A'DAM Lookout — Attraction in Amsterdam

My post is written as someone with a physical impairment and my review is therefore scored on accessibility.

I found A'dam lookout easy to find, there is a free ferry from the rear of Centraal Station which arrives regularly each way.

The lookout is about a 5 - 10 minute walk from the ferry: under 5 minutes for those able bodied.

There is a set of steps leading up to the entrance. Once you enter you queue up for tickets. I would say this is quite a pricey experience. Booking online saves you 2 euros and you can skip the first queue. Due to my mobility needs, after I was directed to a flight of stairs I double checked with a member of staff whether there was another way up and was directed to a staff elevator. This took me to the first floor where I queued for my ticket to be scanned and then joined another queue to access the elevator to the top of the building. There were no places to sit while waiting for the elevator.

Once in the elevator, due to the volume of people waiting, they cram as many people in there and this is very uncomfortable.

Once at the top, or what appears to be the top, there is a VR experience, a room with 2 tv's playing a long advert for the lookout. There are educational boards and a scale replica of the building.

There is a restaurant/bar, but all the tables and chairs are stool height and not catered to those with mobility issues. There is no other seating. There are toilets, but these are up a set of steps.

Unfortunately the lift does not go up to the roof terrace and therefore there is a whole area you will miss out on if you cannot ascend/descend stairs. Which really should be stated before you handover money.

The journey back down is, again, a long queue with nowhere to sit, before being crammed into a lift and then arriving on the first floor with a guided path leading to a stair case.

Had I known that I wouldn't be able to access the full experience, I wouldn't have done it.

I think that the website could have detailed the accessibility a bit better to enable a visitor with mobility issues to make a more...

A place that is simply not worth the money they ask for. If you pay €16, all you get is an elevator ride to the top floor and access to the rooftop, which offers a decent view — but since the building is located on the edge of the city, you won’t see anything truly beautiful. It’s just a distant panoramic view of the city, which would be fine if the price were lower. At least you also get access to a restaurant — with overpriced food and tons of dirty tables that no one cleans for over 30 minutes.

But if you decide to buy the full package including the VR rollercoaster and the rooftop swing — well, that’s also underwhelming. The VR quality is extremely outdated: the video resolution is very low, and the objects in the video look like they’re from the early 2000s. The ride mechanism itself, which simulates a real rollercoaster experience, actually works quite well. Unfortunately, on top of the poor video quality, the VR headset I got was dirty — it looked like someone had wiped greasy fingers across the center of the lenses. I asked a staff member to clean it, but it didn’t help. In the end, I could only see clearly on the edges of the screen.

As for the swing — it’s okay, but I personally didn’t get much of an adrenaline rush, since even at its highest point, you’re not that far off the edge of the building. The swing ride itself lasts around 30 seconds, which is very short.

But the cherry on top? They film you during the experience and then generously offer to sell you a 30-second video and 5 photos for €30 — seriously?! So you pay €30 for the full ticket and get nothing of real value, and then they basically spit in your face and ask for another €30 for something that should have been included.

I don’t understand how this place has so many positive reviews. It simply doesn’t deserve them. If everything — including the photos — was part of the ticket, I’d say it’s okay, though still not great. But in reality, it’s just...

The timing of our visit likely influenced our experience as we arrived at 8pm when staff seemed tired after a busy day and less enthusiastic about meeting more tourists!

We were able to secure a 21: 40 swing time despite not having purchased in advance. The elevator light show reality didn’t really reflect the social media impressions we had viewed which raised our expectations. The views from the lookout are spectacular however, well worth the entry fees. This was a really good time to experience uninterrupted views as was quieter than during the day.

We opted to have some food and drinks in the bar. Service here was very poor, plenty of staff but they seemed more interested in chatting amongst themselves rather than attending to those waiting. After a second call, we were eventually serviced. Decent food but expensive prices. Lovely to enjoy a treat with those special views. A different waitress interrupted our drinks whilst waiting for our food order to request advance card payment which made us feel uncomfortable. Not sure how it works, but perhaps on commission per table, there was a rush to secure the payment??!!!

My tween and teens paid €7:50 to experience the VR. They weren’t particularly impressed. Both said they wouldn’t recommend.

The swing also costs €7:50 but is something we would highly recommend. We felt safe and secure and loved the sunset views over the city while on Europes highest swing. Staff here were friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately, there was no photographs on the swing at that time, we would likely have purchased a momento. We did receive free download access to other photo momentos.

Beware, like a lot of attractions, this venue is card only which ruled out the children spending their pocket money. One to squeeze...