Amsterdam Private Tour: Highlights & Hidden Gems by Bike or Foot
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2 to 3 hours (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
See Amsterdam in a unique light on this private tour of the city’s most notable landmarks—plus tucked-away treasures that most visitors miss. Choose to explore on foot or by bike and join up with a local host to get the inside scoop on highlights such as the Flower Market, Red Light District, and Rembrandt’s house. Plus, you can customize your itinerary according to what interests you most on this personalizable tour.
- Private tour of Amsterdam's highlights
- Enjoy a snack at your local host's favorite place
- Choose a start time that suits you for ultimate flexibility
- Opt to explore on foot or by bike
What's Included
- PRIVATE tour - only you and your local
- 1 local drink or snack
- PRIVATE multilingual local guide
- Experience without the crowds
- Sustainable carbon neutral experience (B-Corp)
- Bike Renatil - if you book "Private Highlights by Bike - 2.5h" option
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Entrance to attractions - we will visit them from the outside
- Helmet or e-bike rental - applicable for the option "Private Highlights by Bike - 2.5h"
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting points
Select a meeting point
End point
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
We will finish the tour at the center of Amsterdam. If you book "Private Highlights by Bike - 2.5h" option, we will finish the tour at the starting location.
Itinerary
Enjoy an atypical introduction to Amsterdam with the help of a savvy local on this private tour. Choose to explore the city on foot, or opt for the more "Dutch" way, by bicycle. Meet up with your guide in Beursplein, set off on a leisurely stroll or ride through the city’s most interesting quarters. Along the way, learn the history behind these iconic spots and hear tales of famous former residents and curiosities like the Red Light District.
Visit a hidden chapel in medieval Begijnhof, admire the colorful stalls of the famous Flower Market, and pop into one of the city’s oldest family restaurants for a taste of kroketje (croquettes) or bitterballen (meatballs). Hear some little-known artistic history that surrounds a statute near Rembrandt’s house, and learn about Amsterdam’s diverse cultural heritage on a walk through the old Jewish district.
Feel free to ask all the questions you like on this private tour, and enjoy the personalized attention of your guide. Learn interesting trivia and quirky history that can't be found in any guidebook, and discover the places that locals like to eat, play and relax. The tour concludes in one of the city’s hippest neighborhoods boasting boutique-lined streets—a great place to continue exploring on your own.
Visit a hidden chapel in medieval Begijnhof, admire the colorful stalls of the famous Flower Market, and pop into one of the city’s oldest family restaurants for a taste of kroketje (croquettes) or bitterballen (meatballs). Hear some little-known artistic history that surrounds a statute near Rembrandt’s house, and learn about Amsterdam’s diverse cultural heritage on a walk through the old Jewish district.
Feel free to ask all the questions you like on this private tour, and enjoy the personalized attention of your guide. Learn interesting trivia and quirky history that can't be found in any guidebook, and discover the places that locals like to eat, play and relax. The tour concludes in one of the city’s hippest neighborhoods boasting boutique-lined streets—a great place to continue exploring on your own.
1
Royal Palace Amsterdam
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Rembrandtplein
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Begijnhof (Pass By)
Bloemenmarkt (Pass By)
Anne Frank House (Pass By)
Dutch National Opera & Ballet (Pass By)
Joods Museum (Pass By)
Museum Het Rembrandthuis (Pass By)
Red Light District (De Wallen) (Pass By)
Our Lord in the Attic Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- Private tour: only you & your local guide
- CO2 Neutral: tour’s carbon emissions are offset
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.8
based on 164 reviews
Alexandria_S, Aug 2025
This was an amazing bike tour with Arunabha. We learned so much in a very short amount of time. Really enjoyed this tour and highly recommend it.
Robert_L, Aug 2025
Olga was a great guide very informative and friendly. She took us to places we never would have thought of.
Sarah_W, Jul 2025
Arun was an excellent guide, sharing interesting stories as well as some hidden gems around Amsterdam.
EMILY_B, Jun 2025
Olga, our guide was great! We learned a lot and enjoyed seeing the highlights of Amsterdam! It was perfect for our first morning in Amsterdam. Thank you.
Sandy_P, May 2025
Is was the best way to get introduced to an amazing city, Willam was great and we learned so much.
We really enjoyed it. Would highly recommend doing a tour.
pahala_n, Apr 2025
Annette is an excellent guide. Knowledge of all the hidden gems. And for those who loves photography. She gives you loads of tips!
JulieStubblefield, Oct 2024
Annet was a magical guide…. Our private tour of Amsterdam couldn’t have been better. Her photography tips and knowledge of the area (and her big beautiful heart ) blessed us.
Janet_P, Aug 2024
Loved Arjun’s international perspective during the tour. Brought buildings to life with the back stories.
LindaB, Jun 2024
Temi show us aspects of the city that were off the beaten path, extremely interesting and memorable. Temi had deep knowledge of the history and events of the places he featured on the tour. I highly recommend him to anyone looking for a thorough and thoughtful guide. Detailed everything to our needs.
Zeeshan_K, Jun 2024
We had an extremely disappointing experience with our guide, Christa. I strongly advise against booking her as she exhibited a snobbish attitude and seemed to have a chip on her shoulder.
We were running late for the experience and had informed her of our delay. Upon arrival at the meeting point, I started the conversation by apologizing for being late. However, she responded in a threatening tone, stating that if it had been another guide, they would have canceled the tour. I offered to shorten the tour by 30 minutes, but her rude reply was, "OF COURSE I will shorten it." Ultimately, we cut the tour short by 1 hour and 30 minutes, and she spoiled the experience from the outset. Courtesy demands that if I am paying for the tour and apologizing for the delay, she should have been polite.
As a family, we travel very frequently and this was not the first time we have had a late start to a tour. In the past, our guides have always been accommodating, often going out of their way to ensure a good experience.
During the tour, Christa walked ahead of us several times, and after about an hour, we decided to call it off and sat down for a meal instead.
In summary, please ensure you check the identity of your host when booking. If it is Christa, I strongly urge you to request a different guide or even consider canceling the tour altogether.
Response from Host, Jul 2024
Dear guest,
Thank you for sharing your feedback about the "Amsterdam Private Tour: Highlights & Hidden Gems by Bike or Foot." We sincerely apologize for the disappointing experience you had with our guide, Christa.
Your experience is not reflective of the standards we strive to maintain. We deeply regret the rudeness and lack of professionalism you encountered. Please be assured that we will share your feedback with Christa to address these concerns and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for your understanding.
Best regards,
Withlocals team
Suzanne_F, Mar 2024
Timo was a wealth of knowledge and little known facts. The tour was comprehensive and tailored to our interests. We highly recommend!
Melissa_S, Dec 2023
Marten was an excellent guide. He gave us a wonderful walking tour (despite the rain) of Amsterdam. He had teenagers of his own, so was very comfortable engaging with them. His wealth of knowledge spanned from history to food to cultural nuances that we never would have learned without him. An excellent way to spend half a day to orient yourself in the city.
Laura_S, Sep 2023
Timo was extremely knowledgeable and gave us so much information about so much around us, including the transportation system. Perfect for our first day in Amsterdam!! Many thanks to Timo.
Michelle_T, Jun 2023
Christa was terrific! We saw most of the city and stopped into a few select stores along the way to do a bit of shopping and had a nice drink in a restaurant with a view.
Peter_D, May 2023
This was a excellent tour including some of the less tourist parts of Amsterdam. Giovanna had an excellent knowledge of the area and history , we were able to do this tour at a leisurely pace, highly recommend.
Jane_M, May 2023
Olga was terrific and we learnt, laughed and didn’t get run over!!!
Found very fun and interesting places in Amsterdam - learnt a lot and have even retained it 😂😂 I’d recommend this tour and especially Olga
KatharineVerros, May 2023
Well, we had booked with Locals because we had an amazing experience with a Wiith Locals guide in Portugal.
First, I understand that personal issues may interrupt ones day, but starting our tour a hour and a half later put a kink in the rest of our other plans that day.
Our guide had high energy but not too much knowledge of Amsterdam than the "tourist" highlights that I can read in a tour guide. When you pay $235, we had high expectations since this was a private tour and can learn more from a local.
Book a less expensive tour and save the money and enjoy a coffee experience on Dam Square!
Response from Host, May 2023
Hi there, at Withlocals we want our guests to have the best experience of their trip so we are very disappointed to find out about your negative tour experience. As we cannot directly get in touch with you from here, please email us at info@withlocals.com and we will make sure to follow up on this issue.
We are looking forward to your email. Thank you in advance.
Have a great day,
Withlocals
katharina_r, Apr 2023
This was a private tour and as such I had expected more of a plan in what we would see.
The guide was very enthusiastic and full of energy. There were too many ad hoc decisions as what to show us next. I feel we trudged and trudged along in a haphazard way.
Stopping for a coffee break at the beginning was nice. But a quick (lunch) break would have made more sense.
I have 3 suggestions to make:
1. A few visuals would have been good (maybe some 8x10 inch pictures in a plastic hoes, instead of cell phone photos.
2. A break in the middle with the opportunity to visit the restroom. Guide never thought of that.
3. As much as I appreciate that the guide was willing to go overtime, it really is much better to have stuck to the expected ending time. Again, that goes back to the lack of having a plan.
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Hi there, at Withlocals we want our guests to have the best experience of their trip so we are very disappointed to find out about your negative tour experience. As we cannot directly get in touch with you from here, please email us at info@withlocals.com and we will make sure to follow up on this issue.
We are looking forward to your email. Thank you in advance.
Have a great day,
Withlocals
Christian_B, Apr 2023
Adum was a great guide. We saw all of the popular sights and a few out of the way spots. We liked the leisurely pace, since a member of our group was on crutches. My only note would be that he could have talked a bit louder.
Claire_S, Apr 2023
Timo was fabulous ! Showed us lots of books and crannies as well as the usual - he was so informative and also such a nice guy!
Seth_M, Apr 2023
Willem is so knowledgeable! He made the tour very interesting, never a dull moment. He truly showed us some of the hidden gems of Amsterdam. He was very understanding when we arrived a bit late, which we appreciated. We would definitely book with him again!
Susan_S, Oct 2022
Our guide was Willem. He was so informative and a great sense of humor! Has lived in the city for 60 years! Can’t beat that! He even waited patiently as we shopped at the little duck store.
Tom, Sep 2022
Very informative. Seemed a bit rushed and the guide occasionally had a bit of an attitude. She did do a good job of answering all questions.
Mark_G, Sep 2022
Marten was an amazing guide with plenty of knowledge about Amsterdam and Holland. We enjoyed a 3 hour walking tour. Be aware it's not as much walking as you might think. Alot of stop and talk locations. I would highly recommend this tour.
Casey_A, Jul 2022
Olga was great! Very knowledgeable about Amsterdam’s history. We saw beautiful sights and she gave us great restaurant recommendations.
Deb_M, Jul 2022
Anna was very knowledgeable and engaging. We walked away with a much better understanding of the history of Amsterdam, as well as tips on where to shop and enjoy the local culture.
Bill_P, Jul 2022
The guide was very soft spoken which made him difficult to understand in the noisier locations on the tour. He knew the city and its history but was seemingly obsessed with telling us about the prostitution trade. We achieved a full understanding of the subject after the second explanation. The subsequent ten became a bit tedious. To the positive, he provided a great orientation for our later exploration of the city.
Response from Host, Jul 2022
Hi there, my name is Lieke from Withlocals and I am part of the quality and support team. At Withlocals we want our guests to have the best experience of their trip so we are very disappointed to find out about your negative tour experience. As we cannot directly get in touch with you from here, please email us at info@withlocals.com and we will make sure to follow up on this issue.
We are looking forward to your email. Thank you and please accept our apology on behalf of Withlocals.
Have a great day,
Lieke | Withlocals
Ursula_R, Jul 2022
Anna was so knowledgeable. We enjoyed our tour with her very much. She told us so many things about Amsterdam - the buildings, local history, art Plus More! She tailored the tour to our interests and took us to areas were hadn't seen before (like the Jewish quarter where we saw bricks dedicated to Anne Frank and her family's names - plus many other people who died tragically only because they were Jewish). We told her that right after her tour we needed to meet someone and she made sure that our tour ended at that meeting point (you can imagine not knowing Amsterdam how helpful that was).
Chris_J, May 2022
Great tour. Wonderful tour guide and a great way to learn about Amsterdam. Giovanni was a terrific guide. Patient with our questions and gave us great insight into the City.
Dawn_B, May 2022
Arun provided a very good and detailed tour and overview of Amsterdam. If you are looking for historical and contextual information about how people in Amsterdam lived in the past and live today, this is a great tour.
We covered all parts of the central city at a good pace but not too quickly. The tour was very interactive, with the guide stopping frequently to ask for and answer our questions. We could tell he loves the city and is a good and accurate teller of its stories.
From $148.98
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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