How do I get around Amsterdam?

The tram is your default. Lines 2, 5, and 12 leave from Centraal Station every few minutes and cover the Rijksmuseum, Vondelpark, Leidseplein, and De Pijp — which is where you'll spend most of your time anyway. Tap any contactless bank card or phone at the yellow reader when you board and again when you step off; the OVpay system charges per trip, capped around €9.50 for a full day. No app to download, no card to buy, no queue at a machine. A single ride runs about €1.50–2.50 depending on distance. The trams themselves smell faintly of brake dust and rain, rattle over the cobblestones on Damrak, and lean into corners hard enough that standing passengers grab the overhead bars. Rush hour — roughly 8 to 9 in the morning and 5 to 6:30 in the evening — packs the carriages shoulder-to-shoulder on lines running through the center. Wait 20 minutes and you'll ride in peace.

Amsterdam is small enough that walking handles most of it. Centraal Station to the Rijksmuseum is about 2.5 kilometers — a 30-minute walk, mostly along Damrak and then through the narrow streets of the Negen Straatjes where the smell of fresh stroopwafels floats out of bakery doorways. The canal ring along Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht is where the walking gets good: uneven brick paths along the water, steep little bridges every block, the sound of bicycle bells constantly behind you. Watch your step, though. The cobblestones are slippery when wet, and it rains here more days than not between October and April. Heels are a terrible idea — the gaps between bricks will catch them. The red-light district around De Wallen is walkable from Centraal in under ten minutes, but the narrow lanes get slow and crowded after dark, so plan that walk for daylight if you want to move at any speed.

Everyone will tell you to rent a bike. Here's the honest version: Amsterdam has more bicycles than people, the infrastructure is built for cycling, and locals ride like they own the road — because they do. If you're a confident urban cyclist, renting from MacBike near Centraal or Leidseplein at about €12–15 per day puts you on the fastest transport in the city. You'll feel the wind coming off the IJ waterway on Prins Hendrikkade and hear the persistent rattle of wheels on brick. But if your cycling experience tops out at weekend paths and parks, your first day here is not the time to learn. Tourist cyclists weaving through the Jordaan are the biggest source of near-misses in this city. The bike lanes follow strict right-of-way rules that locals internalize from childhood and visitors don't — running a red on a fietspad gets you yelled at in Dutch, and possibly hit. Start with a tram day. Rent the bike on day two.

The free GVB ferries behind Centraal Station cross the IJ to Amsterdam-Noord every few minutes — the Buiksloterweg ferry runs around the clock. Noord is where you'll find the A'DAM Lookout tower and the NDSM wharf with its converted-warehouse restaurants and weekend flea markets, and the EYE Film Museum sits right at the waterfront. The ferry's upper deck gives you the best free view of the city skyline, and the crossing takes about five minutes. The metro — Line 52, the Noord-Zuidlijn — links Centraal to De Pijp via the Vijzelgracht stop, which is handy for the Albert Cuypmarkt, but most visitor destinations sit on tram routes instead. Uber and Bolt both operate, but rides run €15–25 to cross the center. That's roughly three times what the same trip costs by tram. Save ridehail for the 2am return from Leidseplein or a rainy airport run when you're hauling luggage.