Preparing for the journey to discover a new country. Happy traveling!!

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in and from Amsterdam you can refer to

• Private Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) Transfers for Amsterdam
• Keukenhof Skip-the-Line Ticket and Direct Transport from Amsterdam
• Keukenhof Gardens Fast Track Entry Ticket with Round Trip Bus Transfers from Amsterdam
• Brussels Day Tour from Amsterdam
• Amsterdam Guided Half Day Tour
• Small Group Full Day Tour to Giethoorn from Amsterdam
• Bruges Day Trip From Amsterdam
• Volendam, Edam & Zaanse Schans Windmill Village Day Tour from Amsterdam
• Giethoorn and Enclosing Dike Day Tour
• Amsterdam City Sightseeing Hop-On Hop-Off Bus & Boat Pass
• The Rijksmuseum Skip-the-Line Ticket and Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Pass in Amsterdam
• Red Light Secrets Museum and Hop-on Hop-off Bus Pass in Amsterdam
• Amsterdam Public Transport 1-7 Day Ticket

Are you looking for more Amsterdam travel guide and top things to do in Amsterdam? Read more: Amsterdam travel blog — The fullest Amsterdam city guide for a great trip to Amsterdam on a budget for the first-timers.