Amsterdam Highlights Small-Group Walking Tour
Recommended by 91% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Amsterdam, Netherlands
- 2 to 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Get your bearings and discover Amsterdam through the eyes of a local on this comprehensive walking tour of the city. Join a guide and a small group of fellow travelers as you explore historic streets and pass by the city's network of canals. As you walk, hear anecdotes and tales you won't find in a guidebook—covering Amsterdam's origin as a village to life during Nazi occupation, right through to present day. It's the perfect introduction for first time travelers.
- A small-group tour means more attention from your guide
- Gain insight you'd miss if exploring alone
- Choose whether to upgrade your experience with an optional canal cruise
- Hear stories you won't find in the history books
What's Included
- 2.5-Hour Walking Tour
- Professional guide
- Ticket for 1-Hour Canal Cruise (if option selected)
- Small groups for a more personal experience
- Food and drinks
- Transfers to the starting point
- Tip
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Beursplein, 1012 JW Amsterdam, Netherlands
Our guide will be waiting for you in front of the Cafe Bistro, next to the bull figure, with a blue umbrella or a tag with the Amsterdam Guides & Tours logo.
End point
- Dam SquareDam, 1012 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Itinerary
1
Beursplein
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Centraal Station
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Zeedijk (Pass By)
3
Nieuwmarkt
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Jodenbuurt
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Zuiderkerk (Pass By)
5
Muntplein
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Begijnhof
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
7
Dam Square
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 10 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 232 reviews
Rafael_R, Mar 2026
Augustine was a great guide. Very informative. Took us places that we would never have seen on our own. Highly recommend a tour with him!
Eva_B, Mar 2026
Our guide Augustin was wonderful, friendly and informed. It was just enough for a first orientation look at Amsterdam
Julie_S, Feb 2026
Wonderful way to see the City. Jacob was very welcoming and informative. He made the tour interactive by asking us questions and so not just educational but fun too , he can also take a great photo. We had a brilliant time.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Hello Julie,
Thank you so much for your recommendation! We are absolutely delighted that Jacob's welcoming and interactive approach, along with his educational insights and photography skills, made your time in the city so brilliant and fun. It was a true pleasure having such an engaged group with us for the highlights!
Pranitha_S, Feb 2026
Our guide Laura Garcia was so informative and funny. Kept us engaged throughout the tour. We got to learn a lot about Amsterdam
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Hello Pranith,
Thank you so much for your recommendation! We are thrilled that Laura Garcia’s humor and deep knowledge kept you engaged while you learned so much about Amsterdam. It was a true pleasure sharing the city's highlights with you!
Neil_H, Jan 2026
This was a pleasant learning experience with Tony. He was engaging and knowledgeable. Plus, he provided good suggestions for restaurants and other sites at the conclusion of the tour.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hello Neil, thank you so much! We are thrilled that you had such a pleasant learning experience with Tony and found his suggestions for local restaurants and sites helpful for the rest of your stay; we hope to see you again soon!
Ashle_B, Jan 2026
Our guide was very nice, but through a two hour tour, he shared about 15 minutes of information with us. We mostly followed him as he walked.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Hello Ashle,
Thank you for your feedback; while we are glad you found the guide nice, we apologize that the amount of information provided was insufficient and will use your comments to improve the balance of our walks.
Kara_H, Dec 2025
Jacob was wonderful and knew a lot about Amsterdam’s history! He kept the tour moving and interesting the entire time!
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Hello Kara,
Thank you for your kind words! We’re delighted to hear Jacob made the tour engaging and informative. We hope to welcome you back again soon!
Bugsy_A, Nov 2025
This was a fun informative tour of the sights and history of Amsterdam. Laura did a great job presenting and was very knowledgeable and helpful with all things needed. She was Awesome!!
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Hello Bugsy,
Thank you for your wonderful review! We’re thrilled you enjoyed the tour and found it both fun and informative. It’s great to hear that the guide made the experience so helpful and enjoyable. We truly appreciate your feedback and hope to welcome you on another tour soon!
Joanne_L, Nov 2025
If I’m not wrong it was Claire? She’s hilarious and I love the way she did the tour. Must do if you only have a few days in Amsterdam!
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Hello Joanne,
Thank you for your lovely review! We’re delighted to hear the guide made the experience so fun and engaging. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you again soon!
Chuck_D, Oct 2025
Our tour guide Laura did a fantastic job. She was very witty and really knew all the historical facts about Amsterdam. We learned a great deal and had a lot of laughs. I highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Amsterdam.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hello Chuck,
Thank you for your review! We are delighted that your guide, Laura, did a fantastic job, was very witty, and truly knowledgeable about Amsterdam's historical facts. It’s wonderful that you learned a great deal and had so many laughs. We appreciate your high recommendation!
Cindy_F, Oct 2025
Ilya is a wonderful tour guide with a great sense of humor! His passion for the city and its history and culture was apparent as he brought Amsterdam to life throughout the tour. The two hour walking tour covers history from the 1600s through World War II as well as contemporary life. The tour ended with a relaxing 1 hour canal ride. This is a great tour for exploring the city!
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hello Cindy,
Thank you so much for your excellent feedback! We are thrilled to hear that Ilya was a superb guide whose obvious passion for Amsterdam's history and culture made the city truly come alive for you, and we're delighted that you enjoyed the great balance of the historical walking tour and the calm canal ride. We appreciate you choosing us for your exploration of the city
Dale_Z, Sep 2025
Martina’s knowledge and expertise of art, especially at the Reijksmuseum is unparalleled. She was knowledgeable, courteous, friendly, on topic, and willing to be flexible. We had a wonderful time. We highly recommend her.
Henry_M, Sep 2025
We had a fun walking tour with Richard. He pointed out a wide variety of sights, and we learned a lot about Amsterdam. I definitely would recommend this tour.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Henry,
Thank you for your review! We’re glad you enjoyed exploring Amsterdam with Richard and learned so much along the way. Your recommendation means a lot, and we’re happy the tour was a memorable experience for you.
Christy_R, Sep 2025
Great walking tour with a lot of stops and education. Our guide was very knowledgeable ams funny. She did a fabulous job.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hello Christy,
Thank you for your review! We're happy to hear you enjoyed the walking tour and that your guide made it both educational and fun. Great to know she did such a fabulous job!
Linda_W, Sep 2025
Claire was a great tour guide. Lots of anecdotes and historical facts and highlights. Definitely recommend.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hello Linda,
Thank you for your kind words! We’re so glad you enjoyed the Amsterdam Highlights Walking Tour with Claire and her blend of anecdotes and historical insights. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to see you again on another tour!
TracyD_F, Aug 2025
We had a great time with Clair. We felt like we really got a good feel of Amsterdam and it’s history. Clair pointed out architectural sights we would have never looked up and seen on our own. All in all it was so educational and loads of fun.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hello Tracy,
Thank you for sharing your experience! We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the tour with Clair and discovered hidden gems of Amsterdam while learning about its history. We hope to welcome you on another adventure soon!
Janet_K, Aug 2025
Good for. There are 8 of us which is a good number for a city walking tour. The tour was just over 2 hours and we saw a lot and learned a lot of history from the 1600s through World War II as well as contemporary life Our guide was easy to understand with a great sense of humor. Recommend highly
Judith_H, Aug 2025
An excellent guide. But I can’t say that I would use Viator again. We booked tickets for the van gough museum for today. They were paid for and you canceled the tickets for no reason. I can’t tell you how disappointed we are. I would never recommend your company to anyone.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hi,
We are glad you enjoyed the tour. On the other hand, we are sorry to hear about your problems with Viator, it has nothing to do with us as a tour company.
Thank you!
Dawn_m, Aug 2025
Lots of history and insider information ; our guide Illia was super informative and passionate about the city and very well informed about the history and culture of Amsterdam.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hi!
Thank you so much for your kind words, we really appreciate your review and we are very glad to hear that you had enjoyed our tour.
We hope to welcome you in one of our tours again in the future.
Best regards.
Marcia_W, Jul 2025
Guido, our guide was very much into telling the history of Amsterdam. His focus was very detailed in historical facts and little detail into what we were seeing as we walked.
He was hard to hear especially when he spoke for 20 minutes at the meeting spot where many other groups were meeting up and construction was going on in front of where he was talking. Our group was made up of 8 people, so we could have easily moved to a quieter location for the introduction to the area.
While walking he spoke, but it was hard to hear him. There did not seem to be any planned route we were taking and often we were told he would tell us more about that later which didn’t happen. Tour felt very disjointed and was disappointing as there was a lot to see and have explained in a more organized manner.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hi,
We are sorry to hear that. However, the guide explained the information that he thought it was important and did it in the way that he thought that would be more comfortable. Some things can't be controlled by the guides, I'm sure the guide would have listened if you had communicated your concerns! Thank you.
Have a good day!
Best regards.
Scott_J, Jul 2025
I've had many Vistor tours all over the world. This one scores the worst that I have ever experienced. It started out bad and and fell to horrible. First, the tour started about 500 feet across a busy square from the building address given. I had to use the telephone to find the guide. Second the guide was knowledgeable, but spoke softly and quickly with no tour guide headset/microphone such that all could hear him. Amsterdam raods are narrow, ao the tour was pretty much single file. There was no way to hear his words. Next, we putchased the Amsterdam walking tour with 1 hour canal boat ride. No tickets ever came for the canal boat, and the guide had no idea what or where the boat ride was. We followed others who had received tickets, but the operator said we didn't have tickets using his company. I'm going to tray to get all my money back on this lost cause.
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Dear Scott,
We are sorry to hear that that was your experience. However, the meeting point was in Beursplein which is exactly what it says on the information of the tour and what appears in the address given. We are happy to hear that the guide helped you find the group! On the other hand, if the guide doesn't use a microphone or any device is because he/she doesn't think it is necessary and if it was really a problem you could just have asked for him/her to speak louder, we are sure the guide would have spoken louder!
On the other hand, we had checked the reservation, and you had a reservation for a boat at 2pm that started in front of the Central station. We found your tickets and really don't know what could have happened, it had not happened to us before. We are sorry for the misunderstanding, and we would be happy to help you with whatever you need trough this platform.
Have a nice day.
Cynthia_W, Jul 2025
The reason I gave this an average rating instead of poor was because the guide was personally very nice but this tour was definitely NOT WORTH IT. Regardless of cost, it was a waste of time. There was very little organization to the tour and it was very disjointed. As we walked we were told historical facts and the comments always ended with “I will tell you more later” but later never came. We spent too much time in the very busy and noisy center square where we got a 20+ minute history lesson. It was almost impossible to hear the guide plus annoying to just stand in one spot listening to a history lesson. We only moved on after I said that I just couldn’t continue to listen to the very loud protestors literally right there (it was a loud reel of yelling about the Middle East injustice). It didn’t even dawn on the guide to move away from the location. It would have been different if it was just an explanation of a particular place (he did that as well) but he droned on about history and didn’t read the body language that we needed to keep walking. There was a non English speaking couple who seemed uninterested but we kept having to stop so the guide could make sure that couple were continuing to follow us. I’ve been in many other cities and the walking tours are generally great. This one was sub par.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Dear Cynthia,
We are sorry to hear that. Your opinion helps us improve, we will take it into account. Thank you.
Have a good day!
Best regards.
Gary_A, Jul 2025
My guide was great. He took us to so many great places. He had very good information and stories and a small group is the best way to go!. This is a great tour for exploring the city. Highly recommend.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi Gary!
Thank you so much for your kind words, we really appreciate your review and we are very glad to hear that you had enjoyed our tour.
We hope to welcome you in one of our tours again in the future.
Best regards.
Patricia_A, Jul 2025
We only had one full day in Amsterdam before our river cruise so this highlights tour of the city was perfect.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi!
Thank you so much for your kind words, we really appreciate your review and we are very glad to hear that you had enjoyed our tour.
We hope to welcome you in one of our tours again in the future.
Best regards.
Alan_M, Jul 2025
Karl gave us a lot of history while we visited the many sites. He kept us engaged with his quick wit.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi!
Thank you for trusting us, we loved having you on our tour.
We hope to welcome you on one of our tours again in the future.
Best regards.
Jill_B, Jul 2025
Claire was a fantastic tour guide! She was funny and had great stories, she knew just the right amount of information to share to keep everyone engaged. I would recommend her again and again!
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi!
Thank you for your review! We are very happy that you have enjoyed the tour with us.
Hope to see you again in the future.
Best regards.
Karen_l, Jul 2025
Very informative guide, walk covered a lot of ground in city center, do bring bottled water to hydrate and the Canal cruise was awesome.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi!
Thank you for your review! We are very happy that you have enjoyed the tour with us.
Hope to see you again in the future.
Best regards.
Lauralee_L, Jun 2025
Our tour guide Pia was very knowledgeable and informative tour guide. Very good places on tour and good pace.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hi Laura!
Thank you for trusting us, we loved having you on our tour.
We hope to welcome you on one of our tours again in the future.
Best regards.
Denise_H, Jun 2025
Pia was an excellent source of information on our tour!! Made excellent suggestions for further adventures while in Amsterdam. Her presention also was sensitive to any “tough” subject. Kept us hydrated in the extremely warm weather as well. So very glad we did it. Group of 8.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Hi!
Thank you so much for your kind words, we really appreciate your review and we are very glad to hear that you had enjoyed our tour.
We hope to welcome you in one of our tours again in the future.
Best regards.
Adam_D, Jun 2025
Overall experience was poor. Was messaged a few days prior to the tour to be notified of a time change even though the tour had been booked for weeks. I agreed to the new time but noted I had a ticket for Anne Frank at 1400 and would need to ensure the tour started on time. The tour did not start on time as a large family arrived right at the start time and had to use bathrooms etc. They had two small kids and half of the tour guides attention was directed to the kids the entire tour… it was very distracting. The guide also got stopped by local police for being in an area she was not supposed to be in and did not have required permits to guide. Would not recommend using this company.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Dear Addam,
Thank you for your feedback, and please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by the time change and your experience during the tour. We understand how important timing is, especially when you have other plans like a visit to the Anne Frank House.
Regarding the mention of being stopped by the police — we would like to clarify that this was not due to a lack of permits. All our guides are properly authorized and our walking tours are designed with approved stops. However, Amsterdam has some very strict regulations in certain areas, especially during high season. In some narrow streets or residential zones, even a short pause — not an official stop — may prompt police to intervene. While this is beyond our control, we understand that it can impact the experience.
We’re also sorry to hear that the group dynamic was not ideal. We do our best to ensure a balanced and enjoyable experience for everyone, and we’ll take your comments into account to improve our coordination.
Thank you again for your time and honest review.
Best regards.
From $23.80
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Amsterdam Highlights Small-Group Walking Tour
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