Practical Information

All sort of useful information and tips to make your day or weekend in Amsterdam hassle-free and even more enjoyable. Which tram goes to the Rijksmuseum? What are the shopping hours? Where to rent a bike? Your city trip was never so pleasant and enjoyable!

The editor of Amsterdam-Now knows the city like no other person and can answer (almost) any question.

General Information

Public Transport

Trip Planning

History

Language

Public Transport Tram, Bus and Metro

Public Transport Tram, Bus and Metro

Public transport in Amsterdam is by tram, metro, bus and ferry. Amsterdam is a compact city and most sights are within walking distance of each other. Yet, it is fun to explore Amsterdam by tram and see the city in a relaxed way. There is a whole gamut of different...

read more
Hop-on Hop-off Bus Amsterdam City Sightseeing Tour

Hop-on Hop-off Bus Amsterdam City Sightseeing Tour

Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and enjoy the sights of Amsterdam hassle-free! Discover the city at your own pace and hop off wherever you like and wherever you like. Visit a museum or amble along the canals, then hop on again to the next point of interest. Sit back and enjoy...

read more
I Amsterdam City Card

I Amsterdam City Card

I Amsterdam City Card is your ticket to experience Amsterdam in an affordable and relaxed way. You’ll see more and save money at the same time! No need to buy separate tickets for attractions and public transport. The I Amsterdam Card not only affords you free...

read more
Amsterdam Museum

Amsterdam Museum

Housed in a former orphanage, the Amsterdam Museum tells the story of Amsterdam. The permanent exhibition: Amsterdam DNA, free thinking, entrepreneurship, citizenship and creativity. Apart from the core collection, the Amsterdam Museum hosts temporary exhibitions in...

read more
Amsterdam City Pass

Amsterdam City Pass

Purchase the Amsterdam City Pass and discover Amsterdam hassle-free. This City Pass affords free entry and fast track entrance to the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh Museum. Also included are a free canal cruise and a free train ticket from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Add...

read more
Days and Months in Dutch

Days and Months in Dutch

Everywhere in Amsterdam you will see posters for exhibitions and concerts. When you see someone playing the violin you need no further explanation. Popconcerts are also also easy to recognise. The only problem may be the names of the days and the months. The names of...

read more
Dutch Bicycle Rules

Dutch Bicycle Rules

Experience Amsterdam and rent a bike! Pedal around town for a few hours and feel like a local. Biking in Amsterdam is safe and easy because Amsterdam is as flat as a pancake, no elevations apart from picturesque humpback bridges. Observe the bicycle rules and do not...

read more
From Schiphol to Amsterdam City Centre

From Schiphol to Amsterdam City Centre

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is located 17 kilometers southwest of Amsterdam centre. Schiphol Station is right at the terminal at a lower level. Getting to Amsterdam Central Station takes 15 to 20 minutes. The train is by far the most convenient way of getting from...

read more
Public Transport Pass

Public Transport Pass

A Public Transport Day Pass is handy for tourists who like to ride the trams in Amsterdam. True to say, Amsterdam is a compact city and many sights are within walking distance of each other, yet a tram ride is fun and if you want to visit the Amsterdam suburbs a Day...

read more
Amsterdam Metro

Amsterdam Metro

Like many other metropolises Amsterdam, too, has a metro, but with a difference. The Amsterdam metro was built only in 1977 and has just two underground stations and four lines. The metro fans out from Centraal station to the suburbs, Bijlmer, Amstelveen and Diemen....

read more
Low-cost Airlines to Amsterdam

Low-cost Airlines to Amsterdam

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport is the largest airport in the Netherlands and the fourth biggest in Europe. Other airports in the Netherlands are Eindhoven Airport, Maastricht Aachen Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport. All Dutch airports have good train connections to...

read more
History of Delftware

History of Delftware

Delftware is synonymous with Holland and ubiquitous in souvenir shops – windmills, clogs, kissing farmer boy and girl, vases, mugs, wall plates – they all sell like hotcakes. All souvenir shops in Amsterdam sell this blue-and-white pottery but did you know that this...

read more
Amsterdam Holland Pass

Amsterdam Holland Pass

The Amsterdam Holland Pass also known as Amsterdam City Card is your ticket to hassle-free Amsterdam, a must-have for visitors who like to enjoy Amsterdam to the full: a guide book, queuing for the popular museums is history. Take your pick from 60 museums and...

read more
The Golden Bend where Wealthy Merchants Lived

The Golden Bend where Wealthy Merchants Lived

Golden bend - Gouden Bocht - that is where the most coveted canal houses in Amsterdam. All these mansions clustered around the curve of Herengracht between Spiegelstraat and Vijzelstraat. This is the stretch of the canal where, in the 17th century, wealthy merchants...

read more
Food translator

Food translator

Eating out in Amsterdam is no problem as there are hundreds of restaurants. Most menu cards are both in Dutch and English. Still, in some smaller restaurants or snackbars the menu may be in Dutch only. Here are some key words to help you along. And, remember, most...

read more
Jewish Amsterdam

Jewish Amsterdam

Many people refer to Amsterdam as the Venice of the North, a pertinent name for a city with two hundred canals. Few people know Amsterdam’s second name, Mokum, Yiddish for place or town. Mokum is an appropriate name, because the city has welcomed Jews ever since the...

read more
Best Bridges, Canals and Singel of Amsterdam

Best Bridges, Canals and Singel of Amsterdam

Say Amsterdam and the first thing that comes to mind are canals and bridges. No wonder because Amsterdam canals are true eye-catchers. There are about two hundred canals in the city. Originally, the canals were a practical solution to a problematic situation....

read more
Tulip Mania in Seventeenth-century Amsterdam

Tulip Mania in Seventeenth-century Amsterdam

Tulip mania was a result of greed. In the seventeenth century tulips had become trendy in Amsterdam. Clever speculators stepped in and the commodity markets soared, but their profits were short-lived. One tulip bulb would fetch €2000 (in today's money). This meant...

read more
Public Transport Tram, Bus and Metro

Public Transport Tram, Bus and Metro

Public transport in Amsterdam is by tram, metro, bus and ferry. Amsterdam is a compact city and most sights are within walking distance of each other. Yet, it is fun to explore Amsterdam by tram and see the city in a relaxed way. There is a whole gamut of different...

read more
National Monument Cenotaph on Dam Square

National Monument Cenotaph on Dam Square

The National Monument on Dam Square is a cenotaph in remembrance of those who fell in the Second World War. The steps of the National Monument are a popular place in Amsterdam to rest, eat a snack or do some people watching. The Remembrance Day ceremony takes places...

read more
Hop-on Hop-off Bus Amsterdam City Sightseeing Tour

Hop-on Hop-off Bus Amsterdam City Sightseeing Tour

Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and enjoy the sights of Amsterdam hassle-free! Discover the city at your own pace and hop off wherever you like and wherever you like. Visit a museum or amble along the canals, then hop on again to the next point of interest. Sit back and enjoy...

read more
Vincent van Gogh and the Potato Eaters

Vincent van Gogh and the Potato Eaters

Vincent van Gogh is not only the artist who painted the Potato Eaters, he is also known as the man who cut off his ear, the man who drank turpentine, the man who sold only one painting during his lifetime but became famous posthumously. In 1885, Van Gogh painted...

read more
Best Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings and Letters

Best Van Gogh: Paintings, Drawings and Letters

Vincent van Gogh. What does this name mean to you - sunflowers, Starry Night, the painter who cut off his ear or the man who committed suicide? The Van Gogh Museum is one of the most popular museums in Amsterdam. It is home to the art collection of Theo van Gogh,...

read more
Amsterdam Canal House for a Wealthy Merchant: Trippenhuis

Amsterdam Canal House for a Wealthy Merchant: Trippenhuis

Amsterdam canal houses are characterized by narrow fronts. Trippenhuis is an exception to this rule. This seventeenth-century canal house is a typical example of a mansion where a rich merchant lived and the wider the front the wealthier its owner. Trippenhuis was the...

read more
I Amsterdam City Card

I Amsterdam City Card

I Amsterdam City Card is your ticket to experience Amsterdam in an affordable and relaxed way. You’ll see more and save money at the same time! No need to buy separate tickets for attractions and public transport. The I Amsterdam Card not only affords you free...

read more
Amsterdam Museum

Amsterdam Museum

Housed in a former orphanage, the Amsterdam Museum tells the story of Amsterdam. The permanent exhibition: Amsterdam DNA, free thinking, entrepreneurship, citizenship and creativity. Apart from the core collection, the Amsterdam Museum hosts temporary exhibitions in...

read more