The Best Things to do in Amsterdam

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Experience the life of world-renowned artist Rembrandt van Rijn by visiting his home and studio. See where he lived, gathered inspiration, produced his work and taught pupils. From paintings and drawings to etchings and copper plates, the museum owns almost all of his work and rotates the displays. Demonstrations of paint preparation and etchings, as well as children's activities, are offered daily. The museum is open from 10:00 to 17:00, charging €10 for adults and €3 for children ages 6 to 17. Tours are available upon request.

-Jessica E. Lipowski, Amsterdam Local Expert

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You may notice that not all the windows are red. The blue windows on Barndesteeg are windows for women who are women only from the waist up.

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Quite possibly Amsterdam's most defining feature, the Red Light District is the place to see some truly unique things. If prostitutes in windows aren't enough, you can also find an Erotic Museum, which takes you through the history of prostitution, the Hash Marijuana and Hemp Museum, which tells you all you need to know about weed, and the Banana Bar, a bar where waitresses are highly skilled in the various ways of eating a banana. If you want to learn more about prostitution in the Netherlands, visit the Prostitute Information Centre, located next to the Oude Kerk. If this doesn't excite you, the Warmoestraat, which runs along the Red Light District, is full of coffeeshops, bars, hostels and gay S&M clubs. Walking through the Red Light District today you may notice that some windows contain out of place fashion exhibitions. This is a result of the city's efforts to "clean up" the streets.

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Heineken is truly an international brand, easily recognizable by the green bottle, golden hue and great taste. At The Heineken Experience, explore Heineken's history and use all five senses to experience how the company makes its beer. Tours are self-guided. The Experience is open daily from 11:00 to 19:30. In June, July and August, the museum is open from 10:30 to 21:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Adults cost €17.00, children ages 8 to 15 €13.00. For those that are of drinking age, the admission includes the cost of two beers.

-Jessica E. Lipowski, Amsterdam Local Expert

Our Local Expert Says:

The most extensive collection of Dutch artists in Amsterdam.

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Architect Petrus Josephus Hubertus Cuypers (1827-1921), the grandfather of modern Dutch architecture, designed the brick museum in a monumental Dutch neo-Renaissance, gabled style. Cuypers, a Catholic, slipped in more than a dab of neo-Gothic, too, causing the country's thoroughly Protestant King William III to scorn "that cathedral." The building opened in 1885 to a less-than-enthusiastic public reception. Since then, much has been added to the building and the collection.

The Rijksmuseum contains the world's largest collection of paintings by the Dutch masters, including the most famous of all, a single work that all but defines the Golden Age. The painting is Rembrandt's The Shooting Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch, 1642, better known as The Night Watch. The scene it so dramatically depicts is surely alien to most of the people who flock to see it: gaily uniformed, but not exactly warrior-looking militiamen checking their weapons and accoutrements before moving out on patrol. Captain Cocq (once described as the stupidest man in the city, whose house on Singelgracht still stands), Lieutenant van Ruytenburch, the troopers, and observers (including Rembrandt himself) gaze down at us along the corridor of time, and we're left wondering what's going on underneath the paint, inside their minds. One sentiment might be irritation with this upstart artist, who painted some of their faces in profile or partly hidden, yet charged the full-face fee per man -- the militiamen hated the artistic freedom Rembrandt had exercised on their group portrait. In 1975, this masterpiece was restored after having been attacked and slashed.

Van Ruisdael, van Heemskerck, Frans Hals, Paulus Potter, Jan Steen, Vermeer, de Hooch, Terborch, and Gerard Dou are other artists represented at the Rijksmuseum. The range is impressive -- individual portraits, guild paintings, landscapes, seascapes, domestic scenes, medieval religious subjects, allegories, and the incredible (and nearly photographic) Dutch still lifes. In addition, the museum exhibits fine pieces of antique Delftware and silver.

Two rare furnished 17th-century dollhouses should be a highlight for children, by bringing the Dutch Golden Age to life for them in a way no amount of "real" stuff could. The dollhouses' former owners commissioned craftsmen to copy objects and ornaments, and the contents are exactly as they were in those days, only in miniature. Tiny seashells occupy a display cabinet. The tapestry room walls are covered with silk, the ceiling and mantelpiece are painstakingly painted, and Italian marble paves the hall floor. Silver spoons rest on the dining table and the family initials are embroidered on the napkins. Look carefully, and you'll even see pins stuck in pincushions.

In the Rijksmuseum Garden, breathe scented air and view interesting sculptural elements and other fragments from old buildings.

The Rijksmuseum also has a small gallery at Schiphol Airport.

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Host to the world's largest collection of Vincent Van Gogh's artwork, this in one museum you cannot miss. Year round, you can view the permanent collection of his work, plus special exhibitions on display. On Friday evenings, stop by and enjoy some art, music and drinks. The museum also offers lectures on a collection or current exhibition every Sunday, except in July and August. Admission is €14 for adults and free for ages 17 and under. The museum is open from 10:00 to 18:00 daily and on Friday until 22:00.

-Jessica E. Lipowski, Amsterdam Local Expert

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In summer, you may have to wait an hour or more to get in, but you shouldn't miss seeing and experiencing this house. It's a typical Amsterdam canal house, with very steep interior stairs where eight people from three separate families lived together in silence for more than 2 years during World War II. The hiding place Otto Frank found for his family, the van Pels family, and Fritz Pfeffer kept them safe until, tragically, close to the end of the war, when it was raided by Nazi forces and its occupants were deported to concentration camps. It was in this house that Anne, whose ambition was to be a writer, kept her famous diary as a way to deal with both the boredom and her youthful array of thoughts, which had as much to do with personal relationships as with the war and the Nazi terror raging outside. Visiting the rooms in which she hid is a moving and eerily real experience.

During the war, the building was an office and warehouse, and its rooms are still as bare as they were when Anne's father returned, the only survivor of the eight onderduikers (divers, or hiders). Nothing has been changed, except that protective Plexiglas panels now protect the wall on which Anne pinned up photos of her favorite actress, Deanna Durbin, and of the little English princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. As you tour the small building, it's easy to imagine Anne's experience growing up in this place, awakening as a young woman, and writing down her secret thoughts.

To avoid lines, get there as early as possible -- and while this advice isn't as useful as it used to be, because everybody is giving and heeding it, it should still save you some waiting time. A better, strategy if you're in town from mid-March to mid-September, when the museum is open until 9pm, is to go in the evening; it's usually quiet then. Next door, at no. 265-267, is a modern wing for temporary exhibits. A bronze sculpture of Anne stands on nearby Westermarkt.

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The Bloemenmarkt, or Flower Market, is one of Amsterdam's most famous attractions. In the summer, the market is full of bouquets of the country's tulips, but beautiful flower arrangements of other varieties can be found year-long. It is here that you can also buy bulbs for all sorts of varieties of unique tulips, including certified bulbs that can be exported. But aside from flowers, the flower market is lined with souvenir shops containing every typical souvenir from Holland you can imagine.

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The Leidseplein is full of nightclubs of varying degrees of quality, but the three main venues worth checking out are Paradiso, Melkweg and Sugar Factory

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Amsterdam's main nightlife area is undoubtedly the Leidseplein. Full of cafes and bars with outdoor seating and heated umbrellas, this is a great place to sit down for a drink and watch the city go by, both by day and by night. In Leidseplein you will also find the very large Bull Dog Coffeeshop; the building it's located in was once the police headquarters. On the streets leading away from the square you can find many bars with live music in the evenings, as well as small Italian restaurants that specialize in 5 euro pizzas; the food is good, fast and cheap.

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Most Spectacular Movie Theater

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The Tuschinski Theatre, located just a few steps from Rembrandtplein, is the most lavish movie theater of the entire Pathe chain of cinemas. Showing a mixture of mainstream releases and more obscure art films, the theater is worth a visit solely for its design.

Built in 1921 by Abraham Tuschinski, a Polish Jew who made his way to Amsterdam with a vision to create a spectacular movie house.  The result is an Art Deco masterpiece, with decorative elements from all over the world (including an Egyptian themed main theater and Japanese themed sitting rooms).  The building is especially grand, considering it was built in a part of town that was undesirable in the 1920s.

In 2002 the Tuschinski re-opened its doors after a four year restoration project.  Today the theater extends to the surrounding buildings and contains multiple modern screening rooms.  If you want to see a movie in the original Egyptian screening room, make sure to purchase tickets for screenings in Hall 1 (Zaal 1).

Aside from the spectacular architecture, other novelties include VIP love-seats, and a bar at the concessions stand where you can buy alcoholic drinks and take them to your seat.

Our Local Expert Says:

Most Picturesque Square

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Nieuwmarkt is a square that borders on many of Amsterdam's famous attractions, including the Red Light District and the Zeedijk (Amsterdam's Chinatown). The square is lined with café's, coffeeshops and bars and is a great place to grab a drink in the evening or a bite during the day. Many of the buildings around the square have interesting histories; the small café' "De Fontayn" on the Eastern side of the square was the city's most luxurious brothel in the 1800s.