The Hen Party Amsterdam Weekend Guide: 5 Things Worth Actually Doing

So you're doing Amsterdam for the hen - slimme keuze!

Amsterdam is one of those cities that works hard for a group of women with a weekend to burn - it's compact enough to walk everywhere, beautiful enough that even just wandering feels like an activity, and genuinely fun without trying too hard. But between the canal cruises, the cocktail-making classes and the "unique experiences" that turn out to be a slightly decorated bar, it can be hard to find things that actually feel special.

This is a short list of what's actually worth your time including one activity that most hen groups flying in haven't even considered yet.

1. Start with brunch at Bakers & Roasters

Before anything else, get everyone fed properly. Bakers & Roasters is a Amsterdam institution: fresh juices, beautiful pastries, and a breakfast menu that handles the whole group well. It's popular, so either book in advance or get there early. If there's a wait, Coffee District on Willemsparkweg is a five-minute walk away and has what might be the best chocolate chip cookie in the city.

Set the tone for the weekend here. Order too much. Take your time.

2. Do something your group will actually talk about — aerial silks or aerial hoop

This is the one most groups don't see coming, and that's exactly what makes it work.

At Aerials Amsterdam in Amsterdam West, you can book a private aerial workshop for the whole group (up to 20 people) with no experience required whatsoever. You choose between aerial silks (climbing and wrapping yourself in long fabric ribbons) or aerial hoop (balancing and posing in a suspended metal ring). Both look spectacular. Both feel like nothing else you've done before.

The session runs for 1 hour 15 minutes, the instructors are warm and patient, and the studio is entirely yours for the booking. You're welcome to bring prosecco, decorations, a tiara for the bride - whatever makes it feel like a proper celebration. At €25 per person, it's also one of the better-value private experiences in the city.

It tends to go one of two ways: half the group is nervous going in, everyone is euphoric coming out. There is always a lot of laughter.

👉 Book at aerials.amsterdam - popular weekend dates fill up fast.

3. Afternoon on the Prinsengracht

After the workshop, the afternoon calls for something easy and beautiful. Walk the Prinsengracht — Amsterdam's most iconic canal — and let the city do its thing. Houseboats, crooked canal houses, bridges every hundred metres. You don't need a plan here. Just walk, duck into shops, sit on a canal edge and dangle your feet.

If the group wants to browse: Vintage Island is great for secondhand Levi's and leather jackets, and The Frozen Fountain is a design and interiors shop that's genuinely worth wandering through.

4. Pre-dinner drinks at Pulitzer's Bar

Dim lighting, cold martinis, crispy fries. Pulitzer's Bar is exactly the right place to regroup before dinner, it's moody and a little glamorous without being a hassle to get into. Get a round in, debrief the day, and decide who's going to attempt aerial hoop again before you fly home.

5. Dinner at De Kas

If there's one restaurant worth booking in advance for a hen weekend in Amsterdam, it's De Kas. A stunning greenhouse restaurant in a former municipal nursery, it serves a set menu built almost entirely from vegetables grown on the premises. It's the kind of dinner that feels like an event in itself, perfect for a special occasion table.

Book well ahead. Arrive early enough to walk through Park Frankendael, the park it sits in. Order the wine pairing.

A note on the weekend

Amsterdam is best experienced on foot and, if the group is up for it, by bike. It's a small city: most of what's worth seeing is within 20 minutes of everything else. Stay somewhere near the canal belt (The Hoxton Herengracht is a reliable, well-located option) and you'll be able to walk to most of this list.

The aerial workshop is in Amsterdam West, tram lines 1, 7 or 17 from the centre get you there in under 10 minutes, and the neighbourhood is well worth arriving a little early to explore.