Westerkerk

I can only speak about the climb up Westertorn since the church itself was closed, unfortunately. They happened to be filming a television show there that weekend so no visitors were allowed. Luckily, we were still able to climb the tower.
The climb lasts about half an hour to go up and come back down. They start on every half hour, with the last tour leaving at 7:30 pm. There’s a tour guide with you the whole time, who will teach you about the history of the tower itself. A tour costs 7 euros. You cannot purchase tickets online, but you can go early, buy your ticket, walk around the neighborhood, and then come back for your allotted time. This is what I would recommend. My boyfriend and I showed up at around 11, and the next available tour was for 1:30. This is most likely due to the fact that they do not let a lot of people up at a time (20 people per group).
The view from the top is amazing. You get a sweeping view of Amsterdam and you’ll get about 10 minutes to take all the pictures you want. It was a great experience and gives you a different perspective of the city.

This is just for their observation deck, as the church part was closed when I visited.
Really decent observation deck. The tower is 279 feet tall, with the observation deck at 138 feet (both converted from meters, and rounded up or down). You can see throughout the western parts of Amsterdam, including to the Jordaan neighborhood, east to Dam Square, and all the way south to the office towers near the A10 loop (beltway). The cost to go to their observation deck is 7.50 Euro, and the tours are limited to (I think) 6 people at a time per every 30 minutes. And if you don’t feel like waiting in the (almost always) snaking long line to get into the Anne Frank House, and don’t mind climbing up and down sometimes tight winding stairs (the stairs at one Delft church were tighter), this is a great alternative thing to do.
I almost deducted a star since they give you a somewhat limited time on the observation deck, but in fairness we had a nice tour guide. And at least he didn’t yell at me for doing some last pics on the tower with my phone (gotten all the shots I wanted on my regular camera beforehand), and I had friendly conversation with him going up and also going down. Glad I visited.

¡Vaya descubrimiento! Mientras que casi todo el mundo se dedica a hacer largas colas para visitar cierto museo famoso muy cercano, pero de muy corto recorrido, tan solo unos pocos valientes se atreven a preguntar por la subida a la torre de esta iglesia.
La visita sólo se puede hacer con guía. Cada media hora, seis afortunados pueden subir hasta la torre más alta de Ámsterdam y disfrutar tal vez, de las mejores vistas a la ciudad.
El primer tramo es a través de una estrecha escalera de caracol de cemento, donde puedes ayudarte de una cuerda. El resto son tramos de escaleras de madera, empinados y en los que apenas te cabe el pie.
En cada planta tienes una explicación en perfecto inglés: en la primera el guía toca el carrillón, en otra te hace que golpees las campanas con el martillo, en otra es el guía el que hace balancear la campana más grande para que notes cómo se mueve toda la estructura y así, sin apenas darte cuenta, llegas a la cima, donde las vistas te sorprenden. Puedes dar la vuelta completa. Por supuesto, el propio guía se ofrece a hacer la foto familiar y, con su experiencia, garantiza que salgan todos y parte del paisaje.
Y si al subir encuentras empinadas las escaleras, al bajar lo notas más. Mejor bajar de espaldas, ya te lo recomienda el guía, pero aún así, tus rodillas no dejan de golpearse una y otra vez contra la escalera. No me extraña que no dejen subir ninguna mochila ni bolso y los guarden en un cuarto bajo llave. Hubiera sido más difícil el ascenso si hubiéramos ido cargados.
Una joya, sin duda, pero recuerda que antes de comprar el ticket de 7,50 €, tendrás que elegir horario porque solo se permiten grupos de seis en seis.