Things to do in Amsterdam in the Morning

Can you really say you’ve experienced Amsterdam if you haven’t breakfasted on traditional Dutch waffles and pancakes until your shirt buttons pop? No, dear stroopwafel-loving reader, you cannot. Hit up the likes of Pancakes Amsterdam and The Pancake Club for a taste of the good stuff, all fluffy Dutch pancakes and cute little poffertjes (mini pancakes). Or grab a coffee and sticky-sweet stroopwafel on the go from a bakery or specialty coffee house. You’ll find the best cups of morning joe at the likes of Coffee & Coconuts, Bocca Coffee Roasters and Screaming Beans. Want breakfast with a view? Local canalside favorites including Café 't Smalle, De Wasserette and Café Marcella have you covered.

This one’s a no-brainer. Amsterdam’s canals are as iconic a symbol of the Netherlands as tulips, clogs and windmills, and morning is one of the best times of day to experience them. Sure, you could take a stroll alongside cobbled canalside walkways, snapping Insta-perfect selfies in front of cute floral window boxes and vintage bicycles. But nothing beats taking to the water in the soft morning light and bobbing gently past colorful houseboats, Dutch Golden Age townhouses, and bucket-list Amsterdam attractions like the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank’s House, Westerkerk, and famous Magere Brug (aka the Skinny Bridge).

For a relatively small city, Amsterdam packs one heck of a punch when it comes to galleries and museums. That’s partly down to its penchant for quirky small-scale curiosities like the surreal Kattenkabinet (which celebrates the life of a cat named John Pierpont Morgan) and the smokin’ Amsterdam Pipe Museum, but primarily thanks to the impact of Dutch art down the centuries. We recommend an early start at the below bucket-listers if you hope to beat the crowds…

The Rijksmuseum. The chances of achieving unobstructed views of Dutch Golden Age masterpieces including Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Vermeer’s Milkmaid are vastly increased by arriving at the Netherlands’ national museum early. Doors open at 9AM, so you’ll even have time for a quick coffee and stroopwafel on the way.

The Anne Frank House. Enter the secret annex described in Anne Frank’s diary at this canalside Prinsengracht museum, one of the most popular, and certainly the most moving, in Amsterdam.

The Rembrandt House Museum. Nowadays considered an absolute GOAT, Rembrandt was still just a moderately successful jobbing artist when he lived in this Jodenbreestraat house in the mid-1600s. Now you can wander the very in which the young maestro worked, ate and slept, and see many of his etchings and even some pots he used for mixing painting materials.

The Van Gogh Museum. From one Dutch master to another, this collection of Van Gogh paintings, drawings and letters is the largest of its kind in the world, and features Post-Impressionist masterpieces galore including many of Van Gogh’s signature subjects: sunflowers, starry skies and self-portraits. Morning viewings are highly recommended.

Read our comparison of the Rembrandt House Museum and Van Gogh Museum here.

Amsterdam’s green spaces are tailor-made for mindful morning constitutionals that take in monuments, public art and classic Amsterdam architecture. Try a serene stroll around the city’s largest, Vondelpark, admiring sculptures that include a monumental Picasso piece and a nine-foot bronze statue of park namesake Joost van den Vondel, and pausing to smell the roses in the park’s central garden. Amstelpark, with its riverside Riekermolen windmill, is perfect for scratching that selfie itch and particularly glorious in spring when its rhododendrons are at their most fabulous. Meanwhile, Amsterdamse Bos is where it's at for wild woodland strolls and the chance to spot marsh harriers and, um, Scottish Highland Cows in the morning mist. Or go uber-urban at the Westerpark, with its Insta-tastic industrial architecture and picturesque duck ponds.

Read our guide to Vondelpark and Amstelpark here.

Amsterdam's pretty cobbled alleys and canalside streets are perfect for chi-chi boutiques, indie art galleries and cute old curiosity shoppes. You’ll find plenty of all of these in the achingly picturesque Negen Straatjes (Nine Streets) neighborhood. Here’s where to sniff out sensual scents in posh perfumeries, unleash your inner child at old-fashioned chocolate shops, pick up cool kitchenalia in kitschy home accessory emporia and shop for shoes (and clogs) at designer boutiques and Amsterdam souvenir shops respectively. Fresh produce including fruit, cured meats and aromatic Dutch cheeses are the aim of the game at bustling Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp (try saying that with a mouthful of rich, nutty Gouda), while it’s all about petal power at the blooming lovely floating flower market on Singel canal, a picture-perfect place to start your day.

It stands to reason that, whichever Amsterdam attractions are top of your list, the best time to visit most of them will be morning, when your fellow sightseers are still busily stuffing their faces with stroopwafel after delicious breakfast stroopwafel, or indeed enjoying a well-deserved vacation lie-in. Don’t fear: there’ll be time enough for all that once you’ve ticked off your must-sees. The Amsterdam pass from Go City can save you up to 50% on admission to nearly 50 Amsterdam attractions, including the aforementioned Rijksmuseum, canal cruises, Rembrandt’s House and – yes – even the mighty Amsterdam Pipe Museum. You can also take in thrilling aerial views of the canals from the A’Dam Lookout, sample a drop of the amber nectar at the Heineken Experience (no, 11AM is not too early!), say hey to celebrity waxworks at Madame Tussauds, and much more.

Hit the buttons below to find out more and bag your Amsterdam pass.