Amsterdam's Tip-Based Walking Tours

A “free walking tour” in Amsterdam is really a tip-based one, and one whole neighborhood on the usual route cannot legally be covered by a guided tour at all anymore. Both facts are worth knowing before picking a route.

SANDEMANs Free Tour of Amsterdam: tip-based, twice daily

The National Monument on Dam Square is the meeting point for a roughly 2-2.5 hour walk run by local freelance guides in partnership with SANDEMANs, departing twice a day. Nothing changes hands upfront; a fair tip runs roughly EUR 10-15 per person at the end, which is how the guides actually get paid. Book a spot online a day ahead in summer, when groups fill; a winter walk-up is usually fine without booking at all. Reserve a spot on the free tour if you would rather lock in a time than risk a full group, or check the route directly at neweuropetours.eu .

Since 2020, commercial guided tours have been banned from stopping at or passing directly in front of the window-brothel area of De Wallen, following an even earlier 2012 rule capping group size there to under four. This is an active restriction, not a rumor that faded out, and it means a paid “Red Light District tour” as a bookable product does not really exist anymore. Self-guided wandering, day or night, remains completely normal and heavily done; photographing the sex workers in the windows is separately, strictly prohibited and enforced, and a street-level cannabis smoking ban with a EUR 100 fine applies specifically in De Wallen, Dam Square, Damrak and Nieuwmarkt.

Two self-guided routes worth a detour

The Jordaan hides dozens of hofjes, small almshouse courtyards tucked behind unremarkable doorways, a quieter contrast to the canal-ring crowds and genuinely underused as a specific target versus a vague “wander the Jordaan” plan. Most sit unlocked and free to step into during the day; a printed or downloaded list of names beats trying to spot the gates by chance. The Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes), a boutique-shopping grid linking the main canal-ring streets, makes a natural connector between the Anne Frank House area and Leidseplein, and both routes can be walked back to back in a single unhurried morning without repeating any ground. Our sightseeing guide covers the museum-and-monument list these two routes pass close to.

Walk the Jordaan hofjes route in the late morning, when courtyard gates that residents sometimes close in the evening are more likely to be open, and keep voices down once inside; these are still lived-in homes, not open-air museum exhibits.