Amsterdam Things to Do Tips by Rachael71

More VT tips are written about Anne Frank's House than any other attraction in Amsterdam, and with good reason. It's an extraordinary monument, not just to Anne, but to the millions of people who suffered under the Nazi regime.

Upon entering the museum, you pass through an interesting exhibition about Anne and the others who were in hiding with her, before reaching the rooms in which they lived for several years. Anne's own room still has the pictures of film stars that she pasted to the walls. The museum is so busy and bustling that it is difficult to experience the same silence that they must have had to bear day after day - I imagine that if you were there on a quiet day it would be quite eerie.

It's an extremely moving place to visit, compounded by the additional exhibition at the end of the museum that reminds us that even today people all over the world are experiencing the same prejudices and victimisation as Anne and her family did more than 60 years ago.

A tip - if you are visiting in the summer, go to the house in the early evening. It is open until 8pm, and the queues don't snake around the block as they do during the day.

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Phone: +31-20-5567100
Address: Prinsengracht 267
Website: http://www.annefrank.nl

Anybody who has read Anne Frank's diary will be familiar with the Westerkerk. She wrote about hearing the bells from inside the secret annexe, and was so disappointed when they were silenced. The bells have since been restored, and peal beautiful tunes on the hour, you can hear them if you are around Prinsengracht and Jordaan.

It is possible to climb the tower for views of the city (charge: 5 euros). You can only go up in groups of 5, and you can only book onto a tour half an hour in advance. We tried several times to go up, but the tours were always full and we weren't able to hang around for over an hour to try and get on to a tour (people were queuing to book on). Oh well, it leaves us with a 'must do' the next time we are in town!

The church itself is free to enter.

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Phone: +31-20-6247766
Address: Prinsengracht 28
Website: http://www.westerkerk.nl

During our short trip we only had time for one art gallery and decided this was the one for us. There's a massive range of Van Gogh's work, from the most famous paintings (yes, there are sunflowers here!) to lesser-known works. It's fascinating to watch his style of work develop, and to see the huge range of subject matter that he painted. We spent over two hours in the museum (there was also a special Manet exhibition), but we did take our time to see everything - many people appeared to be dashing in to see the major works, and then out again, almost as if they were ticking things off on a list!

You can hire an audio tour to take you round the gallery, but we didn't take this - we felt that the museum provided plenty of information on the walls by the paintings anyway, and didn't feel we were missing out (the audio tour is a major frustration with this museum, as some of the paintings are crowded by people with headphones, so it can be difficult to go at your own pace).

Tickets can be pre-booked at the VVV, which means you avoid queuing. The Canal-Bus also offers a 'multi' ticket, which gives you a discount of around 6 euros on your ticket - and again no queuing. Otherwise, get there as it opens. Credit cards are accepted for a minumum of 25 euros.

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Phone: +31-20-5705252
Address: Paulus Potterstraat 7
Website: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl

This fascinating museum is in the heart of the Red Light Distrcit, and is a real contrast to what is happening further down the street

During the 17th century, Catholics were not permitted to practice their faith in public. A wealthy merchant bought three town houses and knocked the attics through to make one large room, which he then converted into an ornate Catholic church - complete with organ! The authorities must have been aware of the church, as it seats quite a number of people and the organ must have created quite a noise, but I guess they turned a blind eye - another example of Dutch tolerance. The church has not been used regularly since the late nineteenth century, although weddings do occasionally take place there.

The church is the main attraction of the house, but the museum also preserves a number of rooms as they would have been in the 17th century, such as the bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms. It's really interesting to see how the wealthy would have lived in Amsterdam at that time - I wonder what they would make of their street if they could come back and see it now?

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Phone: +31-20-6246604
Address: Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40
Website: http://www.museumamstelkring.nl

Amsterdam has one of the oldest China Towns in Europe, but this Buddhist temple is a relatively new addition. Apparently, it is open to the public, and the Buddhists who work there are happy to talk to you about their faith, but each time we passed it was closed.

There are dozens of inexpensive restaurants and takeaways in this part of town or, if you prefer to cook for yourself, there are also lots of Chinese supermarkets.

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Directions: Near Zeedijk

I loved the town houses in Amsterdam. Some were terribly grand, while others were smaller and cosier. A great many are built on reclaimed land, and preserving them is an expensive business, as the foundations move so much over the years, as can be seen from this house.

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The canal boat tours are many people's idea of hell - but I love them!

We bought a ticket for the Canal bus, which we were able to use for a day and a half for around 15 euros. We could stay on as long as we wanted, or use it as a (fairly slow) way of getting around the city. It was great to give our feet a rest and just sit back and let the city come to us - it also provided us with some shelter when the rains came, without restricting our sightseeing. The commentary is reasonably informative, but if you want a lot of detail about the city, take a guide book or go on a specialised walking tour.

We realised too late that we could have bought a 'multi' ticket for 22 euros, which would have included a discounted admission to the Van Gogh museum - we'll remember this next time!

The other advantage of a canal tour is that you get a different perspective than from the street. Here, seven bridges are aligned, which wouldn't be obvious from above.

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Go on, admit it - you might be going to Amsterdam with the intention of seeing the great works of art and cruising around on a canal boat - but aren't you even a tiny bit curious about seeing the Red Light District?!

Turn a corner near Dam Square and suddenly you are in it - the shops change, the cinemas are offering the kind of film you wouldn't normally catch at the local Roxy and - look over there - isn't that a half-naked girl sat in the window of that club?

Actually, the girls mostly look incredibly bored, perking up only to tap on the window to attract the attention of a possible customer. It's not a threatening atmosphere - the doormen are all used to tourist coming round for a look, and will joke with you about it. No pictures to accompany this tip I'm afraid, I didn't think that taking photos would go down very well with the locals, however friendly they seemed! You'll just have to see for yourself ;-)

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