Que faire en Europe · Amsterdam
Amsterdam in October: the two museums, the canal in four versions, and a cheese day
Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum, which canal cruise to take, the Heineken Experience, a five-star ten-tasting food walk and the windmill day, ranked by visitors.
- Pour les Européens
- Pour les visiteurs des États-Unis
- Pour les visiteurs d'Asie de l'Est
Amsterdam's two museum tickets sell by the slot and the canal is sold in a dozen versions, so the useful thing a list can do is pick. The bookings below are from our partner's Amsterdam catalogue, 380 experiences as read on October 1, ranked by how many people booked and how they rated them. Prices are "from" prices in euros. October is the last month the canal boats run with the covers off, and the museums are at their quietest between the summer and the Christmas break.
Pendant votre séjour à Amsterdam
Quelques idées d'activités à Amsterdam proposées par notre partenaire GetYourGuide. La réservation se fait sur leur site.
Glentio touche une petite commission lorsque vous réservez via ces liens, sans surcoût pour vous. Prix relevés sur GetYourGuide le 1 oct. 2026 ; le prix et les disponibilités du jour sont sur leur site. Plus d'activités à Amsterdam
The two museums
- Van Gogh Museum, from €27. Rated 4.7 by 57,600, the most-booked ticket in the city and the one that sells out: slots go a week or more ahead in October. Book the first hour of the day.
- Rijksmuseum, from €27, 4.7 from 33,500. Rated identically, bigger, and easier to get into; the Night Watch gallery is calm after 15:00.
They stand a hundred metres apart on the Museumplein. One morning each, not both in one.
The canal, in four versions
- Saloon boat cruise with optional cheese and wine, from €14, an hour, 4.6 from 31,600. The most-booked cruise and the best-rated of the big ones; a small boat, which is the whole difference.
- Canal cruise from Anne Frank, the Rijksmuseum or Centraal, from €12, an hour, 4.3 from 21,700. The cheapest and the lowest-rated; a big glass boat, fine on a wet day.
- Canal cruise with unlimited drinks and a bite, from €19, an hour to ninety minutes, 4.5 from 26,800, the evening version.
- Small-group canal cruise with snacks and drinks, from €48, 4.9 from 780, the best-rated cruise in the catalogue. Pay the difference once.
Beer, cheese and a waffle
- Heineken Experience with optional rooftop, from €20, ninety minutes, 4.6 from 39,800. The second-most-booked thing in the city; book the late-afternoon slot and take the rooftop.
- Food and culture walk with ten tastings, from €79, rated 5.0 by 1,200, the best-rated food experience in the Amsterdam catalogue, and lunch.
- Stroopwafel-making workshop, from €20, 45 minutes, 4.8 from 5,000, the cheapest hour on this page and the one children remember.
- Icebar entry with three drinks, from €25, 45 minutes, 4.2 from 16,100. The lowest rating here; included because 16,000 people booked it, and because at least you were warned.
The windmill day
- Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Marken guided tour, from €29, five and a half hours, 4.5 from 21,100. The most-booked day trip; the windmills, the cheese village, the fishing village, back by mid-afternoon.
- Giethoorn, Volendam and Zaanse Schans, from €139, 4.8 from 815, the best-rated and the long version, with the canal village in Overijssel that has no roads.
Booking happens on the partner's site; Glentio earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Free around it
Amsterdam's free October on Glentio is Pakhuis de Zwijger, the debate house on the IJ, and this week it is arguing about the visitor economy you are part of: Toerisme en leefbaarheid, the closing debate of the Positive Tourism Festival, on Wednesday October 7 at 19:30, where a new vision for the city's visitor economy is handed to the alderman on stage. The night before, Architectuur is nog niet voor iedereen asks why a door an inch too narrow decides whether someone can live independently. Both in Dutch, both free, both a tram ride from Centraal, and both a better evening than the Icebar.
For Europeans
Amsterdam is a train from Paris, Brussels and the German cities. If it is a weekend, book the Van Gogh for Saturday morning and the small-group cruise for Saturday evening; the Rijksmuseum is the Sunday. London and Paris are the same format on the same train lines.
For visitors from the US
Dates on posters are day first: 10/10 is October 10. Prices above are in euros; the museum tickets cost about a cinema seat, the ten-tasting walk about a dinner. Book the Van Gogh before you fly; nothing else here needs more than a few days.
For visitors from East Asia
Mid-October is after Golden Week and before the Christmas season. The Netherlands applies a minimum purchase per receipt for a VAT refund; ask for the tax-free form at the till. Both museums have audio guides in Japanese, Korean and Chinese; the partner tours run in English.
Sources
- The partner catalogue for Amsterdam, as read on October 1, 2026, for every price, rating and review count.
- Pakhuis de Zwijger, checked October 5, 2026, for the free listings.