Amsterdam is one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s small enough to walk everywhere and there is history around every corner. So I never miss an opportunity to visit.
If you expect that I run along the canals in Amsterdam, you’re bound to be disappointed. Though exceptionally beautiful, I won’t recommend running in the city center. The side walks are too narrow, there are many obstacles and if you run on the street you are continually in the way of the many, many bicycles. So keep the canals for your city walk and venture a bit outside to get your daily run in.
I like to start at one of greatest museums of the world: the Rijksmuseum. After a 10-year long renovation project the museum is open to the public again. Don’t miss the fantastic murals they discovered on the second floor.
Back to running: start at the Stadhouderskade in front of the Rijksmuseum. Take the underpass and run across the Museumplein. If you are there on a weekend, stop and participate in one of the many impromptu soccer games for your warm-up: just ask to play, the teams are open to foreigners joining in.
At the end of the Museumplein take a right in front of the Concertgebouw onto the Van Baerlestraat. Pass the ‘Stedelijk’ (museum of Modern Art) and the former Conservatorium (now a hotel) until you reach the Vossiusstraat. Enter the Vondelpark and turn left. Follow the signs for the ‘Blauwe Theehuis’ and then the ‘Openluchttheater’. Continue on the path until you almost reach the end of the park at the Amstelveenseweg. Circle back around the pond and run all the way to the exit of the Vondelpark at the Stadhouderskade.
You can now either turn right and follow the Stadhouderskade back to the Rijksmuseum or, if you feel brave enough to overtake some tourists on the sidewalk, you can take the first street on your right, the Hobbemastraat and then make a left onto the Jan Luijkenstraat.
Enjoy the rest of your stay in Amsterdam!
Happy Running.
PS: After I wrote this post I found out that Amsterdam has marked running paths all over town. You can download the Amsterdam running map.
