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July 7, 2020

25 Things to photograph in Amsterdam

If it’s your first time visiting Amsterdam, here are some photo spots to add to your list. And if you’ve been to Amsterdam before, you could use this list as a scavenger hunt! In no particular order..

1. Roam the many canals

The Jordaan neighbourhood where the Anne Frank House is located had some great photo opportunities.

Jordaan neighbourhood amsterdam netherlands best photography locations scavenger hunt

2. Anne Frank’s House

Her house is on the left just before the church tower. It’s hard to get a photo of the front of the house as so many people walking past obscure’s it. I don’t like how they’ve created a new cube / glass building that’s the entrance to the museum and just stuck it on the end of the row of houses – it doesn’t fit in with the neighbourhood.

amsterdam anne frank house jordaan neighborhood amsterdam things to see and do 5 day itinerary best photo spots first time visitor october

3. Bike parking

The biggest clusters of bike parking are right outside the front of Amsterdam Central Station and at the back near the ferry that will take you to A’Dam Lookout.

And you thought trying to find your car in the shopping centre was hard…

Amsterdam netherlands bike parking photos you must take the first time you visit amsterdam best photo spots things to see and do itinerary

4. Armbrug Bridge

Up near Central Station this was the first canal I saw in Amsterdam (way to make a good first impression!) I’ve seen better photos of this spot on the internet but it’s a cafe area and there were too many tables and chairs in the way to get a better angle. Go early in the morning before anything’s open and you might be able to get the houses and the bridge in the one photo.

Armbrug bridge amsterdam things to see and do photospots locations dutch architecture canals

Armbrug bridge amsterdam things to see and do photospots locations dutch architecture canals

5. One of the many canal bridges

I took this photo on one of the canal tour boats, but also took many great photos from parallel bridges, before walking onto a bridge and from the side of the canal.

amsterdam things to see and do canal tour photo spots

6. Multiple canal bridges in a row

There are numerous instances where you’ll see multiple bridges in a row. See how many you can get in the one picture!

Amsterdam canal bridge viewpoints boat tour canal photo spots things to see and do in netherlands itinerary

7. Damrack

This is near the main central station and where the canal cruise boats dock, also near Manneken Pis fries shop.

Damrack amsterdam harbour best photo spots things to see and do 5 day itinerary best places to photograph dutch architecture

8. Amsterdam Central Station

While you’re there, get a photo of Amsterdam Central Station. Best taken directly in line with the main front entrance but on the other side of the water so you’re far enough away to capture most of the building. There was major construction works in that area during my visit so this is the best photo I could get.

Amsterdam central train station dutch architecture photo spots Amsterdam Netherlands dutch photography

9. Damrack street

This is the main main shopping street with the trams that you’ll likely frequent multiple times during your stay in Amsterdam. Starting up near Amsterdam Central Train Station all the way to Dam Square.

amsterdam manekin pis fries damrack photo spots photgraphy must see and do itinerary

10. Dam Square

Dam Square Amsterdam town square photo spots things to see and do itinerary best places to photograph Amsterdam

11. Amsterdam’s trams

So some people might find it weird that I’ve included this on the list but I have a thing for trams. They just add something extra to a generic street photo.

Amsterdam tram station best of the netherlands 5 day itinerary things to see and do photospots

12. Photo from one of the canal cruise boats

I took this at the start of the route just past Central Station, before the boats start to go down the narrow canals.

amsterdam canal tour review things to see and do 5 day itinerary

13. Red light district

Photos of the girls in the windows is not allowed.

amsterdam things to see and do photos to take

14. Henry Willig Cheese shop

Make sure you pop in and try some too!

Henri Willig Cheese amsterdam

15. One of the many cannabis shops

Included on this list purely because Amsterdam is famous for them and I like ‘typical’ photos of the destinations I visit.

amsterdam photo spots

16. Laneways

Plenty to choose from – wide ones like these with shops

amsterdam laneways photo spots tips itinerary things to see and do first timers guide to amsterdam netherlands

Or less busy side laneways (I don’t recommend actually going down the smaller laneways, some of them seemed a bit sketchy).

amsterdam laneways best photography locations things to see and do

17. Crossing one of the canal bridges

Everyone gets photos while on the bridge but don’t forget to take a picture of one of the canal bridges.

amsterdam photo spots canals things to see and do Amsterdam bucket list itinerary first timers guide

18. The front doors

Away from the canals are less busy neighbourhoods with these brick apartment buildings (wander around Nieuwe Pijp and it’s surrounding neighbourhoods).

Amsterdam netherlands photo spots photography locations things to see and do best neighbourhoods dutch architecture

19. Close ups of the architecture of the houses

You can see the hooks at the top of the houses they use to lift the furniture in through the window.

amsterdam architecture dutch houses netherlands 30 things to photograph itinerary to do list

20. Lopsided houses

If you look closely, some of the buildings in Amsterdam lean at quite the angle.. but when you’re inside them it’s not even noticeable.

amsterdams lopsided houses dutch architecture best photo spots locations photography scavenger hunt must see and do

21. Someone moving in

I was hoping I’d see someone moving furniture into one of the houses along the canals and while I didn’t get to see that I did see the next best thing: using a conveyorbelt to get stuff in and out. This might be boring to some but I found it interesting!

Amsterdam netherlands photo spots best places for photography address things to see and do itinerary

22. House boats

There are plenty of these to photograph. Some colorful, some with fake grass on the roof, lots of variety you’ll have trouble sifting through all your photos to pick just one.

dutch houseboats netherlands amsterdam photography best photo spots things to see and do

dutch houseboats netherlands amsterdam photography best photo spots things to see and do

23. Excessive sweet shops

There are plenty of over the top sugar hit shops around the red light district and the side streets around Damrak. Over the top waffles, brownies, candy, gelato etc.

The food in the window is nicely displayed but after wandering around and being overwhelmed by the options (all the sweet shops look the same after a while), I tried a nutella brownie from one of them.. And came to the conclusion the shops all sell the same sweets they probably order from the same supplier and they sit in the window for days because that brownie was not fresh.

amsterdam sweet shops th

24. Amsterdam Sign

Sadly they’d taken away the I Amsterdam sign from in front of the Rijksmuseum prior to my visit (it’s still worth heading that way to get a photo of the Rijksmuseum).

The next best thing is the A’Dam sign at the top of the A’Dam lookout.

A'DAM lookout sign 2019 best viewpoints in amsterdam netherlands viewpoint

25. A’Dam Lookout

It has a 360 degree view, but this was my favorite angle.

view from a'dam lookout amsterdam netherlands 5 day itinerary guide things to see and do best viewpoints

26. Food

After trying poffertjes I quickly because obsessed!

The best ones I found were at  De Vier Pilaren near the river (also near the canal boat route).

best poffertjes in amsterdam netherlands De Vier Pilaren near canal boat tour route foods to try first time in amsterdam

IJscuypje gelato shop amterdam best places to eat food dessert sweets itinerary

Because to me, it’s not a day in Europe done right unless there’s gelato!

More Netherlands:

  • 5 Day Amsterdam Itinerary (including 2 day trips)
  • Day trip via train from Amsterdam to Zaanse Schans and The Hague
  • Day trip from Amsterdam to Volendam, Marken and Edam
  • An overrated day trip to Giethoorn and the enclosing dike

travel itinerary template microsoft word travel planner organizer detailed template multi-country destination planner all about planning favorite tools resource to plan your next trip

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amsterdam photography locations tips things to see and do itinerary bucket list scavenger hunt attractions photo spots viewpoints netherlands dutch first time guide

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Posted In: Europe, Travel · Tagged: amsterdam first time viist, amsterdam itinerary, amsterdam photo scavenger hunt, amsterdam photo spots, amsterdam photo to do list, amsterdam photography locations, amsterdam to do list, best photo spots in amsterdam, best spots to photograph amsterdam, things to see and do in amsterdam

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