Must-see attractions in Amsterdam

  • Top Choice
    Van Gogh Museum

    This wonderful museum traces Van Gogh's life and artistic development via the world's largest collection of his work. More than 200 canvases are on…

  • Top Choice
    Vondelpark

    Attracting over 12 million visitors per year, Amsterdam’s favorite playground is the green expanse of Vondelpark, with its 116 acres (47 hectares) of…

  • Top Choice
    Anne Frank Huis

    Visiting the Anne Frank Huis is one of Amsterdam's most profound experiences. Tragically, of the 107,000 Jewish adults and children deported from the…

  • Top Choice
    Rijksmuseum

    The Netherlands’ top treasure house, the Rijksmuseum (pronounced ‘rikes’), is among the world's finest art museums. With over 1.5km of galleries, it packs…

  • Top Choice
    Museum het Rembrandthuis

    Housed in Rembrandt's former home on lively Jodenbreestraat, this evocative museum provides an unparalleled insight into one of the Netherlands’ greatest…

  • Top Choice
    H'Art Museum

    Formerly a branch of St Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum, H'Art Museum cut ties with Russia and now operates as an independent museum.

  • Top Choice
    Verzetsmuseum

    The museum of the Dutch Resistance brings the horror of German occupation in WWII vividly alive, using personal stories, letters, artefacts, films and…

  • Top Choice
    Stedelijk Museum

    This fabulous museum houses the collection amassed by postwar curator Willem Sandberg. The ground-floor Stedelijk Base exhibition displays a rotating…

  • Top Choice
    Royal Palace

    Opened as a town hall in 1655, this resplendent building became a palace in the 19th century. The interiors gleam, especially the marble work – at its…

  • Top Choice
    NEMO Science Museum

    Perched atop the entrance to the IJ Tunnel is this unmissable green-copper building with a slanted roof, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano and…

  • Top Choice
    Tropenmuseum

    A great arched, galleried space, the Tropenmuseum houses a three-storey collection of artefacts from all over the world, depicting a wide range of…

  • Top Choice
    Museum Willet-Holthuysen

    This exquisite canal house was built in 1687 for Amsterdam mayor Jacob Hop, then remodelled in 1739. It's named after Louisa Willet-Holthuysen, who…

  • Top Choice
    Albert Cuypmarkt

    Some 260 stalls fill the Albert Cuypmarkt, Amsterdam's largest and busiest market. Vendors loudly tout their array of gadgets, homewares, flowers, fruit,…

  • Top Choice
    De Hallen

    These red-brick 1902-built tram sheds were formerly used as a squat before being turned into this breathtaking skylit space. De Hallen was stunningly…

  • Top Choice
    Artis Royal Zoo

    A wonderfully leafy expanse, mainland Europe's oldest zoo has a fine range of wildlife, with extensive habitats and room to wander. A lovely stretch runs…

  • Top Choice
    NDSM-werf

    This derelict shipyard turned edgy arts community, 15 minutes upriver from the city centre, wafts a post-apocalyptic vibe. An old submarine slumps in the…

  • Top Choice
    A'DAM Tower

    The 22-storey A'DAM Tower used to be the Royal Dutch Shell oil company offices, but has had a makeover to become one of Amsterdam's biggest attractions…

  • Top Choice
    Het Scheepvaartmuseum

    A waterfront 17th-century admiralty building houses this state-of-the-art presentation of maritime memorabilia. Highlights include imaginatively presented…

  • Top Choice
    Joods Historisch Museum

    In this beautifully restored complex of four Ashkenazic synagogues from the 17th and 18th centuries, displays show the history of Jews in the Netherlands,…

  • Top Choice
    Micropia

    The world's first microbe museum is a germaphobe's nightmare. Micropia has hands-on exhibits and microscopes to peer through and fascinating, if…