How many days to spend in Amsterdam?

Jeremy, sounds like a great vacation. My wife and I traveled to Amsterdam and Paris in April, 2015 and we spent 3 days in Amsterdam. it is a beautiful city and the people are very friendly. A pleasant surprise is that most of the local Amsterdammers speak English as well as my wife and me. We went in April and visited the Keukenhof Tullip Gardens, which are breathtaking, but only accessible in late March through April time frame. Ann Frankhuis is strongly recommended and if you and your wife are interested, you can order tickets in advance over the web for a specific date and time, otherwise it will take you 4+ hours of waiting in line. With the advanced tickets, you just walk to the front of the line at the appropriate time and you can start your tour immediately. It's a great walking city and I would recommend a canal boat tour. Also, watch out for the bikes. Everyone in Amsterdam rides bikes and from what I saw they have the right of way over pedestrians and cars. Based on your limited time, I would recommend spending two nights in Amsterdam.

Have fun.

You are probably taking on an overly aggressive itinerary. There's so much great drink, food, culture, architecture and art in all these cities that they're best visited a little slower.
Amsterdam's a great city that's worthy of 3-4 days. Same with Munich as it has many, many travel sights to see. Venice is a 3 day city, and Rome is a 4 day minimum city. I would skipping out of the way (and very expensive) Switzerland and Cinque Terre. Florence is a very worthwhile stop between Venice and Rome, and you could spend as much time there as you have left.

Since you're packing in so many stops, I'd just stay the one night in Amsterdam. Just because Amsterdam is one of the easiest cities to come back to on a Europe trip since there are so many flights in and out of there.

We are flying out of Amsterdam next spring.. and have a more aggressive itinerary then we usually do also.. ( 28 days.. London, Mykonos, Naxos, Mallorca, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam) and we have been to Amsterdam before.. so we are allowing 3 nights.. which is only 2 full days. I personally think 3-4 nights ( which I think of in terms of sightseeing days.. so this is only 2-3 full days of sightseeing) is sufficient to get an overview.

In your case you can make it 2nights because you'll take a night train on Tuesday. This will leave 2.5 days which is reasonable if you really your time well. You don't say when your traveling. If it's during tulip time you'll need every bit of 2.5 days To make sure you spend a half day minimum at Keukenhof.

Jeremy: I agree with David on reducing the number of locations--but, that is a different discussion. You can always ask the forum to offer suggestions on what to remove from your location list, if you are willing to put yourself through that agony :)

To answer your question, take the Tuesday night train. You will likely be jet-lagged on your Sunday morning arrival and will not enjoy fully that day, leaving you only a portion of the next day (Monday) to see everything you want to see before taking the train. Give yourself the extra day and enjoy Amsterdam and take the Tuesday night train. In any case, enjoy your travels and be safe.

We consider Amsterdam the perfect 3 night town which gives two full days. It takes two nights to get a full day anywhere. We often end our European trips with 3 nights in a houseboat in Amsterdam. There are three magnificent major museums: Riijks, Van Gogh and Hermitage as well as many smaller places. The town is lovely; I first saw Amsterdam in April in 1961 and was totally unprepared for its beauty.

I am of the slow town and spend time school of travel but even though you are not, leaving Monday doesn't even give you a full relaxed day in Amsterdam -- I'd definitely opt for Tuesday.

I would not skip Cinque Terre, we went for one day from Florence, by train, but we should have gone for 2 days. We stayed 3 days in Venice and we should have stayed one week. There is so much to do around Venice like a full day to Burano. We did one week in Rome and it was good considering that we spent one day, from Rome, to Naples and Pompeii. I think, like others, that including all of these cities is a lot in two weeks. Just my 2 cents.

We just got back three weeks ago from a trip to the Netherlands. Spent 4 nights in 's-Hertogenbosch for the Bosch 500 art exhibit, then 3 nights and 2 1/2 days in Amsterdam. I recommend 3 nights in Amsterdam. You must go to the Anne Frank House (buy tickets online in advance to skip the long lines), the Van Gogh museum (we spent 4 hours there, but VG is my favorite artist), and the Rijksmuseum (the 3 hours we spent there was not nearly enough- you need a whole day). Also did a cheese tasting at Reypenauer and several Rick Steves walking tours from his guide book. Felt like the right amount of time. Best meal was a rijstaffel at Sama Sebo.
Lisa from Tampa

janettravels44, could you please share info on renting a houseboat in Amsterdam? Thanks!

Jeremy,

I have spent perhaps 45 - 50 days in Amsterdam over the past 20 years and I still discover new neighborhoods to explore and enjoyable sites to visit on every trip. That said, I would opt for the two night stay. With some careful planning you should be able to visit several of the major sites Amsterdam has on offer - Anna Frank House, Van Gogh and/or Old Masters Art Museum, Vondel Park, etc...

You must include the War Resistance Museum:
https://www.verzetsmuseum.org/museum/en/museum?gclid=CjwKEAjwxoG5BRCC7ezlzNmR8HUSJAAre36jK2eyFrX804FFaQQvT79sXGzJVhVxRmls0ZFkodvyfBoC9lvw_wcB
Before you go read:
In the City of Bikes by Pete Jordan (more than just about bikes).

Cleo