The Netherlands packs a lot into a small, flat country: Rembrandt and Vermeer in world-class museums, a 17th-century canal ring, working windmills, Delft Blue pottery, North Sea beaches and Rotterdam's bold modern skyline. Trains tie it together. The Intercity direct runs from Rotterdam Central to Amsterdam South in under 40 minutes, Zaanse Schans is about 17 minutes from Amsterdam Centraal, and Delft is just minutes by train from both The Hague and Rotterdam.
This page starts with our ranked picks for a first trip, best first, each with a practical tip on timing and booking. Below them you will find every sight we cover in and around Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with opening notes and checked entry fees where we have them, then answers to the questions travelers ask most.
The 18 best things to do in Netherlands
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- 1AmsterdamBook ahead
See The Night Watch at the Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is the national museum of the Netherlands, and it takes you through 800 years of Dutch art and history in more than 8,000 works. The heart of a visit is the Gallery of Honour, lined with masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals and leading to Rembrandt's Night Watch. Look out for Vermeer's Milkmaid and four Van Gogh paintings, including his famous self-portrait. You can see the highlights in about an hour, and the free museum app adds hundreds of audio stories. The museum faces Museumplein, right next to the Van Gogh Museum and about a 20-minute walk from the Anne Frank House, and its gardens are free to wander.
Tip: Booking a start time is required for everyone, so reserve online and aim for before 11 AM or after 3:30 PM, ideally on a Tuesday or Wednesday, when the galleries are quieter.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Rijksmuseum; Rijksmuseum (official)Adult, 2026: €25 (about $28) · Adult, visits from 2027: €26.50 (about $30) · Book a time slotLast verified
- 2AmsterdamBook ahead
Stand in Anne Frank's hiding place
On July 6, 1942, the Frank family went into hiding in the annex behind Otto Frank's business at Prinsengracht 263. The Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer soon joined them, eight people on the annex's top floors, and Anne spent 761 days there writing her diary. You pass the hinged cupboard built to hide the door, see the pictures Anne glued to her bedroom wall and the pencil marks of the girls' growing heights, and her original red-checked diary. At Otto Frank's request, the annex was left empty. A visit takes about an hour. The entrance is at Westermarkt 20, a 20-minute walk from Amsterdam Centraal, or take tram 13 or 17 to Westermarkt.
Tip: Tickets are sold only online for a set time slot and are released every Tuesday at 10 AM Central European Time for visits six weeks later, so book the moment your date opens and leave large bags at your hotel.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Anne Frank House (official); Anne Frank House (official); Anne Frank House; Anne Frank House (official)Adult, including booking fee: €16.50 (about $18) · Online tickets only, for a time slotLast verified
- 3Amsterdam
Cruise and stroll the UNESCO canal ring
Amsterdam's canal ring was planned at the end of the 16th century and built in the 17th, when the city drained swampland and dug canals in concentric arcs around its old town. Most of the gabled merchant houses built along them in the 17th and 18th centuries still stand, and UNESCO listed the area as a World Heritage Site in 2010. A guided canal cruise is the easy introduction, and you will learn why the tilting canal houses are called dancing houses. Then explore on foot: the Jordaan, once a working-class area, is a maze of narrow streets with independent galleries, antique shops, courtyard gardens and old bars.
Tip: Take an evening cruise to see the bridges lit up after sundown, and save the Jordaan for a slow daytime walk without a map.
Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre; I amsterdam (Amsterdam&Partners)Free to visit - 4AmsterdamBook ahead
Follow Van Gogh's life at the Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum on Museumplein tells Vincent van Gogh's life story through his work, with iconic paintings such as The Potato Eaters, Almond Blossom and Sunflowers in the permanent collection. Every ticket also covers the current temporary exhibitions. Most visitors spend two to three hours, including the café and shop, and the interactive audio guide, offered in 12 languages, adds the story behind the paintings. The museum opens daily, with hours that shift through the year and late opening on most Fridays. The nearest stops are Museumplein (trams 2, 5 and 24) and Concertgebouw (trams 5, 12 and 24), and the Rijksmuseum stands just across the square.
Tip: Every visitor needs a timed ticket bought online, there are no door sales or waiting list, and you can arrive up to 30 minutes after your start time but never before it.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Van Gogh Museum (official); Van Gogh Museum (official); Van Gogh Museum (official); Van Gogh Museum (official); RijksmuseumAdult, online price from: €25 (about $28) · Book a time slot onlineLast verified
- 5Zaandam
Visit the working windmills of Zaanse Schans
Zaanse Schans is a historic mill village on the Zaan River, with centuries-old windmills and green-painted timber houses. After World War II, when traditional timber building was close to vanishing, mills and homes were moved here from across the Zaan region. It is a lived-in neighborhood, not an open-air museum, so the village is free to enter every day of the year. Watch cheese and wooden shoes being made, see giant logs sawn by a wind-powered mill, and visit the mill where paint colors are still made the traditional way. The windmills and some museums charge entry. Trains from Amsterdam Centraal reach Zaandijk Zaanse Schans station in about 17 minutes, then it is a 15-minute walk.
Tip: Most locations open roughly 9 AM to 5 PM, so arrive early, and since the timber houses are private homes, admire them from the path and show the residents consideration.
Sources: Zaanse Schans (official); Zaanse SchansFree to visit; mills and museums charge - 6Kinderdijk
Take the WaterShuttle to the Kinderdijk windmills
Kinderdijk shows how the Dutch have held back the water for more than 750 years. Its landscape of polders, dikes and drainage channels holds 19 windmills, three pumping stations and two sluices, and UNESCO listed the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout as a World Heritage Site in 1997. The mills come in three types: round brick mills, thatched octagonal mills and a single hollow post mill. One ticket covers the museum mills, where you see how millers once lived, a boat tour past the mills, the Wisboom pumping station and a film and exhibition. The WaterShuttle from Rotterdam takes about 30 minutes, and you can bring a bike on board.
Tip: Arrive by WaterShuttle or bus 489 rather than by car, since parking is only sold together with an admission ticket.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage (official); Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage (official); Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage (official) - 7The HagueBook ahead
Meet Girl with a Pearl Earring at the Mauritshuis
The Mauritshuis is a small, world-class museum of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting, set in a city palace on the Plein in the center of The Hague, beside the Binnenhof. Its star is Johannes Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, painted around 1665: not a portrait but a tronie, an imaginary figure in an exotic turban with an improbably large pearl. The collection also holds Vermeer's View of Delft, Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp and Carel Fabritius's The Goldfinch. A combined ticket adds the Prince William V Gallery, a five-minute walk away at the Buitenhof. The museum is a 10-minute walk from The Hague Central Station.
Tip: Buy your ticket and time slot online, since crowds can fill the museum, and remember it opens at 1 PM on Mondays and takes cards only.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Mauritshuis; Mauritshuis (official); Mauritshuis (official)Mauritshuis, adult: €21 (about $24) · With the Prince William V Gallery, adult: €24 (about $27) · Book a time slot onlineLast verified
- 8Delft
Climb the Nieuwe Kerk tower above Delft's Markt
Delft's Markt is the city's historic market square, with the City Hall, built in the 16th century and given its decorated look in the 17th, and the Nieuwe Kerk, whose tower you can see from far away. The Nieuwe Kerk and the Oude Kerk have stood on Delft's skyline since the 13th century. The Nieuwe Kerk is the resting place of William of Orange, Father of the Fatherland, and of other members of the Dutch royal house, and you can climb its tower for a view over the city. The leaning Oude Kerk holds the graves of Johannes Vermeer and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek. A weekly market brings fruit, flowers and Dutch cheese to the square.
Tip: Climb the tower first, since it closes an hour before the church, and buy the combined ticket if you also want to see the Oude Kerk.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Oude en Nieuwe Kerk Delft (official); Oude en Nieuwe Kerk Delft; In Delft (Delft Marketing)Both churches, adult: €10 (about $11) · Tower, adult: €7.50 (about $8) · Churches and tower, adult: €15 (about $17) · Ticket covers both old and new churchesLast verified
- 9Rotterdam
Eat under the Markthal arch, see the Cube Houses
Rotterdam's Markthal is the world's first covered market hall with homes built above it, a huge horseshoe designed by MVRDV. Its ceiling is covered by the giant artwork Horn of Plenty by Arno Coenen and Iris Roskam, and beneath it more than 100 food spots sell fresh produce, spices and street food. A few steps away, Piet Blom's Cube Houses, completed in 1984, tilt on one corner above a pedestrian area, and the Kijk-Kubus museum house lets you step inside one to see how people live with slanted walls. Both sit in the east of the city center near Blaak station, the Old Harbour and the outdoor market on the Binnenrotte.
Tip: Come on a Tuesday or Saturday to add the outdoor market on the Binnenrotte, and check each food spot's own hours, since they vary.
Sources: Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info); Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info); Markthal Rotterdam (official); Kijk-Kubus Museum-house (official)Pay as you go - 10Rotterdam
Cross the Erasmus Bridge to Hotel New York
Since 1996, the Erasmus Bridge has linked Rotterdam's center with Kop van Zuid. Designed by UNStudio, it is known for its steel pylon shaped like a swan's neck and is one of the city's most photographed sights. Walk across to the Wilhelminapier, where Hotel New York occupies the former head office of the Holland America Line, built in 1901 and given its two-tower facade in 1917. Thousands of emigrants once left from here for America, and the old warehouses nearby recall that era. Along the same pier stands De Rotterdam, a vertical city of three stacked towers completed in 2013, a reminder that Rotterdam chose to build new after the war.
Tip: Take the tram or metro to Wilhelminaplein, then walk back over the bridge into the center so the skyline is in front of you all the way.
Search tours on TiqetsSources: Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info); Hotel New York (WestCord); Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info)Free to visit - 11UtrechtBook ahead
Climb 465 steps up Utrecht's Dom Tower
At 112 m, the Dom Tower is the symbol of Utrecht and the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. Its foundation stone was laid in 1321, and in 1674 a tornado brought down the cathedral's nave, leaving the tower standing on its own; the cleared ground later became Dom Square. Visits are always guided: you climb 465 steps past bells that are still rung by hand to a view over the city and region. Afterward, walk to the Oudegracht, the canal begun after Utrecht received city rights in 1122. Its medieval wharves and cellars, once used to store goods, now hold cafés and restaurants at water level. The tower is about 15 minutes on foot from Utrecht Centraal.
Tip: Book a tour time ahead and be punctual, since late arrivals lose their ticket, and leave every bag in the free lockers, as none are allowed up the tower.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Dom Tower Utrecht (official); Dom Tower Utrecht (official); Domtoren Utrecht; Visit Utrecht RegionStaircase tour, adult: €13.50 (about $15) · Guided tours only; book a timeLast verified
- 13Amsterdam
Watch etching demonstrations at the Rembrandt House
Rembrandt lived and worked in this Amsterdam house for 19 years and created many of his greatest works here. The rooms take you back to the 17th century, and each one tells part of his story, from his craft to his private life and his slide toward bankruptcy. Museum educators give painting and etching demonstrations every day, so you can see how Rembrandt himself worked, and his etchings, etching plates and drawings are on view. Every ticket includes a multimedia tour in many languages, and children can follow a family tour with Kwast, Rembrandt's little dog. The museum also suggests a walking route past 23 Rembrandt sites in the city.
Tip: Book a time slot online, even if you have a museum pass, and check the holiday opening hours before you go.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Rembrandt House Museum (official); Museum Het RembrandthuisAdult, 2026: €23.50 (about $26) · Adult, 2026, from 4 PM during opening hours: €19.50 (about $22) · Reserve a time; check seasonal closing hoursLast verified
- 14Amsterdam
Graze Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp
Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp is the largest and most popular outdoor market in the Netherlands, with about 260 stands open Monday to Saturday. They sell everything from Dutch treats such as raw herring to freshly made stroopwafels, and the cafés and terraces around it make it a good place to watch the neighborhood go by. Herring comes in a small sandwich with pickles and onions, and locals say it is sweetest between May and July. De Pijp itself is Amsterdam's Latin Quarter, with a mix of cuisines and a crowd of creatives, students and bohemians since the 1960s, and its landscaped Sarphatipark is good for a break.
Tip: The market runs Monday to Saturday, so plan it for any day but Sunday, and bring your snacks to Sarphatipark in the same neighborhood.
Sources: I amsterdam (Amsterdam&Partners); I amsterdam (Amsterdam&Partners); I amsterdam (Amsterdam&Partners)Pay as you go - 15Lisse
See spring bulbs in bloom at Keukenhof
Each spring, Keukenhof in Lisse, in the heart of the Dutch bulb region, fills with more than 7 million flowers. Crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and early tulips open first, then the larger tulips take over later in the season, and flower shows run in the pavilions throughout. Boat tours glide past the bulb fields that surround the park. Keukenhof opens only for about eight weeks a year: the 2027 season runs from March 18 to May 9, from 8 AM to 7 PM daily. Most visitors stay about 3 hours. In April, Amsterdam also holds a Tulip Festival, with tulips planted all over the city.
Tip: Tickets are for a set time slot with no early or late entry, and the bulb fields belong to growers, so take photos from the road rather than walking into them.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: Holland.com (Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions); Keukenhof; Keukenhof (official); I amsterdam (Amsterdam&Partners) - 16Delft
Watch Delft Blue painted by hand at Royal Delft
Royal Delft has made Delft Blue since 1653 and is the last remaining Delft Blue factory, still painting by hand every day in the same building. The museum tells the story of the blue-and-white earthenware, and in the factory you follow the process: liquid clay poured into plaster molds, a first firing, then painters applying the decoration with a black paint based on cobalt oxide. In the second firing the glaze melts into a clear layer and the black lines turn blue. Each piece is signed by its painter. Royal Delft and other workshops in town also run sessions where you can paint your own tile.
Tip: Pair it with the Markt and the Nieuwe Kerk for a full day in Delft, a short train ride from The Hague or Rotterdam.
Search tickets and tours on TiqetsSources: TU Delft (official); Royal Delft; In Delft (Delft Marketing)€[fee] - 17Rotterdam
Stroll the old harbor of Historic Delfshaven
Historic Delfshaven is one of the few parts of Rotterdam that survived the 1940 bombing. Its cobblestone streets, gabled canal houses and old harbor carry stories of herring fishermen, gin distillers and 17th-century explorers, and the Pelgrimvaderskerk, the Pilgrim Fathers' church, is its best-known landmark. Today the area has antique shops, waterside cafés and the Dutch Pinball Museum, and in summer you can explore the canals by electric boat. It makes a gentle contrast to the city center, which Rotterdam chose to rebuild in a bold modern style after the war rather than restore.
Tip: Come in summer if you want to rent an electric boat on the canals, and finish with a drink at one of the waterside cafés.
Sources: Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info); Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info)Free to visit - 18The Hague
Walk the seaside boulevard at Scheveningen
Scheveningen is The Hague's seaside resort, and its boulevard is both a promenade and part of the Dutch coastal defenses, modernized in 2013. The wide walk links the resort, the old fishing village and the harbor, passing beach pavilions with sea views, De Pier and SprookjesBeelden aan Zee, a free garden of humorous bronze fairy-tale figures by Tom Otterness. You can swim, take a surf lesson, eat freshly fried fish or watch the sunset from the beach. No other Dutch city has as many beach pavilions as The Hague; most go up in early March and stay until the end of October, while a few on the southern stretch open all winter.
Tip: Visit between March and October, when the beach pavilions are up, and take tram 1 or 9 to the Kurhaus stop, a few minutes' walk from the boulevard.
Sources: The Hague & Partners (denhaag.com); HTM PersonenvervoerPay as you go
Every sight, city by city
Albert Cuyp Market
Amsterdam's best-known street market, about 260 stands in De Pijp selling herring, stroopwafels and more.Entry: Pay as you go. Closed SundaysAnne Frank House
The canal house whose annex hid Anne Frank and her family for two years, now a museum.Entry: Online tickets only, for a time slotSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsBloemenmarkt
A daily flower market whose stalls sit in glass houses along the Singel canal.Entry: Free to browseCentraal Museum, Utrecht
A museum in central Utrecht with changing exhibitions, open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM.Entry: Buy online or at the desk; some major exhibitions carry a surcharge. Closed MondaysSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsDam Square
Amsterdam's central square, home to the Royal Palace, the king's official reception palace.Entry: Free to visitSearch tours on TiqetsDe Kat windmill, Zaanse Schans
A working dye mill at Zaanse Schans, open to visitors except December 25, 26 and 31 and January 1.Entry: Pay at the millSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsDe Pijp
A neighborhood of mixed cuisines, terraces and cafes around the Albert Cuyp Market.Entry: Pay as you goDom Tower, Utrecht
Utrecht's medieval church tower, climbed only on a guided tour that starts at Domplein 9.Entry: Guided tours only; book a timeSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsFoodhallen
An indoor food hall in De Hallen, with street food stalls around a central bar, open daily from noon.Entry: Pay as you goJordaan
A neighborhood of narrow streets, canals, galleries and cafes, with the Nine Streets shops to the east.Entry: Free to visitLeidseplein
The square at the heart of the theater district, ringed by terraces, restaurants and late-night bars.Entry: Pay as you goMagere Brug
The Skinny Bridge, a white drawbridge over the Amstel that is lit up at night.Entry: Free to visitSearch tours on TiqetsMuseumplein
The lawns between the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, the city's museum quarter.Entry: Free to visitNieuwmarkt
A square around De Waag, a city gate built in 1488, lined with brown cafes and restaurants.Entry: Pay as you goOudegracht wharves, Utrecht
Utrecht's old canal, where wharf cellars at water level now hold restaurants and cafes.Entry: Pay as you goOur Lord in the Attic
A canal house museum with a church hidden in its attic; first-Sunday and holiday hours vary.Entry: Online booking advisedSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsRembrandt House Museum
The house where Rembrandt lived and worked for 19 years, with his etchings on display.Entry: Reserve a time; check seasonal closing hoursSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsRijksmuseum
The national museum of the Netherlands on Museumplein, open every day including public holidays.Entry: Book a time slotSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsVan Gogh Museum
The museum of Vincent van Gogh's paintings and life story, beside Museumplein.Entry: Book a time slot onlineSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsVondelpark
Amsterdam's best-known park, with paths, ponds and an open-air theater that stages free shows in summer.Entry: Free to visitSearch tours on TiqetsZaans Museum, Zaanse Schans
A museum at the edge of the Zaanse Schans village, open daily, with a free audio guide.Entry: Audio guide includedSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsZaanse Schans, Zaandam
A village of wooden houses and working windmills by the Zaan river, free to enter all year.Entry: Free to visit; mills and museums chargeZeedijk
The narrow street at the heart of Amsterdam's Chinatown, known for Cantonese restaurants and the He Hua Temple.Entry: Pay as you goBuitenhof, The Hague
The square beside the Binnenhof, with a free viewing tower nearby. The map pin marks the pedestrian square, not the tower entrance.Entry: Free to visitSearch tours on TiqetsChinatown, The Hague
The Hague's Chinatown around the Wagenstraat, with Asian tokos and restaurants near the city center.Entry: Pay as you goCube Houses
Piet Blom's tilted yellow cube homes from 1984, with one furnished show house open to visitors.Entry: Outside free; pay at the show house by cash or cardSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsDeliplein, Katendrecht
A square of cafes and restaurants on Katendrecht, the peninsula once known for sailors and nightlife.Entry: Pay as you goErasmus Bridge
The 1996 swan-necked bridge linking the city center with Kop van Zuid, one of Rotterdam's icons.Entry: Free to visitSearch tours on TiqetsEuromast
A tower by the Maas with viewing platforms at 112 m, open daily from 9:30 AM.Entry: Buy tickets onlineSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsFoodhallen Rotterdam
Street food stalls in a monumental warehouse on the Kop van Zuid, open daily from noon.Entry: Pay as you goHistoric Delfshaven
An old harbor district that survived the 1940 bombing, with gabled houses and the Pilgrim Fathers Church.Entry: Free to visitHotel New York, Wilhelminapier
The 1901 former head office of the Holland America Line, now a hotel and restaurant on the Wilhelminapier.Entry: Free to see from outsideSearch tours on TiqetsLaurenskerk
The only medieval building left in central Rotterdam after 1940, with seasonal tower climbs on specified days.Entry: Church hours vary; tower season and days restrictedSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsMarkt, Delft
Delft's market square below the Nieuwe Kerk, home to a Thursday market since the 12th century.Entry: Free to visitMarkthal
A horseshoe-shaped market hall with homes above it, more than 100 food spots and a huge painted ceiling.Entry: Pay as you goMauritshuis, The Hague
A small museum of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish painting, home to Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring.Entry: Book a time slot onlineSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsNieuwe Kerk, Delft
The church on the Markt where William of Orange and members of the royal family are buried.Entry: Ticket covers both old and new churches. Closed SundaysSearch tickets and tours on TiqetsRoyal Delft
Delft's oldest Delft Blue factory, where you can watch production and visit the museum.Entry: €[fee]Search tickets and tours on TiqetsScheveningen Boulevard, The Hague
The seaside promenade of The Hague, lined with restaurants and beach pavilions facing the sea and the Pier.Entry: Pay as you goQuestions travelers ask
What are the best things to do in the Netherlands for a first trip?
Start in Amsterdam with the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum and a canal cruise through the UNESCO canal ring, then take the short train ride to the windmills of Zaanse Schans. Spend a day or two around Rotterdam for the Markthal, the Cube Houses and the Erasmus Bridge, with easy trips to the Kinderdijk windmills, Delft and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. In spring, add the tulips at Keukenhof.
Sources: Rijksmuseum; UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Zaanse Schans; Rotterdam Partners (rotterdam.info); Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage (official)How many days do you need in the Netherlands?
Five days covers the classics without rushing. Give Amsterdam about three: the Van Gogh Museum alone takes two to three hours, the Anne Frank House about an hour, the Rijksmuseum at least an hour for its highlights, and Zaanse Schans makes a half-day trip. Then base yourself in Rotterdam for two days, with Kinderdijk, Delft and The Hague all a short train or boat ride away. With a week, add Utrecht and its Dom Tower, or Keukenhof in spring.
Sources: Van Gogh Museum (official); Anne Frank House (official); Rijksmuseum; Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage (official); TU Delft (official)When is the best time to visit the Netherlands for sightseeing?
In spring the bulb fields bloom, Keukenhof opens (from March 18 to May 9 in 2027) and café terraces fill up, though the weather can change quickly. Summer days usually reach the low to mid 20s °C, and the beach pavilions are open. Autumn is less busy and still mild in September. The climate is temperate all year, but no month averages fewer than 13 days of rain, so pack a raincoat and keep a museum day in reserve.
Sources: Holland.com (Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions); Keukenhof; The Hague & Partners (denhaag.com)Which Netherlands attractions should you book ahead?
Book the Anne Frank House first: tickets are online only and released every Tuesday at 10 AM Central European Time for visits six weeks later, and they sell out fast. The Van Gogh Museum sells only timed tickets online, with no door sales. The Rijksmuseum requires a start time for everyone. The Mauritshuis strongly advises a time slot, Keukenhof tickets are for a set slot, and the Dom Tower can only be climbed on a guided tour at a booked time.
Sources: Anne Frank House; Anne Frank House (official); Van Gogh Museum (official); Rijksmuseum; Mauritshuis; Keukenhof (official); Domtoren UtrechtHow do you get around the Netherlands?
Trains are the easiest way between cities. You can tap in and out at the gates with a contactless debit or credit card or your phone, with nothing to register, which charges a standard second-class fare. Trains from Schiphol Airport reach Amsterdam Centraal in 14 to 17 minutes, and the Intercity direct links Schiphol and Rotterdam but needs a supplement. Amsterdam's trams, buses and metro are cashless, and the compact center is easy to walk.
Sources: NS (Dutch Railways); I amsterdam (Amsterdam&Partners); NS (Dutch Railways)What are the cycling rules for visitors in Amsterdam?
Ride in the bike lane on the right, marked with white lines and bike symbols, and obey traffic lights and signs even when locals don't. Never cycle on footpaths or shopping streets, and use front and back lights after dark, which is the law. Cross tram rails at a sharp angle so your wheel does not get stuck, ride no more than two abreast, and pull over to check your phone. Lock your bike only in marked racks, or it may be removed.
Sources: I amsterdam (Amsterdam & Partners, official)