The ultimate list of free things to do in Amsterdam
By Mila Vermeer
Travel lover & Amsterdam native
Published 28 July 2026 · 5 min read
The best free things to do in Amsterdam are the ones locals actually do: lazing in Vondelpark, riding the free IJ ferries, slipping into hidden courtyards and browsing markets that double as street theatre.
Amsterdam has a reputation as an expensive city, and if you queue for every ticketed attraction it can be. But the city itself, the canals, the parks, the villages-within-the-city, is the attraction, and walking it costs nothing. This is my honest list of the free Amsterdam I'd show a friend.
Stroll through Vondelpark
Vondelpark is Amsterdam's most famous park, offering a peaceful retreat from the bustling city. Enjoy a leisurely walk or a picnic on a sunny day, and let the joggers, herons and rollerbladers provide the entertainment.
Great ways to enjoy Vondelpark
Take a relaxed stroll or jog along the ponds
Have a picnic on the grass like a local
Catch free live music or street performances at the open-air theatre (summer)
Tips
- Visit early or around sunset for fewer crowds and a calmer vibe
- Bring snacks or takeaway coffee, cafés inside the park can be pricey
- Rent or bring a bike to explore the park quickly and like a local
Pro tip
Enter at the quieter Amstelveenseweg end and walk toward the centre, you finish next to the museums instead of starting in the crowds.
Ride the free ferries across the IJ
Behind Central Station, blue-and-white GVB ferries shuttle across the IJ around the clock: free, no ticket, bikes welcome. The short hop to Buiksloterweg is the closest thing Amsterdam has to a free harbour cruise.
Ride one at dusk and watch the city light up across the water. It's public transport, but it feels like sightseeing.
Tips
- The NDSM ferry is the longest ride, best skyline views for zero euros
- Ferries run day and night; the crossing takes only a few minutes
Pro tip
Stand at the front rail on the way back for the classic postcard view of Central Station growing across the water.
Get lost in the Jordaan's hidden courtyards
The Jordaan is Amsterdam at its most photogenic: leaning gables, flower boxes, and hofjes: almshouse courtyards hiding behind unmarked doors. Many are still lived in, and the residents tolerate quiet visitors during the day.
There's no route to follow. Pick a canal, drift, and push gently on the occasional open door.
Tips
- Keep voices low in the hofjes, people live around them
- Weekday mornings are the quietest time to wander
Pro tip
The Karthuizerhof on Karthuizersstraat is one of the largest and most welcoming courtyards, and most tour groups walk right past it.
Find the Begijnhof
A medieval courtyard hiding in plain sight a minute from the Spui. Step through the door and the city noise drops away: a lawn, a wooden house from the 1520s and two small churches. It's free, and it's one of the oldest inner courts in the city.
Tips
- Open during daytime hours; the entrance is easy to miss on purpose
- Photography is fine, but it's a residential courtyard, keep it quiet
Browse the markets
Amsterdam's markets are free street theatre. The Albert Cuypmarkt in De Pijp is the big one: a full street of cheese, fish, flowers and banter. The Saturday Noordermarkt leans organic and antique, and Waterlooplein is the city's daily flea market, half junk, half treasure.
Tips
- Try before you buy, stallholders at the cheese stands expect it
- Go before noon for the calm version, after noon for the show
Pro tip
The stroopwafel stand mid-way down the Albert Cuyp makes them fresh to order, worth the small queue every time.
Walk the old centre from Dam Square
Start on Dam Square under the Royal Palace façade, then let the alleys pull you outward: the Nieuwe Kerk, the narrow streets of the Nes, the bookstalls of the Oudemanhuispoort passage and the quiet canals of the university quarter.
This is the medieval city, and it's best read on foot, every gable stone tells you what the house's owner did for a living four centuries ago.
Tips
- The Oudemanhuispoort book market runs on weekdays, free to browse
- Look up: the gable stones and rooflines are the real museum
Cross to NDSM for street art
Take the free ferry to NDSM wharf and you land in a former shipyard turned open-air gallery: warehouse-sized murals, container studios and industrial cranes with attitude. It's the rawest corner of the city, and wandering it costs nothing.
Tips
- Combine with the ferry ride, it's the same free trip
- The murals change; the giant Anne Frank by Eduardo Kobra is the landmark piece
Spend a slow afternoon in Westerpark
West of the Jordaan, Westerpark pairs a real park with the Westergas terrain: a former gasworks reborn as a culture village of bakeries, breweries and galleries. Entry is free, events often are too, and the lawns fill with locals the moment the sun appears.
Tips
- Check the Westergas agenda, open-air markets and festivals are frequent and often free
- The walk from the Jordaan through the Haarlemmerdijk is part of the fun
Chase golden hour along the canals
The single best free thing in Amsterdam is the hour before sunset on the canal ring. Head for the Brouwersgracht, where houseboats and warehouse doors glow, or the Reguliersgracht bridge where seven arches line up in a row.
Bring nothing but your phone. This is the walk you'll remember.
Tips
- The Seven Bridges viewpoint is at Reguliersgracht × Herengracht
- Weeknights are quieter than weekends for canal-side wandering
Pro tip
Open the Souvenirs app while you walk: several of these spots have collectible coins waiting, so the route becomes a collection you keep.
Amsterdam doesn't charge admission for the things that make it Amsterdam. Walk the parks, ride the ferries, get lost in the courtyards: and if you want proof you were really here, the coins are waiting in the app.
