What to Do in Amsterdam in 2 Days as a Wheelchair User

To be honest, I have never really known a whole lot about Amsterdam. Sure, I have heard about the infamous red light district and the coffeeshops (don’t be deceived by the name… no coffee is sold in these), but what else does Amsterdam offer? Friends of mine within the travel blogging community constantly rave about their love for the city, so I decided to see for myself what all of the fuss is about.

While on my way to India recently, I scheduled a long layover in the Dutch capital and went on a mission to unravel what to do in Amsterdam in 2 days as a wheelchair user. It turns out that there are a ton of awesome things to do in the city and while I made the most of Amsterdam in 2 days, I am already itching to go back and experience more. From wandering around the city and viewing beautiful Christmas lights to checking out some museums and even seeing the countryside, Amsterdam proved to be one of the best and most wheelchair accessible cities in Europe. Here’s what all I did during my 2 days in Amsterdam –

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What to Do in Amsterdam in 2 Days

Once I arrived in Amsterdam, even after a 9 hour overnight flight, I was immediately invigorated and ready to explore the city. I have flown through the Amsterdam airport a few times, but this was my first time getting to roll outside the airport, so I was ready to make the most of Amsterdam in 2 days.

With the help of Accessible Travel Netherlands, a wheelchair accessible taxi picked us up at the airport and took my mom, my friend Kayla, and I to our hotel. While in the city, we stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Central Station, which was in a great location and had a fantastic accessible room for me. There was a roll-in shower, grab bars, and a hoyer lift could roll under the bed.

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I was tremendously impressed with the DoubleTree and would stay there again in a heartbeat. If you’d like to check prices, just click here.

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Go on a walking tour of the city

Once we got into our room and changed clothes, we were ready to see the city. Veroniek Maat, founder of Accessible Travel Netherlands, and El Houssaine Ichen, founder of Disabled Tourist Guide, met us at the DoubleTree and we began a walking tour of Amsterdam.

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With Houssaine and Veroniek

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Very quickly, I realized that Amsterdam was pretty easy to roll around in. The sidewalks all had curb cuts and overall, the city was smooth and nowhere near as cobblestoned as some other European cities. There were a TON of bikes, which you definitely need to always look out for, but thanks to the bikes, Amsterdam is a rollable city, so yay!

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Like I imagined, Amsterdam had quite a bit of adult stores and places selling anything cannabis related that you could possibly imagine… even ice cream! We went by these places on our walking excursion and it was interesting to see everything, but there is a lot more to Amsterdam than this, so no matter what your interests are, you will have a great time.

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Veroniek shared some of Amsterdam’s history with us and we soon made our way to the Henri Willig Cheese Farm Store. I try not to eat much dairy, but I do love cheese. It’s one food product that I have a difficult time giving up, but when I am at home, I really try to not eat it. When I’m traveling though, it tends to be a different story. GIVE ME ALL OF THE CHEESE! The Henri Willig Cheese Farm Store is a cheese lover’s dream. There were many complimentary samples available and I tried several different kinds, including a lavender cheese. The lavender cheese wasn’t my favorite, but I enjoyed trying all of the more unique varieties. One of the workers even showed us how the cheeses are made with a quick demonstration. Dutch people have a passion for cheese, as do I, and it was easy to see why in this store.

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After sampling as much cheese as I could get my hands on, we made our way to Dam Square. This is one of the most popular areas in Amsterdam and the square is home to some of the city’s most notable landmarks and attractions, including the Royal Palace, the New Church, and even Madame Tussaud’s. The Dutch royal family doesn’t live in the Royal Palace anymore, but official receptions are still held there from time to time. The exterior of the Royal Palace was beautiful to admire and I also enjoyed people-watching in the busy Dam Square for a few minutes.

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Royal Palace

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One of the last stops on our walking tour with Veroniek and Houssaine was Begijnhof. Amsterdam certainly has plenty of hustle and bustle, but Begijnhof is a nice place to get away from the crowds and enjoy the outdoors for a bit. Begijnhof is an enclosed courtyard/garden and it dates from the 14th century. Some of Amsterdam’s oldest houses surround the courtyard as well.

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After drinking some hot cocoa and chatting all about accessible travel in a nearby accessible restaurant with Veroniek, Houssaine, and Mirjam Versteegh of Disabled Accessible Travel, we said our goodbyes to each other and my mom, Kayla, and I made our way inside the Anne Frank House.

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Visit the Anne Frank House

One of my favorite books of all time is “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank, so while in Amsterdam, I knew that I wanted to visit her house. Since the house is historic, it’s not exactly wheelchair accessible, but they have recently made it sort of accessible.

Firstly, for those of you who may not have read Anne Frank’s diary, she was a young girl that went into hiding with her family from 1942-1944 during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Her and her family hid in a secret annex inside this house until they were eventually captured and sent to concentration camps, where she died at the age of 15. Anne wrote about the realities of being a young girl during the Holocaust in her diary, which is now one of the most famous books in the world.

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There are stairs throughout the house, but the indoor gift shop and cafe are wheelchair friendly. While in the cafe, you can do a virtual reality tour of Anne Frank’s house. The VR tour probably wasn’t quite as impactful as a regular tour would have been, but it was very well done. I definitely learned a lot from the VR tour and for about 20 minutes, it felt like I was in her house. The VR option is definitely worth doing if you are familiar with Anne Frank’s story, but if not, there are plenty of other accessible attractions to explore within Amsterdam in 2 days.

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See the windmills of Zaanse Schans

Only a 15 minute drive from Amsterdam, Zaanse Schans was easily my favorite place that I visited while in the Netherlands. It’s authentically Dutch with windmills, a cheese shop, a warehouse with wooden clogs, and much more, and it is meant to be reminiscent of an 18th/19th century Dutch village. It was so awesome to wander around here and after visiting, I pretty much immediately began looking up nearby houses. I’m legit ready to move into Zaanse Schans.

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An accessible taxi, courtesy of Accessible Travel Netherlands, picked us up from our hotel at 9am and drove us to Zaanse Schans. Once we arrived, we made our way into the on-site museum and while we didn’t tour the museum, we did eat some breakfast at the museum’s cafe. After a quick bite, we went outside and began walking/rolling around.

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Zaanse Schans was predominantly accessible with paved paths throughout the village and ramps into the stores. One of my favorite stores was the wooden clogs shop, where we learned about how they are made, daw different styles of clogs, and I even purchased a pair for my niece. The on-site cheese shop was also fun to browse around in, but if you’re a true cheese fan, Amsterdam’s Henri Willig Cheese Farm Store should be your go-to.

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While there were a number of shops to go inside, my favorite part of Zaanse Schans was undoubtedly the windmills. I loved watching them and they made for some great photo opportunities. This was the Holland of my dreams and whether you’re trying to figure out what to do in Amsterdam in 2 days or 2 hours, Zaanse Schans should top your list. Its beauty is unrivaled.

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Learn about Dutch history at the Rijksmuseum

Since I visited Amsterdam in late November, it was pretty chilly wandering around outside at Zaanse Schans, so afterwards an accessible taxi took us to the Rijksmuseum. It was nice to be indoors for a while and the Rijksmuseum came highly recommended to us by Accessible Travel Netherlands, so I was excited to check it out.

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The Rijksmuseum focuses on Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages to present day. It’s a huge museum and could take you several hours or more to explore, but it is fully wheelchair accessible. If you need to borrow a wheelchair to navigate this gargantuan museum, just go to the ticket desk when you arrive and let them know.

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I enjoyed learning about some of the history of the Netherlands in the Rijksmuseum and the art was beautiful to see. It took us a couple hours to get a brief overview of the museum and we also spent some time drinking tea and coffee at one of the museum’s cafes. If you’re a history nerd like me, you’re sure to love rolling around this museum.

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Immerse yourself in the world of Van Gogh

When someone says the word “artist”, what is the first name to come to mind? There are a few possibilities, but I’d say that there’s an extremely good chance that Vincent Van Gogh was the artist that you first thought of. In my younger days, I didn’t care much about art to be honest, but in the past few years, after visiting a plethora of art museums around the world, I’ve became a bit of an art snob. The Van Gogh Museum was one of the top attractions on my list of what to do in Amsterdam in 2 days, so right after checking out the Rijksmuseum, I rolled down the sidewalk for about 2 minutes and entered the world of Van Gogh.

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The museum was wheelchair accessible with an elevator, a companion care restroom near the gift shop on the lower level, and loaner wheelchairs available at the cloakroom. If you’d like to reserve a wheelchair though, you should email [email protected] in advance of your visit as they are limited.

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We spent a couple hours admiring each and every painting in the museum, but unfortunately, photos are not allowed in most of the museum, so sorry for the lack thereof. Just trust me that it was spectacular to see them all. This museum houses more Van Gogh works than anywhere else in the world and if you’re in Amsterdam, definitely make it a point to see them.

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Try some “coffee” at an Amsterdam coffeeshop

So, in this instance, “coffee” doesn’t actually mean coffee. Whenever you see a sign for a coffeeshop in Amsterdam, it’s actually a shop that sells marijuana (and sometimes drinks, food, and edibles as well). I debated whether to share this information here on my blog because I know that some people are totally against the use of marijuana, but quite a few people asked me on my Facebook page if I knew of any wheelchair accessible coffeeshops in Amsterdam, so I want to tell you guys what I discovered.

In Amsterdam, most of the coffeeshops have at least one step to get inside. However, Accessible Travel Netherlands told me about two coffeeshops that are accessible: Bulldog Hotel and Lounge and Dampkring. I chose to visit Dampkring because it’s frequently referred to as the best coffeeshop in the city and I wanted the ultimate experience.

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Dampkring was small and packed with people, but we quickly found a table with two other travelers from the UK. My friend Kayla and I ordered a space cake and split it. The space cake is pretty large and it’s recommended to only eat half (or less). Pace yourself, as you won’t feel the effects until about an hour after you eat it. Almost exactly one hour after we ate the space cake, we had a canal cruise, so that was a fun experience! Haha!

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Go on a canal cruise

Amsterdam has 165 canals and more than 1,200 bridges, so one of the best ways to truly see the city is from the water on a canal cruise. I always love being on the water in any destination, but Amsterdam was just amazing and maybe my favorite boating experience ever. I was lucky enough to visit during the annual Light Festival, so that added another level of grandeur to the whole thing, but no matter what time of year you visit, it’s worth doing a canal cruise.

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Accessible Travel Netherlands booked us on a wheelchair accessible canal cruise and the boat had a lift on it and an accessible table inside. There were huge windows all around the boat, so I could easily see everything that we passed by. The roof of the boat was also glass, so I could even look up and see the bridges. The canal cruise lasted for 90 minutes and it was the perfect farewell to my time in Amsterdam.

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While I could only experience Amsterdam in 2 days, I hope that this post can give you some insight as to how awesome the city is. If you need further inspiration for things to do in Amsterdam, check out Trover. There are some truly beautiful photos from Amsterdam on Trover and browsing them definitely made me realize that I need to get back to Holland ASAP, as there is a lot more to still see. Check out these jaw-dropping photos –

I Love Amsterdam! – a photo list by Cory Lee

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Amsterdam went above and beyond my expectations and while it did remind me of other European cities, such as Copenhagen, in some ways, it was unique enough to make me want to keep going back. I would even say that it’s one of my favorite European cities, and that’s not an easy title to get because I love soooo many cities in Europe. From cruising the canals to viewing art and even just meandering around the city, I made the most of Amsterdam in 2 days and discovered that it’s an accessible destination for anyone. If you have ever wanted to visit, but didn’t know if it’d be worth it as a wheelchair user, go ahead and make a plan. I can assure you that you’ll be happy you did.

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Watch this short video that I made from my time in Amsterdam –

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*This post is brought to you in collaboration with Accessible Travel Netherlands and Trover. The above is my personal reflection on our trip and while some experiences were complimentary, all opinions are authentic and my own. I’ve partnered with Trover to create the widget with photos from other people who’ve visited Amsterdam.

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