Amsterdam is an incredibly unique city with something beautiful to see around every corner. From the canals lined with house boats, flowers, and bikes to the stunning dutch architecture, it truly is a Instagrammer’s dream! This was my second time visiting the city but my first time visiting Amsterdam with my sister. Rocio has always wanted to visit Amsterdam so it was really cool re-discovering the city through her eyes and exploring areas I didn’t get to see on my last trip. We took some really fun shots so I decided to put together an Instagram guide for Amsterdam! In this blog post, I am including Instagrammable places and restaurants.

What To Do

The Nine Streets

The Nine Streets is a picturesque canal-district area with beautiful homes, boutiques, and cafes. We stopped by this area twice on different days so we could explore more of it because there is a ton to see! The best streets are Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, and Herengracht. A good spot is where the Keizersgracht meets the Reguliersgracht!

Waterlooplein

We took the metro into the city from our hotel (Jaz in the City) and stopped at Waterlooplein. This is a beautiful area of Amsterdam with tons of boats, flowers, bridges. Pretty much all the Instagrammable Amsterdam characteristics! It’s a great place to walk around in. The Bloemenmarkt (flower market) is about a 5-10 min walk from here.

Flower Market

The Bloemenmarkt is a floating Flower Market, in the “Nine Streets” area of Amsterdam. The stalls sell souvenirs, flowers, tulip bulbs and more. I think they also sell tulips during the Spring. That would be a really cool time to visit! We stopped by to walk around and snap a few quick photos. The floating stalls make for some really cool shots!

Damrak St.

Damrak St., near the Royal Palace/Dam Square offers a beautiful view of these colorful, crooked houses across the river. I’m sure a lot of you have seen this iconic shot on Pinterest! It’s such a cute spot for photos. I would definitely stop by on your way to visit the Royal Palace.

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is in Dam square, near the Red Light District and the Nine Streets. It’s basically in the center of Old Town! This would be a really cool spot for photos! It was crowded when we visited so we didn’t get any photos, but if you visit early during an off season I bet it would be a lot less busy! I settled for some pretty shots of the palace. There were quite a few bird feeds in the square, I loved seeing the birds flying around! That would make for a cool photo too.

Spiegel-kwartier

We walked down Spiegel-gracht street in Spiegel-kwartier on our way to see the Rijksmusem. It’s a beautiful street with high end shopping, restaurants, beautiful bridge scenes, flowers, the works! The photo above was taken on the bridge across from the Rijksmusem. It was such a beautiful scene with the canal, flowers, and stunning homes. This whole area is perfect for exploring and photo opps.

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is a beautiful, historic building in Amsterdam. It’s a Dutch national museum dedicated to the arts and history of the city. The architecture of the building is stunning. We didn’t shoot any photos here because it was pretty busy during summer holidays but it would definitely make for a cool photo shoot!

Museumplein

Museumplein is a public space where most of the museums in Amsterdam are located including the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. It’s also a public space with a park and a pond where a lot of people hang out. This is where the iAmsterdam sign used to be before it was taken down. I was really sad when I found that out! Apparently they took it down after the sign/city got a bad rep for promoting mass tourism. I actually got to see it the first time I visited Amsterdam about 5 years ago and I’m so glad I did! I thought it was a unique part of the city.

Jordaan District

I missed this hip neighborhood on my last visit to Amsterdam. I’m really glad we got to explore it on this trip! This area has beautiful canals and streets lined with old houses, indie boutiques, and trendy neighborhoods. The house boats in this area were so cute too! It’s one of the oldest neighborhoods in Amsterdam so naturally, there is something beautiful around every corner. The Jordaan District is also where you’ll find the Anne Frank House (pictured above).

Browersgracht St.

Browersgracht St. in the Jordaan District has beautiful buildings, bridges, and house boats. The homes in this area have so much character! I love the shutters and flowers in the windows in the shots above. There were a lot of cafes and shops on the street too. The area definitely has a lot of charming character so you will definitely find lots to photograph here!

Albert Cuyp Market + Neighborhood De Pijp

The Albert Cuyp Market is a street market with clothing vendors, local food, flowers, and more! It’s in the De Pijp neighborhood, another cute area in Amsterdam with trendy shops and restarants. It’s a little outside of the city center but you can easily take a tram or the metro to this area. It’s also close to Vondelpark!

Where To Eat

The Avocado Show

We stopped by The Avocado Show (the location near City Center) for lunch after we arrived in Amsterdam. It’s a really cute restaurant serving beautifully plated, healthy food like bowls, salads, toast, burgers and more! Avocado is the star in almost every plate like the name of the restaurant implies ;). We had the Benny Bowl and the Bun Burger (so good!) and for dessert we had the “heavenly” Oreo Cheescake Heaven. The spot we sat in with the greenery mural and neon sign is perfect for Insta photos!

Lot Sixty One Coffee

Lot Sixty One in Amsterdam Oud-West reminded me of a coffee shop I would see in my city, Portland, OR! I loved the rustic woods, subway tile, and plants. The interiors are definitely Insta-worthy! Lot Sixty One serves house-roasted coffee and delicious pastries. It’s the perfect for a morning pick me up! The coffee shop is also close to Vondelpark. You can pick up coffee and pastries to go on your way to the park for a stroll!

Moak Pancakes

Moak Pancakes is the perfect brunch spot serving savory and sweet pancakes. They also serves smoothies, juices, coffee, yogurt bowls, and salads. We had The Mancake, a savory pancake with cheese, bacon, grilled onions, and maple syrup, and The Infamous, a sweet pancake with banana, chocolate sauce, peanut butter, strawberries, and blackberries! AMAZING!! The interiors are super cute too with tons of plants, cool artwork, and trendy decor. We sat in front of this gorgeous flower wall, the perfect photo spot! We visited the City Center location near Waterlooplein but they also have a location near the Jordaan District.

Bulls & Dogs

Bulls & Dogs serves the most amazing, hot dogs, hamburgers, and milk shakes! They specialize in tons of funky flavor combinations. We had the veggie dog and burger (we try not to eat meat when we can) both of which were super delicious! You need to check out their Instagram too! They post some really cool photos of their beautifully crafted milkshakes. We had a decadent Oreo milkshake with cookie crumble on the rim, whipped cream, and whole Oreo cookies on top! It’s not far from the Albert Cuyp Market and the De Pijp neighborhood.

Amsterdam is such a cool city and definitely worth visiting! If you are planning a trip to Amsterdam, I hope you find this guide helpful. Check out my Brussels Guide too! It’s only a 2 hour train ride from Amsterdam.

I hope you enjoyed my Amsterdam travel guide! Check out more Europe travel guides below.

What To Do In Bruges, Belgium

What To Do in Brussels, Belgium

What To Do In Cologne, Germany

What to do in Luxembourg City

XOXO