From feeding baby goats and walking alpacas to tasting Dutch cheese and cruising the canals on your own, these are some of my favorite unusual things to do in and around Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has more than enough famous attractions to fill a trip. You could easily spend several days visiting the Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, Van Gogh Museum, and every other place that appears on a typical Amsterdam itinerary.
And you should visit some of them. They're popular for a reason.
But after living in Amsterdam for a few years, some of the experiences I remember most are the ones that were a little less obvious.
You can spend an afternoon feeding goats in the middle of Amsterdamse Bos, walk an alpaca through the Dutch countryside, learn how to make cocktails with one of the country's oldest spirits, or rent a boat and attempt to navigate the canals yourself.
If you've already covered the big sights, or you just want to add a few things to your trip that feel a little different, these are some of my favorite unique things to do in Amsterdam.
Visit the Goat Farm in the Amsterdamse Bos
One of the more unexpected places you'll find in Amsterdam is an organic goat farm sitting in the middle of the Amsterdamse Bos.
Geitenboerderij Ridammerhoeve (don't worry, no one will expect you to pronounce it) is home to plenty of goats, along with pigs, chickens, cows, horses, and other young animals depending on the time of year. You're free to wander through the open stables, and you may even get the chance to bottle-feed one of the baby goats.
There's also a café where you can grab lunch, coffee, goat-milk ice cream, and other products made on the farm. The farm shop sells their own goat cheeses along with eggs and a variety of local goodies.
If you want to take things a step further, they also occasionally offer workshops where you can learn to make goat cheese yourself.
Even if you have zero interest in learning how to make cheese, it's a nice excuse to get out of central Amsterdam for a few hours. Just keep in mind that the farm is currently closed on Tuesdays.
Take an Alpaca for a Walk
Okay, this one technically requires leaving Amsterdam, but I think walking through the Dutch countryside with an alpaca is unusual enough to justify the detour.
Alpaca Experience is in Sassenheim, about a 30-minute drive from Amsterdam. Their alpaca walks take you through a nature reserve and the nearby village of Warmond with, yes, your own alpaca walking beside you.
The walks last around 1.5 hours and currently take place on Saturdays throughout the year.
Is walking an alpaca through a Dutch village slightly ridiculous? Yes.
Is that also exactly why I think it makes a fun day out? Yes.
They also offer other alpaca-related activities, including feeding experiences, yoga, and even alpaca golf if simply walking one isn't quite strange enough for you.
Visit One of Amsterdam's More Unusual Museums
Amsterdam has some of the best museums in Europe, but you don't have to spend your entire trip looking at Rembrandts and Van Goghs.
The city also has an impressive collection of very specific museums.
One of the strangest is ARTIS-Micropia, a museum entirely dedicated to microbes. You can look at living microorganisms under microscopes, learn about the microbes living on and inside your body, and discover how they affect everything from food to the environment. It was the world's first museum dedicated to microbes, which is a pretty good claim to fame.
Then there's the KattenKabinet, which is essentially an entire museum dedicated to cats. It's located inside a beautiful 17th-century canal house and filled with paintings, sculptures, posters, and other works of art featuring cats.
The Museum of the Canals is another favorite. It'll take you through the 400-year-old history of the city's iconic canals, giving you a special appreciation for this unique place.
They're all relatively small, so they're also good options if you want to visit a museum without committing half of your day to it.
Learn About Genever at House of Bols
If you're going to spend time drinking in Amsterdam, you might as well learn something while you're doing it.
House of Bols is an interactive cocktail and genever experience near Museumplein.
Bols dates back to 1575, and the experience walks you through the history of the company along with genever, the traditional Dutch spirit that helped influence modern gin.
This is definitely not a traditional museum where you move from display case to display case. There are exhibits built around smell, taste, and other senses, and your visit finishes with a cocktail at the Mirror Bar.
If you want something more hands-on, you can also add a cocktail-making workshop.
I particularly like this one because it's easy to combine with the bigger museums around Museumplein. Go look at some serious Dutch art and then reward yourself with a cocktail.
Seems fair.
See Amsterdam From Your Own Boat
I know a canal cruise isn't exactly an undiscovered Amsterdam activity, but the way you do it makes a huge difference.
I would skip the giant sightseeing boats where you're sitting in rows listening to a prerecorded commentary through headphones. Being on a smaller boat makes the whole experience feel completely different.
If the weather is good and you're feeling confident, you can even rent your own electric boat and navigate the canals yourself. Mokumboot, for example, rents small electric boats that don't require a boating licence, and you'll get instructions and a route map before setting off.
Bring some snacks, pick up a few drinks, designate a captain, and spend a couple of hours cruising around at your own pace.
If you'd rather leave the driving to someone else, I recommend Captain Dave.
His tours are limited to a maximum of 12 guests and aren't based around a fixed script, so they feel much more like cruising around the city with someone who actually lives there than sitting through a standard sightseeing tour.
Either way, I think seeing Amsterdam from the canals is one of those touristy things that you absolutely should do. Just do it on a smaller boat.
Have a Proper Cheese Tasting
Cheese obviously needs to make an appearance somewhere during a trip to the Netherlands.
Unfortunately, central Amsterdam also has plenty of brightly lit cheese shops that seem to exist primarily for tourists looking for samples.
Instead, head across the IJ to Tasting Room Kef, the tasting room from Fromagerie Abraham Kef in Amsterdam Noord. Someone from the team comes to your table to explain the cheeses, their origins, the producers behind them, and how the flavors change as you work your way through the selection.
The cheeses change regularly, and the shop works with both Dutch and French producers, so this feels much more like actually learning about cheese than wandering around collecting cubes from sample trays.
Reservations for the tasting need to be made at least a day in advance.
It's also in Amsterdam Noord, only a short ferry ride from Central Station, which gives you an excuse to explore a part of Amsterdam that many visitors never make it to.
Finding Something Different to Do in Amsterdam
You certainly don't need to avoid Amsterdam's famous attractions in an attempt to have some "off-the-beaten-path" experiences.
Visit the Rijksmuseum. Walk around the Jordaan. Take photos of canal houses. Eat a stroopwafel.
But mix a few less expected experiences into your itinerary too.
Feed a baby goat. Drink some genever. Drive a boat. Spend an afternoon tasting cheese. Walk through the countryside next to an alpaca.
Those are usually the parts of a trip that end up being the most fun anyway.