Amsterdam
Visit our full Amsteram Travel Guide for in-depth Amsterdam travel information.
Amsterdam is a fabulous blend of old and new, sophisticated and naive, highbrow and lowbrow... It's a beautiful city with something for everyone from the culture vulture to the party-goer.
What to do
Amsterdam's treasures range from the art contained in the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, where you can see the works of Dutch masters such as Vermeer, Rembrandt and (obviously) Van Gogh, to the Anne Frank House, where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis during World War II. There is also a rich architectural heritage in Amsterdam, which has roughly 7,000 registered historic buildings.
But Amsterdam is about more than the past - it's a vibrant city today full of friendly people (most of whom speak excellent English) and bicycles. In nice weather, a few hours in Vondelpark or Rembrandtpark might be just what the doctor ordered.
Of course, Amsterdam is also well-known for what some might call its counter-culture. Prostitution being legal, there is an active and public Red Light District, which, while it's clearly going to draw a certain element of the tourist population, is not the place you want to be whipping out your camera to snap pictures. One reason the city is so popular on the backpacker circuit is the Amsterdam coffeeshops, where you can freely buy and use soft drugs like marijuana and hash.
Getting there
You can book a flight into Amsterdam's famously nice Schiphol Airport (code: AMS), which is a 20-minute ride away from Centraal Station on the train beneath the airport. Airfares tend to be rather low because Schiphol is a major hub and competion is high among all the major carriers.
Once you're there, the best way to get around is by train. You can get a Eurail Pass that will be suited perfectly to your trip, no matter what countries or how many countries you'll visit.
Where to stay
Sleeping in Amsterdam can be an adventure of its own - there is no shortage of personality at the hostels in Amsterdam. Hostels not your thing? No problem - there are hotels in Amsterdam, too.
And if you're looking for what other visitors have said about the city, you can read Amsterdam travel stories that have been submitted to us by real travelers, just like you.
Attractions in Amsterdam
Address: City center, Amsterdam, Netherlands
They look almost nothing alike, but just like Venice in Italy, Amsterdam is known for its canals. The canals in Amsterdam dissect just about every other street in the city center, moving outward in concentric semi-circles from the main train station. They mostly date from the 17th Century trading boom that turned the city into one of the most wealthy places on the planet.
Once used as an easy method to get goods from the city center out to the main river and then the North Sea, today’s canals serve mainly as part of Amsterdam’s famous serenity and a route for tour boats full of newcomers seeing the city up close. The most notable canals are the Herengracht (gracht means canal in Dutch), the Keizersgracht, and the Prinsengracht, which many people consider the nicest-looking street of the three.
With half a million bicycles in Amsterdam combined with canals every other street or so, the two inevitably mix. The city has a barge that travels around the canals pulling out bicycles one after another, although most of them were stolen and/or are somehow broken.
Hours: Always there
Admission: Free, of course
Address: Dutch Royal Palace, NZ Voorburgwal 147, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
The Royal Palace in Amsterdam is not really one of the city’s best-known tourist attractions, but it is usually open to the public most afternoons. It’s completely closed for renovations until early 2008, but then it should resume its regular schedule.
The Royal Palace is one of three palaces in the Netherlands that the country maintains for use by their Queen Beatrix. The one facing Dam Square in Amsterdam is not used as a royal residence, but rather for official state functions. It’s closed to the public during those functions, so see the Royal Palace website for opening dates starting in 2008.
The Royal Palace is open to the public most days, and free tours are given in both Dutch and English most Wednesdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. If this is an important sight for you, definitely check out the schedule on their site to be sure it will be open during at least one day you’ll be in town.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. most summer days, and 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. most other days, closed Mondays and Friday except for summer.
Admission: Adults - €4.50, €3.60 for students, seniors, and ages 6-16, Audio tours are €2 more.
Address: Jordaan, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Over the last few decades, Amsterdam’s Jordaan neighborhood has gone from an overcrowded slum to the trendiest and most desirable residential neighborhood in the city. As early as the 17th Century, this compact neighborhood was home to many foreign immigrants packed tightly into small flats, with the area’s small canals serving as both transportation and sewage. The low rents began drawing artists even back then, as Rembrandt is among the many to set up shop in the Jordaan.
Fast-forward to the 1970s and the rents are still cheap and attractive to artists, but the area starts gentrifying as others gravitate towards the peaceful area and its tiny streets. Now, the Jordaan is home to both artists and yuppies, who have combined to make it one of the more expensive parts of the city. The thin streets keep most car traffic away, so the Jordaan is a mostly serene and traditional neighborhood full of art galleries, small shops, bars, and restaurants.
It’s definitely worth a stroll, especially if it’s a nice evening and you are looking for a good meal and a drink or two, but don’t expect any major landmarks. The Jordaan is nothing more than a pleasant neighborhood, although there is an unusual Houseboat Museum here, and the Anne Frank House is just across the Prinsengracht from one edge of the neighborhood.
Hours: Always open, it’s just a neighborhood
Admission: Free, of course
Address: Jan Luijkenstraat 1, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The national museum of art and history in the Netherlands is called the Rijksmusuem (state museum), and even though there are 11 in the country, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is the one everyone refers to with that term. This enormous structure was built specifically to house the country’s most-treasured items in this location in 1885.
Even as a major renovation takes place from 2003 through 2009, the Rijksmusem remains open with most of the most famous works still on display in a special collection called The Masterpieces. The Night Watch is Rembrandt’s most famous Dutch Master painting, and it’s on display with the temporary collection, along with famous works by Vermeer, Hals, and Steen.
Dominating one whole edge of the Museum Square district, this museum has far more on offer than the nearby Van Gogh museum, and is the same price for admission. Tickets can be ordered in advance on the official Rijksmuseum website. There is a small and free version of the Rijksmuseum behind Passport Control at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, and until 10 p.m. on Fridays.
Admission: €10 with no discounts for students or seniors, but 18 and under are free. Audio tours are available in many languages for €4.
Address: Paulus Potterstraat 7, Amsterdam, Netherlands
This modern museum, which opened in 1973 in Amsterdam, not-surprisingly holds the largest collection of paintings and drawings from Vincent Van Gogh in the world. The main exhibit chronicles the Amsterdam native’s life, from his childhood works all the way through to his final years. One of his three famous Sunflowers paintings is part of the collection, as is The Potato Eaters. Other works from some of Van Gogh’s contemporaries help round out the collection while adding some interesting context.
The Van Gogh Museum is relatively small compared to the nearby Rijksmuseum, but it’s at least as popular due to the name recognition of Van Gogh himself. It’s not uncommon for enthusiastic visitors to go through the collection only to realize they aren’t big Van Gogh fans after all. You can see dozens of prints of Van Gogh’s paintings for sale in postcard and poster form out in front of the museum, so if those don’t turn you on chances are the inside will be disappointing. For the same price you can visit the far larger Rijksmuseum. Lines to buy tickets can get crazy long, so going early or late in the day is recommended, as is buying your tickets in advance on the Van Gogh Museum website. Audio tours are available for €4.
Hours: 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day except Fridays when it’s open until 10 p.m.
Admission: €10 for adults, ages 13-17 €2.50, no student or senior discounts
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