Amsterdam, Netherlands is the business and cultural center of the Netherlands. With its historical canals, beautiful older buildings, and wonderful museums, Amsterdam attracts 5 million visitors annually. This pedestrian and cycling friendly city is also a haven for runners. Water is the running theme in Amsterdam. Highlights include the walkways along the canals, lovely runs along the Amstel River, and some of the city’s beautiful parks, notably Vondelpark, Rembrandtpark, and Westerpark. The ‘north’ part of the city has been developing quickly and features terrific waterside runs. Further afield, Sloterpark and Amderstam Bos (near the airport) are good running destinations and easy to get to. The Olympic Stadium, built for the 1928 games, is a good add-on or departure point for routes in this area. Runners should note that Amsterdam is one of the flattest cities in the world. If you’d like to have an in-person guided running experience in Amsterdam, we highly recommend our friends at Go! Running Tours.
Amsterdam is compact — the canals and Amstel river form sort of a half circle around the older part of the city, and it is only a few km from Central Station to the city’s outer beltway, the A10. The wonderfully preserved older part of the city is inside the S100 beltway road. Nearly all our ‘iconic’ runs are easy to reach from a centrally located hotel or the convention center. Public transportation is excellent, with an extensive tram, metro, and ferry system. A new metro line connecting to North Amsterdam is due to open soon.
Note: Bikes are the main way of getting around Amsterdam. There are off-road paths covering nearly the entire city, many of them for bikes only and shaded red. Please be aware! One bonus of this amazing bike infrastructure is that everything is lit, so running when it’s dark is a treat in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam, is famously flat. Best ‘hills’ are some of the upward slopes of the canal bridges(!), and in the Bos and Rembrandtpark. The city’s infrastructure is defined by the water, some 400km of bike paths, and a great public transportation system. The metro mainly radiates out but only has Central station, Nieuwmarkt, and Waterlooplein in the central. The tram system is the best way to get around the core. Amsterdam’s climate is influenced by water and the North Sea. Summers are mild and never overly hot. But it is humid. It can be rainy throughout the year but can be especially damp in winter. Winters are chilly, but frigid temps and snow are rare.