If you like good beer, the Heineken Experience is for you! This was a working brewery until 1988, but now it's a museum and beer hall. Learn a little a history about Amsterdam and the brewery's namesake. See inside actual mash coppers and an explanation of the brewing process. The best part is getting to sample the fresh beer at two bars on the tour.
The tour is self-guided, so you take as much time as you want. You learn about how, at 22 years old, Gerard Adriaan Heineken borrowed money from his mother to build a new brewery on Stadhouderskade, and how Heineken became one of the most popular beers and one of the most respected names in the world. There's a virtual ride that takes you down the path of a Heineken bottle, from empty to full to nightclub. There's another that takes you through the streets of Amsterdam on a clydesdale-driven carriage.
There's an Internet cafe that lets you take a picture of yourself and email it to someone and a small giftshop at the end of the tour. Also, everyone who goes through the museum gets a free gift on the way out.
It was a nice way to spend an afternoon. It's very easy to get to from anywhere in the city. Take trams 24 or 16 and get off at Stadhouderskade.