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 Amsterdam has numerous tourist
attractions and attempting to see all of them all could while away your time
and money. Most of the attractions are of minor importance and some are
uninteresting. Others are tacky, unusual, humorous (like the Sex Museum and
the Erotic Museum (think Red Light District)), or extremely touristy.
However none of this seems to keeps the crowds from visiting.
In our
recounting of the best places to visit in Amsterdam, we focus on twelve
of the city’s many attractions including two that are “must sees” - the
Anne
Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum!
Of course, we should note that the relatively new
Heineken Experience now claims to be
the most popular attraction in town, but we think that title is actually
held by the bars and other venues in the town's
Red Light District.
Guide to the Best Places to Visit in
Amsterdam
The Anne Frank House (267 Prinsengracht) is the most popular tourist
attraction in Amsterdam. When you approach the house from Prisengracht, you
will wonder where the Anne Frank House is located – the photographs and
images that most of us associate with the Anne Frank Huis are of the back of
the Annex and not visible from the street.
 Visiting is a sobering experience, made even more melancholy by the knowledge of
Anne Frank's death from typhoid shortly before her concentration camp was liberated near
the end of World War II. Some say
she died of a broken heart, mistakenly believing her entire family had
preceded her in death. Her sister Margot, who was in the same camp as Anne,
died several weeks before her of the same epidemic. Her mother died in
Auschwitz, where she and her daughters were originally sent. Later
Margot and Anne were transferred to Bergen-belsen.
As you walk from room to room, you will begin to
feel that you are an observer watching the unfolding of a horrible story.
Touring the house, reading the placards, and watching the short films takes
about an hour. You will be mentally exhausted by the time you finish. There
is a comfortable cafeteria offering food and beverages just before the exit.
Arrive near opening or closing times, as the crowds during the rest of the
day (even in off-season) can be significant and the wait lengthy.
The building is small and the rooms can be very crowded during peak hours in
the summer.
Visiting the Anne Frank Huis is not for the infirm or physically challenged.
There are many, long steep stairways and narrow corridors to contend with -
a reflection of the “hidden” nature of this sanctuary. There is only one
route through the house and most visitors, riveted by the displays, take
their time while learning the significance of this tribute to bravery in the
face of repression.
The front of the house, which is the entrance, is the location of the business
that was once owned by Otto Frank, while the back part of the property, called the
Secret Annex, is where the family lived in hiding.
For detailed information on visiting, please visit the Anne Frank House
Museum's official
website.
The compact Van Gogh museum wears the Crown of Amsterdam's art museums and is the
second most popular attraction in the city. You should not miss the chance
to see the amazing works in this collection.
The museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh's
paintings, is located in close proximity to the Rijksmuseum on the Museumplein.
You can walk to the Museumplein from the Dam in about thirty minutes or
arrive in ten minutes by hopping a local streetcar.
Van Gogh’s works are displayed chronologically and the progression through
palettes and
techniques is astounding, showing the artist’s talent for innovation and his
fearless attitude towards change. As his painting techniques evolve through
Van Gogh's life, they appear to reflect various stages of his dementia.
All of Van Gogh's works displayed in the Museum are outstanding. The
range of style is so diverse that it is difficult to understand how these
paintings were created by the same artist. Perhaps there were several
personalities inside of Vincent.
The building is usually packed with visitors, but the display rooms are
large and handle the crowds well.
If you want to study his works, there is platform seating in the center of
most rooms for those who desire an extended viewing (or those who are just
plain tired of walking).
The official website of the Van Gogh Museum can be found
here.
The Rijksmuseum, also located at the Museumplein, is undergoing major
renovations and most of the facility will remain closed until the “new”
Rijksmuseum reopens during the 2012-2013 timeframe, depending on the
building permit processing.
In order to make the best of a bad situation discovered during the
renovation (environmental problems) the museum staff has moved some of its
collection to an exhibition space in the redesigned Phillips Wing of the
Museum. In an exhibit called The Masterpieces, you will find the highlights
of the museum's "Dutch Golden Age" collection.
 The
exhibit combines a number of works by the Dutch Masters, with pottery,
furniture, statuary and other examples of the beaux-arts. The display areas
feel cramped and the order of presentation is bewildering. The show seems
forced and is underwhelming for the fee being charged. Unless you are
determined to see Rembrandt’s remarkable "Night Watch", you might consider
skipping the Rijksmuseum.
There are small, garden areas on each side of the Rijksmuseum that, on sunny
days, are pleasant places to take a break and watch the world go by.
See the Rijksmuseum
official website for information on visiting.
There is a branch of the Rijksmuseum at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport behind
passport control and it is a good place to visit if you have a long wait
between flights.
 The
Dam is a short walk from the train station. It is a large, unremarkable
square in front of a historic building that is now a Royal
Palace and was formerly the Town Hall.
The Dam is the designated "place to meet” in Amsterdam due to its size
and closeness to many of the city' attractions, bars and restaurants.
It is usually crowded, especially on weekends. Later in the day on weekdays
and most anytime on Saturday, street performers frequent the Dam. Some
of the acts are humorous and all are entertaining. In addition, a very popular shopping area starts just south
of the Dam along Kalverstraat and extends for several blocks.
The Royal Palace is now open for touring, after having been closed for
renovations for several years. The Palace is supported by over
ten thousand wooden piers (pilings) that help distribute the
weight of the large structure over the soft, marshy landscape in this area
of the city. The building was originally the Amsterdam Town Hall (1655) and
became a palace in the 19th century. See the
Dutch Royal House website for more information on this historical building.
The main road from the Centraal Station to the Dam is the Damrak. Between
the Damrak and the canal Achterburg, in an area surrounding the Oude Kerk
you will find Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District. At night,
the area is a bastion of neon, bars, partying and crowds. It is one of the few
places you will visit where you might happen to look up and see what looks
like a department store window filled with compartments and women modeling
lingerie in them – well, that’s not actually what is being sold.
If you think you would like a walk on the seamy side, perhaps the red light
district is for you. As a matter of fact, almost every tourist who visits
Amsterdam take a brief walkthrough, just to see what it looks like. If you are in Amsterdam just for sightseeing avoid the Red Light District in the late evening as druggies
and drunks seem to
dominate the area. If you are in town to party, late evenings here
seem to be very popular.
The Amsterdam city council is trying to clean up the image of the Red Light
District and has considered banning some of the more obvious displays
advertising prostitution, which is considered by many visitors to be one of the
signature calling cards of the area. It's not that most tourists are
interested in these services, but many seem to want to experience the
atmosphere of this over-the-top Red Light District. While we are on
the subject, you can find one of Amsterdam's two sex museums (the Sexmuseum
Venus Temple) at Damrak 18,
just a block or so from the Centraal Train Station. The Erotic Museum
is in the Red Light District at Oudeezids Achterburgwal 54.
 The world-famous Heineken Beer was first brewed in Amsterdam in 1863 and
the city is the home of this iconic brand. The Heineken Experience is not a
brewery tour in the formal sense, but closer to a Heineken theme park than
anything else. Clearly stating that the attraction is an "experience",
not a museum, Heineken has converted a former brewery into a multi-story world of
Heineken. Of course, you will get to sample some brew and have a great
time in the process. For more information and to make reservations, see
the Heineken
Experience website.
The Heineken Experience is located at Stadhouderskade 78 in Amsterdam.
If you choose, you can arrive by boat and disembark at the front of the
brewery. Alternatively, from the Central Station takes the tram (lines
16, 24, or 25). By the way, visitors under the age of 18 must be
accompanied by an adult.
 If you walk to or from the Dam to the Museumplein,
you will find the Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market) along the Singel Canal
between Vijzelstraat and Leidsestraat. The Flower Market is an attraction that adds a definite touch of color to this somewhat drab city.
Although you may not notice at first, the flower market is housed on a
collection of barges floating on the canal.
About a dozen shops are available and each has a wide variety of flowers on
display. In most shops you will, also, find cannabis starter kits,
something we have not found in our garden shops at home. Although good
for a laugh, we recommend you avoid buying the cannabis kits, if possessing
or growing marijuana is illegal in your home country.
There are a few interesting non-flower shops on the street, but most
travelers focus on one store that displays an impressive variety of
Christmas ornaments year round (just follow the crowd).
At the east end of the Flower Market (at the Muntplein recognizable by the
unusual clock tower at the former mint (the Munttoren)), you will find a Maoz Falafel shop
at Muntplein 1. Maoz has several shops around the city (one just off
Damrak (Oudebrugsteeg 30) as you leave the train station) and
has the best falafel this side of the Middle East (limited seating but great
food for a small price).
 A fleet of glass-covered boats ply the canals of Amsterdam. The rides are
more expensive than public transportation but the canals have a magnetic
pull for most tourists. You can buy various types of tickets, including one that lets you stop and
explore, returning to another boat later to continue your journey. Yet
another canal boat connects to the Museum Plein.
Canal boats in Amsterdam run on frequent schedules and there are many locations to access the boats.
The boats are popular with tourists, but the reality of Amsterdam’s canals is
that they are pleasant but not especially scenic. The architecture that can be seen from
the canals is interesting and many of the canal-side
houses are unique and seeing them from a canal adds to the experience. After all, how many times
are you going to get to experience a canal ride in one of the world's famous cities?
The Stedelijk
Museum facility at the Museumplein (Museum Square) is closed and will
re-open on the Museumplein in April of 2010. Parts of
its collection (but not the classic modern work for which it is so well
known) are on display at various locations throughout the city until the new
facility opens.
For information on what collections are is being shown and where (until 2010),
you will need to check with the
Stedelijk's official website.
 The Nemo Science Center (the hulking green boat-shaped building atop a
tunnel in the harbor) is a great place to visit if you are traveling with
children. It is not everyday that you will run into a exhibition whose major
rule is "forbidden not to touch". We suspect the exhibits will interest
parents and especially children enthusiastic about science and technology.
See Nemo's
official website for information on current exhibits and the
particulars on visiting.
Located in at elegant 17th century building at Amstel 51 in the heart of
Amsterdam is the newly renovated Hermitage Amsterdam, a facility focused on
exploring the richness and grandeur of Russia's artistic heritage. If you are
enchanted with Tsars and Russia in the 19th century, you may find this new
museum just the place for you. See the official
website for more
information.
The Rembrandt House Museum is located in central
Amsterdam near the Waterlooplein at Jodenbreestraat 4.
Although a
successful painter, Rembrandt was not good with money and eventually
was forced to declared bankruptcy. The house where he had lived for
twenty years and its contents were auctioned in 1658 and Rembrandt was
forced to start again in a much smaller house and with limited examples of
his own artwork.
While the Rembrandt House Museum is the property where Rembrandt
spent most of his time in Amsterdam, the house is decorated with
recreations of what existed in the house when he was in residence.
It has a collection of Rembrandt's etchings, but his major paintings are
in other museums. The museum may be of interest to some, but we were not
particularly impressed with what we saw. However, take a look at
the
official website
Next
Our section on Things Travelers Need to Know for
Visiting Amsterdam cover transportation, lodging, drinking age
(including the "smoking" age), dining
tips, lodging, shopping, weather, day trips and more.
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