4 Days of Canals, Dunes & Winter Hiking Around Amsterdam in December

The day begins warm and bright against the grey – the atrium of the Rijksmuseum humming softly with the shuffle of boots and the low murmur of Dutch as you shrug off your coat and let your eyes adjust to the glow of oil paint. Outside, Museumplein is cold and clean, but inside, canvases crackle with detail and the air smells faintly of old wood and coffee from the café. Late morning, you step back into the chill and walk De Pijp’s side streets to Florentin, where windows fog with the heat of brunch and plates of eggs arrive on heavy ceramic, the scent of butter and herbs cutting through the cold. By afternoon, the tone shifts from galleries to green. A tram and a short walk deliver you to Het Amsterdamse Bos, where the city thins out into tall trees and damp paths, leaves slick underfoot and the sound of distant dogs echoing across meadows. As the light fades, you follow the river towards Amstelsport, a low-key base for food and activity where the garden still holds the memory of summer and dinner feels communal and unfussy. You finish the night at The Cottage back in the east, hands wrapped around a drink in a room that feels more like someone’s living room than a bar, planning tomorrow’s deeper dive into Amsterdam’s parks and canals.

Morning arrives soft and grey, the kind of light that makes the canals look like graphite sketches. You warm up at Moods Coffee & Brunch, where the hiss of the espresso machine and the smell of toasted bread cut through the cold gathering on Cornelis Schuytstraat. From there, Vondelpark is a few quiet streets away – Amsterdam’s green lung, even in December, where runners thud past on damp paths and flocks of parakeets flash neon against bare branches. After a simple lunch at The Pancake Club near Leidsebosje, the day tilts toward design and plants. You wander west to Wildernis, a jungle of potted green climbing up white walls, soil and coffee scents mingling as staff chat with regulars about which monstera can survive Dutch winters. By late afternoon, you’re trading the city’s horizontal sprawl for vertical glass at De Kas, that greenhouse rising out of a park in the east, its interior glowing like a lantern as the sky turns inky. Dinner here feels like eating inside a terrarium – seasonal plates built from whatever was pulled from the soil that morning. The night ends with a short walk to A’DAM Lookout via the free Buiksloterweg ferry, the IJ black and slick below as the city’s lights scatter in every direction.

You wake to the soft rattle of trains and pull on warmer layers – today stretches beyond Amsterdam’s ring. A short ride deposits you in Haarlem, where the streets feel smaller, the gables sharper against the pale sky. Coffee Habits on Smedestraat is already alive, the smell of freshly ground beans and warm croissants seeping into the lane; you sit beneath the old beams of what used to be a clandestine strip club, sipping something dark and bright while locals drift in with dogs and laptops. By late morning you’re on a bus or bike toward the coast, trading brick for dune grass. Buitencentrum Schoorlse Duinen greets you with sandy paths and the quiet rustle of pines, the air tasting faintly of salt even before you see the sea. After a trail-side lunch at Brownies&downieS back in Haarlem – generous plates, staff who radiate warmth – the afternoon is for more sand and sky at the North Holland Dune Reserve, where forests, lakes and dunes fold into each other in soft, muted tones. Evening brings you back to Haarlem’s canals, where Olliver’s Soulkitchen&Bar feeds you rich, carefully plated dishes in a room lit by candles and canal reflections, and THE HARLEM SOCIAL CLUB pours you self-serve wine until your cheeks match the glow of the bar.

Your last day stays closer in, tracing the edges of Amsterdam that most visitors ignore. Morning coffee comes from Jules in Haarlem if you’ve lingered, or from Native back in town – either way, it’s about that first sip cutting through the cold while you watch people unlock shopfronts and sweep stoops. Back in Amsterdam, you lace up for a loop around Sloterplas, where tower blocks and reeds share the same horizon and the water sits flat and grey, occasionally rippling under a passing coot. Lunch is simple at Bistro Sud on the edge of Haarlem or back in the city – unfussy plates, a glass of wine if you’re not in a rush. The afternoon is for one last, wilder walk in the Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen, where sandy tracks, low pines and an almost eerie quiet make you forget completely that Schiphol’s flight paths aren’t far away. As darkness folds in early, you return to Amsterdam’s canal belt for a lingering dinner at Zaza’s or Roux, the clink of plates and low music a gentle re-entry to urban life. The night ends with cocktails at Bar Wigbolt or a slow wander past the softly lit canal houses, the city’s 750 years of history pressing in close as you say a quiet goodbye to its winter side.