Amsterdam & the Netherlands Guidebook

In Rick Steves Amsterdam & the Netherlands you'll find in-depth Rick-tested information on:

• Amsterdam
  • Thorough city guidebook-level coverage, including three self-guided walks (city walk, Red Light District, and Jordaan neighborhood), four museum tours (Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, and Our Lord in the Attic Museum), and background on Amsterdam's shopping, kids' activities, smoking scene, and nightlife
• Haarlem
• Delft and the Hague
• Leiden
• Rotterdam
• Keukenhof and the Aalsmeer Flower Auction
• Alkmaar and Zaanse Schans
• Edam, Volendam, and Marken
• Hoorn, Enkhuizen, and the Historic Triangle
• Flevoland
• Utrecht
• Museums near Arnhem
• Practicalities
  • Easy-to-follow maps (including color maps of the Netherlands and central Amsterdam)
  • ​Trip planning: When to go, pre-trip checklist, festivals and holidays, and recommended books and movies
  • Advice on planning your time and avoiding lines
  • Transportation: Trains, buses, city transit, and driving
  • Dutch history, culture, language, and cuisine
  • Detailed advice on managing money, communicating, reserving rooms, handling emergencies, and other helpful hints
  • Handy Dutch survival phrases

Also included: a 10¾" x 19½" full-color foldout Planning Map with a detailed close-up of central Amsterdam (with major sights), plus an overview of the city's neighborhoods, and a route map to accompany our self-guided Jordaan Walk.

What's the difference between this Amsterdam & the Netherlands guidebook and Rick's Pocket Amsterdam guide?

The biggest difference: The full-size Rick Steves Amsterdam & the Netherlands is not only a comprehensive guide to the Netherlands' most exciting city, but also covers Rick's favorite Dutch destinations beyond Amsterdam.

Rick Steves Pocket Amsterdam works best for people taking a short trip, or perhaps a return trip, to Amsterdam — and not venturing beyond it. Like our other Pocket guides, Pocket Amsterdam is smaller than the complete guidebook (and in full color), but still offers our best sightseeing advice and a handful of self-guided city walks and museum tours.

For travelers who want to delve deep into Amsterdam — or travel elsewhere in the Netherlands, the full-size guidebook is a better option. It offers complete chapters for plenty more Dutch destinations, as well as more substantial (and more frequently updated) advice on Amsterdam itself: practicalities, sightseeing, self-guided tours, hotels, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, and the city's history and culture.

Latest updates: When we learn of critical changes to the information in our guidebooks on the Netherlands, we post them. (Of course, it's still smart to reconfirm critical transportation and sightseeing details locally.) Armed with a Rick Steves guidebook and these late-breaking updates, you're set for a great trip!

Submit feedback: Once you've used this book in Europe, we'd love to hear your feedback — good or bad — about our advice on sights, hotels, restaurants, and travel tips. We're also interested in any tips or discoveries you made while in Europe. Your comments help us improve our guidebooks for future travelers.