Club11 and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Things to Do Tips

So called purely because it is on the 11th floor of the old Post Office building - this is now a new and trendy bar/restaurant/nightlife spot right near Centraal Station. It was recommended to me by my VT friend Pieter Jan V, and together with Swanet we took the lift to the 11th floor to see the fabulous views over Amsterdam (and have a drink in the meantime :))

This club is only here temporarily while the building is being renovated, so make sure you fit in a visit if you are in the city!

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Phone: +31 206 255 999
Address: Oosterdokkade
Directions: Go east from Centraal Station

We took a number 10 tram along Sarphatistraat going out of the city centre to find this windmill - the first we have seen after 4 previous windmill-less trips to the Netherlands. It was a short 10 minute ride until we got off at Alexanderkade and there it was... this beautiful windmill, built in 1725 as a grain mill and now a small brewery pub (Brouwerij t'Ij).

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Phone: 0206228325
Address: Funenkade 7
Directions: East
Website: http://www.brouwerijhetij.nl/

I spent a couple of hours (and 16E on a ticket!!) at the zoo in Amsterdam. Zoos are not my favourite places and this one is no better than any others. it was a Saturday and it was packed with families mostly.

The enclosures were too small for such large animals, elephants, zebras, camels, lions tigers etc and I think Amsterdam has plenty enough other attractions to offer tourists and visitors without the need for a zoo. Children will get a better education about wildlife from watching the Discovery Channel.

These places are relics of a bygone past - before people became more aware of animal cruelty and environmental issues and I really can't see the need for them in a modern city. Unless there is a breeding programme for endangered species going on (which some larger zoos specialise in) then I think these places are unnecessary in the 21st century.

It was too expensive and too busy and too small.

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Phone: +31-20-5233400
Address: Plantage Kerklaan 38-40
Directions: East
Website: http://www.artis.nl

Opened in 1986, the Music Theatre of the Netherlands is here in Amsterdam. They have ballet, opera, theatre and contemporary dance. If I was staying in Amsterdam again I would definitely pay this place a visit!

Update!

Feb 07 - I paid this place a visit - not to see a concert but to see the wonderful "Music Rises Up" bronze in the floor of the foyer of the Stopera. It is an amazing work of art - rumoured to be by the Netherland's own Queen Beatrix - whoever created it .. it is just brilliant.

The translation on the plaque reads:

Music Rises

Like the mushroom puts her tender hat,
stormy through the rough forest ground.
So the music rises from the unexpected depths,
up with forces, that break the marble.

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Phone: 020 - 551 8117
Address: Waterlooplein
Directions: Amstel 3
Website: http://www.muziektheater.nl/

Just around the corner from the Anne Frank House, on the Westermarkt, is a a very sweet statue (by Mari Andriessen) of the little Jewish girl who lived in the Secret Annex until her family were found and she died at Bergen-Belsen, 3 months before her 16th birthday.
On the day that I visited there were an elderly gentleman and his grandaughter (greatgrandaughter??) - she was looking intently at the statue and listening to his explanation... it was for me one of the most moving moments of all my visits to Amsterdam.

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Address: Westermarkt
Website: http://www.annefrank.org/

This is the museum dedicated to the bravery of the Dutch Resistance from 1940-45. The exhibits include masses of photographs, original artefacts, illegal newspapers, printing presses etc as well as a library. Some displays are interactive and all info is in Dutch and English.

Adult entrance costs 5 Euro and the museum is open 10-5 Tues-Fri and 12-5 Sat-Mon. Children under 7 go free but it's not really the kind of place that would interest a child so young.

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Address: Plantage Kerklaan 61A
Directions: Across the road from the Artis Zoo
Website: http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/home.html

This is a replica of the Dutch East Indiaman which sunk off of the English south coast in 1748 with 336 people on board on its maiden voyage.

I found this a particularly interesting *must see* while visiting Amsterdam because I have seen parts of the wreck of this ship at low tide on several occasions, not far from my home on the coast.

The museum is open daily during
June-August 10am-5pm
Sept-May 10am-5pm Tues-Sun

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Address: Netherlands Shipping Museum, Kattenburgerplein 1
Directions: Eastern Islands
Website: http://www.scheepvaartmuseum.nl/

Small botanical gardens (containing over 6000 plants!) at the corner of Plantage Middenlaan and Plantage Paarklaan, and another place I will visit on my next trip here!

April-September - Mon-Fri 9-5
Sat-Sun 11-5

Oct- March - Mon-Fri 9-4
Sat-Sun 11-4

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Phone: 020 - 6259021
Address: Plantage Middenlaan 2 (A)
Directions: East
Website: http://www.dehortus.nl

Having read the diary at school and again more recently, I knew this was one place I wanted to see. I found it to be a deeply moving experience. We went on a chilly winter morning - there were no queues. If you haven't read the book I suggest that you do before you visit.

We paid 6.50E entry.

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Address: Prinsengracht 263
Directions: Grachtengordel West

With only a few hours before we had to return to Central Station and catch our train to Brussels, we decided to visit this museum as we hadn't been before and it was within easy walking distance of our hotel.

The sign outside says "free entrance" and that will get you as far as the small cafe (selling typical Jewish (Kosher) food) .... to actually get in the museum it's 3E.

We only really had time to visit the downstairs of the building which focuses on Jewish beliefs and practises and stencil our names in Hebrew. It was interesting enough but I would like to see the upstairs next time which is more about the social history of Jews in Amsterdam and their roles in industry.

The museum is housed in what were once four Ashkenazi synagogues dating from the 17th century.

Open 11-5pm - and it is closed on Yom Kippur.

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Phone: +31-20-6269945
Address: Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 2-4
Directions: The Old Jewish Quarter
Website: http://www.jhm.nl