Things to Do in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is the Netherlands’ national museum for art and history, with permanent displays that trace roughly 800 years of Dutch creative life. The collection holds about 8,000 objects—paintings, decorative arts and historical artifacts—arranged chronologically so visitors can follow cultural and artistic development across centuries.

The Gallery of Honour and Rembrandt’s Night Watch are focal points and occupy specially designed galleries with interpretive displays.

Housed in a landmark building by Pierre Cuypers (opened 1885) that underwent a major 2003–2013 restoration, the museum combines restored historic details with modern conservation facilities. Visitors typically spend several hours; free floorplans, audio guides and accessibility options help plan a visit.

The museum garden, café and shop are accessible without a ticket.

Official Rijksmuseum website →

Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum preserves the world’s largest collection of Vincent van Gogh material, including more than 200 paintings, some 500 drawings and about 700 letters that illuminate his technique, motives and relationship with his brother Theo.

The permanent route presents Vincent’s development chronologically, from early Dutch works through Paris studies, Arles paintings and his final pieces, with highlights such as Sunflowers, The Bedroom and The Potato Eaters.

The main building by Gerrit Rietveld (opened 1973) and the later Kurokawa wing house the permanent displays and rotating temporary exhibitions. The museum runs conservation and research programmes and typically requires timed tickets, so book ahead and check guidance on photography, cloakrooms and accessibility.

Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House preserves the actual hiding place behind a movable bookcase on the Prinsengracht where Anne Frank and others lived in hiding during the German occupation.

The Annex is deliberately kept largely empty to respect its atmosphere, while adjacent interpreted galleries place Anne’s diary in the wider context of persecution, resistance and human‑rights education. The museum also houses archival items and classroom resources used in its teaching programmes.

Conservation is an active part of the site’s work: the bookcase, wallpaper and paper artifacts are stabilized and climate‑controlled to balance access with preservation.

Amsterdam Canal Belt (Grachtengordel)

The Amsterdam Canal Belt, or Grachtengordel, is the semicircular 17th‑century ring of canals—Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht—that encircle the medieval centre. Built during the city’s Golden Age, the canal ring illustrates Dutch approaches to land reclamation and planned urban design and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage property for its historic urban integrity.

Architectural highlights include narrow gabled facades, hoisting beams and merchant‑style entrances. The canal belt remains an active residential and commercial district with houseboats, hofjes and small bridges.

Best experienced by mixing short walks, cycling and a licensed canal cruise, the area rewards attention to façade details, hidden courtyards and how water shapes street rhythm.

Vondelpark

Vondelpark is Amsterdam’s best‑known public green space, designed in an English‑landscape idiom with winding paths, lawns, ponds and specimen trees. Originally begun as a private rij‑ en wandelpark in the mid‑nineteenth century, it was named after the poet Joost van den Vondel and was developed by the Zocher father‑and‑son landscape team.

Today the park functions as a green lung for residents and visitors, offering wide lawns for picnics, play areas and sheltered pavilions. The Openluchttheater hosts free and low‑cost summer performances, and historic buildings at the park’s edges frame visits.

Approach Vondelpark on foot or by bike, follow signed routes, and treat its habitats and fittings with respect.

Jordaan neighbourhood

The Jordaan sits immediately west of the seventeenth‑century canal ring and developed as an artisans’ and labourers’ quarter. Its narrow lanes, short streets named after trees and flowers, and hidden hofjes create a village‑like atmosphere that endures today.

Architecturally it mixes modest 17th‑ and 18th‑century merchant houses, 19th‑century workers’ housing and preserved courtyards.

Public life revolves around markets and small squares—Noordermarkt and Westerkerk provide useful orientation—and the neighbourhood rewards slow walking. Expect independent shops, small galleries and intimate cafés; look for hofjes and traces of past trades when exploring the area’s quieter corners.

Dam Square (Royal Palace)

Dam Square anchors Amsterdam’s historic centre and is dominated by the 17th‑century Royal Palace, originally built as the city hall by Jacob van Campen. The palace’s Burgerzaal (Citizens’ Hall) features inlaid maps, allegorical sculptures and a richly decorated interior that once housed municipal offices and now presents principal state rooms when not in ceremonial use.

Although still used for royal receptions, many state rooms are open to the public and tours emphasise architecture, civic ritual and the building’s imperial history. The square sits opposite the Nieuwe Kerk and near the National Monument, making it a convenient starting point for short walks through medieval streets.

ARTIS Royal Zoo

ARTIS Royal Zoo (Natura Artis Magistra) is a compact, historic city zoo in the Plantage quarter that combines living animals, botanical collections and museum‑style interpretation.

Founded in 1838, ARTIS blends nineteenth‑century listed buildings with contemporary enclosures, and visitors move through plazas, ponds and tree‑lined paths to see primates, big cats, a historic aquarium and a modern planetarium.

Micropia and the Groote Museum extend the zoo’s educational remit—Micropia showcases microbial life while the Groote Museum traces natural history collections. Conservation, research and public education are central to the park’s programming; check ARTIS’s visitor information for planetarium shows and temporary exhibitions.

Official ARTIS Royal Zoo website →

NEMO Science Museum

NEMO is a hands‑on, family‑centred science museum housed in a distinctive copper‑green building by Renzo Piano, sited above the Oosterdok. Galleries invite tactile participation with experiment stations, live demonstrations and drop‑in workshops that explore energy, materials and human biology.

The rooftop piazza doubles as an urban viewpoint with long views over the IJ.

The museum emphasizes active learning and public experiments, with school programmes and staff‑led activities. Some workshops or lab sessions may require separate booking, and busy periods use timed admissions.

Verify accessibility options, group provisions and current visitor arrangements on the museum’s official site before you plan a visit.

Official NEMO Science Museum website →