Amsterdam on a Budget: I amsterdam City Card

Last month, I spent one month in Amsterdam! I got in touch with the awesome guys at I amsterdam and they hooked us up with two, 72-hour City Cards.

We used the cards for our final days in Amsterdam and it was an amazing send off. It was a great experience to see so many museums that we usually would not have had the budget for. We especially loved how easy it was to hop on and off trams all day and night for 72 hours!

Overall, I found the I amsterdam City Card really helped us see a lot of the city in a short space of time. It is one of my favourite ways to do a European city on the cheap, and you’ll find plenty more in my travel guides. However, I would strongly suggest planning ahead and deciding on an itinerary before you arrive. With so much to see, you don’t want to waste any time planning on the day! The I amsterdam City Card also comes with a free city map so it’s easy to navigate your itinerary according to the location of the sites.

Here was our schedule for the weekend. These are just some of the places we wanted to visit and had the time for, but there is such a variety of museums and attractions on the list to suit many different tastes:

Friday

Activated the card at 11am, let’s get started!

1. FOAM Photography Museum (1 hour)
2. Canal Cruise (1 hour and 15 mins)
3. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (1 hour and 30 mins)
4. Free tram rides all day and night!

Just remember to check the weather forecast!

Saturday

1. Van Gogh Museum (1 hour and 30 mins)
2. Lunch at Wagamama - 25% discount (1 hour)
3. Rembrandt House Museum (1 hour)
4. Free tram rides all day and night!

Sunday

1. The National Maritime Museum (2 hours)
2. NEMO Science Museum (1 hour)
3. Free tram rides all day and night!

Monday

1. Free tram ride to the coach station before my card expired at 11am!

What Did We Miss?

To stretch the trip even further, I’d booked a cheap coach in and stayed somewhere central. It’s worth taking a look at the best sites for cheap flights and the best websites for budget accommodation before you go.

We also spent time working, some more time enjoying a few drinks in the evening and not getting up as early as we could have! Here’s just a few attractions that we didn’t get to see from the very long list include:

• Hermitage Museum

• Tropenmuseum

• Museum Tot Zover

• EYE Filmmuseum

You can also visit scenic attractions in the surrounding area of Amsterdam such as:

• “Zaanse Schans”; an open-air museum village with traditional houses and windmills

• “Volendam”, the picturesque fishing village

• “Zuiderzee Museum”, an open-air maritime history museum

• “Amsterdam Castle Muiderslot”, a medieval knight’s castle

What Did We Save?

If you are better at waking up early and you can spend all day in a variety of museums then you can save a great deal more than us! Here’s a breakdown of what we saved (per person) with the I amsterdam City Card:

So we saved €48.20 per person, that’s €96.40 altogether!

Fancy another wallet-friendly European city after this? Take a look at my one-week Bologna itinerary for a taste of northern Italy on the cheap.

If you visit Amsterdam, I challenge you to beat us! Facebook @thattravelblog and tell us how much you saved.

Thanks for the City Cards, I amsterdam!