The free ferry crossing
From behind Centraal, and among the best free things to do in Amsterdam.
Jvhertum — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dennis G. Jarvis — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Txllxt TxllxT — CC BY-SA 4.0 · FaceMePLS from The Hague, The Netherlands — CC BY 2.0
Yes. The ferry is free and the ride is five minutes, and the north bank with its modern buildings and cafés is worth an hour on its own. Even standing in front of the building and sitting on its terrace costs nothing, and the view of Amsterdam's skyline from there is among the best in the city.
The programme covers international and Dutch cinema; foreign films usually run in their original language with Dutch subtitles, while Dutch films sometimes carry English subtitles and sometimes do not. Check the page for the specific screening before buying if you don't speak Dutch.
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The Netherlands' national film museum, in a sharp white angular building on the north bank of the IJ, directly across the water from Amsterdam Centraal. Getting there is part of the pleasure: a free ferry leaves from behind the station and crosses in five minutes, one of the best free things in Amsterdam whether or not you go into the museum. The building is worth looking at in its own right, and its terrace over the water and its café are among the best places to sit in the city — neither needs a ticket. Inside are temporary exhibitions on cinema and four screens running a daily programme, plus a basement of individual pods where you pick from the Dutch film archive and watch what you like. That makes the place closer to a cinema with an exhibition attached than to a conventional museum. If you are looking for halls of collections you will find less than you expect; if you love film you could spend the day.
From behind Centraal, and among the best free things to do in Amsterdam.
In the basement you pick a film from the Dutch archive and watch it at your own station.
One of the best places to sit in the city, and it needs no ticket at all.
North bank of the IJ, opposite Centraal Station