Day 1 – Arriving to Amsterdam

I landed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at 12:30pm. I got my luggage and met Kellie outside of baggage claim by 1pm. The train station is located within the airport so we made our way down to the train track and literally hopped right onto our train. We got to Amsterdam Centraal in 20 minutes and then hopped on a bus for 10 minutes toward our Airbnb. We got to our Airbnb at the exact time we could check-in, so the timing was perfect!

We dropped our bags and walked a couple minutes to Wester Perk Coffee Shop for a meal. We ate a perfect first meal of avocado toast and eggs before heading back to our Airbnb for a 2-hour jet lag nap. I booked Anne Frank House tickets in advance for our first night at 7:30pm. I highly recommend stopping here, and it’ll only be an hour of your time. With a guided audio tour, you walk through the actual house she stayed in – steep staircases and all. Tickets for this are $19/person and open 6 weeks in advance – they sell out quick!

We then found our way to La Perla for dinner – wine and pizza. Just picture the cutest sidewalk patio seating on a cobblestone street in Europe and that’s where we were eating. The pizza was outstanding, not a crumb was left. But we weren’t done eating. I researched Winkel 43 and knew we had to try their famous Dutch apple pie, and I am so glad we did. Finally, we walked back to our houseboat to prepare for my birthday the next day.

Day 2 – First Full Day

My 30th birthday!! And what a dream day it was for my 30th. The start of the day began with a bus to Amsterdam Centraal followed by a bus to Keukenhof Gardens. I booked the combiticket through Keukenhof’s website in February – this includes roundtrip transportation and entry to the gardens ($45/person). Our bus ticket time was for 9am and we got to the gardens by 9:30am. Words truly can’t describe how vibrant the colors of the tulips are as you drive into the town of Leisse. Just a sea of bright reds, yellows, and pinks!

Keukenhof is huge and spread out, and there is no need to rush. I don’t know how to describe this place other than unreal, unlike anything I’ve ever seen in person. We walked through the various parts of the gardens for a couple hours. We went to the top of the windmill that’s on the property to get a view of the tulip fields as well. For lunch, we got hot dogs and fresh berries and cream – there are plenty of food options, kind of like a mini food hall.

Around 1pm, we used the “return” part of our roundtrip bus ticket to take us to the nearby town of Leiden. Here, we did a lot of walking around the historic center and canal streets with some shopping. We also tried the infamous friets (fries with mayo) and gelato. After a few hours, we headed back to Amsterdam Centraal via train. After an afternoon siesta at the Airbnb, we got ready for a 90-minute canal cruise with unlimited wine and cheese.

This canal cruise was a TIME! Kellie and I drank a bottle and a half of wine and ate entire plate of cheese to ourselves. Captain Joe was a great canal cruise captain, and it was truly an unforgettable experience. This was a great way to see a majority of Amsterdam via canal. It was 8:30pm by the time we got back and we needed to find dinner.

We ended up at Porta Aperta Italian restaurant and dove into some fresh pasta and more wine. The restaurant brought me tiramisu and sang me happy birthday – sober me would’ve hid under the table but tipsy me was enjoying this far too much. We ended the night with the BEST espresso martinis.

Day 3 – Second Full Day

With no set plan, we decided on Zaanse Schans over Haarlem for the traditional windmill, Dutch feel. But before we left, breakfast was at Box Sociaal Jordaan for an Australian brunch – 100% recommend! We hopped on a bus from Amsterdam Centraal and got to Zaanse Schans in 30 minutes. It is a very small area, so it fills up fast with people.

It is very touristy with shops, but the view is great and it feels like you stepped into a Dutch storybook. There’s a clog shop, stroopwafel stand, sheep, windmills, walking paths, and more. We spent about 2 hours here shopping and eating snacks, then hopped on a train back to Amsterdam. We bought tickets before we left Zaanse Schans to the Moco Museum of modern art ($25/person). It was an interesting museum and very eye-catching but not a lot of time needed here. We ended the day very chill grabbing drinks along the canal, and got Indian food for dinner.

Day 4 – Leaving for Bruges

The train to Bruges was @ 10:26am out of Amsterdam Centraal, so we got up early enough to grab breakfast and coffee at Moods Coffee Corner. After a bus to Amsterdam Centraal, we hopped on our first of 3 trains before arriving to Bruges. We would have one more night in Amsterdam after we explored Belgium for a couple days.

Day 5 – Last day & night before heading back home

To end the trip, we headed back to Amsterdam for one night since we were both flying out of Schiphol the next day. While we were in Belgium, we both agreed that we couldn’t wait to get back to Amsterdam because we loved it so much! We got to our hotel right outside Schiphol Airport at 2pm to check-in and figure out what we wanted to do for our final evening here. We got drinks at the hotel bar and got into the city center around 4pm. For funsies, we went to the Amsterdam Sex Museum for $10/person. It was definitely the most unique museum I’ve been to.

The weather was beautiful and sunny, so we opted for a canal-patio-cocktail-hour. I indulged in my favorite – the aperol spritz. Kellie indulged in her favorite – the espresso martini. We wandered the canal streets all evening and ended up at Proeflokaal Arendsnest for beer and cheese. Impeccable cheese might I add. After about an hour or so here, we ended the night at the W Hotel bar for rooftop views of the sunset. We reminisced on how incredible the trip had been and took a cute little photo shoot in the photo booth before heading to the hotel for our final sleep of the trip.