Become Dutch in 7 Steps Amsterdam Walking Tour With Food Tastings

Poolbar Amsterdam – A True Dutch Borrel
Begin your experience at a cozy local café with a traditional borrel: a sip of local draft beer, a tasting of jenever (Dutch juniper spirit), and freshly made bitterballen.

Meet your guide, play the vintage Dutch game sjoelen, and learn your first Dutch word: gezellig.

Challenge: Say “echt gezellig” and mean it.

Fishmonger Stop – Herring Like a Local

Visit a family-run fish shop and taste Hollandse Nieuwe, the raw herring that fueled Dutch trade.

Learn the proper technique and the surprising history behind it.

Challenge: Eat it with onions, head tilted back like a local.

Henri Willig Cheese – The Great Gouda Challenge
Discover how Dutch cheese is made—from cow to cellar.

Blind-taste 10 different cheeses (young, aged, spicy, and more) and try to guess what’s what.

Challenge: Pronounce “Gouda” like a Dutchie and win the quiz.

Floating Flower Market – Tulips, Trade & Tourist Myths
Stroll through the world’s only floating flower market and discover how tulips once triggered the world’s first financial bubble.

Learn why the Dutch still celebrate flowers—not just as beauty, but as a symbol of global trade, wealth, and identity.

Your guide will also bust a few myths (hint: real locals don’t buy tulip bulbs here).

Challenge: Guess where tulips are really from...

Canal House Basement – Sinterklaas & Spiced Cookies
In a cozy, cinnamon-scented basement, discover the Dutch legend of Sinterklaas—poems, songs, and cookie-throwing included.

Learn how he differs from Santa and why he still arrives by steamboat.

Challenge: Catch a flying pepernoot (and taste three flavors).

Amsterdam’s Gay District – Pride, Progress & the Rainbow Trail
Stroll through the historic heart of Amsterdam’s LGBTQ+ scene—where quiet progress led to a global first: legal same-sex marriage in 2001.

Hear how the Dutch blend activism with pragmatism, and how this neighborhood became a symbol of inclusion.

Challenge: Spot a very attractive artwork...

Outside Dampkring – Brad Pitt, Cannabis & Dutch Tolerance
Outside the famous Dampkring coffeeshop—where Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Matt Damon once lit up—you’ll explore gedogen, the Dutch policy of tolerating what technically isn’t legal.

No, we don’t go in or use cannabis—but this stop reveals how the Dutch manage contradictions with calm and common sense.

Challenge: Guess what’s actually legal (spoiler: not the weed).

UNESCO Canals – A Quiz with a View
Pause along Amsterdam’s iconic 17th-century canals—now a UNESCO World Heritage site—and discover how water shaped the city’s wealth, identity, and chaos.

Your guide will test you with playful questions: How many bikes fall in? How many bridges? How many drunk swimmers?

Challenge: Get the answers right, win a Dutch cookie. Bragging rights included.

Hidden Hippie House – The Amsterdam Time Forgot
Slip into a tiny alley most tourists miss and find the last real hippie house of Amsterdam—still lived in, still wild, still wonderfully weird.

Covered in plants, murals, and peace signs, it’s a living relic of Amsterdam’s squatters’ movement and free-spirited past.

Challenge: Spot the secret message hidden in the window or wall.

Heertje Friet – Fries, Mayonnaise & Dutch Pride
Taste the crunchiest, golden fries in Amsterdam at a boutique fry shop that takes its potatoes seriously. You’ll learn why fries are a Dutch obsession—and why we unapologetically drown them in mayo. (Yes, just like in Pulp Fiction.)

Sample funky sauces and discover which topping pairs best with your inner Dutch self.

Challenge: Choose your favorite and go all-in—no ketchup allowed.

Stroopwafel Finale – A 200-Year-Old Treat
End your adventure on a sweet note at Amsterdam’s oldest bakery. Watch how traditional stroopwafels—thin waffle cookies filled with warm syrup—are made the old-fashioned way.

Learn the proper way to eat them (hint: it involves your coffee cup), and taste one fresh off the iron.

Challenge: Get it warm and gooey without cracking it.