Amsterdam, with more bridges – and even as romantic as Paris.
It can be hard to plan the perfect day or night for your Valentine’s Day or your casual romantic date.
But no worries for every mood and type of person we thought of a solution.
In a Hurry?
Here are some of our favorite tours and activities you can do with your loved one in Amsterdam.
Low key – Casual
If you feel that you don’t want to overwhelm your date and just want to spend time having a talk to get to know each other better then we would recommend the following things:
1. Coffee in the most romantic neighborhood, Jordaan
Grab a to-go coffee and; have a walk or sit beside the canals in one of the most romantic parts of Amsterdam, Jordaan.
2. Drink and chill
Have a drink at a very chill, not fancy place where it’s always busy but in a nice way.
Good spots are: Pllek, Hannekes Boom, Festina Lente, Waterkant .
3. Try pastries and cakes together
Amsterdam has lots of amazing cake shops. How cozy is it to try a pastry or cake together? De Drie Graefjes is one of the coziest places to eat the best cake while you have a canal view.
If you want to combine the pastries with your walk in Jordaan go to the cutest French pastry place in Jordaan ; Le Petit Deli
4. Poffertjes at Noordermarkt
Have a stroll at the Noordermarkt in Jordaan that’s there every Monday and Saturday and share a portion of poffertjes, of course with powdered sugar and extra butter, with your date.
Playful
Do you feel too uncomfortable to just only talk and do you want to keep the date light and just have fun?
Then these are the perfect match for your date:
5. Play some arcade games at the TonTon club
This place is very laid back, you can have a drink and eat burgers, and play tons of board games but also real arcade games like racing, Pacman, or air hockey.
The TonTon club is located at Westerpark, perfect if you want to have a walk after or before your gaming. Don’t forget to make a reservation
6. Help your date escape the Escape Room
If you want to be the hero of the night and help your date escape from The Escape room. They also have VR rooms where you are in virtual reality by putting on VR glasses where you have to work together to shoot zombies to survive.
7. Try the Wondr Experience
Wondr Amsterdam is a playground with visual magic with boundless creativity. It’s a super colorful and crazy playground for adults with different types of themes.
8. Play Pool at Overtoom
Challenge each other, have a beer and play pool at a small pub or a pool center like Plan B at Overtoom.
If you are looking for a smaller cozy pub, where you might have to wait for your turn because they only have one pool table I would recommend going to Cafe De Nieuwe Lelie and Lesbian Bar Cafe Saarein in the Jordaan area.
A night out
Do you think it is already time to take the person you fancy to a more romantic date night?
Than we have here the best options for you:
9. Enjoy a cocktail together
At Floor 17 you have the best view over Amsterdam or at one of the best and oldest cocktail bars in Amsterdam, bar Oldenhof. They are a high-end cocktail bar located in the city center of Amsterdam.
They have an amazing interior, very cozy and easygoing. A mix of velvet and wood and has a classic interior.
They stand for quality over quantity.
Or go to Door 74, a hidden bar at Reguliersdwarsstraat with a very warm interior and where they serve the best cocktails!
10. Go to a dinner show
If you and your date like entertainment while eating good food this is your perfect date. Bar Rouge is well-known for these two. They have amazing Asian food like sushi and dim sum but also platters and oysters.
It has a very sensual touch, the show is inspired by Parisian nights with a bohemian vibe. After the dinner show the restaurant transforms into a club where you get the chance to show your own moves.
11. Go to a drag queen show
Paleis van de Weemoed is located in the Red light district. The show is performed by two drag queens who sing live while you have a very nice three-course dinner.
Have a laugh and a bite
Do you want to make your date laugh but are you afraid you will run out of jokes? Have a jolly night out at a comedy club.
12. Go to Comedyclub Toomler
Almost every night of the week Comedyclub Toomler has a show. Sometimes they have an open podium, which means that they want to give the comedians a try-out for their future shows.
13. Enjoy a Boom Chicago show
From Thursday to Sunday, Boom Chicago on Rozengracht provides you with amazing comedy shows.
‘With the best stoner idea’ according to Americans Pep Rosenfeld and Andrew Moskos graduated from university and after through Europe they fell in love with Amsterdam.
Exactly 25 years ago they started Boom Chicago – Comedy club.
Relax
Looking for a more laid-back day or evening.
These are the perfect options for the two of you:
14. Chill and come to totally relax at a spa
Here you can spend several hours and have a more intimate day with enough time for talks. Amsterdam has private and public spas.
The private spa, 1001 Spa, is completely in the 1001 Arabic night theme. They have a location in Noord and in West.
If you want to go more low budget you can go to a freshly opened private spa in Noord called Kuuma where you only pay 12,50 for one hour!
15. Enjoy a classic date night at the movies
Amsterdam has lots of different movie theaters.
The most common ones are called Pathe, where you, for example, can see a movie in 4DX (where your chair is moving and you feel water and wind in some scenes) it has several locations all over Amsterdam.
And the smaller ones who have some popular movies but play ArtHouse movies. Movie theater Tushinski, more than 100 years old, is by far one of the most beautiful movie theaters you’ve ever seen.
With its amazing Art Deco style and exterior it really takes you back in time.
Active – action
Date ideas in Amsterdam for daredevils and thrillseekers. Here you go:
16. Get some thrill at a shooting range
For the real thrill seekers, you can fulfill your needs by going to a shooting range Club Kaliber. Be aware before you will be able to shoot on a shooting range you have to fill in a large form with lots of information.
17. Go in and outdoor climbing
Be aware this is for really sportive people! Near Central Station, you have De Klimmuur for every level, from beginners to real advanced pros. You can also have a drink and a bite there. During summer it’s also possible to climb outside.
Cultural
Are you both into culture, art, and photography?
Surprise your date and get tickets to museums.
18. Experience “alive” connections at Artis Museum
After being closed for 75 years the big museum at Artisplein opens its doors again with a completely new concept.
As a visitor, you will mostly experience the connections between everything that’s alive: humans, animals, plants, and microbes.
This Rijks Monument was opened in 1855 and is the oldest museum in Amsterdam.
19. See classical paintings in motion at Fabrique des Lumieres
At Fabrique des Lumieres art comes to life with this digitalized art that’s projected on the walls, floors and ceilings of the Zuiveringshal at Westerpark.
Culture Spaces started in 2018, in Paris with these modern ways of showing art of the most famous artists like; Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt and Salvador Dalí.
This amazing beautiful way of projecting the art combined with amazing music is a completely new way of re-experiencing the old works.
While looking at the art you can sit or lay down on the floor for a better viewer experience.
20. Be amazed by the newest art form in NXT museum
There’s a new way of art called ‘media art’.
Nxt museum is the first museum in The Netherlands where you can experience this new art form. This museum will trigger different senses.
The combination of the beautiful music that perfectly fits with the light effects or visuals are absolutely mind-blowing.
Nature
If you figured out that your date loves nature and especially being in it so there are more options than having a picnic at the park.
21. Rent a canoe in Amsterdamse Bos (forest)
Do something out of the ordinary and rent a canoe in Amsterdamse Bos.
In the Amsterdams Bos they have a canoe rental and a route where you can have the most peaceful experience. With the two of you on the water, between the trees and chirping birds in the background.
22. Visit the stunning Japanese Blossom garden
End March – beginning of April you can visit the most beautiful and romantic Japanese Blossom garden in Amsterdam forest.
Fun Fact: the 400 trees were donated by a Japanese Woman’s Club. 200 trees have Japanese woman’s names and the other 200 trees have Dutch women’s names. See here the coordinates for the Japanese Blossom garden.
23. Do a road trip to the goat farm
Is your date crazy about animals? Go to the Goat Farm in Amsterdam forest. Here they have all kinds of farm animals and small goats who you can feed milk!
24. Grab Pannenkoeken (pancakes) in Amsterdamse Bos
Have a long walk in Amsterdam forest to eat later one of Netherlands finest dishes Pannenkoeken.
In the middle of the forest you find this authentic farm-style pancake, restaurant Meerzicht, where you can eat a traditional pancake. I would recommend a pancake with bacon, cheese, and stroop 😉 enjoy!
Creative
What is a more relaxed way of getting to know someone and in the meanwhile showing your creative side.
25. Attend a painting class
In this 2 hours painting class that’s hosted in a nice location in Amsterdam, you really don’t need any experience at all. How amazing is that! You can book it here. Or you can get yourself a painting set and do it where ever you want.
26. Book a ceramic workshop for two.
Replay the scene of Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in the movie Ghost and make your first beautiful creation together, and hopefully not your last 😉 Book a ceramic workshop and enjoy.
Theater
Go and visit a theater for some nice cabaret, classical music play, or an amazing musical.
27. Go to a play at the brilliant Carre Theater
Carre is one of the most beautiful theaters in the Netherlands.
It’s located at the Amstel and was opened in 1887 by a circus director. Before the opening of Circus Carre, Oscar had a traveling circus that was famous for their horse shows.
After years of success throughout Europe he settled in Amsterdam. Oscar Carre and his family lived back then in the company house what’s currently the stately lodge foyer.
Nowadays Carre provides a very diverse range of entertainment, so there’s something for everyone to like.
Spiritual
This is a bit of an extra topic that for lots of people is way too much for a date and for a bit smaller group probably an amazing idea. We are writing this blog with the best tips and ideas and we want to be as inclusive as possible.
28. Go to an ecstatic dance ceremony
Go out of your comfort zone together and go into the awkward but create a connection. Ecstatic dance has the meaning to let go of everything, with no need to follow choreography.
You can move as freely as you want on the music and come into a trance. It’s a form of meditation and it feels very stress-releasing.
29. Do a cacao ceremony rituals together
Cacao ceremonies are centuries-old rituals that not only help your body to heal and detoxify, and can be a great bonding experience if you’re doing it together with your partner.
