Central Station and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Things to Do Tips

Central Station is a beautiful huge building in neo renaissance style built on three artificial islands. When you come out of the station onto the big square you will see water and boats everywhere. For me, this was my first contact with Amsterdam. I was ready to discover "Venice of the North".

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Address: Stationsplein
Directions: North near the harbour
Website: www.ns.nl

The historical centre of Amsterdam is situated between Central Station (north), Muntplein (south), Spuistraat (west) and Rokin, Damrak (east).

This is the commercial and economical part of Amsterdam. Here you will find a lot of shops in pedestriazed zones all leading to the most important square of the city "Dam". On this square you can admire the National Monument, New Church and Royal Palace.

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The Red Light District is situated east of the Centre between Central Station in the north and Muntplein in the south.

Here you will find the biggest concentration of men walking around and looking at all those (lovely ?) ladies ;-)

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The name says it all, this is a museum about the works of Vincent van Gogh, a famous Dutch painter. The museum shows 200 paintings and 550 drawings and aquarelles from the start to the end of the painter's life.

Open from 9 am to 6 pm
Admission price: 9 EUR

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Phone: +31-20-5705252
Address: Paulus Potterstraat 7, Amsterdam
Directions: Tram 2, 3, 5, 12, 16, 20
Bus 63
Website: www.vangoghmuseum.nl

This museum is a must-see when you are interested in the situation of the Jewish people during WWII. The museum tells the life of a Jewish child during WWII. Anne Frank kept a diary during her period of hiding for the German Nazis. Her family went underground in the backhouse of her father's company and they stayed there for about 2 years until someone gave them away to the Germans. They were transported to the concentration camps and only the father survived the cruelty. He published his daughter's diary after the war, which got world famous.

You can visit the house where you are informed by personal documents, photos and videofilms about the life of this family and what happened afterwards. You can visit the backhouse to see how they lived. The furnish, however, is gone but photos and a scale-model give a good impression of how it looked like.

There is always a long line waiting in front of the museum. Try to come as early as possible or late in the afternoon. It will take you about 1.5 hours to see it all. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pics inside.

Open from 9 am to 7 pm
Admission price: 7.5 EUR

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Address: Prinsengracht 267, Amsterdam
Directions: Near the Westkerk
Tram 13, 14, 17 and 20
Website: www.annefrankhuis.nl

In this famous wax museum you can watch the entire Dutch history.

Open from 10 am to 6:30 pm
Admission price: 23 EUR (way too expensive)

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Phone: +31-20-5230623
Address: Dam 20, Amsterdam
Directions: Centre
Website: www.madametussauds.nl

At the end of the 13th century the first people (fishermen) settled here along the river Amstel and built a dyke (=dam). This is where the name Amsterdam is derived from.
So this square is the real heart and oldest part of Amsterdam.

Today, this is a very lively square with lots of tourists, shoppers and street animators. During the night, you will find drugs users here looking for some drugs and money.

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Address: Dam, Amsterdam
Directions: From the Central Station straight ahead, at the end of the Damrak.

I was really disappointed when I saw the Royal Palace. The building is black and the architecture is very boring, not what you expect from a royal palace. Up till now the queen didn't stay at this palace. I can understand why.

This palace was built in the 17th century and was used as a town hall before it became the Royal Palace at the beginning of the 19th century.

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Address: Dam 1, Amsterdam
Directions: Dam square
Website: www.koninklijkhuis.nl

The white rather ugly monument on the Dam Square commemorates the victims of WWII. There are a lot of drug users hanging around there.

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Directions: Dam square

The beguinage was a nice surprise. It's a big green courtyard enclosed by lovely houses in the middle of bustling Amsterdam. Entering the square through one of the gates gives you the feeling of tranquility and peace.

You can enter the Beguinage between 9 am and 5 pm.

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Address: Gedempte Begijnensloot
Directions: Near Kalverstraat and Spui
Website: www.begijnhofamsterdam.nl