Originally Posted by
JBord
I've never bought tickets online, usually at AMS or Centraal.
I've done a canal tour from Centraal and I thought it was good. It gave me a good overview of the city, some history, and I got some good pictures. Maybe I just got lucky picking one.
Given that you want to try to see the Frank house, I'd go right there from the train station and see if you can get a ticket. It's only maybe a 10 minute walk, and in Jordaan, which will be a great area to get some lunch and just generally walk around and explore. You could easily spend a good part of your day here.
After that, go back to do the canal tour from Centraal. Then go walk through the Red Light district, just a couple minutes in the other direction from the Jordaan. Just next to the RLD is the Nieuwmarkt, which is a daily market in a square if that interests you.
Museums don't seem to be your thing, but if you change your mind, the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh, IMO, are two of the most enjoyable in the world.
If you don't have much time, I would skip Rijksmuseum (which is huge) and do Van Gogh (even if you take your time, you will be done in 2 hours max).
Canal tour - pretty much a must-do.
One thing we did at the end of our trip but that would work out particularly nice for the OP, since it is just a day trip, is climbing to the top of NEMO (the science museum). It gives you a fantastic view of the city if it's a nice day out (as well as sights of planes descending into Schipol all day long - not close by though). If you want to get off your feet a little but have a gorgeous view doing so, go there. It does close at 7PM, and it's probably ~15-20 minutes walking from Centraal - so easy to hit up at the end of your time in the city.
My last suggestion would be around train tickets...the stupid machines did not read my American pin card - the signing issue made it say there was a 'technical problem'. While getting a ticket at AMS is relatively easy in-person if you are there early in the morning, Centraal can be a time-burner. I would make sure to buy the roundtrip either online or at AMS and avoid having to stand in ticket lines in Centraal.