15 Best Day Trips from Amsterdam
Amsterdam is nothing short of picturesque and charming, with canals and museums galore. Home to both the Anne Frank and Van Gogh Museums, the Venice of the North is connected to its neighboring cities by a vast network of buses, trains and bike routes.
However, there’s way more to Holland than just Amsterdam and many other places can be easily visited on day trips from Amsterdam.
One of the best things about the Netherlands is that it is a small country with so much to offer, and this makes its capital Amsterdam the perfect place to plan a day trip to other Dutch destinations and beyond.
Best Day Trips from Amsterdam
Zaanse Schans
The Zaanse Schans is located just north of Amsterdam and offers visitors a window into the history of the Netherlands. It boasts a wide collection of windmills, old wooden houses and specialty shops.
I love Zaanse Schans because, while touristy, it’s a journey to the past where you can see how Dutch made their produce, the first Albert Heijn store, and naturally many windmills you can get into. Several operating windmills produce oil and spices and a cheese farm where you can learn the difference between gouda, goat and herb cheese.
Chocolate lovers will find their cocoa heaven at Zaans Gedaan where they can make their own chocolate from scratch using real cocoa beans. There is something for everyone there.
Other attractions worth mentioning are the Bakery Museum and Jisper House where visitors can dress up in the region’s traditional clothing and pose for pictures inside the fisherman’s cottage. Different guided tours and packages are on offer at the museum and one of them is a seasonal package deal where you get to explore the museum on foot before going on a boat trip along the Zaan River.
Purchasing the Zaans Schans Card for €15 allows you to visit many museums free of charge and entitles you to discounts in souvenir shops and restaurants as well.
How to Get There:
Zaanse Schans is accessible by train, bus or private tour. There is a bus available to take visitors to Zaanse Schans every 15 minutes from Amsterdam Central Station and takes around 40 minutes.
Taking the train allows you to reach the museum faster. You can catch a train headed for Alkmaar and get off at the Zaandam Station, then walk for 15 minutes.
BOOK NOW: Half-Day Tour of Zaanse Schans Windmills
Kinderdijk
This little town in the South Holland province is best known for its iconic Dutch windmills which have actually been named a UNESCO World Heritage site. The group of 19 windmills at Kinderdijk have been preserved since the 17th century and some house fascinating museum exhibits about the history of the windmills and water management in the area.
You do have to pay admissions fees to visit or tour the windmills and museums but a view of just the landscape is still something to behold.
The area historically suffered from severe flooding and it was given its name after the famous Saint Elizabeth Flood in 1421 Literally translated, Kinderdijk means ‘children’s dyke’, which inspired a fairy tale ‘The Cat and The Cradle’ where after the storm, a wooden cradle was spotted on the floodwaters, in which a cat jumped to and fro to keep the cradle afloat.
How to Do This Day Trip from Amsterdam:
Kinderdijk is accessible by train, bus or boat from Amsterdam through Rotterdam. The NS from Amsterdam Centraal Station can take you to Rotterdam Central Station. From there you would then take the metro to Rotterdam Zuidplein, and then bus the to Kinderdijk.
Alternatively, take tram 8 or 25 or the metro line “Erasmuslijn” from Rotterdam Central Station to the Leuvehaven stop and boats depart from the Boompjeskade.
BOOK NOW: Trip to Kinderdijk
Keukenhof Tulip Garden & Lisse Tulip Fields
The word ‘tulip’ is synonymous with Holland, so it is not surprising that Keukenhof Garden is a popular excursion. The garden is home to more than seven million tulips that create a visual feast for the eyes during spring.
Keukenhof is located between Amsterdam and The Hague, and the theme this year is none other than ‘Flower Power’ in honor of the garden’s 70th anniversary.
If you sign up for the guided tour, you will be able to learn more about the history of the park and visit its different indoor flower shows. Each garden has a unique theme, including a happiness garden where you can practice yoga amongst a vast ocean of tulips. Whisper boat trips are also available to take you on a ride around the garden.
Guided tours cost €150 and sailing down the canal via whisper boat costs €8. You can also rent a bike for €15 per day to explore the garden at your own pace and stop to take pictures of the beautiful landscape.
How to Get There:
Read more on how to visit Keukenhof and tulip fields with detailed instructions by clicking here.
Giethoorn
Undoubtedly one of the quietest towns in the Netherlands but no.1 best day trips from Amsterdam in tourists’ eyes, Giethoorn is sometimes known as the Dutch Venice. Many canals wind their way between the quaint thatched farmhouses, making transport by boat not only preferable but in some cases a necessity.
The locals have a special name for their traditional boats, known as punters which are pushed along with a long pole by a punteraar. This is probably also where the comparison to Venice, with its famous gondolas and gondoliers, is taken.
It’s much quieter here than most of the other bigger dutch towns due to it being mostly a residential area and it remains very much unchanged since it was first settled in the 18th century. There are very few manmade sounds to be heard, it’s very much all gliding water and birdsong, making this town the picture of serenity and quiet living.
How to get there:
There is no train station in Giethoorn so you need to plan your trip by train into either Zwolle or Steenwijk station and then change to the bus №70 to Bushalte Dominee Hylkemaweg.
BOOK NOW: Day Trip to Giethoorn by Bus and Boat
Leiden
Since I’ve studied and lived in Leiden it’s impossible for me not to mention this town as a good day trip option, especially since it’s just thirty minutes south of Amsterdam and 15 minutes from the airport.
Leiden is one of the most important cities of the Dutch Golden Age – it’s here where the oldest university in the Netherlands (1575) was built. Nowadays the town has a large student population, including many international students who come here for an exchange or obtain their Master degree. Myself included.