I went to Amsterdam for a short trip at the beginning of May and had a wonderful time! I had great weather (70s and sunny) and ate many good meals and treats! The city was flat and overall had fewer cobblestones than I’ve experienced in other European cities. I had good experiences with public transit here as well. I had my Batec mini bike with me which helped navigating occasional cobblestones, but I would have felt comfortable navigating the city had I not had it with me.
Getting To And From The Airport
I took the Intercity direct train to Amsterdam Centraal, which takes about 15 minutes. There was a wheelchair space on the train, getting on and off was easy and I did not need any help- it was level entry and there was no gap to navigate. Train cars with wheelchair spaces had a wheelchair label on the door. Both times I was at Amsterdam Centraal, I encountered elevators that were out of service, but there were alternative elevators that got me to the platform I needed to get to. Hopefully, this is not a common occurrence here.
Food/Drink Recommendations
- Van Stapele Koekmakerij
- Genuinely the best cookie I’ve ever eaten. I don’t like to overuse superlatives but it was really so good! This place only sells one thing- dark chocolate cookies with a gooey white chocolate center!
- The store had a level entry, I had no issues.
- Foodhallen
- My friend and I both had food from the vietnamese stall, which was great!
- It was accessible! There was an accessible bathroom located in the cinema next door to the food hall (in the same building).
- La La Ijs
- Excellent sorbet, located next to the food hall.
- I had the mango, blood orange, and passionfruit flavors. The mango was my favorite but they were all delicious!
- Accessible!
- Zero Zero
- Italian sandwiches! It felt very popular with the locals and it was delicious!
- 2 locations
- Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 3A, 1017 DB Amsterdam, Netherlands: I went to this location. There is a covered walkway outside the restaurant, which has a step if you want to go up directly in front of the restaurant (the restaurant does not have a step). If you walk down the street a few hundred feet, there is a way to get on the walkway with no stairs (see picture below).
- Gerard Doustraat 56, 1072 LK Amsterdam, Netherlands: I can’t tell if this one is accessible based on the photos available online.
- De Koffieschenkerij
- Cafe with such a lovely patio!
- I ordered the tulip lemonade (and then ordered another glass because it was so good!) It has a unique flavor, very sweet! I believe it is a seasonal drink, so you may not be able to get it unless you are visiting in the spring.
- I was able to access it well. Ordering from the patio is done by scanning a QR code and ordering on a device, which was easy. The order was brought out when it was ready.
Activities and Places to Visit
- Canal Cruise
- I took the City Canal Cruise with Blue Boat and had a wonderful time! Here is what the company says about accessibility on their website:
- Blue Boat is the only canal cruise company that has wheelchair accessible boats. If there’s a passenger in a wheelchair in the group, a reservation must be made in advance. Select one of the following time slots to get on a boat that is wheelchair accessible: 10:30 AM, 12 PM, 2 PM, 3:30 PM and 5 PM. Then contact our reservations department to inform us that there is a wheelchair in the group as we can only have 3 wheelchairs on board at the same time. Our reservations department can be reached via + 31 20 679 1370 on workdays. You can also send us an email at reservations@blueboat.nl
- The dock opposite the Hard Rock Cafe is the one that is wheelchair accessible.
- I used a lift to get down, which worked well and made the process of getting on and off very simple. They have wheelchair spaces inside the boat, but I chose to sit on a bench on the back of the boat that had direct sunlight. I just put my chair right in front of me.
- The cruise lasted 75 minutes and was very enjoyable! It did not have an on-board guide who was providing commentary (at least not that I could hear from the back), although on their website it does mention an audio guide is available. My friend and I didn’t use an audio guide (I didn’t know about it at the time), and we had a lovely time talking and enjoying the sights.
- I took the City Canal Cruise with Blue Boat and had a wonderful time! Here is what the company says about accessibility on their website:
- Vondelpark
- After the canal cruise, we went to Vondelpark, which is located right by the dock of the Blue Boat cruise. It is a lovely flat park with lots of paved paths and space to enjoy nice weather!
- Shopping
- Heinen Delfts Blauw
- Blue and white ceramic goods!
- I went to the location a few minutes walk away from Amsterdam Centraal, which was accessible (Damrak 65, 1012 LM Amsterdam, Netherlands). There are multiple other locations in the city.
- Muntplein 12, 1012 WR Amsterdam, Netherlands: According to Google Maps street view, there is a ramp to enter the store.
- IJpassage, Stationsplein 41N, 1012 AB Amsterdam, Netherlands: Located within Amsterdam Centraal, appears accessible on Google Maps street view
- Prinsengracht 440, 1017 KE Amsterdam, Netherlands: According to Google Maps street view, there is a small step to get in.
- Here is their website and their Instagram.
- All the Luck In The World
- Jewelry and home accessories
- 3 locations
- Berenstraat 2, 1016 GH Amsterdam, Netherlands: I went to the location on Berenstraat, which had one step (pictured below) which I was able to get in with the help of my friend. This location had jewelry, not very many home accessories.
- Linnaeusstraat 20, 1092 CK Amsterdam, Netherlands: According to Google Maps street view there is a small step to get in.
- Gerard Doustraat 86HS, 1072 VW Amsterdam, Netherlands: Appears accessible on Google Maps street view
- Here is their website and their Instagram.
- Heinen Delfts Blauw
- Royal Palace Amsterdam
- This palace used to be an old town hall and has some beautiful architecture. I spent an hour here and enjoyed my visit.
- Free audioguide
- Free companion pass for disabled guests! There is also a nice accessible bathroom here.
- Begijnhof
- This is a courtyard tucked away in the city center. It is the home of a former religious community and there is still a church there. The courtyard is a quiet space with lovely buildings.
- Hoxton Hotel Photo Booth
- This hotel has a vintage photo booth which prints black and white pictures! We did not stay at this hotel (although I loved the vibes, it is a really cool hotel!) and were able to use the photo booth. It was fun to go here with my friend to commemorate our trip.
- When you enter the hotel (which requires going up one small step), the photo booth is up a set of stairs. However, if you can get an employee to help, they can escort you up the lift and elevator to get to the photo booth! (Employee keys are needed to get around the back way to get to the booth without stairs). The employees I interacted with were very helpful and great.
- To use the photo booth, I had to transfer to a stool that was bolted to the ground. My chair does not fit into the booth completely, but I was able to get it close enough to make it work. I couldn’t reach the screen well, but my friend that was there was able to help.
- They also have an accessible bathroom- the employees couldn’t get the door open, but they helped me down a couple of stairs to get to another bathroom and I was able to fit my chair in the stall.
- Keukenhof Gardens
- I went to Amsterdam to see the tulips, and it was wonderful! I will be doing a full blog post on this soon! I took the Keukenhof Express to and from the gardens and used the accessible bathrooms on site (there are multiple throughout the gardens). The paths at the gardens were all well paved.
Where I Stayed
I stayed at Motel One Amsterdam, which is not in the city center, but is great if you’re going to Keukenhof Gardens. It is right near a train station, and a few minutes walk to where the bus picks you up. Since I took the first bus of the day to Keukenhof Gardens, I wanted to stay near the bus stop to simplify my day and reduce the chance of complications which could have caused me to miss the bus.
The accessible room was great! It had a quality shower chair in a roll in shower, a handheld shower head, a full length mirror, bed at a lowered height, nice grab bars, and I could reach the temperature controls.
Getting Around Amsterdam
I did a combination of walking, using the trams, and using the metro. The trams and metro both had accessible spaces on them.
On the metro, the first and last cars have designated wheelchair spaces. All cars on the metro had level entry, so I would have been able to get on another car if I had needed to.
The tram I used had wheelchair spots on the 4th car. I was not able to board on the first car where the driver is because the design was not wide enough.
Here is the link to an Amsterdam official website about public transportation accessibility. It has great information with pictures about navigating Amsterdam. I found this to be very helpful. My only note of criticism about this information is the recommendation about the GVB app, which is supposed to help you plan accessible routes. I only used this app once, so I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but my experience using the accessibility feature was not great. It told me to take a route that was twice as long as what Google Maps suggested. We tried taking the way Google Maps suggested and it turned out to be accessible, so I don’t know why it was not showing up on the GVB app. The app itself was easy to use though, so I would be interested in hearing from someone who has more experience navigating the city/using the accessibility feature!
Amsterdam Schiphol Assistance Review
My experience flying out of Amsterdam Schiphol was not the best. When getting tags for my chair and Batec at the check-in desk, I had to fill out a form that I had never seen before. The form was confusing and the employee didn’t have enough familiarity with it to help me either. I was at the check in counter for about 20 minutes. Then, I had to wait 30 minutes for assistance, because certain elevators in the building require a key to use. I don’t physically need assistance at airports except for getting on and off planes, so it was frustrating to have to wait longer because of their design of the airport. I did, however, get to go in a shorter security line that I believe is used mostly for airline and airport employees. I also did not like the design of the gate- the gate itself was located downstairs, and the only way to access it was via stairs or an elevator that was locked. My flight was delayed, so the assistance employee that was with my friend and I said he would come back when it was time for me to board. Then, I was given conflicting information about if the flight was delayed or not, so I was worried that we were going to miss our flight. Because I couldn’t use the elevator to get down to the gate, I felt stranded and didn’t have a way to contact anyone about it. There was another assistance employee nearby, but he wasn’t able to contact anyone since he was not assigned to me. It was frustrating and unnecessary. Eventually, someone did come and I was able to make my flight.
A Local’s Perspective
One resource I found very helpful while planning my trip to Amsterdam is the website Able Amsterdam. Thank you to Josephine (@able_amsterdam on Instagram!) for putting together such an informative and comprehensive guide to your city!
Thank you for reading the whole post! Please reach out to me on Instagram (@rosieroaming) if you have any questions or comments! I’d love to hear from you!
