Private Amsterdam Schiphol Layover Food Tour with a Local Guide
Airport pickupTastingsPrivate
Built around eating: a cheese house, a herring stall and seven or more tastings, with drinks, across five to seven hours.
From $599 per person
10 Dutch Foods to Try on an Amsterdam Layover
Short answer. On an Amsterdam layover, eat the things that need no booking: raw herring with onions from a street stall, a stroopwafel, a wedge of Gouda, poffertjes, bitterballen with mustard, and a glass of jenever. The centre is 17 minutes from Schiphol by train. With five hours or more, one private food tour carries seven or more tastings; the windmill tours add a cheese tasting.
The ten foods at a glance
| Food | What it is | Where you find it | Tour that puts it in the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raw herring | Broodje haring, with pickles and onions | A street stall | The food tour |
| Stroopwafel | Two thin waffles around a layer of syrup | A street market or bakery | The food tour |
| Dutch cheese | Gouda, Geitenkaas, Maasdammer | Cheese shops, markets, a cheese farm | The food tour; both windmill tours |
| Poffertjes | Small fluffy pancakes, powdered sugar and butter | Pancake houses and street markets | The food tour |
| Bitterballen | Deep-fried crispy balls with mustard | Almost any bar | On your own |
| Jenever | The juniper spirit gin grew out of | A tasting room or brown bar | The food tour |
| Appeltaart | Deep-dish, cinnamon and raisins, whipped cream | The Jordaan | The 4–5 hour guided walk passes through |
| Kibbeling | Battered white fish with herb mayonnaise | A fish stall | On your own |
| Patat | Thick-cut fries in a paper cone | A snack bar | On your own |
| Local beer | Brewed under a windmill | Brouwerij 't IJ, Funenkade | The three-hour private car tour |
Seven or more tastings, from herring to jenever5 to 7 hours, met at the airport, bags stored at Centraal. From $599 per person.
Check availability1. Raw herring from a street stall
If you only try one, make it haring. You get it as a broodje haring, with pickles and chopped onion, and eat it at the stall. The best months are May to July, when the fish is said to be at its sweetest.
Five minutes, standing up: the fastest proper Dutch meal there is, and a stop on the food tour.
2. A stroopwafel, made while you wait
Two thin waffles around a layer of syrup, best hot from a street market or bakery.
The oldest recipe found in Gouda dates from the early 19th century, made for people who could not afford pricier baked goods. It is on the food tour's list.
3. Dutch cheese, in the city or on the farm
Gouda is the name you know. Ask for Geitenkaas and Maasdammer too. You can taste them three ways:
- In the city. Any cheese shop or market in the centre, or the Jordaan cheese house the food tour stops at.
- On the farm. The Catharina Hoeve cheese farm at Zaanse Schans is free to enter, with cheese-making demonstrations and tasting every day. It opens 08:00–18:00 from March to September, 08:30–17:00 from October to February.
- On a tour. The three-hour windmills tour from the airport includes a Gouda tasting at the farm. On the windmills, clogs and cheese day, the tasting is in the fare.
If the countryside tempts you more than the canals do, the case for each is set out in the city or the windmills.
Windmills, clogs and a cheese tasting in the fare4 to 8 hours by private vehicle. From $263 per person.
Check availability4. Poffertjes
Small, fluffy pancakes, served in a pile with powdered sugar and a knob of butter. Pancake houses, restaurants and street markets all make them. They take twenty minutes at a table rather than two at a stall. They are on the food tour's list too.
5. Bitterballen with mustard
Deep-fried crispy balls with a soft filling, served with mustard for dipping. You will find them on the menu at most bars in Amsterdam.
6. Jenever, the spirit that came before gin
Jenever is distilled from juniper and tastes malty, closer to whisky than to a modern gin. You drink it from a tulip-shaped glass, often with a beer beside it, a pairing called a kopstootje.
Did you know? Wynand Fockink's tasting room in the Pijlsteeg sits in a distillery built in 1679, and Wynand Fockink took it over in 1724. The food tour's drinks include jenever.
7. Appeltaart in the Jordaan
The Dutch apple pie is deep-dish, with cinnamon, raisins and whipped cream. Winkel 43 in the Jordaan is said to serve one of the best. The food tour walks through the Jordaan, and the four-to-five-hour guided layover walk spends an hour there.
8. Kibbeling
Battered, deep-fried pieces of white fish, usually cod, with a herb mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon. If you will not eat raw fish, this is your order at the same kind of stall.
9. Patat in a paper cone
Thick-cut fries in a paper cone. Two orders you should know:
- Patatje oorlog: peanut satay sauce, mayonnaise and onions.
- Patat speciaal: curry ketchup, mayonnaise and onions.
10. A local beer under a windmill
Brouwerij 't IJ brews in a former bathhouse under the windmill on the Funenkade, and its tasting room is right there, with long tables on the terrace in the warmer months. The three-hour private car tour takes in the maritime quarter and the brewery.
Check the clock first. The tasting room opens at 14:00 on weekdays and 12:00 at weekends, and closes at 22:00. A morning connection will find it shut, so save it for the afternoon half of a long layover.
Where to eat it in the hours you have
The Amsterdam layover itineraries by the hour set out what each band reaches. For food, there are three cases.
With a short connection
On a short Amsterdam layover, pick one street food and one neighbourhood. Herring or a stroopwafel, a walk along one canal, and you are back at the train.
With five hours or more
A long Amsterdam layover has room for a market. Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp has run six days a week since 1912 and claims to be the largest daytime market in Europe. It is open 09:30–17:00, Monday to Saturday. The four-to-five-hour guided walk spends an hour in De Pijp, and the food tour turns the whole day into a meal.
On a Sunday
- Albert Cuyp Market is closed.
- The herring stalls, snack bars and brown bars carry on as normal.
- Brouwerij 't IJ opens at 12:00.
For the sights that sit between the food stops, see things to do on an Amsterdam layover.
Doing it alone, or letting a tour carry it
On your own, it is cheap. The train takes 17 minutes to Centraal, runs eight times an hour and costs €4.90 one way. Airport lockers are €8 per 24 hours. The rest of the arithmetic, from the border queue to the return, is in Leaving Schiphol on a Layover.
If you book a tour, check whether your fare includes food. Most do not.
| Tour | Fare | Hours | Food in the fare | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private food tour | From $599 per person | 5 to 7 hours | Seven or more tastings, plus drinks | 5.0 from 2 |
| Windmills, clogs and cheese | From $263 per person | 4 to 8 hours | Cheese tasting; lunch extra | 4.6 from 59 |
| Zaanse Schans windmills | From $183 per person | 3 hours | Gouda tasting at the farm; food and drinks extra | 5.0 from 17 |
| Three-hour private car tour | From $221 per person | 3 hours | None; the route passes Brouwerij 't IJ | 4.9 from 48 |
| Guided layover walk, 3, 4 or 5 hours | From $318 per group of up to 8 | 4 to 5 hours | None; an hour each in De Pijp and the Jordaan | 5.0 from 1 |
Only the food tour is built around eating. Every other departure, with the hours each one needs, is compared at Amsterdam Layover Tours.
Foods that only show up in some months
Did you know? Oliebollen, the Dutch doughnuts, only come out around New Year's Eve. Snert, the thick pea soup, was traditionally sold by street vendors to skaters on the frozen canals, and stamppot is comfort food for cold winter evenings.
What your month does to the rest of a connection is in Amsterdam Layovers Through the Year.
Frequently asked questions
What should I eat on an Amsterdam layover?
The foods that need no booking: raw herring with pickles and onions, a stroopwafel, Dutch cheese such as Gouda, poffertjes, bitterballen with mustard, and a glass of jenever. The centre is 17 minutes from Schiphol by train, €4.90 one way.
When is the best time to eat raw herring in Amsterdam?
Between May and July, when the herring is said to be at its sweetest. It is served on a broodje with pickles and onions.
Is there a food tour for an Amsterdam layover?
Yes. One private departure meets you at the airport, takes the train to Centraal, helps store your bags at the station, and includes seven or more Dutch tastings (cheese, stroopwafel, poffertjes and herring among them) plus drinks, over 5 to 7 hours. It costs From $599 per person and is rated 5.0.
Can I taste Dutch cheese on a short layover?
Yes. The three-hour Zaanse Schans tour from the airport includes a Gouda tasting at the cheese farm, which is free to enter.
Do Amsterdam layover tours include food?
Most do not. The exceptions are the food tour, with seven or more tastings and drinks, and the windmills, clogs and cheese tour, which includes a cheese tasting.
Tours that put the food in the day
Zaanse Schans Windmills Private Tour from Amsterdam Airport
Airport pickupLeaves the cityPrivate
Three hours to the mills, with a Gouda tasting at the cheese farm before the drive back to the terminal.
From $183 per person
Amsterdam or Zaanse Schans private Schiphol airport layover tour
Wi-Fi on boardPrivateUp to 7
Three hours by private car through the city, taking in the maritime quarter and the brewery under the windmill.
From $221 per person
Layover flight private guided tour in Amsterdam (3, 4 or 5 hours)
Airport pickupPrivateUp to 8
One fare for up to eight, with an hour in De Pijp and an hour in the Jordaan, where the market and the apple pie are.
From $318 per group of up to 8
Read next: what a long connection opens up, the windmills and the cheese farm, or every stop these tours reach. Hungry and short of time? Start with the timing arithmetic.